Shinigami ran down the hallway, chasing a screaming Tenshi. He had his gun out and was grinning like a Chesire cat. Out popped Altron from another hallway and shot Shinigami once in the arm. He continued running down a different hallway.
"Shinigami has been shot!" Shinigami exclaimed in a crazy deep voice.
"Moooo!" Tenshi added for no reason other than to get the audience to laugh. She ran up a flight of stairs and turned around to look down from the balcony. Seeing Pink coming up after her, she ran through the nearest doorway and found herself in the bathroom. Pink followed, but Tenshi hid in one of the stalls.
"You can't come in here this is the GIRL'S bathroom." Tenshi informed him.
"Hnn." he replied before using his machine gun to shoot underneath the stall doors. Tenshi was not stupid, though, and climbed up on the toilet seat.
"Baka!" she cried when the shots ended. Pink grunted and left the room. Tenshi slowly followed but took a different route. Soon she was in the basement with Shinigami. In the basement there were tons of thin glass walls that made up a complex maze, and Shinigami had gotten lost.
"Buh bye Shini!" Tenshi cried from the entrance to the maze. She pulled out a large machine gun and opened fire on the 'God of Death'. Several glass walls seperated them, but they quickly shattered. Tenshi shot Shinigami once in each foot and then ran. Looking up to his portion of the split screen, she couldn't help but laugh. Instead of trying to follow her, Shinigami was laughing his head off and shooting every glass wall into oblivion.
"Baka onna." she said, recieving a smack to the head from Wufei, in the audience.
"Don't take my line." he warned. Tenshi ran around and around until she had gotten herself sufficiently lost. She climbed up into a hollow shaft and sat in a dark corner of it.
Tenshi merely sat and watched while Pink nearly killed Altron with a bomb, Shinigami jumped off the roof and accidentally killed himself, screaming 'Geronimo!' all the way, and Altron managed to shoot Pink. Tenshi climbed down out of her shaft, unnoticed, and put a bunch of bombs all the way down the hallway. While she was working, Pink shot Altron to death.
"I'm coming to find you now." Perfectly Pink warned Tenshi, not knowing what she had done.
"Okay!" she replied, giggling. After wandering around for a minute or so, Pink managed to find the correct hallway. He smirked and approached the ladder up to her shaft. She grinned and pressed the detonation switch.
"Mwhahahahahahahahaha-" breath "hahahahahaha!" she cried as the screen was lit up with flames and Pink was suddenly gone.
Tenshi did a little dance while the screen declared her the winner.
"Mission... failed." Hiiro said in monotone. Usagi grinned.
"Okay, Hiiro- For a start, you shouldn't kill yourself over a game, and another thing... Playstations don't have self-destruct buttons!" she declared, holding her sides as she laughed. Soon the entire room was filled with laughter as the others joined in.
Beeep! Beeeeeeep! Beeeeeeeeee- the noise was cut off as Hiiro opened his laptop. He read the screen quickly, and his face paled visibly. Usagi looked over his shoulder and read what was there.
"Oh my God." she said. The laughter stopped as the others watched her expectantly. She grabbed the remote and changed the channel on the screen. A news broadcast came out at them.
"OZ has just declared that they have four million nuclear missiles that are aimed at every major area in the world. Some scientests have reported that should OZ fire these missiles not only will the air on Earth become unbreathable and the water undrinkable, it will destroy Earth entirely. OZ has also declared that they have a similar amount of missiles aimed at the colonies. They are going to try and wipe out the entire human race! Since the declaration about an hour ago, the Preventers have gone into overdrive. Everyone is scrambling to get on shuttles, and already there are revolts. Houses have been pillaged and ransacked. Police report that their forces have been nearly deserted, and in the absense of law enforcement, it is estimated that a dangerous crime is being committed every 56 seconds..." the screen flickered.
"Hello everyone." Relena Darlian Peacecraft greeted them. She, too, was pale and the expression on her face was grim. "No one should panic-"
"Yeah, right." Duo made a feeble attempt at a joke, even though he was shell-shocked.
"I feel that I must apologize for Treize Kushrenda's actions. If we all stay calm and peaceful, I'm sure that peace will come about. The old saying is that love conquers all, right?" she didn't sound very sure of herself.
"Let's go." Hiiro said. They took off running, leaving the TV on and the house abandoned.
'This is the final straw.' Usagi thought. 'If we can't stop this with the Gundams, then I'll stop it myself.' she glanced at Hiiro, and then ran to Rei.
"Rei I need a favor." she said, drawing them back a bit from the others.
"Anything, Usagi." the raven haired girl replied instantly.
"If anything happens... You know, out there-" she began.
"Nothing's going to happen!" Rei exclaimed, frowning at her friend.
"REI!" Usagi yelled. "Listen to me!" her voice dropped.
"If anything happens out there, look under my mattress." Usagi said.
"Usagi, really, you've done this before-"
"REI! Promise me!" she demanded.
"Alright, alright. If anything happens to you I promise to look under your mattress." Rei said, half-joking. Usagi, knowing she wouldn't be able to get a serious answer out of her friend, gave up and quickened her pace.
They were soon standing in the hanger. As the pilots double-checked the Gundams, the Senshi transformed. They all climbed up into their cockpits. Each of the Senshi stood behind one of the pilots. It was a tight squeeze, but it worked. Just as Hiiro was about to climb up into Wing Zero, Eternal Sailor Moon ran up to him.
"Be careful, Hiiro." she begged. He nodded.
"I will." Hiiro promised. He turned to climb.
"Oh and Hiiro?" she asked. He turned back around.
"I'm sorry." she said.
"For what?"
"You'll know soon enough." Usagi said. He hugged her and then the two departed, each climbing into their own Gundam and turning on the link to the other Gundams.
"Everyone ready?" Hiiro asked.
"Hai." nine grim voices echoed one another.
"Let's go kick some butt!" Sailor Moon tried to sound convincing, but her thoughts betrayed her. They took off into space. It didn't take very long for them to reach their destination. The space around the small colony of X-16R37 was filled with hundreds of red mobile dolls that they had never seen before.
"They're called Keys. They're much stronger than most dolls because they have Gundanium alloy in them." the Perfect Soldier said.
Hiiro's fingers danced over the keypad in the solitude of the cockpit.
Z-E-R-O
He pulled his helmet on and his eyes glowed a liquid gold color.
"If you can handle it put your ZERO system online." he commanded Usagi (Eternal SM) in a harsh monotone. She winced, but pulled her helmet on and typed in the same thing he had.
Z-E-R-O.
Her eyes glowed as well, and the the face off began.
Wing Zero's space sword took care of five Keys right from the start. Shi's bustler rifle destroyed four, and Deathsycthe's sycthe took out ten as he dove right into the heart of the battle, egged on constantly by Jupiter.
"Gundam pilots, turn away from this pointless battle." Treize ordered, linking his image to the news braodcast as well.
"Why? So you can destory the masterpiece of evolution?" Eternal Sailor Moon demanded as she destroyed ten more dolls.
"I am sending more Keys as we speak. You will lose, whoever you are."
"I am Sailor Moon. Remember my name, you'll be screaming it later." she said icily, shooting down a few more.
"You are of no consequence!" Trieze told her harshly. "You can do nothing! You'll see just how worthless you are!" he said, and his image disappeared as the link was severed. Usagi quickly turned on the news on a small part of her screen and told the others to do the same.
"That was a link that was made between Treize Kushrenda's base on colony X-16R37 and one of the Gundams, piloted by a self-proclaimed 'Sailor Moon'. The Gundam was number 06, a Gundam that was not known to be in exsistence until only a few weeks ago. It is the only Gundam that we know of that is piloted by a woman... If the Gundam pilots are listening, we are with you. Our thoughts and prayers go out to you, and we will back you in this fight..." Sailor Moon's attention wandered as she attacked a new group of the dolls.
They worked nonstop for three hours until Duo bluntly pointed out that they were getting nowhere.
"Senshi! Your turn!" Eternal Sailor Moon cried. Each nodded and placed their hands on the control pad of the Gundam that they were in. The Gundams moved so that they formed a six-pointed star around the Keys and the colony that harbored nothing except the base.
"Mars Power!"
"Mercury Power!"
"Venus Power!"
"Jupiter Power!"
"Cosmic Moon Power!"
Five small beams of light shot out from the Gundams. The beams grew and grew, merging together in the very center of the Keys.
"Planet Power!" They cried simultaneously. There was an instant explosion of energy and about fifty of the Keys simply vanished. They held on, straining their energy, before they remembered Usagi's words. They each called on the power of the Moon and the energy output tripled. They screamed in pain as the amount of energy they were giving off burnt their hands.
"Stop!" Eternal Sailor Moon ordered. Reluctantly they did, and the only energy left in space was the silver healing energy of the Moon.
"Cosmic Moon Power!" she called again. The others watched her carefully on the screen. Her hands were raw and red, even with all the training she had gone through. The silver glow washed over the Gundams as well, repairing them and restoring the energy of not only the machines but of the people in them.
Glancing back at the scene, they gasped when they saw that all of the Mobile Suits had disappeared.
"Sailor Moon what are you doing?!" Sailor Mars demanded.
"What I should have done as soon as I got here... I can end the war... I can end it all now..." she said, as though in a trance.
"NO SAILOR MOON!" Nine people yelled at the same time.
Hiiro held his helmeted head between his hands as images flooded his mind.
He placed a white rose on her grave. Hiiro glanced to the left of the marble statue he stood in front of to look at a marble angel.
'Usagi... gone twice now...' he thought.
"How many times must we bury her?!" he demanded.
"Zero, is this the future?" he asked. The system flashed once and then shut down. Hiiro pulled the helmet off and glued his eyes to the image on the screen.
Suddenly Eternal Sailor Moon snatched off her helmet. Her hands pounced on the keyboard, hacking, and created a link between her and every news station and TV on the Earth and the colonies.
"Listen to me!" she said. Everywhere, people stopped talking and panicing and watched their screens. Usagi had the attention of everyone.
"I am known as Sailor Moon. The other Senshi and I have been around since Tokyo in 2000 AD. I am not going to allow mankind's flame to be put out. I am going to end this war right now!" she cried. Not many responded. Many shouted things like 'How?' to the TV's. As if she could hear them, Usagi replied.
"There are many things that most people do not realize about the world. But you have to have faith. The will to believe is perhaps the most powerful human attribute. I hope, that after seeing what I am about to do, you will believe more."
"Please, Sailor Moon! Don't do it!" Mars begged, her cry rising louder than the others.
"Why? So the bloodbath can continue?" she asked.
"No! Because we need you!" Hiiro yelled.
"You don't need me. You're strong, all of you. Everyone is strong."
"Yes we do!" the Senshi and Arashi cried in unison.
"If you create the peace, then you need to stay to preserve it." Trowa rationalized.
"First we act to preserve ourselves, until we see that we can't. Then we try to preserve our children, until we see that we can't. Then we act to preserve our kin, and then our village or tribe, and when we see that we can't preserve even them, then we act in order to preserve our memory. And when we can't do even that, what is left? We finally have the perspective of trying to act for the good of humanity as a whole." Eternal Sailor Moon said. (Quote from Orson Scott Card)
"Please don't." Hiiro begged as a last resort. Sailor Moon shook her head and opened the cockpit door. Somehow, her image was still showing on the screens everywhere, and the people gasped.
"Hey! She's breathing just fine in an airless environment!" one man exclaimed. The new revelation caused a stir in the crowds.
Eternal Sailor Moon's wings and staff appeared as she positioned herself a fair distance from the Gundams. She took a deep breath, and concentrated on healing. A voice sounded through the universe, touching everyone who heard it and sending shivers and goosebumps up their spines as it sang.
I'm so high, I can hear Heaven
And I'm so high, I can hear Heaven
-oh- But Heaven
No Heaven, don't hear me....
ESM (Eternal Sailor Moon) spun her staff in front of her for a few seconds and then pointed it at the colony X-16R37. The brilliant white light poured from the staff and from ESM's very being. The light and the voice together enveloped the entire Earth and the colonies surrounding it.
And they say that a hero could save us
I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold on to the wings of the heroes
And watch as we all fly away
Hiiro tried to scream, to beg her not to do the inevitable, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. A state of peaceful calm washed over him, and he could hear her voice in his head, apologizing for leaving him.
Someone told me
That love would all save us
Quatre watched to scene in horror. He looked up and saw tears running down Sailor Mercury's face as she watched her friend. He could feel the Senshi and the Arashi's pain, as well as Usagi's. He pulled Mercury down to sit on his lap and comfort her.
But how can that be?
When look what love gave us
Wufei couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight, even as the light engulfed him. He felt Sailor Mars's hand tighten it's grip on his shoulder as she wept. The Chinese boy put his hand over hers and squeezed, trying his best to make her feel better.
A world full of killing
And blood spilling
Trowa hugged Venus close to him, feeling her beating heart through his clothes. He could almost hear her thoughts, and they watched together. The screen still showed the other cockpits, and the news was still playing, though the announcer was silent. The whole universe must be silent right now, he thought.
That would never end
Duo and Jupiter merely gazed in open-mouthed shock as the light soothed their fears. Duo rubbed his hand up and down Jupiter's back, and their two hands layed in her lap, their fingers entwined as though that simple joining held the universe together.
And they say that a hero could save us
I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold on to the wings of the heroes
And watch as we all fly away
The light still flooded from Usagi, but it dimmed a bit. The colony disappeared, but a shuttle appeared. The others instantly realized what she had done. Everyone from the colony was in the shuttle that floated on the light down to Earth. Eternal Moon threw her head back and whispered a few words along with he voice, but everyone heard the 'whisper'.
Now that the world isn't ending
It's love that I'm sending to you
But it's the love of a hero
And that's why I fear it won't do
Hiiro buried his head in his hands, crying for one of the few times in his life. Usagi's voice still echoed in his head, begging him to forgive her. His head snapped up.
"I won't forgive you!" he yelled suddenly. "When I forgive you, you'll leave me! YOU PROMISED YOU WOULDN'T LEAVE ME AGAIN!" he screamed. His anguished voice reached her ears as clear as a bell. She doubled over, her cresent moon glowing with an intensity that they had never seen before.
And they say that a hero could save us
I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold on to the wings of the heroes
And watch as we all fly away
The angel that had created all of this disappeared, drawing gasps and sobs from her friends. Even the people on Earth and the colonies went wide-eyed. All that was left of where she had been was a glowing sphere the size of a house.
And they're watching us
They're watching us
As we all fly away
And they're watching us
They're watching us
As we all fly away
A supernatural peace fell over the world. Fights and family feuds ended, hate was abolished, crime was demolished. Criminals no longer felt the need to go against the law. The revolts ended. Governments came to terms with each other, drawing up peace agreements. It was a paradise of peace and loving-kindness. It was discovered that the light she had left behind could be seen from any point on the Earth or the colonies, and it appeared the same size and shape from anywhere. No scientific instruments could even detect it's presense, but the light continued to inspire peace and healing among the people. It was called the 'Eternal Flare of Peace', commonly known as 'Sailor Moon'.
The only things left after a few hours were six very immobile Gundams. They continued to watch the space in front of them, praying that their Usagi would come back and tell them that they were crazy, that it hadn't really happened. They listened to the news, which praised them and the 'mysterious Sailor Moon' for ending the war, and scientests were going mad trying to duplicate her power or even figure out exactly what had happened.
"What has she done?" Quatre asked, sobbing.
"We should go." Hiiro said.
"Hai." Wufei agreed. With heavy hearts, they turned away from the remaining light and went back to Earth. Wing Zero grabbed hold of Miyabita Shi and dragged it back with him.
They took the Gundams back to the hanger. The nine of them congregated on the floor.
"Should we even worry about the repairs right now?" Trowa asked.
"I'm really not in the mood." Quatre said.
"Leave them." Hiiro commanded, walking out and towards the house. Quatre sighed at the pain he felt from Hiiro.
"Is he going to be okay?" Minako asked after de-transforming.
"He will be, Minako. It'll take some time, but he will be." Quatre said.
"He's going to go back to the way he was before, isn't he?" Duo asked sadly. Trowa shook his head.
"We're going to have to think of something." the one-eyed boy replied.
"Like what? Yui never let anyone get close to him before Usagi, so he's only going to be worse now." Wufei said.
"We'll figure something out. I don't like him like this." Matoko added, grabbing Duo's hand and beginning the walk back.
"Are you sure this is the right thing to do, Miss Pluto?" the God of Mercury asked, ever skeptical.
"Hai." Sailor Pluto replied, holding the baby in her arms. "It is the only thing that I can think of that will let the Senshi and the Arashi keep their sanity. It's the only thing that ensures a peaceful, war-free future. It's the only way..." she trailed off. The Gods and Goddesses around the room knew what she meant in her silence.
"Then we must." Selene said. Pluto bowed.
"Thank you so much, thank you." she said. She walked up and handed the baby to Selene. Four Goddesses surrounded her and placed their hands on each of the baby's limbs, keeping the sleeping child from moving. Selene placed her hand on the baby's head. Pluto extended her hand and there appeared a delicate crystal. Taking a deep breath, Selene placed her other hand on the baby's chest and drew out the crystal. Quickly, she replaced it with the one Pluto gave her. The baby did not even wake up.
"You know what you have to do now." Selene said, tired. Pluto nodded, took the baby, and disappeared.
"At least our past is secure now." A deep voice said from behind her. Selene sighed and nodded, placing her hand on her lower belly.
Two weeks passed. The peace on the Earth only grew. More and more peace talks were held, agreements were met, and the Earth was a generally happy place. There was still a few harsh words, fights, and a little crime, but the world could never be perfect.
The nine of them tried to get back into a 'normal' routine, but it was impossible. Even Duo lost some of his spark and became depressed sometimes. Ami tried to console them all by saying that it was just a stage, and that they would eventually come to terms with their loss, but it was just words. In one ear and out the other. Hiiro locked himself in his room for five days before he finally gave up and came out to eat.
The Senshi and the Arashi erected another statue next to the first. It, too, was made of white marble. It was in the form of a little girl. She had twin odangos and only a little hair hanging from under them. In her arms she held a bunny, and in one of her hands she held a rose. In the other she held a minature version of the staff Usagi had held in her last battle. The plaque on the bottom was inscribed in the same print as the one on the first gravestone. It read:
For Tsukino Usagi, who gave everything to obtain the peace that the world needed so desperately. We will stand by your memory and fight to keep that peace alive. You were an angel who created a heaven on earth, and saved the world too many times to number. You went through more in your youth than most go through in their life. You were willing to take the pain of others upon yourself, and died so that everyone else might be happy. Thank you so much for everything you did. You taught us that the heart's value will never be fully appreciated until it can be made unbreakable. We won't say goodbye- you always said goodbyes are for people you don't want to see again.
Always and forever,
Your sisters: Ami, Rei, Matoko, and Minako; and your brothers: Hiiro, Quatre, Wufei, Duo, and Trowa
Once more, they stood in silence around the two statues. The pilots wore their matching black suits with black shirts and grey ties. The Senshi wore matching black dresses with long sleeves and skirts that reached the ground. It had been only two weeks since Usagi had left, but it felt like an eternity. Finally Hiiro stepped up from the group and stood even closer to the new statue.
He placed a white rose on her grave. Hiiro glanced to the left of the marble statue he stood in front of to look at a marble angel.
'Usagi... gone twice now...' he thought.
"How many times must we bury her?!" he demanded, breaking into tears. "God Usagi, just come back to me." he begged, burying his face in the side of the young girl's shoulder.
"Come on Hiiro, let's go." Quatre said gently. He and Duo pried Hiiro off the statue. The nine of them linked arms and walked slowly back to the mansion.
"Now if we're keeping with tradition then there'll be a surprise waiting for us when we get in there." Duo said, trying to regain some of his playful energy as Quatre unlocked the back door.
They crowded into the house and then stopped, surprised.
"Oh how right you are my friend Duo." a new voice said lightly.
"Shinigami has been shot!" Shinigami exclaimed in a crazy deep voice.
"Moooo!" Tenshi added for no reason other than to get the audience to laugh. She ran up a flight of stairs and turned around to look down from the balcony. Seeing Pink coming up after her, she ran through the nearest doorway and found herself in the bathroom. Pink followed, but Tenshi hid in one of the stalls.
"You can't come in here this is the GIRL'S bathroom." Tenshi informed him.
"Hnn." he replied before using his machine gun to shoot underneath the stall doors. Tenshi was not stupid, though, and climbed up on the toilet seat.
"Baka!" she cried when the shots ended. Pink grunted and left the room. Tenshi slowly followed but took a different route. Soon she was in the basement with Shinigami. In the basement there were tons of thin glass walls that made up a complex maze, and Shinigami had gotten lost.
"Buh bye Shini!" Tenshi cried from the entrance to the maze. She pulled out a large machine gun and opened fire on the 'God of Death'. Several glass walls seperated them, but they quickly shattered. Tenshi shot Shinigami once in each foot and then ran. Looking up to his portion of the split screen, she couldn't help but laugh. Instead of trying to follow her, Shinigami was laughing his head off and shooting every glass wall into oblivion.
"Baka onna." she said, recieving a smack to the head from Wufei, in the audience.
"Don't take my line." he warned. Tenshi ran around and around until she had gotten herself sufficiently lost. She climbed up into a hollow shaft and sat in a dark corner of it.
Tenshi merely sat and watched while Pink nearly killed Altron with a bomb, Shinigami jumped off the roof and accidentally killed himself, screaming 'Geronimo!' all the way, and Altron managed to shoot Pink. Tenshi climbed down out of her shaft, unnoticed, and put a bunch of bombs all the way down the hallway. While she was working, Pink shot Altron to death.
"I'm coming to find you now." Perfectly Pink warned Tenshi, not knowing what she had done.
"Okay!" she replied, giggling. After wandering around for a minute or so, Pink managed to find the correct hallway. He smirked and approached the ladder up to her shaft. She grinned and pressed the detonation switch.
"Mwhahahahahahahahaha-" breath "hahahahahaha!" she cried as the screen was lit up with flames and Pink was suddenly gone.
Tenshi did a little dance while the screen declared her the winner.
"Mission... failed." Hiiro said in monotone. Usagi grinned.
"Okay, Hiiro- For a start, you shouldn't kill yourself over a game, and another thing... Playstations don't have self-destruct buttons!" she declared, holding her sides as she laughed. Soon the entire room was filled with laughter as the others joined in.
Beeep! Beeeeeeep! Beeeeeeeeee- the noise was cut off as Hiiro opened his laptop. He read the screen quickly, and his face paled visibly. Usagi looked over his shoulder and read what was there.
"Oh my God." she said. The laughter stopped as the others watched her expectantly. She grabbed the remote and changed the channel on the screen. A news broadcast came out at them.
"OZ has just declared that they have four million nuclear missiles that are aimed at every major area in the world. Some scientests have reported that should OZ fire these missiles not only will the air on Earth become unbreathable and the water undrinkable, it will destroy Earth entirely. OZ has also declared that they have a similar amount of missiles aimed at the colonies. They are going to try and wipe out the entire human race! Since the declaration about an hour ago, the Preventers have gone into overdrive. Everyone is scrambling to get on shuttles, and already there are revolts. Houses have been pillaged and ransacked. Police report that their forces have been nearly deserted, and in the absense of law enforcement, it is estimated that a dangerous crime is being committed every 56 seconds..." the screen flickered.
"Hello everyone." Relena Darlian Peacecraft greeted them. She, too, was pale and the expression on her face was grim. "No one should panic-"
"Yeah, right." Duo made a feeble attempt at a joke, even though he was shell-shocked.
"I feel that I must apologize for Treize Kushrenda's actions. If we all stay calm and peaceful, I'm sure that peace will come about. The old saying is that love conquers all, right?" she didn't sound very sure of herself.
"Let's go." Hiiro said. They took off running, leaving the TV on and the house abandoned.
'This is the final straw.' Usagi thought. 'If we can't stop this with the Gundams, then I'll stop it myself.' she glanced at Hiiro, and then ran to Rei.
"Rei I need a favor." she said, drawing them back a bit from the others.
"Anything, Usagi." the raven haired girl replied instantly.
"If anything happens... You know, out there-" she began.
"Nothing's going to happen!" Rei exclaimed, frowning at her friend.
"REI!" Usagi yelled. "Listen to me!" her voice dropped.
"If anything happens out there, look under my mattress." Usagi said.
"Usagi, really, you've done this before-"
"REI! Promise me!" she demanded.
"Alright, alright. If anything happens to you I promise to look under your mattress." Rei said, half-joking. Usagi, knowing she wouldn't be able to get a serious answer out of her friend, gave up and quickened her pace.
They were soon standing in the hanger. As the pilots double-checked the Gundams, the Senshi transformed. They all climbed up into their cockpits. Each of the Senshi stood behind one of the pilots. It was a tight squeeze, but it worked. Just as Hiiro was about to climb up into Wing Zero, Eternal Sailor Moon ran up to him.
"Be careful, Hiiro." she begged. He nodded.
"I will." Hiiro promised. He turned to climb.
"Oh and Hiiro?" she asked. He turned back around.
"I'm sorry." she said.
"For what?"
"You'll know soon enough." Usagi said. He hugged her and then the two departed, each climbing into their own Gundam and turning on the link to the other Gundams.
"Everyone ready?" Hiiro asked.
"Hai." nine grim voices echoed one another.
"Let's go kick some butt!" Sailor Moon tried to sound convincing, but her thoughts betrayed her. They took off into space. It didn't take very long for them to reach their destination. The space around the small colony of X-16R37 was filled with hundreds of red mobile dolls that they had never seen before.
"They're called Keys. They're much stronger than most dolls because they have Gundanium alloy in them." the Perfect Soldier said.
Hiiro's fingers danced over the keypad in the solitude of the cockpit.
Z-E-R-O
He pulled his helmet on and his eyes glowed a liquid gold color.
"If you can handle it put your ZERO system online." he commanded Usagi (Eternal SM) in a harsh monotone. She winced, but pulled her helmet on and typed in the same thing he had.
Z-E-R-O.
Her eyes glowed as well, and the the face off began.
Wing Zero's space sword took care of five Keys right from the start. Shi's bustler rifle destroyed four, and Deathsycthe's sycthe took out ten as he dove right into the heart of the battle, egged on constantly by Jupiter.
"Gundam pilots, turn away from this pointless battle." Treize ordered, linking his image to the news braodcast as well.
"Why? So you can destory the masterpiece of evolution?" Eternal Sailor Moon demanded as she destroyed ten more dolls.
"I am sending more Keys as we speak. You will lose, whoever you are."
"I am Sailor Moon. Remember my name, you'll be screaming it later." she said icily, shooting down a few more.
"You are of no consequence!" Trieze told her harshly. "You can do nothing! You'll see just how worthless you are!" he said, and his image disappeared as the link was severed. Usagi quickly turned on the news on a small part of her screen and told the others to do the same.
"That was a link that was made between Treize Kushrenda's base on colony X-16R37 and one of the Gundams, piloted by a self-proclaimed 'Sailor Moon'. The Gundam was number 06, a Gundam that was not known to be in exsistence until only a few weeks ago. It is the only Gundam that we know of that is piloted by a woman... If the Gundam pilots are listening, we are with you. Our thoughts and prayers go out to you, and we will back you in this fight..." Sailor Moon's attention wandered as she attacked a new group of the dolls.
They worked nonstop for three hours until Duo bluntly pointed out that they were getting nowhere.
"Senshi! Your turn!" Eternal Sailor Moon cried. Each nodded and placed their hands on the control pad of the Gundam that they were in. The Gundams moved so that they formed a six-pointed star around the Keys and the colony that harbored nothing except the base.
"Mars Power!"
"Mercury Power!"
"Venus Power!"
"Jupiter Power!"
"Cosmic Moon Power!"
Five small beams of light shot out from the Gundams. The beams grew and grew, merging together in the very center of the Keys.
"Planet Power!" They cried simultaneously. There was an instant explosion of energy and about fifty of the Keys simply vanished. They held on, straining their energy, before they remembered Usagi's words. They each called on the power of the Moon and the energy output tripled. They screamed in pain as the amount of energy they were giving off burnt their hands.
"Stop!" Eternal Sailor Moon ordered. Reluctantly they did, and the only energy left in space was the silver healing energy of the Moon.
"Cosmic Moon Power!" she called again. The others watched her carefully on the screen. Her hands were raw and red, even with all the training she had gone through. The silver glow washed over the Gundams as well, repairing them and restoring the energy of not only the machines but of the people in them.
Glancing back at the scene, they gasped when they saw that all of the Mobile Suits had disappeared.
"Sailor Moon what are you doing?!" Sailor Mars demanded.
"What I should have done as soon as I got here... I can end the war... I can end it all now..." she said, as though in a trance.
"NO SAILOR MOON!" Nine people yelled at the same time.
Hiiro held his helmeted head between his hands as images flooded his mind.
He placed a white rose on her grave. Hiiro glanced to the left of the marble statue he stood in front of to look at a marble angel.
'Usagi... gone twice now...' he thought.
"How many times must we bury her?!" he demanded.
"Zero, is this the future?" he asked. The system flashed once and then shut down. Hiiro pulled the helmet off and glued his eyes to the image on the screen.
Suddenly Eternal Sailor Moon snatched off her helmet. Her hands pounced on the keyboard, hacking, and created a link between her and every news station and TV on the Earth and the colonies.
"Listen to me!" she said. Everywhere, people stopped talking and panicing and watched their screens. Usagi had the attention of everyone.
"I am known as Sailor Moon. The other Senshi and I have been around since Tokyo in 2000 AD. I am not going to allow mankind's flame to be put out. I am going to end this war right now!" she cried. Not many responded. Many shouted things like 'How?' to the TV's. As if she could hear them, Usagi replied.
"There are many things that most people do not realize about the world. But you have to have faith. The will to believe is perhaps the most powerful human attribute. I hope, that after seeing what I am about to do, you will believe more."
"Please, Sailor Moon! Don't do it!" Mars begged, her cry rising louder than the others.
"Why? So the bloodbath can continue?" she asked.
"No! Because we need you!" Hiiro yelled.
"You don't need me. You're strong, all of you. Everyone is strong."
"Yes we do!" the Senshi and Arashi cried in unison.
"If you create the peace, then you need to stay to preserve it." Trowa rationalized.
"First we act to preserve ourselves, until we see that we can't. Then we try to preserve our children, until we see that we can't. Then we act to preserve our kin, and then our village or tribe, and when we see that we can't preserve even them, then we act in order to preserve our memory. And when we can't do even that, what is left? We finally have the perspective of trying to act for the good of humanity as a whole." Eternal Sailor Moon said. (Quote from Orson Scott Card)
"Please don't." Hiiro begged as a last resort. Sailor Moon shook her head and opened the cockpit door. Somehow, her image was still showing on the screens everywhere, and the people gasped.
"Hey! She's breathing just fine in an airless environment!" one man exclaimed. The new revelation caused a stir in the crowds.
Eternal Sailor Moon's wings and staff appeared as she positioned herself a fair distance from the Gundams. She took a deep breath, and concentrated on healing. A voice sounded through the universe, touching everyone who heard it and sending shivers and goosebumps up their spines as it sang.
I'm so high, I can hear Heaven
And I'm so high, I can hear Heaven
-oh- But Heaven
No Heaven, don't hear me....
ESM (Eternal Sailor Moon) spun her staff in front of her for a few seconds and then pointed it at the colony X-16R37. The brilliant white light poured from the staff and from ESM's very being. The light and the voice together enveloped the entire Earth and the colonies surrounding it.
And they say that a hero could save us
I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold on to the wings of the heroes
And watch as we all fly away
Hiiro tried to scream, to beg her not to do the inevitable, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. A state of peaceful calm washed over him, and he could hear her voice in his head, apologizing for leaving him.
Someone told me
That love would all save us
Quatre watched to scene in horror. He looked up and saw tears running down Sailor Mercury's face as she watched her friend. He could feel the Senshi and the Arashi's pain, as well as Usagi's. He pulled Mercury down to sit on his lap and comfort her.
But how can that be?
When look what love gave us
Wufei couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight, even as the light engulfed him. He felt Sailor Mars's hand tighten it's grip on his shoulder as she wept. The Chinese boy put his hand over hers and squeezed, trying his best to make her feel better.
A world full of killing
And blood spilling
Trowa hugged Venus close to him, feeling her beating heart through his clothes. He could almost hear her thoughts, and they watched together. The screen still showed the other cockpits, and the news was still playing, though the announcer was silent. The whole universe must be silent right now, he thought.
That would never end
Duo and Jupiter merely gazed in open-mouthed shock as the light soothed their fears. Duo rubbed his hand up and down Jupiter's back, and their two hands layed in her lap, their fingers entwined as though that simple joining held the universe together.
And they say that a hero could save us
I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold on to the wings of the heroes
And watch as we all fly away
The light still flooded from Usagi, but it dimmed a bit. The colony disappeared, but a shuttle appeared. The others instantly realized what she had done. Everyone from the colony was in the shuttle that floated on the light down to Earth. Eternal Moon threw her head back and whispered a few words along with he voice, but everyone heard the 'whisper'.
Now that the world isn't ending
It's love that I'm sending to you
But it's the love of a hero
And that's why I fear it won't do
Hiiro buried his head in his hands, crying for one of the few times in his life. Usagi's voice still echoed in his head, begging him to forgive her. His head snapped up.
"I won't forgive you!" he yelled suddenly. "When I forgive you, you'll leave me! YOU PROMISED YOU WOULDN'T LEAVE ME AGAIN!" he screamed. His anguished voice reached her ears as clear as a bell. She doubled over, her cresent moon glowing with an intensity that they had never seen before.
And they say that a hero could save us
I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold on to the wings of the heroes
And watch as we all fly away
The angel that had created all of this disappeared, drawing gasps and sobs from her friends. Even the people on Earth and the colonies went wide-eyed. All that was left of where she had been was a glowing sphere the size of a house.
And they're watching us
They're watching us
As we all fly away
And they're watching us
They're watching us
As we all fly away
A supernatural peace fell over the world. Fights and family feuds ended, hate was abolished, crime was demolished. Criminals no longer felt the need to go against the law. The revolts ended. Governments came to terms with each other, drawing up peace agreements. It was a paradise of peace and loving-kindness. It was discovered that the light she had left behind could be seen from any point on the Earth or the colonies, and it appeared the same size and shape from anywhere. No scientific instruments could even detect it's presense, but the light continued to inspire peace and healing among the people. It was called the 'Eternal Flare of Peace', commonly known as 'Sailor Moon'.
The only things left after a few hours were six very immobile Gundams. They continued to watch the space in front of them, praying that their Usagi would come back and tell them that they were crazy, that it hadn't really happened. They listened to the news, which praised them and the 'mysterious Sailor Moon' for ending the war, and scientests were going mad trying to duplicate her power or even figure out exactly what had happened.
"What has she done?" Quatre asked, sobbing.
"We should go." Hiiro said.
"Hai." Wufei agreed. With heavy hearts, they turned away from the remaining light and went back to Earth. Wing Zero grabbed hold of Miyabita Shi and dragged it back with him.
They took the Gundams back to the hanger. The nine of them congregated on the floor.
"Should we even worry about the repairs right now?" Trowa asked.
"I'm really not in the mood." Quatre said.
"Leave them." Hiiro commanded, walking out and towards the house. Quatre sighed at the pain he felt from Hiiro.
"Is he going to be okay?" Minako asked after de-transforming.
"He will be, Minako. It'll take some time, but he will be." Quatre said.
"He's going to go back to the way he was before, isn't he?" Duo asked sadly. Trowa shook his head.
"We're going to have to think of something." the one-eyed boy replied.
"Like what? Yui never let anyone get close to him before Usagi, so he's only going to be worse now." Wufei said.
"We'll figure something out. I don't like him like this." Matoko added, grabbing Duo's hand and beginning the walk back.
"Are you sure this is the right thing to do, Miss Pluto?" the God of Mercury asked, ever skeptical.
"Hai." Sailor Pluto replied, holding the baby in her arms. "It is the only thing that I can think of that will let the Senshi and the Arashi keep their sanity. It's the only thing that ensures a peaceful, war-free future. It's the only way..." she trailed off. The Gods and Goddesses around the room knew what she meant in her silence.
"Then we must." Selene said. Pluto bowed.
"Thank you so much, thank you." she said. She walked up and handed the baby to Selene. Four Goddesses surrounded her and placed their hands on each of the baby's limbs, keeping the sleeping child from moving. Selene placed her hand on the baby's head. Pluto extended her hand and there appeared a delicate crystal. Taking a deep breath, Selene placed her other hand on the baby's chest and drew out the crystal. Quickly, she replaced it with the one Pluto gave her. The baby did not even wake up.
"You know what you have to do now." Selene said, tired. Pluto nodded, took the baby, and disappeared.
"At least our past is secure now." A deep voice said from behind her. Selene sighed and nodded, placing her hand on her lower belly.
Two weeks passed. The peace on the Earth only grew. More and more peace talks were held, agreements were met, and the Earth was a generally happy place. There was still a few harsh words, fights, and a little crime, but the world could never be perfect.
The nine of them tried to get back into a 'normal' routine, but it was impossible. Even Duo lost some of his spark and became depressed sometimes. Ami tried to console them all by saying that it was just a stage, and that they would eventually come to terms with their loss, but it was just words. In one ear and out the other. Hiiro locked himself in his room for five days before he finally gave up and came out to eat.
The Senshi and the Arashi erected another statue next to the first. It, too, was made of white marble. It was in the form of a little girl. She had twin odangos and only a little hair hanging from under them. In her arms she held a bunny, and in one of her hands she held a rose. In the other she held a minature version of the staff Usagi had held in her last battle. The plaque on the bottom was inscribed in the same print as the one on the first gravestone. It read:
For Tsukino Usagi, who gave everything to obtain the peace that the world needed so desperately. We will stand by your memory and fight to keep that peace alive. You were an angel who created a heaven on earth, and saved the world too many times to number. You went through more in your youth than most go through in their life. You were willing to take the pain of others upon yourself, and died so that everyone else might be happy. Thank you so much for everything you did. You taught us that the heart's value will never be fully appreciated until it can be made unbreakable. We won't say goodbye- you always said goodbyes are for people you don't want to see again.
Always and forever,
Your sisters: Ami, Rei, Matoko, and Minako; and your brothers: Hiiro, Quatre, Wufei, Duo, and Trowa
Once more, they stood in silence around the two statues. The pilots wore their matching black suits with black shirts and grey ties. The Senshi wore matching black dresses with long sleeves and skirts that reached the ground. It had been only two weeks since Usagi had left, but it felt like an eternity. Finally Hiiro stepped up from the group and stood even closer to the new statue.
He placed a white rose on her grave. Hiiro glanced to the left of the marble statue he stood in front of to look at a marble angel.
'Usagi... gone twice now...' he thought.
"How many times must we bury her?!" he demanded, breaking into tears. "God Usagi, just come back to me." he begged, burying his face in the side of the young girl's shoulder.
"Come on Hiiro, let's go." Quatre said gently. He and Duo pried Hiiro off the statue. The nine of them linked arms and walked slowly back to the mansion.
"Now if we're keeping with tradition then there'll be a surprise waiting for us when we get in there." Duo said, trying to regain some of his playful energy as Quatre unlocked the back door.
They crowded into the house and then stopped, surprised.
"Oh how right you are my friend Duo." a new voice said lightly.