Chapter 33: Almost there
Hi! I'm forcing this chapter out of my head, so sorry if it isn't the best. Well, read on...if you dare...
Pluto P.O.V.
The second Mars released her energy ball, Pluto knew something was off. The way Diamond didn't even flinch at the power speeding towards him, while his two friends dodged away quickly, there was something missing. Snapping back to reality, Pluto heard Emerald shriek.
"Diamond!"
He didn't even look up. Pluto could have sworn time slowed down as she saw the fireball move steadily towards Diamond, and saw Emerald throw herself in front of it. Then time sped up again, and Emerald's fragments of darkness flew around Diamond in a cloud. Rubius's gasp was audible to even Pluto, several rooftops away.
"How could she, how?" Rubius dropped to his knees. "Diamond, why didn't you move? Why did you let her sacrifice herself to save you?"
Diamond looked at Rubius on his knees, staring at the few fragments of darkness in front of him. Diamond's low chuckle developed into a laugh and he threw back his head and yelled to the cloudy sky. "Sacrifice? Who cared about her?" Still smiling, Diamond lowered his head and looked at disbelieving Rubius.
"You can't mean that..."
A sneer crossed Diamond's face. "And who cares about you either?"
Rubius opened his mouth, but a cloud of energy enveloped him, before he could say anything.
The Scouts and Gundams stood, incredulous at what had happened.
"He destroyed his own people..." Duo murmured.
"He's still the enemy. Why are we standing here?" Heero asked heatedly.
"Inners, stay with me and help take care of Diamond." Jupiter commanded into the others' minds. "Outers, go with the Gundams and start tearing down that crystal." Nodding to each other, Venus, Laytha, Mars, Jupiter and Mercury jumped onto the same roof as Diamond, keeping a safe distance while the others bounded around them towards the dark spike rising against the gray sky. The boys piloted their Gundams that way as well, moving slightly slower than the quick Scouts, leaping from roof to roof.
Pluto looked up at the burgundy Gundam next to her. She smiled to herself thinking of how this must have been how Zechs started all their mobile suit battles. (Find the enemy and destroy them.) Pluto thought.
Laytha P.O.V.
After the others were well out of sight, the Inners turned their full attention to Diamond, who hadn't even moved.
His smug smile was still in place as he opened his arms, as if to welcome them. "Well, isn't this a bit unfair? Five to one, hardly favorable odds."
"Especially when they're against you." Mars hissed.
"Before we destroy you, we just want to know one thing." Venus crossed her arms. Diamond looked over at her, his smirk unwavering. "Why destroy this planet?" She continued.
Once again, Diamond's low chuckle reached their ears. "I really don't think that's any of your business."
Laytha frowned. (What is he not telling...) Laytha pulled a low level of her power an opened his mind slightly, so slightly he shouldn't even notice. Laytha closed her eyes. (There's someone else. Someone more powerful. Diamond is...) Without realizing it, Laytha opened up Diamond's mind too far, and he sensed it.
Luckily, Laytha sensed his energy ball before her threw it and she ducked out of its way just in time. (He knows I know about him!) Dashing out of the path of another attack, she called out. "Scouts! Diamond's a decoy! The others are in danger from the real threat!"
"SILENCE!" Another ball whizzed by Laytha's head, punctuating Diamond's shout.
Jupiter turned to the rest of the Inners. "Concentrate an attack on him! We can't waste a planet attack!" With that, Jupiter pulled up her thunder blast. Laytha, busy dodging energy, couldn't pull energy of her own, but watched as the others called their powers.
A fiery arrow appeared in Mars's hands; a cloud of crystalline ice crystals swirled around Mercury; the familiar golden crescent appeared above Venus's head and glowed with her power; and a ring of thunder crackled and sparkled around Jupiter. Diamond, realizing the power behind him, stopped his barrage and turned, giving Laytha enough time to form her cloudy gray 'mind blast' orb between her outstretched hands.
Diamond's cry cut through the air, as Mercury raised her hands for the first attack. "You can't do this to me!"
Ice pearls circled Mercury's body and centered in her hands. Flinging them down, they flew in a wave at Diamond, hitting him square in the chest, and knocking him down. As he stumbled up onto one knee, Mars stepped forward.
Pulling the flaming bow and arrow taut, she carefully centered on Diamond's form. He finally staggered to his feet as Mars unleashed her single arrow. It spun towards him and hit Diamond in the shoulder, knocking him several feet towards Laytha.
Satisfied with her energy ball, Laytha raised it to her cheek and pitched it at Diamond. This time, he almost dodged it, but it caught him in the leg, and sent him spinning towards Venus. "You, you disgusting..." Diamond hissed.
Venus ignored him and thrust her hand into the crescent hanging faithfully above her head. It dissipated, and a golden energy blast issued in the direction of Diamond. He covered his face with his hands, but the blast shattered a second before it collided and hit him from all sides.
Visibly beaten, Diamond screamed at the Scouts. "You Sailor brats! I will take you with me to the grave if I have to!!" He raised his hands above his head, and a sphere of writhing darkness appeared there.
Jupiter stepped forward, the surrounding energy moving with her. "You wish." With that, she yanked her energy up and thrust it at Diamond. His gasp was almost heard through the roar of the thunder, and the black energy ball disappeared. Dust and dirt flew up, obscuring the scene for a few moments.
When it finally settled, the Scouts saw what they knew; all that remained of Diamond were a few shards of shadowed energy. After a few lasers from Venus, not even that remained.
"Hey!!" Jupiter yelled, looking towards the crystal behind them.
The others looked that way and gasped in unison. "Where did the others go?" Mercury whispered.
"Geez, how can you just lose a Gundam? Five of them, at that..." Venus murmured.
"We have to go find them. They could be in trouble." Mars jumped several rooftops ahead, closely followed by the others.
Rini P.O.V.
Just as Jupiter commanded, Rini and the outers leapt from the rooftops towards the dark crystal. The heavy Gundams crashed behind them with their loud footsteps no doubt making craters in the streets.
Glancing backwards she saw Uranus, Neptune and Saturn all keeping pace with her, while Pluto held behind a bit, leaping next to the burgundy Gundam Zechs was in. Rini smiled and turned her attention back to in front of her.
Finally, they made it to the last rooftop in front of the crystal. Rini hesitated. (Something is about to happen.) She shook her head and jumped forward. (Of course something is about to happen. We are right in front of the enemy.) Suddenly, as though they had entered a portal, the rooftop in front of her vanished, leaving Rini and the others to land unsteadily on what appeared to be a dark marble floor.
Around the huge platform they were on, rose ten columns, made of the same dark marble of the tiled floor. Beyond the columns swirled a continuous mass of quivering and shifting dark energy. Rini turned to see Uranus, Neptune and Saturn dusting themselves off from the same unexpected drop she had gotten.
Rini looked around as she heard the faint rumble of the Gundams. Suddenly, the five boys, Zechs, and Pluto dropped down from high in the wall of energy. Neptune ran up and caught Quatre, Uranus got Heero, Saturn almost fell under Trowa, and Duo nearly crushed Rini. Pluto awkwardly caught Zechs and Wufei, one in each arm, keeping them from the painful drop.
"Sorry, Rini..." Duo apologized, pulling her up.
"I'm alright..." She said, rubbing her head.
"This doesn't look like the inside of the crystal." Quatre observed, looking around after Neptune set him down.
"This isn't the inside of the crystal. We're in-between." Everyone looked at Pluto. "The put a portal barrier around their crystal."
"They knew we would come." Heero frowned and looked at the wall of energy.
"Of course I did." A deep, rumbling voice echoed through the space. "And I also knew your little friends would be back dealing with Diamond." The voice cackled wildly.
"Show yourself, coward!" Wufei yelled to the walls.
"Oh, but I am no coward, boy. I am right here." A piece of darkness formed out of the wall and took shape. It developed into a man covered in a shroud. Only his hands were exposed, which seemed to be made of the floating black material of the walls. Beneath the hood, his eyes burned like fires set in the same black material.
A low growl emitted from the creature. "Well, it seems your little friends are stronger than I thought. No matter." They could almost see his sinister smile. "I will deal with them as well."
"Who are you?!" Rini yelled, suddenly filled with anger.
Another cackle split through the group. "My minions call me Wise Man. Hmmm. We do have company."
The Scouts and boys spun around to see the Inners dropping in from the wall. All five of the girls seemed to sigh with relief. Venus pulled Duo over and gave him a crushing hug. She whispered into his ear. "Laytha saw in Diamond's mind that someone more powerful was down here waiting for you guys." She pulled away and looked up at Wise Man.
"So you must be the one controlling Diamond." Mars crossed her arms.
"Or was controlling him, rather." Mercury corrected.
Wise Man laughed down on them all. "Yes he was my pawn. But enough of this small talk." Holding his hands out, a small ball appeared.
The Scouts stepped forward and pushed the boys forcefully behind them. "You won't get us." Mars hissed. Wufei looked at her. He pulled out his katana. Just in case.
So... How did you like it? Like I said, it isn't the best, but maybe that fight with Diamond is better than I think. You are your own worst critic... Anyway, R&R me!!!
Hi! I'm forcing this chapter out of my head, so sorry if it isn't the best. Well, read on...if you dare...
Pluto P.O.V.
The second Mars released her energy ball, Pluto knew something was off. The way Diamond didn't even flinch at the power speeding towards him, while his two friends dodged away quickly, there was something missing. Snapping back to reality, Pluto heard Emerald shriek.
"Diamond!"
He didn't even look up. Pluto could have sworn time slowed down as she saw the fireball move steadily towards Diamond, and saw Emerald throw herself in front of it. Then time sped up again, and Emerald's fragments of darkness flew around Diamond in a cloud. Rubius's gasp was audible to even Pluto, several rooftops away.
"How could she, how?" Rubius dropped to his knees. "Diamond, why didn't you move? Why did you let her sacrifice herself to save you?"
Diamond looked at Rubius on his knees, staring at the few fragments of darkness in front of him. Diamond's low chuckle developed into a laugh and he threw back his head and yelled to the cloudy sky. "Sacrifice? Who cared about her?" Still smiling, Diamond lowered his head and looked at disbelieving Rubius.
"You can't mean that..."
A sneer crossed Diamond's face. "And who cares about you either?"
Rubius opened his mouth, but a cloud of energy enveloped him, before he could say anything.
The Scouts and Gundams stood, incredulous at what had happened.
"He destroyed his own people..." Duo murmured.
"He's still the enemy. Why are we standing here?" Heero asked heatedly.
"Inners, stay with me and help take care of Diamond." Jupiter commanded into the others' minds. "Outers, go with the Gundams and start tearing down that crystal." Nodding to each other, Venus, Laytha, Mars, Jupiter and Mercury jumped onto the same roof as Diamond, keeping a safe distance while the others bounded around them towards the dark spike rising against the gray sky. The boys piloted their Gundams that way as well, moving slightly slower than the quick Scouts, leaping from roof to roof.
Pluto looked up at the burgundy Gundam next to her. She smiled to herself thinking of how this must have been how Zechs started all their mobile suit battles. (Find the enemy and destroy them.) Pluto thought.
Laytha P.O.V.
After the others were well out of sight, the Inners turned their full attention to Diamond, who hadn't even moved.
His smug smile was still in place as he opened his arms, as if to welcome them. "Well, isn't this a bit unfair? Five to one, hardly favorable odds."
"Especially when they're against you." Mars hissed.
"Before we destroy you, we just want to know one thing." Venus crossed her arms. Diamond looked over at her, his smirk unwavering. "Why destroy this planet?" She continued.
Once again, Diamond's low chuckle reached their ears. "I really don't think that's any of your business."
Laytha frowned. (What is he not telling...) Laytha pulled a low level of her power an opened his mind slightly, so slightly he shouldn't even notice. Laytha closed her eyes. (There's someone else. Someone more powerful. Diamond is...) Without realizing it, Laytha opened up Diamond's mind too far, and he sensed it.
Luckily, Laytha sensed his energy ball before her threw it and she ducked out of its way just in time. (He knows I know about him!) Dashing out of the path of another attack, she called out. "Scouts! Diamond's a decoy! The others are in danger from the real threat!"
"SILENCE!" Another ball whizzed by Laytha's head, punctuating Diamond's shout.
Jupiter turned to the rest of the Inners. "Concentrate an attack on him! We can't waste a planet attack!" With that, Jupiter pulled up her thunder blast. Laytha, busy dodging energy, couldn't pull energy of her own, but watched as the others called their powers.
A fiery arrow appeared in Mars's hands; a cloud of crystalline ice crystals swirled around Mercury; the familiar golden crescent appeared above Venus's head and glowed with her power; and a ring of thunder crackled and sparkled around Jupiter. Diamond, realizing the power behind him, stopped his barrage and turned, giving Laytha enough time to form her cloudy gray 'mind blast' orb between her outstretched hands.
Diamond's cry cut through the air, as Mercury raised her hands for the first attack. "You can't do this to me!"
Ice pearls circled Mercury's body and centered in her hands. Flinging them down, they flew in a wave at Diamond, hitting him square in the chest, and knocking him down. As he stumbled up onto one knee, Mars stepped forward.
Pulling the flaming bow and arrow taut, she carefully centered on Diamond's form. He finally staggered to his feet as Mars unleashed her single arrow. It spun towards him and hit Diamond in the shoulder, knocking him several feet towards Laytha.
Satisfied with her energy ball, Laytha raised it to her cheek and pitched it at Diamond. This time, he almost dodged it, but it caught him in the leg, and sent him spinning towards Venus. "You, you disgusting..." Diamond hissed.
Venus ignored him and thrust her hand into the crescent hanging faithfully above her head. It dissipated, and a golden energy blast issued in the direction of Diamond. He covered his face with his hands, but the blast shattered a second before it collided and hit him from all sides.
Visibly beaten, Diamond screamed at the Scouts. "You Sailor brats! I will take you with me to the grave if I have to!!" He raised his hands above his head, and a sphere of writhing darkness appeared there.
Jupiter stepped forward, the surrounding energy moving with her. "You wish." With that, she yanked her energy up and thrust it at Diamond. His gasp was almost heard through the roar of the thunder, and the black energy ball disappeared. Dust and dirt flew up, obscuring the scene for a few moments.
When it finally settled, the Scouts saw what they knew; all that remained of Diamond were a few shards of shadowed energy. After a few lasers from Venus, not even that remained.
"Hey!!" Jupiter yelled, looking towards the crystal behind them.
The others looked that way and gasped in unison. "Where did the others go?" Mercury whispered.
"Geez, how can you just lose a Gundam? Five of them, at that..." Venus murmured.
"We have to go find them. They could be in trouble." Mars jumped several rooftops ahead, closely followed by the others.
Rini P.O.V.
Just as Jupiter commanded, Rini and the outers leapt from the rooftops towards the dark crystal. The heavy Gundams crashed behind them with their loud footsteps no doubt making craters in the streets.
Glancing backwards she saw Uranus, Neptune and Saturn all keeping pace with her, while Pluto held behind a bit, leaping next to the burgundy Gundam Zechs was in. Rini smiled and turned her attention back to in front of her.
Finally, they made it to the last rooftop in front of the crystal. Rini hesitated. (Something is about to happen.) She shook her head and jumped forward. (Of course something is about to happen. We are right in front of the enemy.) Suddenly, as though they had entered a portal, the rooftop in front of her vanished, leaving Rini and the others to land unsteadily on what appeared to be a dark marble floor.
Around the huge platform they were on, rose ten columns, made of the same dark marble of the tiled floor. Beyond the columns swirled a continuous mass of quivering and shifting dark energy. Rini turned to see Uranus, Neptune and Saturn dusting themselves off from the same unexpected drop she had gotten.
Rini looked around as she heard the faint rumble of the Gundams. Suddenly, the five boys, Zechs, and Pluto dropped down from high in the wall of energy. Neptune ran up and caught Quatre, Uranus got Heero, Saturn almost fell under Trowa, and Duo nearly crushed Rini. Pluto awkwardly caught Zechs and Wufei, one in each arm, keeping them from the painful drop.
"Sorry, Rini..." Duo apologized, pulling her up.
"I'm alright..." She said, rubbing her head.
"This doesn't look like the inside of the crystal." Quatre observed, looking around after Neptune set him down.
"This isn't the inside of the crystal. We're in-between." Everyone looked at Pluto. "The put a portal barrier around their crystal."
"They knew we would come." Heero frowned and looked at the wall of energy.
"Of course I did." A deep, rumbling voice echoed through the space. "And I also knew your little friends would be back dealing with Diamond." The voice cackled wildly.
"Show yourself, coward!" Wufei yelled to the walls.
"Oh, but I am no coward, boy. I am right here." A piece of darkness formed out of the wall and took shape. It developed into a man covered in a shroud. Only his hands were exposed, which seemed to be made of the floating black material of the walls. Beneath the hood, his eyes burned like fires set in the same black material.
A low growl emitted from the creature. "Well, it seems your little friends are stronger than I thought. No matter." They could almost see his sinister smile. "I will deal with them as well."
"Who are you?!" Rini yelled, suddenly filled with anger.
Another cackle split through the group. "My minions call me Wise Man. Hmmm. We do have company."
The Scouts and boys spun around to see the Inners dropping in from the wall. All five of the girls seemed to sigh with relief. Venus pulled Duo over and gave him a crushing hug. She whispered into his ear. "Laytha saw in Diamond's mind that someone more powerful was down here waiting for you guys." She pulled away and looked up at Wise Man.
"So you must be the one controlling Diamond." Mars crossed her arms.
"Or was controlling him, rather." Mercury corrected.
Wise Man laughed down on them all. "Yes he was my pawn. But enough of this small talk." Holding his hands out, a small ball appeared.
The Scouts stepped forward and pushed the boys forcefully behind them. "You won't get us." Mars hissed. Wufei looked at her. He pulled out his katana. Just in case.
So... How did you like it? Like I said, it isn't the best, but maybe that fight with Diamond is better than I think. You are your own worst critic... Anyway, R&R me!!!