Chapter 9 - SMG
* * * * *
The dreamer stood in a field of flowers and looked around. Next to her stood her parents, Usagi and Mamoru. She looked back to make sure they were there then ran forward, while she giggled, through the flowers. She smiled as she heard Mamoru's good-natured laughter at her antics.
She found herself running over a small rise, and found a small dark hole. She forgot about her parents and approached it to look in. She blinked in surprise when she saw at the bottom a pale blue stuffed dragon, with a green ribbon around it's neck, which just laid there. She bent over the hole and reached for the dragon, but she was surprised again to see it suddenly animate and fly out of her reach.
The dragon flew a few feet away and studied her, while it circled around her rapidly as it gazed at her. It paused and looked off for a moment towards the skies that slowly became greyer, but turned it's head back towards the girl.
She smiled at the dragon and pulled out a piece of candy. She then held it out to the plush dragon to try to coax it towards her. It watched her for a moment but couldn't resist. It flew forward and perched on her shoulder. She giggled at it and offered it the candy.
The dragon poked it's snout against the candy and the candy disappeared. A moment later it's color seemed to fade from pale blue to white, though it still had the green ribbon. It again looked towards the clouds above that turned darker and darker as time passed.
The dreamer looked up, and followed it's gaze. She saw something large and dark that moved among the clouds. The thing moved away from the clouds and started to descend rapidly towards the girl and plush dragon. The plush dragon waved a paw towards the girl, then took off and flew up to meet what was coming towards them. The dreamer waved with a smile. She knew the dragon would protect her.
As the dreamer started awaken from the dream she heard a voice whisper simply, "Remember.."
* * * * *
Another girl slept that night and dreamed, though not the same dream. She walked with her friends, Usagi, Rei, Ami and Minako, doing what they enjoyed, shopping. Minako wanted to go to another mall across town, and Ami suggested they go use the subway system and the others agreed.
Almost instantly the dreamer found herself at the underground subway system waiting for the train. The subway station was completely empty and darker then usual, causing it to seem a bit spooky. She contented herself with the fact she knew the subway train would arrive soon.
As if on cue she started to hear the subway train approach. A light appeared down the tunnel and the front of the subway train appeared around the corner. In a few moments train started going by, but it did not slow down at all. Beyond the engineer it seemed empty and there was no sign it would stop in time for her to get on. She was a bit cross at this but wondered why it was empty.
The subway finished moving by but the sound didn't cease. Something else came through the tunnel towards the station. She backed away as she recognized it as a wingless version of Paradox. The dragon didn't seem to notice her and flew through to continue to pursue the train.
She knew she had to stop it from menacing the subway and decided she had to do something. She held up a metal pen and shouted, "Jupiter Power, Make Up!" Electricity shot out from her surroundings and to the pen, which conducted the power to her and around her. She felt herself change and grow larger, until she became a dragon made of pale blue electricity. She wasted no time and ducked into the tunnel, and pursued the other dragon.
In a few moments at another station she caught up to it. The other dragon stopped and turned slow towards her. The scene faded to black.
As she woke up she heard the word, "Remember.."
* * * * *
She ran as fast as she could. She knew it was only a dream, but it felt so real and she couldn't wake up. She had seen her friends fall one by one to the creature pursued her though she couldn't see it herself. She cried for Tuxedo Kamen to save her but he was nowhere to be seen in the thick.
She ducked around the corner of a building and hoped to lose the creature. She took a moment and looked around nervously. There was no sound or movement around, but that did not make her feel any better. It had been like that before it attacked previously.
Then she saw the silhouette come around the corner. It paused as if to take in it's surroundings then turned to her. It took it's time to approach her but she did not wait for it. She turned away and tired to run, but it felt like she was running through water. She feared she was doomed.
Then a light appeared before her. It approached and she stared as she saw it was a dragon, of pure glowing white. It looked at her and nodded, as if to assure her it was no enemy. Then the large creature stepped over her to face the dark grey dragon that appeared behind her. She turned to look at both. The dark dragon, looking similar to Paradox, snorted at the other dragon in contempt. The white dragon was not discouraged and leaped to attack Paradox.
The dreamer watched, almost spellbound, as the dragons turned around each other, trying to gain the advantage and destroy the other. The buildings vanished and the dragons turned about in their deadly dance freely. The dreamer worried what would happen if the white dragon lost, and backed away as she saw both dragons latch their teeth on the other's tail, and she noticed how much bigger Paradox seemed.
As she turned to run once more she noticed a red rose lying on the ground on it's side. She reached down, picked it up and looked at it for a moment. It gave her comfort and determination. She turned back and looked towards the fighting dragons. She held the rose in her hands and gazed at both the dragons. The white one looked at her for a moment and she knew it expected and accepted what was to come next.
She cried, "Moon Princess Halation!" and pointed the rose at both dragons, which sent powerful energy at them. As it struck both the dragons they started to merge together and created a grey blur that spread out, causing the scene to fade. A female voice whispered to her from somewhere, "Remember.." before she woke, up a few moments later.
* * * * *
Gallia was not happy at all. She had returned to her home and found it changed. The columns now each had the carving of a stone dragon spiraling up them. The walls were now a charcoal grey and had carvings of dragons flying about and included a carving larger then other dragon carvings and in fact encircled the whole room. Gallia muttered, "It would seem Paradox redecorated. When I find him I am going to show him definitely who is boss. Maybe I should have listened to Actin. Besides he's kind of cute."
A knocking came once again and Gallia quickly stopped the errant thoughts. She asked out loud, in an annoyed voice, "Who is it?" A moment later a flame small enough to be from a candle floated in the air for a moment before vanishing. Gallia sighed theatrically, "Oh fine, come in Actin."
A pillar of flame flared up momentarily and when it vanished Actin stood there facing where Gallia had just been standing. She however had turned and walked to one of the chairs of the room, noting how it was minorly changed in look. Actin glanced around, not seeming to care she had turned away, then asked, "Have you been redecorating? I didn't know you liked dragons."
Gallia spun around to face Actin, annoyed, but she kept her annoyance under control and lied, "I felt like having a change to the looks."
After he crossed his arms Actin asked, "Is that so? And when did this change of taste come about?"
Gallia smirked, "When the Grey One revealed his full power to me. He has become a dragon. With him, it will be easy to defeat our enemies, and get the rest of the Shards."
Actin nodded then asked another question, "Well where is he now then?"
"He is off doing something. Trying to keep it a surprise though so don't ask me what it is. You'll find out I think, don't worry," responded Gallia.
Actin shook his head and advised Gallia, "You should be careful with him. It's not too late to change your mind. We would work well together I think."
"I'm not interested. You worry about locating the location of the other Shards. I'll worry about.. my pet.. and the Sailor Senshi," responded Gallia, smirking once more.
Actin shrugged and responded, "Very well. Till next time then." He saluted Gallia and teleported away in a flash of fire.
Gallia muttered to herself and looked around the world more, "The least I need is Actin bothering me. With Paradox off I don't know where. Why isn't my control more effective. The spell isn't broken so what is wrong?" She paused for a moment, then shook her head. She said quietly to herself, "Maybe I should have treated him better or something." Her expression hardened and she asked herself, "What am I talking about? Many would beg to be in the position he is in, he's just ungrateful. When I find him I'll just have to show him the error of his ways. I'll show him who is boss. Meanwhile I have just the plan to get the Sailor Sillies."
Gallia laughed to herself and shot out water at her furniture, pushing it all out of the way against the walls. She said to herself, "It's ruined anyhow, so I'll just replace it later. Meantime a place with no apparent exits would be a wonderful trap." She laughed again, confident of her plan and said, "This will be so much fun," and continued to laugh as she teleported away.
* * * * *
They all sat on a bench in a park or stood around it and talked about what had been going on. Usagi, Chibi-Usa and Ami with her computer sat on the bench. Mamoru stood behind Usagi and the other three girls stood nearby.
Makoto bent over to look at Ami's computer screen and asked, "Figure out anything on this yet?"
Ami sighed and shook her head. She responded, "Not with the current events though I found out something curious. When I was cross referencing news data I found out in the Brazil area, near the area we had been, some of the cut down forests there has regrown rapidly in the past few days. A circumstance of reforestation it seems, with trees even growing where there hadn't been any before, so there is an over abundance of trees in the area now."
Makoto nodded and commented, "Maybe that was from the second Shard," to which Ami nodded. Makoto continued, "Well maybe Minako-chan has heard something on the radio."
Everyone turned to look at Minako, who was wearing a yellow Walkman with a little radio dial. She had her eyes closed and was moving to some sort of song and obviously was not listing to any sort of news station. After a loud, "Ahem," from Rei she opened one eye and looked at the others. When she saw them looking at her she opened both eyes and pulled off the headphones and asked, "What?"
Rei put her hands on her hips and said, "Aren't you supposed to be listening to news reports and not music on that?"
"Hey, music stations have news too," replied Minako, "Don't worry, I'm listening." With that she put the headphones back on and went back to how she was before.
"Geez, she's almost as bad as Usagi sometimes," muttered Rei.
Usagi said indignantly, "I heard that Rei. Why can't you give us a break?"
"Well someone has to keep you on your toes," replied Rei.
"I'm fine on my own," said Usagi. She then added softly, "And don't be so hard on Minako. At least she has her mind off of Artemis. She didn't take it well. Then again.." She wiped a tear from her eye and spoke quietly, "Luna. Artemis."
Mamoru reached over the bench to hold Usagi's hand, while Chibi-Usa sat next to her. Chibi-Usa wiped a tear from her own eye and tried to comfort Diana, unsuccessfully. The poor little kitty had took it worst of all, to no one's surprise.
Suddenly Minako's eyes shot opened as she listened intently to the Walkman. She said out loud, "Down town there is a building that has apparently suddenly been filled with water to the roof and it's a 30 story building. It must be her!"
Those on the bench stood up quickly. Makoto asked, "Do you know which part of down town?" to which Minako nodded. Makoto said energetically, "Lets go! It's payback time!"
* * * * *
Six senshi showed up on the scene. The youngest carried a grey kitten and Tuxedo Kamen accompanied them. The building stood before them and they could plainly see it was filled with water though it didn't look like anyone was inside. The police had the building taped off and crews from the city tried to figure out how to tackle the problem. Also nearby were vans from news stations and the senshi soon found a few cameras turn on them at their surprise appearance in another country.
The senshi were a little surprised at the attention but they had no time to think about it. A glowing blue portal suddenly opened up behind them. They turned away from the building to look at it and back away, towards the building. The doors to the water filled building then let go of their magical seals and soon water came rushing out into the street. Before they knew what was happening, the torrent of water pushed them through the mysterious portal.
They found themselves strewn across the floor of a room. They all stood up and Sailor Venus asked, "Where are we?" They looked around the room and that had several columns, broken furniture pushed against the wall, and almost everything had some sort of dragon design on them, including a large dragon carving that wrapped around the room.
"Welcome to my home," said Gallia as she stepped around a column into the senshi's site, "I hope you like it, because you are moving in, permanently."
"Hey, there is no exits," Sailor Moon said in a worried voice.
Gallia gave them an obviously fake sweet smile and said, "You wouldn't want to get hurt in the big, bad, Dark Kingdom, now would you Sailor Sissies? So make yourself comfortable. I'm even moving out so you can have it all to yourself."
"And what are you going to do, run away like before?" shot back Sailor Jupiter.
Gallia scowled and replied, "Look missy, I didn't run away before. I had more important things to deal with, but if you want to end your lives early I can arrange. I don't need to keep you alive."
"Don't count your dragons before their hatched. Interesting layout here but if I have to spend a lifetime at some place I'd chose a different theme," said Sailor Venus, "And better colors too, yeesh."
Gallia glowered at Sailor Venus, and responded, "I didn't do that. The place was fine until Paradox came and ruined the place. That stupid lizard is so ungrateful. I gave him the power he has now and he shows his thanks by ruining my furniture and hiding from me. The crummy layout is not my idea."
"Well it's still your home, and in the name of the Moon," started Sailor Moon.
"And good taste," added Sailor Venus before everyone said, "We will punish you!"
Unknown to anyone, the head of what seemed to be the huge dragon carving opened an eye and looked at those in the room, but it did not make a sound.
Gallia seemed to regain her composure from earlier and just laughed. She said, "Even without that worthless Paradox you are no threat to me. I'll just wipe you out of the way, then find him and show him he is, and always will be mine." She crossed her arms and pointed her palms towards the senshi and shouted, "In the meantime, say good bye Soggy Senshi!"
At that moment the whole room started to rumble, which shocked everyone, including Gallia. Sailor Mercury shouted the question, "What is going on?" The large dragon, which had masqueraded as a giant carving, disengaged himself from the wall, leaving a large indentation. Other parts of the ceiling and wall vanished, revealing themselves to just be illusions and giving the dragon more room, the small cavern becoming much larger then it originally was, though still with the four columns supporting it. The dragon moved to the middle of the room, between the senshi and Gallia and said slowly, "Good bye Soggy Senshi. I have done as you asked.. Master.. What else would you have me do.. Master?"
Gallia seemed unnerved for a moment by the sudden appearance, but smiled after a moment. "Very good my pet," she said, "I'm so glad you were here. I don't know what I'd do with out you. You are so strong and powerful."
Sailor Venus shouted, "Don't listen to her Shade! She's just using you!"
Paradox slowly turned his head and looked at Sailor Venus. He intoned, "Sorry, Shade is not in right now. Please leave your name, number and brief message and he'll get back to you.. in your next life. Thanks for caaaalling.." He then turned slowly back to Gallia and asked once more, "What else would you have me do.." He delayed for a moment before adding, "Master?"
Gallia didn't seem to notice the delays as she gave Paradox her most winning smile. "It's a very easy order, my lovely Paradox," said Gallia silkily, "Take out the senshi."
Paradox nodded his reptilian head slowly and asked, "Are you sure that is what you want.. Master?"
Gallia smiled at Paradox and nodded. She added, "Do it quickly and maybe I'll give you a reward later. Do it now, Paradox. I hate waiting."
Paradox nodded again and said, "You won't have to worry about that." With that he suddenly spun from facing Gallia to facing the senshi. His tail whipped behind him and crashed through one of the columns. It continued along quickly and struck Gallia before she could react and sent her flying into one of the other columns. The column cracked behind her and even with the magical defenses of a Champion she was severely hurt, with her breath knocked out of her. The senshi stared at her and Paradox in surprised but had to dodge as Paradox swung a claw at them and broke apart a third column with it.
"He's going to cause the cavern to collapse on us!" shouted Sailor Mercury as the cavern started to shake and stone began to rain from the ceiling.
Sailor Mars yelled, "We have to get out of here but how?"
Paradox moved slowly towards them and opened him mouth. He breathed out towards them what almost seemed like grey fire but it had no heat or affect on them. Instead where it hit the wall and floor, a opening to another plane, the place of varying greys, appeared. Paradox blocked any escape beyond the opening and approached the senshi. The senshi stood their ground but he managed to grab Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi-Moon who was holding Diana. He tossed those two through the gateway. With the ceiling collapsing the others had no choice but to follow and try to get to Sailor Moon on the other side. Paradox followed closely behind them.
Gallia shook her head weakly and saw Paradox's tail pass through the opening and it slowly close. She tried to stand but seemed too hurt to move. As she saw the ceiling collapsing she remembered the voice in the dream had said, "If you really want to cause pain and chaos to all then proceed, Dreamer, for your way of choice is the way of the blade of fate." Gallia knew she should have listened then and murmured painfully, "I'll listen now. Give me another..*" Her voice trailed off as she looked above her and saw several stalactites break away from the ceiling above her. The stony spikes fell towards her like giant teeth in a massive maw. She tried to get out of the way but it was too late.
After a few moments the rumbling stopped. The mountain the cavern had been in had one side totally collapsed. The dust that rose from the rubble was able to be seen for miles.
* * * * *
When they got themselves straightened out, the senshi, and the two others, floated in some kind of grey mist. They were confronted by a lot of grey nothing, or so it seemed. Out of the corner of their eyes they could see silhouettes of everyday things, and occasionally stranger things, but when they looked over they saw nothing. There was no ground and no sky. They just seemed to float in a grey fog. There was also no sign of Paradox.
Sailor Mars looked around and murmured, "We seem a little out of place here, but I feel strangely also feel like some small part of me belongs here."
"It's weird," commented Sailor Venus as she looked around, "It's just as bland as Shen's place had been. Maybe this is where he got his ideas."
"But how do we get out of here? I wanna go home!" cried Sailor Moon.
"Me too!" followed Sailor Chibi-Moon.
Sailor Mercury put down her visor and analyzed the area. Her eyes opened wide as she looked around, glancing at the others for a moment. She said with a surprised voice, "According to this, we are real, but nothing else here is. It's not an illusion either, it's just coming up as nothing on my visor. It's..*" She suddenly started as her visor started to cloud over with grey and she quickly removed the visor. She continued, "I think it's beyond what my computer understands at the moment, something too unusual. If I had time I might be able to determine what this is but this place seems to interfere with my visor and my computer too I believe."
Sailor Jupiter muttered, "So we are just sitting ducks out here, huh?"
A voice spoke from behind the group, "Oh, ducks are not a common sight here." The others turned around to see Shade floating behind them, hidden within his cloak like usual. He continued to speak, "Though their shadows are a little more common."
Sailor Venus smiled and said, "Hey, you are back to normal! What happened?"
Shade shrugged and said, "So it would seem. Perhaps it was some kind of effect of entering the Shadow Plane. Paradox seems gone for now," as he crossed his arms.
Tuxedo Kamen frowned slightly and asked, "If you know where we are, what is this place?"
Shade gestured idly to the area around him and replied, "This is the Shadow Plane, where all shadows partially exist or fully. Normally, non-shadow like yourself can not come here and stay here any measurable length of time. It's a place between places and often used in teleportation magic, but it is moved so quickly through, it's unnoticeable."
Sailor Venus asked, "So where do we go from here? How do we leave here?"
Shade shrugged again and replied, "I don't think you will need to worry about that."
"What do you mean?" Sailor Venus asked Shade.
"Because.." Shade said slowly in response. Suddenly Paradox came into view again, and dove in straight from above. Before anyone could react he swallowed Sailor Venus whole and continued down before the stunned group could react. They turned back towards Shade questioningly. Shade continued what he had started, "You will have other things on your mind.." With that he faded out of existence, seeming to become part of their surroundings before the senshis' eyes.
Sailor Mars looked around wide eyed, "He got Sailor Venus. I don't think Paradox is gone."
"I surmise Shade was just some kind of illusion made by Paradox. We have to watch out," suggested Sailor Mercury.
From a silhouette of Sailor Venus in the distance came her call, "Help guys, where are you? I can't see you. I got away from Paradox barely but I can't find my way back. Where are you?"
"We have to help her!" shouted Sailor Moon as she somehow made her way forward. The others followed her close behind to keep together as they approached Sailor Venus. However the silhouette did not gain any more detail. Sailor Moon said worriedly, "Something is wrong here." There was a scream from behind and as the others turned around, they saw Sailor Mars was gone, and they could see Paradox's tail disappear in the distance. "Nooooo! He got Sailor Mars too! We have to do something!" cried Sailor Moon.
"Well we obviously can't trust what we see. Paradox will just try to distract us and strike again. Be careful!" recommended Sailor Mercury.
Paradox appeared before them and looked down on them. He asked them, "And what are you going to do. This is my home plane of existence. You are aliens to this place. How can you win?" With that he turned and flew off not even waiting for a reply.
"What nerve he has. He takes our friends and doesn't even stay to fight," complained Sailor Jupiter before she pointed and shouted, "Look out!"
From a different direction from the one he vanished to Paradox came at them. They barely dodged away from the plunging Paradox. However they were caught by surprise when the real Paradox came in from a different direction and while they were watching the fake Paradox, the real one swallowed Sailor Mercury whole.
Sailor Chibi-Moon cried, "Mercury!" while Diana held her paws in front of her eyes. The three remaining senshi and Tuxedo Kamen moved back to back and looked around the area.
"What now?" Sailor Moon asked, "He's getting us one by one. We are toast."
"Believe in yourself Sailor Moon. The power is within you to defeat anything, and I'll protect you," Tuxedo Kamen told Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon smiled at him, "Thank you. I know I can count on you." She looked at the other two senshi, "All of you. But how can we do it?"
Sailor Jupiter shook her head, "I don't know Sailor Moon. There has to be some way.."
"Remember.." came a voice from the foggy shadows. It was not the same voice as from the dreams, and in fact seemed to come from all around them, but it still reminded three of them.
"Remember what? My dream?" asked Chibi-Moon out loud.
"You had a dream where someone said remember too? Though in the dream it was a girl and this sounded like a guy," replied Sailor Jupiter.
"It could be a trick of Paradox's but what else can we do. I had a dream too. All we can do is follow our dreams, and maybe we can win," encouraged Sailor Moon.
"That's the way to think Sailor Moon. I have faith in you," said Tuxedo Kamen.
Sailor Moon asked him, "Did you have a dream too?"
Tuxedo Kamen shook his head and was about to reply when his eyes opened wide. He shouted, "Look out!" and shoved the others away. Paradox rushed through where all of them had been, but Tuxedo Kamen pushed the rest of them out of the way and became Paradox's only victim.
Sailor Moon tried to move towards Paradox and stretched out her hand as she cried, "Tuxedo Kamen!" but Sailor Jupiter held her back.
"Snap out of it. Don't let what he did be wasted!" Sailor Jupiter said to Sailor Moon before turning to Paradox who had turned some distance away to face them, idly eyeing them. Sailor Jupiter crisscrossed her arms and shouted, "Supreme Thunder Dragon!" As directed by her a huge dragon of electricity shot out at Paradox to strike him.
The dragon did not seem to affect Paradox at all, except for Paradox to raise a reptilian eyebrow. Paradox slowly moved forwards and commented, "That was interesting. Are you done now?"
Sailor Jupiter blinked and looked at the other two and explained despairingly, "I attacked Paradox in the dream as a dragon. That should have worked."
Paradox drew closer still and said, "I was curious what you planned to do, after you went going on about some voice. I suppose you can go insane too though. However I am not impressed, morsels, so I think it's time to end this waste of time in this timeless place."
Sailor Moon hid behind Sailor Jupiter, while Sailor Chibi-Moon hid behind Sailor Moon. "What now?" asked Sailor Chibi-Moon in fear. She blinked for a moment and she told Sailor Jupiter, "Do the dragon again. You followed your dream but I needed to do something."
Paradox's eyes narrowed and told them, "The patient can even run out of patience. You better do something interesting now or forever hold your peace. My curiosity is limited," as he continued to approach, perhaps only 20 feet away.
The three pushed apart slightly as Sailor Moon said, "Let's go then!"
Sailor Jupiter crossed her arms once more and intoned, "Supreme Thunder Dragon!" The dragon made of blue electricity appeared once more but did not shoot forward, waiting for something.
Sailor Chibi-Moon held her hand in the air and shouted, "Pink Sugar Heart Attack!" and directed the energy she summoned towards the electrical dragon. The electrical dragon shuttered for a moment and seemed to start to disappear. Instead though, the area of shadows around it seemed to grow darker as it began to absorb lighter shadow energy. Soon the dragon had turned whitish and was now facing Paradox.
Paradox narrowed his eyes once more and looked around. He muttered, "Someone is helping you. Someone from here. I will find out who.. later." He turned his attention back upon the other dragon though as Sailor Jupiter directed it to attack. The other dragon was not as big as Paradox, but it was no longer something he was able to just shrug off. It swiped a claw at him, but he dodged aside. He then grabbed it with his own claws and dug them in. The other dragon had a chance to bite Paradox then, but Paradox bit back harder. They twirled about one another and for a little while the senshi did not know which would win, but slowly Paradox gained the upper hand on the other dragon and began to deal a lot more damage then he took.
Sailor Moon covered her mouth as she watched, rendered speechless by the battle between the two awesome creatures. Sailor Chibi-Moon elbowed Sailor Moon to bring her attention back. "Ow," complained Sailor Moon, "What was that for?"
Sailor Chibi-Moon replied, "You were spacing and you don't have time to space."
"But what about the others?" asked Sailor Moon.
Sailor Jupiter shook her head and told Sailor Moon, "I don't know but this is the only chance we have. Finish them Sailor Moon!"
At those words Paradox turned his head to look at the senshi menacingly, but the distraction gave the other dragon a chance to gain back some ground and soon Paradox returned his attention to the battle, determined to win quickly. He latched his teeth onto behind the other dragon's head and struggled to break its neck.
Sailor Moon pulled out the cutie moon rod and raised it above her. She then started waving it around as she called out, "Moon Princess Halation!" and pointed the rod towards the two battling dragon. Energy rays shot out towards both dragons. Paradox roared but started to blur along, with the white dragon, into his surroundings and the other dragon. Soon the area around the two dragons began to glow grey. The glow expanded and soon reached the senshi. The remaining senshi lost sight of everything.
* * * * *
She felt herself just floating there, with no gravity at all. She shifted a little and heard the faint jingle of her bell. She opened her eyes and at first focused on the bell around her neck, then where they were. She was still floating it the Shadow Plane. She looked around and saw the others, and much to her surprise that included the missing ones. She saw all the senshi, floating in the mist and seeming unconscious, including Sailor Chibi-Moon. She also saw Tuxedo Kamen floating near Sailor Moon, guarding her even as both slept. Then she saw two others and meowed happily. Diana zipped forward to where her parents floated and ended up crashing into them. She didn't care, because her parents were there.
Artemis woke up a moment before Luna and complained, "Ow!" for a moment. Then he looked around as saw his daughter and shouted, "Diana" and nuzzled her nose. Luna quickly joined them in the happy reunion. Soon the others started to wake up, and take in their surroundings.
Sailor Jupiter was first to spot him, and she groggily pointed him out to the others. "It's Shade. It looks like he's still unconscious."
Shade floated nearby, with three grey orbs hovering around him. One orb moved towards Jupiter and formed into the more familiar image of Guide. Guide telepathically sent to the group, in a weak voice, 'I think.. it is time.. we go home.'
With that a whirlpool of shadows began to form. The others cried as everyone started to get swept up by it. The all spun around towards the center where a nexus opened, and in the matter of moments they were all sent through the nexus.
The appeared a few feet off the ground at the Hikawa Shrine. All of the senshi and Tuxedo Kamen landed on their feet with the exception of Sailor Moon who fell less gracefully.
Sailor Mars said happily, "It's the Shrine!"
A dull thud sounded as the unconscious Shade in the ground and the nexus to the Shadow Plane closed after them.
* * * * *
Actin watched the servants of the Dark Kingdom as they sifted through the rumble of what once had been Gallia's home. He told them, "Keep it up. We'll reach it soon. Keep your eye out."
One youma turned towards Actin and shouted, "Sir, I think I found something!"
Actin nodded and moved to where the youma was. He pushed aside a few stones to reveal the base of a stone column. He looked closer and found an empty uniform which rested on some wet stone. He shook his head and muttered quietly, "You should have listened."
The youma standing at attention next to him asked, "What was that, sir?"
Actin shook his head and told the youma, "Nothing." Actin then reached over and rummaged through the uniform. In a moment he pulled out the Shard of Light that Gallia had found. He looked at it for a moment, then turned to the youma and ordered, "Good work. Inform the others we have what we came for so they can stop digging." He then gestured to the uniform and said, "You know what to do with that. Take care of it."
The youma saluted Actin and said, "Very good, sir."
Actin saluted back to the youma then teleported away.
* * * * *
The dreamer stood in a field of flowers and looked around. Next to her stood her parents, Usagi and Mamoru. She looked back to make sure they were there then ran forward, while she giggled, through the flowers. She smiled as she heard Mamoru's good-natured laughter at her antics.
She found herself running over a small rise, and found a small dark hole. She forgot about her parents and approached it to look in. She blinked in surprise when she saw at the bottom a pale blue stuffed dragon, with a green ribbon around it's neck, which just laid there. She bent over the hole and reached for the dragon, but she was surprised again to see it suddenly animate and fly out of her reach.
The dragon flew a few feet away and studied her, while it circled around her rapidly as it gazed at her. It paused and looked off for a moment towards the skies that slowly became greyer, but turned it's head back towards the girl.
She smiled at the dragon and pulled out a piece of candy. She then held it out to the plush dragon to try to coax it towards her. It watched her for a moment but couldn't resist. It flew forward and perched on her shoulder. She giggled at it and offered it the candy.
The dragon poked it's snout against the candy and the candy disappeared. A moment later it's color seemed to fade from pale blue to white, though it still had the green ribbon. It again looked towards the clouds above that turned darker and darker as time passed.
The dreamer looked up, and followed it's gaze. She saw something large and dark that moved among the clouds. The thing moved away from the clouds and started to descend rapidly towards the girl and plush dragon. The plush dragon waved a paw towards the girl, then took off and flew up to meet what was coming towards them. The dreamer waved with a smile. She knew the dragon would protect her.
As the dreamer started awaken from the dream she heard a voice whisper simply, "Remember.."
* * * * *
Another girl slept that night and dreamed, though not the same dream. She walked with her friends, Usagi, Rei, Ami and Minako, doing what they enjoyed, shopping. Minako wanted to go to another mall across town, and Ami suggested they go use the subway system and the others agreed.
Almost instantly the dreamer found herself at the underground subway system waiting for the train. The subway station was completely empty and darker then usual, causing it to seem a bit spooky. She contented herself with the fact she knew the subway train would arrive soon.
As if on cue she started to hear the subway train approach. A light appeared down the tunnel and the front of the subway train appeared around the corner. In a few moments train started going by, but it did not slow down at all. Beyond the engineer it seemed empty and there was no sign it would stop in time for her to get on. She was a bit cross at this but wondered why it was empty.
The subway finished moving by but the sound didn't cease. Something else came through the tunnel towards the station. She backed away as she recognized it as a wingless version of Paradox. The dragon didn't seem to notice her and flew through to continue to pursue the train.
She knew she had to stop it from menacing the subway and decided she had to do something. She held up a metal pen and shouted, "Jupiter Power, Make Up!" Electricity shot out from her surroundings and to the pen, which conducted the power to her and around her. She felt herself change and grow larger, until she became a dragon made of pale blue electricity. She wasted no time and ducked into the tunnel, and pursued the other dragon.
In a few moments at another station she caught up to it. The other dragon stopped and turned slow towards her. The scene faded to black.
As she woke up she heard the word, "Remember.."
* * * * *
She ran as fast as she could. She knew it was only a dream, but it felt so real and she couldn't wake up. She had seen her friends fall one by one to the creature pursued her though she couldn't see it herself. She cried for Tuxedo Kamen to save her but he was nowhere to be seen in the thick.
She ducked around the corner of a building and hoped to lose the creature. She took a moment and looked around nervously. There was no sound or movement around, but that did not make her feel any better. It had been like that before it attacked previously.
Then she saw the silhouette come around the corner. It paused as if to take in it's surroundings then turned to her. It took it's time to approach her but she did not wait for it. She turned away and tired to run, but it felt like she was running through water. She feared she was doomed.
Then a light appeared before her. It approached and she stared as she saw it was a dragon, of pure glowing white. It looked at her and nodded, as if to assure her it was no enemy. Then the large creature stepped over her to face the dark grey dragon that appeared behind her. She turned to look at both. The dark dragon, looking similar to Paradox, snorted at the other dragon in contempt. The white dragon was not discouraged and leaped to attack Paradox.
The dreamer watched, almost spellbound, as the dragons turned around each other, trying to gain the advantage and destroy the other. The buildings vanished and the dragons turned about in their deadly dance freely. The dreamer worried what would happen if the white dragon lost, and backed away as she saw both dragons latch their teeth on the other's tail, and she noticed how much bigger Paradox seemed.
As she turned to run once more she noticed a red rose lying on the ground on it's side. She reached down, picked it up and looked at it for a moment. It gave her comfort and determination. She turned back and looked towards the fighting dragons. She held the rose in her hands and gazed at both the dragons. The white one looked at her for a moment and she knew it expected and accepted what was to come next.
She cried, "Moon Princess Halation!" and pointed the rose at both dragons, which sent powerful energy at them. As it struck both the dragons they started to merge together and created a grey blur that spread out, causing the scene to fade. A female voice whispered to her from somewhere, "Remember.." before she woke, up a few moments later.
* * * * *
Gallia was not happy at all. She had returned to her home and found it changed. The columns now each had the carving of a stone dragon spiraling up them. The walls were now a charcoal grey and had carvings of dragons flying about and included a carving larger then other dragon carvings and in fact encircled the whole room. Gallia muttered, "It would seem Paradox redecorated. When I find him I am going to show him definitely who is boss. Maybe I should have listened to Actin. Besides he's kind of cute."
A knocking came once again and Gallia quickly stopped the errant thoughts. She asked out loud, in an annoyed voice, "Who is it?" A moment later a flame small enough to be from a candle floated in the air for a moment before vanishing. Gallia sighed theatrically, "Oh fine, come in Actin."
A pillar of flame flared up momentarily and when it vanished Actin stood there facing where Gallia had just been standing. She however had turned and walked to one of the chairs of the room, noting how it was minorly changed in look. Actin glanced around, not seeming to care she had turned away, then asked, "Have you been redecorating? I didn't know you liked dragons."
Gallia spun around to face Actin, annoyed, but she kept her annoyance under control and lied, "I felt like having a change to the looks."
After he crossed his arms Actin asked, "Is that so? And when did this change of taste come about?"
Gallia smirked, "When the Grey One revealed his full power to me. He has become a dragon. With him, it will be easy to defeat our enemies, and get the rest of the Shards."
Actin nodded then asked another question, "Well where is he now then?"
"He is off doing something. Trying to keep it a surprise though so don't ask me what it is. You'll find out I think, don't worry," responded Gallia.
Actin shook his head and advised Gallia, "You should be careful with him. It's not too late to change your mind. We would work well together I think."
"I'm not interested. You worry about locating the location of the other Shards. I'll worry about.. my pet.. and the Sailor Senshi," responded Gallia, smirking once more.
Actin shrugged and responded, "Very well. Till next time then." He saluted Gallia and teleported away in a flash of fire.
Gallia muttered to herself and looked around the world more, "The least I need is Actin bothering me. With Paradox off I don't know where. Why isn't my control more effective. The spell isn't broken so what is wrong?" She paused for a moment, then shook her head. She said quietly to herself, "Maybe I should have treated him better or something." Her expression hardened and she asked herself, "What am I talking about? Many would beg to be in the position he is in, he's just ungrateful. When I find him I'll just have to show him the error of his ways. I'll show him who is boss. Meanwhile I have just the plan to get the Sailor Sillies."
Gallia laughed to herself and shot out water at her furniture, pushing it all out of the way against the walls. She said to herself, "It's ruined anyhow, so I'll just replace it later. Meantime a place with no apparent exits would be a wonderful trap." She laughed again, confident of her plan and said, "This will be so much fun," and continued to laugh as she teleported away.
* * * * *
They all sat on a bench in a park or stood around it and talked about what had been going on. Usagi, Chibi-Usa and Ami with her computer sat on the bench. Mamoru stood behind Usagi and the other three girls stood nearby.
Makoto bent over to look at Ami's computer screen and asked, "Figure out anything on this yet?"
Ami sighed and shook her head. She responded, "Not with the current events though I found out something curious. When I was cross referencing news data I found out in the Brazil area, near the area we had been, some of the cut down forests there has regrown rapidly in the past few days. A circumstance of reforestation it seems, with trees even growing where there hadn't been any before, so there is an over abundance of trees in the area now."
Makoto nodded and commented, "Maybe that was from the second Shard," to which Ami nodded. Makoto continued, "Well maybe Minako-chan has heard something on the radio."
Everyone turned to look at Minako, who was wearing a yellow Walkman with a little radio dial. She had her eyes closed and was moving to some sort of song and obviously was not listing to any sort of news station. After a loud, "Ahem," from Rei she opened one eye and looked at the others. When she saw them looking at her she opened both eyes and pulled off the headphones and asked, "What?"
Rei put her hands on her hips and said, "Aren't you supposed to be listening to news reports and not music on that?"
"Hey, music stations have news too," replied Minako, "Don't worry, I'm listening." With that she put the headphones back on and went back to how she was before.
"Geez, she's almost as bad as Usagi sometimes," muttered Rei.
Usagi said indignantly, "I heard that Rei. Why can't you give us a break?"
"Well someone has to keep you on your toes," replied Rei.
"I'm fine on my own," said Usagi. She then added softly, "And don't be so hard on Minako. At least she has her mind off of Artemis. She didn't take it well. Then again.." She wiped a tear from her eye and spoke quietly, "Luna. Artemis."
Mamoru reached over the bench to hold Usagi's hand, while Chibi-Usa sat next to her. Chibi-Usa wiped a tear from her own eye and tried to comfort Diana, unsuccessfully. The poor little kitty had took it worst of all, to no one's surprise.
Suddenly Minako's eyes shot opened as she listened intently to the Walkman. She said out loud, "Down town there is a building that has apparently suddenly been filled with water to the roof and it's a 30 story building. It must be her!"
Those on the bench stood up quickly. Makoto asked, "Do you know which part of down town?" to which Minako nodded. Makoto said energetically, "Lets go! It's payback time!"
* * * * *
Six senshi showed up on the scene. The youngest carried a grey kitten and Tuxedo Kamen accompanied them. The building stood before them and they could plainly see it was filled with water though it didn't look like anyone was inside. The police had the building taped off and crews from the city tried to figure out how to tackle the problem. Also nearby were vans from news stations and the senshi soon found a few cameras turn on them at their surprise appearance in another country.
The senshi were a little surprised at the attention but they had no time to think about it. A glowing blue portal suddenly opened up behind them. They turned away from the building to look at it and back away, towards the building. The doors to the water filled building then let go of their magical seals and soon water came rushing out into the street. Before they knew what was happening, the torrent of water pushed them through the mysterious portal.
They found themselves strewn across the floor of a room. They all stood up and Sailor Venus asked, "Where are we?" They looked around the room and that had several columns, broken furniture pushed against the wall, and almost everything had some sort of dragon design on them, including a large dragon carving that wrapped around the room.
"Welcome to my home," said Gallia as she stepped around a column into the senshi's site, "I hope you like it, because you are moving in, permanently."
"Hey, there is no exits," Sailor Moon said in a worried voice.
Gallia gave them an obviously fake sweet smile and said, "You wouldn't want to get hurt in the big, bad, Dark Kingdom, now would you Sailor Sissies? So make yourself comfortable. I'm even moving out so you can have it all to yourself."
"And what are you going to do, run away like before?" shot back Sailor Jupiter.
Gallia scowled and replied, "Look missy, I didn't run away before. I had more important things to deal with, but if you want to end your lives early I can arrange. I don't need to keep you alive."
"Don't count your dragons before their hatched. Interesting layout here but if I have to spend a lifetime at some place I'd chose a different theme," said Sailor Venus, "And better colors too, yeesh."
Gallia glowered at Sailor Venus, and responded, "I didn't do that. The place was fine until Paradox came and ruined the place. That stupid lizard is so ungrateful. I gave him the power he has now and he shows his thanks by ruining my furniture and hiding from me. The crummy layout is not my idea."
"Well it's still your home, and in the name of the Moon," started Sailor Moon.
"And good taste," added Sailor Venus before everyone said, "We will punish you!"
Unknown to anyone, the head of what seemed to be the huge dragon carving opened an eye and looked at those in the room, but it did not make a sound.
Gallia seemed to regain her composure from earlier and just laughed. She said, "Even without that worthless Paradox you are no threat to me. I'll just wipe you out of the way, then find him and show him he is, and always will be mine." She crossed her arms and pointed her palms towards the senshi and shouted, "In the meantime, say good bye Soggy Senshi!"
At that moment the whole room started to rumble, which shocked everyone, including Gallia. Sailor Mercury shouted the question, "What is going on?" The large dragon, which had masqueraded as a giant carving, disengaged himself from the wall, leaving a large indentation. Other parts of the ceiling and wall vanished, revealing themselves to just be illusions and giving the dragon more room, the small cavern becoming much larger then it originally was, though still with the four columns supporting it. The dragon moved to the middle of the room, between the senshi and Gallia and said slowly, "Good bye Soggy Senshi. I have done as you asked.. Master.. What else would you have me do.. Master?"
Gallia seemed unnerved for a moment by the sudden appearance, but smiled after a moment. "Very good my pet," she said, "I'm so glad you were here. I don't know what I'd do with out you. You are so strong and powerful."
Sailor Venus shouted, "Don't listen to her Shade! She's just using you!"
Paradox slowly turned his head and looked at Sailor Venus. He intoned, "Sorry, Shade is not in right now. Please leave your name, number and brief message and he'll get back to you.. in your next life. Thanks for caaaalling.." He then turned slowly back to Gallia and asked once more, "What else would you have me do.." He delayed for a moment before adding, "Master?"
Gallia didn't seem to notice the delays as she gave Paradox her most winning smile. "It's a very easy order, my lovely Paradox," said Gallia silkily, "Take out the senshi."
Paradox nodded his reptilian head slowly and asked, "Are you sure that is what you want.. Master?"
Gallia smiled at Paradox and nodded. She added, "Do it quickly and maybe I'll give you a reward later. Do it now, Paradox. I hate waiting."
Paradox nodded again and said, "You won't have to worry about that." With that he suddenly spun from facing Gallia to facing the senshi. His tail whipped behind him and crashed through one of the columns. It continued along quickly and struck Gallia before she could react and sent her flying into one of the other columns. The column cracked behind her and even with the magical defenses of a Champion she was severely hurt, with her breath knocked out of her. The senshi stared at her and Paradox in surprised but had to dodge as Paradox swung a claw at them and broke apart a third column with it.
"He's going to cause the cavern to collapse on us!" shouted Sailor Mercury as the cavern started to shake and stone began to rain from the ceiling.
Sailor Mars yelled, "We have to get out of here but how?"
Paradox moved slowly towards them and opened him mouth. He breathed out towards them what almost seemed like grey fire but it had no heat or affect on them. Instead where it hit the wall and floor, a opening to another plane, the place of varying greys, appeared. Paradox blocked any escape beyond the opening and approached the senshi. The senshi stood their ground but he managed to grab Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi-Moon who was holding Diana. He tossed those two through the gateway. With the ceiling collapsing the others had no choice but to follow and try to get to Sailor Moon on the other side. Paradox followed closely behind them.
Gallia shook her head weakly and saw Paradox's tail pass through the opening and it slowly close. She tried to stand but seemed too hurt to move. As she saw the ceiling collapsing she remembered the voice in the dream had said, "If you really want to cause pain and chaos to all then proceed, Dreamer, for your way of choice is the way of the blade of fate." Gallia knew she should have listened then and murmured painfully, "I'll listen now. Give me another..*" Her voice trailed off as she looked above her and saw several stalactites break away from the ceiling above her. The stony spikes fell towards her like giant teeth in a massive maw. She tried to get out of the way but it was too late.
After a few moments the rumbling stopped. The mountain the cavern had been in had one side totally collapsed. The dust that rose from the rubble was able to be seen for miles.
* * * * *
When they got themselves straightened out, the senshi, and the two others, floated in some kind of grey mist. They were confronted by a lot of grey nothing, or so it seemed. Out of the corner of their eyes they could see silhouettes of everyday things, and occasionally stranger things, but when they looked over they saw nothing. There was no ground and no sky. They just seemed to float in a grey fog. There was also no sign of Paradox.
Sailor Mars looked around and murmured, "We seem a little out of place here, but I feel strangely also feel like some small part of me belongs here."
"It's weird," commented Sailor Venus as she looked around, "It's just as bland as Shen's place had been. Maybe this is where he got his ideas."
"But how do we get out of here? I wanna go home!" cried Sailor Moon.
"Me too!" followed Sailor Chibi-Moon.
Sailor Mercury put down her visor and analyzed the area. Her eyes opened wide as she looked around, glancing at the others for a moment. She said with a surprised voice, "According to this, we are real, but nothing else here is. It's not an illusion either, it's just coming up as nothing on my visor. It's..*" She suddenly started as her visor started to cloud over with grey and she quickly removed the visor. She continued, "I think it's beyond what my computer understands at the moment, something too unusual. If I had time I might be able to determine what this is but this place seems to interfere with my visor and my computer too I believe."
Sailor Jupiter muttered, "So we are just sitting ducks out here, huh?"
A voice spoke from behind the group, "Oh, ducks are not a common sight here." The others turned around to see Shade floating behind them, hidden within his cloak like usual. He continued to speak, "Though their shadows are a little more common."
Sailor Venus smiled and said, "Hey, you are back to normal! What happened?"
Shade shrugged and said, "So it would seem. Perhaps it was some kind of effect of entering the Shadow Plane. Paradox seems gone for now," as he crossed his arms.
Tuxedo Kamen frowned slightly and asked, "If you know where we are, what is this place?"
Shade gestured idly to the area around him and replied, "This is the Shadow Plane, where all shadows partially exist or fully. Normally, non-shadow like yourself can not come here and stay here any measurable length of time. It's a place between places and often used in teleportation magic, but it is moved so quickly through, it's unnoticeable."
Sailor Venus asked, "So where do we go from here? How do we leave here?"
Shade shrugged again and replied, "I don't think you will need to worry about that."
"What do you mean?" Sailor Venus asked Shade.
"Because.." Shade said slowly in response. Suddenly Paradox came into view again, and dove in straight from above. Before anyone could react he swallowed Sailor Venus whole and continued down before the stunned group could react. They turned back towards Shade questioningly. Shade continued what he had started, "You will have other things on your mind.." With that he faded out of existence, seeming to become part of their surroundings before the senshis' eyes.
Sailor Mars looked around wide eyed, "He got Sailor Venus. I don't think Paradox is gone."
"I surmise Shade was just some kind of illusion made by Paradox. We have to watch out," suggested Sailor Mercury.
From a silhouette of Sailor Venus in the distance came her call, "Help guys, where are you? I can't see you. I got away from Paradox barely but I can't find my way back. Where are you?"
"We have to help her!" shouted Sailor Moon as she somehow made her way forward. The others followed her close behind to keep together as they approached Sailor Venus. However the silhouette did not gain any more detail. Sailor Moon said worriedly, "Something is wrong here." There was a scream from behind and as the others turned around, they saw Sailor Mars was gone, and they could see Paradox's tail disappear in the distance. "Nooooo! He got Sailor Mars too! We have to do something!" cried Sailor Moon.
"Well we obviously can't trust what we see. Paradox will just try to distract us and strike again. Be careful!" recommended Sailor Mercury.
Paradox appeared before them and looked down on them. He asked them, "And what are you going to do. This is my home plane of existence. You are aliens to this place. How can you win?" With that he turned and flew off not even waiting for a reply.
"What nerve he has. He takes our friends and doesn't even stay to fight," complained Sailor Jupiter before she pointed and shouted, "Look out!"
From a different direction from the one he vanished to Paradox came at them. They barely dodged away from the plunging Paradox. However they were caught by surprise when the real Paradox came in from a different direction and while they were watching the fake Paradox, the real one swallowed Sailor Mercury whole.
Sailor Chibi-Moon cried, "Mercury!" while Diana held her paws in front of her eyes. The three remaining senshi and Tuxedo Kamen moved back to back and looked around the area.
"What now?" Sailor Moon asked, "He's getting us one by one. We are toast."
"Believe in yourself Sailor Moon. The power is within you to defeat anything, and I'll protect you," Tuxedo Kamen told Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon smiled at him, "Thank you. I know I can count on you." She looked at the other two senshi, "All of you. But how can we do it?"
Sailor Jupiter shook her head, "I don't know Sailor Moon. There has to be some way.."
"Remember.." came a voice from the foggy shadows. It was not the same voice as from the dreams, and in fact seemed to come from all around them, but it still reminded three of them.
"Remember what? My dream?" asked Chibi-Moon out loud.
"You had a dream where someone said remember too? Though in the dream it was a girl and this sounded like a guy," replied Sailor Jupiter.
"It could be a trick of Paradox's but what else can we do. I had a dream too. All we can do is follow our dreams, and maybe we can win," encouraged Sailor Moon.
"That's the way to think Sailor Moon. I have faith in you," said Tuxedo Kamen.
Sailor Moon asked him, "Did you have a dream too?"
Tuxedo Kamen shook his head and was about to reply when his eyes opened wide. He shouted, "Look out!" and shoved the others away. Paradox rushed through where all of them had been, but Tuxedo Kamen pushed the rest of them out of the way and became Paradox's only victim.
Sailor Moon tried to move towards Paradox and stretched out her hand as she cried, "Tuxedo Kamen!" but Sailor Jupiter held her back.
"Snap out of it. Don't let what he did be wasted!" Sailor Jupiter said to Sailor Moon before turning to Paradox who had turned some distance away to face them, idly eyeing them. Sailor Jupiter crisscrossed her arms and shouted, "Supreme Thunder Dragon!" As directed by her a huge dragon of electricity shot out at Paradox to strike him.
The dragon did not seem to affect Paradox at all, except for Paradox to raise a reptilian eyebrow. Paradox slowly moved forwards and commented, "That was interesting. Are you done now?"
Sailor Jupiter blinked and looked at the other two and explained despairingly, "I attacked Paradox in the dream as a dragon. That should have worked."
Paradox drew closer still and said, "I was curious what you planned to do, after you went going on about some voice. I suppose you can go insane too though. However I am not impressed, morsels, so I think it's time to end this waste of time in this timeless place."
Sailor Moon hid behind Sailor Jupiter, while Sailor Chibi-Moon hid behind Sailor Moon. "What now?" asked Sailor Chibi-Moon in fear. She blinked for a moment and she told Sailor Jupiter, "Do the dragon again. You followed your dream but I needed to do something."
Paradox's eyes narrowed and told them, "The patient can even run out of patience. You better do something interesting now or forever hold your peace. My curiosity is limited," as he continued to approach, perhaps only 20 feet away.
The three pushed apart slightly as Sailor Moon said, "Let's go then!"
Sailor Jupiter crossed her arms once more and intoned, "Supreme Thunder Dragon!" The dragon made of blue electricity appeared once more but did not shoot forward, waiting for something.
Sailor Chibi-Moon held her hand in the air and shouted, "Pink Sugar Heart Attack!" and directed the energy she summoned towards the electrical dragon. The electrical dragon shuttered for a moment and seemed to start to disappear. Instead though, the area of shadows around it seemed to grow darker as it began to absorb lighter shadow energy. Soon the dragon had turned whitish and was now facing Paradox.
Paradox narrowed his eyes once more and looked around. He muttered, "Someone is helping you. Someone from here. I will find out who.. later." He turned his attention back upon the other dragon though as Sailor Jupiter directed it to attack. The other dragon was not as big as Paradox, but it was no longer something he was able to just shrug off. It swiped a claw at him, but he dodged aside. He then grabbed it with his own claws and dug them in. The other dragon had a chance to bite Paradox then, but Paradox bit back harder. They twirled about one another and for a little while the senshi did not know which would win, but slowly Paradox gained the upper hand on the other dragon and began to deal a lot more damage then he took.
Sailor Moon covered her mouth as she watched, rendered speechless by the battle between the two awesome creatures. Sailor Chibi-Moon elbowed Sailor Moon to bring her attention back. "Ow," complained Sailor Moon, "What was that for?"
Sailor Chibi-Moon replied, "You were spacing and you don't have time to space."
"But what about the others?" asked Sailor Moon.
Sailor Jupiter shook her head and told Sailor Moon, "I don't know but this is the only chance we have. Finish them Sailor Moon!"
At those words Paradox turned his head to look at the senshi menacingly, but the distraction gave the other dragon a chance to gain back some ground and soon Paradox returned his attention to the battle, determined to win quickly. He latched his teeth onto behind the other dragon's head and struggled to break its neck.
Sailor Moon pulled out the cutie moon rod and raised it above her. She then started waving it around as she called out, "Moon Princess Halation!" and pointed the rod towards the two battling dragon. Energy rays shot out towards both dragons. Paradox roared but started to blur along, with the white dragon, into his surroundings and the other dragon. Soon the area around the two dragons began to glow grey. The glow expanded and soon reached the senshi. The remaining senshi lost sight of everything.
* * * * *
She felt herself just floating there, with no gravity at all. She shifted a little and heard the faint jingle of her bell. She opened her eyes and at first focused on the bell around her neck, then where they were. She was still floating it the Shadow Plane. She looked around and saw the others, and much to her surprise that included the missing ones. She saw all the senshi, floating in the mist and seeming unconscious, including Sailor Chibi-Moon. She also saw Tuxedo Kamen floating near Sailor Moon, guarding her even as both slept. Then she saw two others and meowed happily. Diana zipped forward to where her parents floated and ended up crashing into them. She didn't care, because her parents were there.
Artemis woke up a moment before Luna and complained, "Ow!" for a moment. Then he looked around as saw his daughter and shouted, "Diana" and nuzzled her nose. Luna quickly joined them in the happy reunion. Soon the others started to wake up, and take in their surroundings.
Sailor Jupiter was first to spot him, and she groggily pointed him out to the others. "It's Shade. It looks like he's still unconscious."
Shade floated nearby, with three grey orbs hovering around him. One orb moved towards Jupiter and formed into the more familiar image of Guide. Guide telepathically sent to the group, in a weak voice, 'I think.. it is time.. we go home.'
With that a whirlpool of shadows began to form. The others cried as everyone started to get swept up by it. The all spun around towards the center where a nexus opened, and in the matter of moments they were all sent through the nexus.
The appeared a few feet off the ground at the Hikawa Shrine. All of the senshi and Tuxedo Kamen landed on their feet with the exception of Sailor Moon who fell less gracefully.
Sailor Mars said happily, "It's the Shrine!"
A dull thud sounded as the unconscious Shade in the ground and the nexus to the Shadow Plane closed after them.
* * * * *
Actin watched the servants of the Dark Kingdom as they sifted through the rumble of what once had been Gallia's home. He told them, "Keep it up. We'll reach it soon. Keep your eye out."
One youma turned towards Actin and shouted, "Sir, I think I found something!"
Actin nodded and moved to where the youma was. He pushed aside a few stones to reveal the base of a stone column. He looked closer and found an empty uniform which rested on some wet stone. He shook his head and muttered quietly, "You should have listened."
The youma standing at attention next to him asked, "What was that, sir?"
Actin shook his head and told the youma, "Nothing." Actin then reached over and rummaged through the uniform. In a moment he pulled out the Shard of Light that Gallia had found. He looked at it for a moment, then turned to the youma and ordered, "Good work. Inform the others we have what we came for so they can stop digging." He then gestured to the uniform and said, "You know what to do with that. Take care of it."
The youma saluted Actin and said, "Very good, sir."
Actin saluted back to the youma then teleported away.