We got some familiar faces joining or hiding out with our friends in the Young Trib force.
Yet there's so much yet to do before the next judgement, the fatalities and persecution continues even as the majority of the population tries to ignore it.
Something else is brewing, I, Sailor Moon and the rest of the senshi intend to uncover the cause!
Mark returned to the schoolhouse with both Melinda and Janie that very night just half an hour after Rei and Hotaru did. They hadn't met Janie personally btu were willing to give her chance thanks to Vicki.
Vicki talked with Janie while Conrad and Mark worked to get Melinda's cuffs off. Melinda seemed happy to be back, but cautious. Vicki hoped to talk with her later. Mark's return was a miracle to both Vicki and the senshi. She was dying to talk with him but knew that would best be done in private.
Cautiously, Hotaru looked closely at Janie's forehead. Nothing. Mark had brought someone who wasn't a believer. She would have to ask him why, but first it was best to hear Janie's story.
"The last I heard from you," Vicki said to Janie, "you'd been taken downstate."
Janie nodded. "I know I gave you and your adoptive dad a hard time after you took me in. I'm really sorry. Where is Bruce?"
Rei, Hotaru and Vicki's faces fell sadly. Then Vicki sighed and told Janie that Bruce had died just as the bombs started falling during World War III. "He may have died from a virus he caught overseas, or it could have been the bombing."
"No matter how it happened," Janie said, "he's dead. I'm sorry."
"What happened after you left Chicago?"
Janie said the Global Community had treated her harshly at the first facility, then moved her to one with less security. There she came in contact with the nurse who had helped Vicki take Ryan's body from the makeshift hospital. However, Janie was truly into the Enigma Babylon religion, much to Rei and Hotaru's disgust, and Vicki's concern.
At the Trib-Force's place, a depressed Hattie sat on the sofa in the living-room, mourning the death of her unborn child, as well as dwelling on the fact that Nicolae had poisoned her, resulting in the death of her infant.
The former flight attendant was then brought out of her thoughts when the door opened, with Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna entering inside. They had talked with Hattie once about the whereabouts of the other children that were still in the GC's custody, to no avail, but they figured maybe this time would be different now that her unborn child was among the people who died because of Carpathia.
"Go away, you three, I heard on the News about Blanka and Governor Carl. It's over." Hattie said.
"It's not over for those other kids who are still in the GC's custody." Haruka said. "It's not over for the next kids Carpathia has the GC abduct, and you and we know he's gonna do just that, don't we?" She said as she, Michiru and Setsuna walked over to where Hattie was sitting.
"There's no reason for us to even be talking." Hattie said.
"We know about Terrel Blanka being Governor Carl's business partner before he had him shot and killed. We know about Governor Carl being the mastermind behind the GC camps. And we know about Jake McLead's illegal adoption by him." Michiru said.
"Terrel Blanka and Governor Carl are dead. They're dead, okay? Please go." Hattie said.
"How can you do what you do to children? Especially when you were going to have a child yourself once upon a time." Haruka said.
"I didn't do anything." Hattie said.
"Why, you might as well have been in on the GC camps scheme with Carpathia. You might as well have willing taken that poison that killed your unborn child." Haruka said.
"Is this the part where I'm supposed to dissolve into tears and hysterics? 'Cause if it is, I'm sorry, you lose again." Hattie said.
"And what are you giving us? A brave, self-sacrificing former girlfriend standing up for her former fiancé? I know you for what you are! You're nothing more than an accomplice! You're a sadistic, silent partner! Thank Heaven you'll never have any children of your own! That baby you were carrying is better off without you as a mother! And you make me ashamed to be a blond woman!" Haruka said before she turned and walked off. "You make me ashamed! You make me ashamed!" She said as she stormed out of the room.
"Are you guys gonna lecture me too like your friend just did? 'Cause if you are, I don't wanna hear it." Hattie said to Michiru and Setsuna.
"No. We're not here to lecture you. All I can say is...stay away from Carpathia. Because the next time you are with him, he will kill you." Setsuna said.
"Don't keep making the same mistake governor Carl's wife did." Michiru warned.
Michiru and Setsuna left out of the room, leaving Hattie alone.
Hattie remained on the sofa. Still depressed and sad about the loss of her baby...but also thinking about everything the three Asian women just said to her.
At the underground command center in Japan, Luna sat at the control-panel on the school in the command-room, doing the on-screen autopsy of Governor Carl, with photographs of his frozen corpse on the middle round screen that Sailor Mercury had sent her.
Just then, a loud crash and explosion was then heard above ground, making the Command Center shake and setting off the flashing red lights and the alarm system.
"What in the world?!" Luna said. "I know there's not supposed to be another earthquake!"
"Luna!" came the voice of Artemis.
Luna turned to see Artemis and everyone else rush inside the command room. "Artemis! Everyone!"
"Did you hear that noise?!" Artemis asked, shouting over the alarm system.
""Yeah! Sounds like there's gonna be another Heaven-sent disaster!" Shingo said.
"I don't think it has anything to do with the judgements from Heaven!" Alex said.
"What do you mean?!" Derek asked.
"You haven't seen the News?!" Alex asked.
"No! What's going on?!" Gary asked.
"I've been watching it on a laptop, I think you guys need to see this!" Alex said. "Luna, turn on the GNN News right now!"
"Right." Luna said grimly, before turning back to control-panel and pressing a button that turned off the red flashing lights and the alarm system, followed by pressing another button that replaced the image of Governor Carl's body on the middle screen with the words GNN NEWS, with the words BREAKING NEWS at the bottom, followed by it being replaced with the image of two American female NEWS anchors sitting at a desk, with one white and the other black.
"Breaking News happening right now." The black anchor-woman said. "There appears to have been an asteroid disaster that has taken place here in this community of Alabama. Many children between the ages of ten and sixteen here are calling in to the station, as well as notifying police, that they're seeing purple smoke cover the entire sky. And a bizarre thing is...the children's parents, other adult relatives, and all people over the age of 19 are suddenly becoming violent and appear to be turning against children, with many of these people being their parents or other adult relatives."
"Oh, my." Ikuko said.
Adults were turning against children, as if half the new reverse ageist regulations weren't bad enough. And so many of them were their parents and relatives. What in the world was happening?
"Do you think this could be another judgement from Heaven?" Kenji asked.
"I don't think so, there's nothing in Revelation that mentions this." Alex said.
"He's right, instead the place would've warned about a significant temperature drop!" Saki explained.
"What's on the other News channel?" Zea asked.
Luna pressed a button, changing the channel to the New Mexico News, showing a Mexican anchor-man speaking in Spanish while sitting at his desk.
"New Mexico. That's my home-state!" Gary said.
"We're Japanese, we don't speak Spanish. Go back to the other channel and see what's going on." Naru said.
"I speak Spanish." Gary said.
"Oh, yeah, well, what is he saying?" Mayumi asked.
"He's reporting the same thing the American News reporters were on the other channel." Gary translated.
Luna pressed a button, changing the channel to the Bandera, Texas News, revealing an anchor-woman sitting at her desk.
"We are currently experiencing the aftermath of the asteroids that have devastated this entire community here in Bandera, Texas. From what I've been able to ascertain, many asteroids have hit all over Bandera, as well as out in the countryside, and all people outside over 19 have become increasingly violent and have turned against all children, including their own." Said the anchor-woman in a Texas accent before touching her ear-piece of her left ear. "We have just been informed to stay indoors until this whole ordeal is over."
Luna changed the channel to the Tokyo, Japan News, with a Japanese anchor-woman sitting at her desk and speaking Japanese.
"For my English-speaking viewers, there seems to be very horrible things going on here in Tokyo. No one explain what is going on, other than the fact that asteroids have damaged this entire city, as well as the sudden mood change in the majority of the adult population that are outside. Adults were normal one moment and violent the next. We cannot be sure if this is another attack from the moon aliens or a terrorist attack." said the voice of the female American translator of the Japanese-speaking anchor-woman.
Luna changed the channel back to the GNN News.
"We've been reporting to the bizarre phenomenon that seems to be happening not just here in this part of Alabama, but in three other states across the U.S., as well as Tokyo, Japan. The potentate, Carpathia, Governor Mio Kuroki, and the ten world leaders have issued state-wide terror alerts in all four states and Tokyo where these events are taking place. And have asked that all citizens try to stay calm and remain indoors 'til further notice." The white anchor-woman said.
"We now go live to Lawrence Howard in Indiana to bring us up to date on what's happening there even as we speak." The black anchor-woman said.
An anchor-man then appeared on the middle screen, replacing the two women. "Thank you, Terry." He said in a British accent. "As you and Sandra have been reporting, there are strange events going on since the asteroid disaster. There are children running from adults, including their parents, who have turned increasingly violent and turned against them, with many of them screaming in sheer terror that the world as we know it has indeed come to its end. It has also been reported that many children disappeared right before the asteroid disaster by simply being beamed up by beams of lights, leaving nothing behind. Could both incidents be connected? We don't know. All I can say is...if this is to be the final curtain-call for humanity...may Heaven have mercy on us all."
The channel changed back to Sandra and Terry, the two anchor-women.
"That was Lawrence Howard...reporting live from Indiana." Terry said. "We now go live to the potentate, Carpathia, at the United Nations, who's ready to address the four states, and Tokyo, that have been hit by the asteroids."
The scene then changed to static, indicating that the News Channel with Carpathia wasn't showing, so it changed back to Sandra and Terry.
"Terry, we, uh...seem to be experiencing a technical glitch." Sandra said. "Let's go back to Lawrence Howard in Indiana. Lawrence? Lawrence, are you there? Can you hear me?"
The scene was then cut off and replaced with a rainbow screen, making beeping sounds.
"Oh, my." Nehelenia said, placing her hands over her mouth.
"What is going on?" Zea asked.
"I don't know, but I've seen enough. Those states and Tokyo are in trouble. They need the Sailor Guardians, Tuxedo Kamen and the Starlights right now. I better let them know about this ASAP." Luna said.
Meanwhile in Israel, Makoto had gone to talk with Noah's sister and BIL. Back in the gym with other believers, Ami had successfully logged into the net with her minicomputer to see the latest teaching by Tsion Ben Judah. What she found instead was an email directed to the entire Tribulation force, both young and full grown.
Another one of their brethren had perished: Ken Ritz, a pilot who had helped Buck Williams find Chloe during the aftermath of the Great Earthquake. He'd come to faith in Jesus Christ after talking to Buck. He flew the helicopter that rescued Buck, Chloe and Ben-Judah from the Rosenzweig estate in Israel. While Rayford Steele waited for them at Jerusalem airport, Ken flew them to the plane. He was shot to death by a Global Community peacekeeper.
Michiru said Ken Ritz had a friend in Greece, a Mr. Lukas Miklos, that could help with planning food and other necessities in the years to come before the Glorious Appearing.
In another part of Jerusalem, Minako paused for a moment on the edge of the open plaza to gaze up at the monumental Jewish temple. She could see the smoke spiraling up from the altar of burnt sacrifices that lay between the entrance to the massive porch of the temple and the Court of the Priests near the second eastern gate—that place where animal sacrifices were now being offered for the first time in more than two thousand years. A few animal rights activist groups had tried to protest at first, but they didn't have a clue about the significance of it all. It was sad that something of great importance to the Jewish people had been built by horrible fiends.
Three Jewish priests—men who could supposedly trace their lineage all the way back to the Old Testament priest Zadok—crossed the Western Wall plaza. They strode toward the private entrance to the newly completed temple that loomed above them on the Mount where smoke spiraled up to the sky. They were easy to spot, dressed in blue-and-white robes with long red sashes and their heads wrapped in white linen turbans – just like in the old days. They were on their way to take their turn overseeing the animal sacrifices that had been reinstituted.
Since then, the temple had been carefully constructed in accordance with every detail the scholars and architects could find about the dimensions and layout of the last Herodian temple; they had scoured everything they could find in the Old Testament and in references contained in the Jewish writings—the Mishnah, Gemara, and Talmud. On that day, the plaza below the great temple was busy.
Minako then notices a young man looking somberly up at the temple. He was of neutral skin tone – sand, if she had to guess- with brown hair and eyes. He wore a black suit and deep burgundy shirt. There was something pinned between the shirt lapels but couldn't make it out.
Then he happened to glance over to where she was, their eyes met.
However trouble would soon end up finding her sooner. In the crowd there were a dozen young men who had just finished two straight days of partying in the brothels and the New Amsterdam Marijuana Emporium located just outside the Dung Gate of the Old City area, in the shadow of the temple. The young men eyed the priests and began shamelessly taunting them. The biggest one among them shouted, "You guys are really bizarre. And what about animal rights, hey? Maybe we ought to cut you guys up instead of letting you kill goats and sheep. How about that? And maybe set you on fire, man. How'd you like that, huh? Light you up and see if we can get some smoke comin' out of you ..."
One of the priests, the older one, slowed down to respond, but his partners whispered to him to ignore the harassment. But the priest had to say something. "You young men should know better than to make fun of what the Lord calls holy."
"Oh, so you're holy, right?" another of the young men yelled out, and in an instant the group started striding toward the priests.
Now they were within arm's length. A crowd started to form, with others starting to jeer at the priests too.
Minako scowled at the harassers, so did the foreign young man. He was watching reprovingly.
The two younger priests tugged at the older man's robe. "Come away. Come away and don't speak to them."
But the older priest would not be silenced and pointed his finger at the group of young men, nearly touching the nose of the biggest one. "Beware! Beware!" he cried out.
"Oooh, we're scared!" one of the young men shouted back at the older priest.
The older Jewish priest began to recite something, shouting it in a trembling voice: Many nations will pass by this city; and they will say to one another, "Why has the LORD done thus to this great city?" Then they will answer, "Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD their God and bowed down to other gods and served them."
Minako frowned a little, recognizing the verse from Jeremiah. But perhaps he ought to have quoted what comes after: 'Behold the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.'
Now the group of rude young men were poking and pushing the three priests as they tried to walk away, continuing to shout at them. "We worship the weed! And we worship the whore. And every pleasure we can find. It's better than your ridiculous God."
The bigger man in the group grabbed the older priest by his sash and yanked on it until the old man tripped and fell. Several of his gang began to kick the priest while he was on the ground.
"Oh, that does it! Picking on an old man? Now that's going too far!" Minako felt her righteous anger boil over.
Seeing people become crazy entitled and selfish to the point of questionable behavior due to a more "tolerant" system was getting out of hand. Now the more malicious youngsters were using this as an excuse to be rotten bullies.
Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and like a quarterback in a football game and charged forward hitting the bigger man in the gut with her head. It was enough to knock the wind out of him and caused him to hit one of his companions by mistake. Next, Minako took advantage of the confusion, to drag the old priest literally from the bullies to his fellow temple priests. The two younger priests helped the old man up to his feet and brushed off his garments.
Minako spun around and faced the harassers. "So you like to bully old men, huh? Well, why don't you pick on someone your own age- like ME if you think you can?"
"Get lost, ya Asian bimbo!"
"Stay out of this!"
"Too bad, it became my business." Minako snapped, her expression becoming uncharacteristically austere with every word. "I mean, I know you're entitled and everything, but you actually beat a most likely, harmless old man just because he's a Jewish priest?! SERIOUSLY?!"
Just then, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Minako turned, expecting a GC peacekeeper or worse. But instead found herself facing the foreign man she'd been admiring earlier.
He spoke with a soft Italian accent. "You dare raise your voice to a lady? Especially if she was brave enough to speak out." He added, glowering at the harassers.
"What does she know?! She doesn't even live here!"
"So what? These men behind me have more right to be here than you do!" Minako answered back. "There! I said it! Like the rules of common courtesy don't apply to you?! What makes you think you're so special?!"
At that moment, the peacekeepers at the far end of the plaza trotted over to the scene. When the aggressive young men saw them, they sprinted in the opposite direction. The officers ordered the crowd to disperse. One of the priests asked the police, "Aren't you going to pursue those ruffians?"
But the cop shook his head. "We're here to keep the peace. We've told you people several times to create a different entrance for your-selves so you can get up to the temple without disturbing the civilians. They have rights too."
"Are you kidding me?!" Minako snapped. "What about the rights of these men? They weren't even doing anything wrong!"
Seriously what is wrong with these people nowadays?!
There's an awkward pause. She knew the answer but a great percentage of people refuse to believe it because it clashes with everything they benefit from logical science. There was no talking to the peacekeepers, the priests thanked Minako and the young man and hurried away to the temple.
When they and the peacekeepers left, the Italian young man who'd agreed with Minako shook his head. "The fathers have abandoned their sons. The young men have rejected the fathers. And this is what results."
"You don't know the half of it." Minako mumbled then quickly introduced herself holding out her hand, "Minako Aino."
"Vittorio."
The two began conversing, Minako was stunned to discover he was a young Enigma Babylon ordinate visiting Israel with an important diplomat. However for some reason he was gloomy about it.
Minako had been about to ask him more when her communicator went off, showing text messaging. "Oh-oh, I gotta run! I'll be late."
"What are you late for?" The young man questioned.
"My responsibility!" Minako replied back as she ran.
Usagi stood on the Mount of olives in Israel in deep thought about the three times she had turned into Princess Sailor Moon and how she had caused mass destruction and cold-bloodedly ended the lives of others without a first or second thought or any regard for the lives of others. That first time at the carnival in Chicago...the second time in Canada at Camp One World...and the third time at the Carl residence in Gary, Indiana.
Those first two times she couldn't recall what she did. But this third time was different. This time she recollected everything she had done. And worst of all...she had no remorse about it. None at all. Why was she feeling this way? Why was she turning into this...this...monster version of her super-hero self? Could her years as Sailor Moon have finally caught up with her mentally? Could this be a bizarre manifestation of PTSD? Or was she simply going crazy?
"What is happening to me?" Usagi asked herself before looking up at the bright blue sky. "Why? Why is this happening to me?" She asked, talking to God. "Why are you allowing this to happen? Why?! Why?! Is it PTSD?! Am I going crazy?! What?!" She hoped it was the first theory rather than the second one. She could handle Post Traumatic Stress better than she could mental problems. But if it were the second theory, then that made her scared. It made her wonder about the next time. What if next time she turned into Princess Sailor Moon, she hurt someone innocent? What if it was one of her friends? Or one of her parents or both of her parents? Or Heaven forbid...her brother, Shingo.
Usagi was then snapped out of her thoughts by the beeping sound of her wrist-watch communicator and she opened and answered it. "Hello?"
"Usagi, it's Luna."
"Oh, Luna, hi." Usagi greeted. "Why are you calling me so suddenly out of the blue?" She asked, confused.
"Because four states in America are in trouble and need your help. Alabama, Texas, New Mexico and Indiana were hit by asteroids. They've even hit here in Tokyo, Japan." Luna explained on screen.
"What?! When did that happen?!" Usagi gasped.
"15 Minutes ago, I think. It's really bad in all four states and here in Tokyo. Right now it's impossible to tell which states got impacted more." Luna said.
"How bad is it?" Usagi asked.
"No time to explain. Just turn into Sailor Moon and head for one of the four states in America, pronto. I'll alert the others and let them know what's happening." Luna said.
"I'm on it." Usagi said, with a serious expression on her face before closing her wrist-watch communicator. "Moon Eternal Power!" She then transformed into Eternal Sailor Moon. The red lights in the buns of her hair lit up.
"Stay out, stay out!" Came a screaming male voice from the red lights.
"No! I'm not leaving you!" Yelled the voice of a young boy from the red lights.
"Sounds like someone's in trouble. Two someones." Sailor Moon said. "Well, don't worry! Help is on the way! Sailor teleport!" She said before disappearing.
Sailor Moon appeared in an area in the middle of the night where she was surrounded by blooming grass, as well as the fact that the sky was covered with thick purple smoke. "Where am I?" She asked herself. "What is this place?" She then smelled a sweet, scented smell that filled the air that was no doubt coming from the purple smoke-covered sky. "And what is that smell?" She asked. "It smells like purple cotton candy." She then saw a farm-house up ahead of her. "A farm-house. I must be out in the country." She said, realizing she was out in a countryside area.
But the one thing she threw her off was the farm-house screen-door being wide open and the porch light being on. Someone had the door to their house open? At night-time? Sailor Moon didn't like this at all. People didn't leave their front doors wide open in the middle of the night, countryside or not. She may have grown up in Japan which had low crime rate, but she knew enough to know that no one did that. Something was wrong. Could someone have broken into the house? Did this house belong to the people she had heard yelling when the lights in the buns of her hair lit up?
Sailor Moon then snapped out of her thoughts when she heard distressed screaming, and she looked and saw that it was coming from inside a barn, with its doors slid open. She instantly recognized the screams being the voices of those she had heard in her red lights and rushed towards the barn.
When she made it to the open entrance of the barn, she looked inside and saw the back of a woman on the ground on top of a guy who was struggling against her, and she was the back of a young boy standing a few feet away. Sailor Moon couldn't make out what the guy looked like, other than the fact that he was wearing blue pants and brown hiking-books.
The woman on top of him he was struggling against had blond hair and was wearing a white night-gown, a white robe and white slippers.
The young boy had light brown hair, with the front of it stopping at his eyebrows and both sides of it half-covering his ears, and his eyes were blue. He wore a light red short-sleeved shirt with a red neckline and a red stripe at the end of both sleeves, faded blue pants, and he wore light brown hiking-boots.
"Hold it right there!" Sailor Moon said, making the guy and the woman cease struggling, and the boy turned to face her, revealing his eyes to be blue, the front of his light brown hair stopped at his eyebrows and both sides half-covered his ears. He looked to be around 12 or 13 years old. "I don't know what's going on here, but you can believe I'm putting a stop to it right now! On behalf of Heaven, and on behalf of the Almighty..." She said. "I'm Sailor Moon!" She said, starting her pose. "And by the will of the most High, all will be judged, and that means you!" She said, finishing her pose.
The woman then got up off the guy and backed away from him. Aside from her rhythmic breathing, all was quiet for a moment.
"Ma'am...are you alright?" Sailor Moon asked, concern in her voice. But the woman didn't answer. "Whatever was happening to you, it's over now. You're okay."
The woman turned and looked at Sailor Moon.
"Ah." Sailor Moon said, displaying the same exact facial expression she had when she saw Nehelenia as a creepy old woman. For a moment she didn't believe what she was seeing. A bloody hole was in the lower gut part of her stomach, indicating she had been shot. Her eyes were glowing purple and her face had an angry look on it. An angry look the Japanese teen super-hero was all too familiar with. She had seen that same look on the late Governor Ron Carl in Gary, Indiana when he was attacking his wife, her and Venus. And this woman was giving off that same exact expression. But how was that possible?
The woman the lunged at Sailor Moon with rage and anger, pushing the young boy aside onto the ground and tackling Sailor Moon, seized her neck with both hands, and started strangling her while snarling and growling like some kind of wild animal.
Sailor Moon struggled against the woman, attempting to push her off, to no avail.
The woman then snatched Sailor Moon off the ground and tossed her inside the barn. Sailor Moon coughed as she gasped for air. The woman then started making her way toward her and she watched in sheer terror as the enraged woman came closer and closer towards her.
"Stop right there!" came two female voices.
"Huh?" Sailor Moon said as she and the woman looked to see who sources of the belonged to.
"Answering the call of distress, Sailor Uranus, here to fight for the people of this planet." Uranus said, standing back to back with Neptune.
"Also answering the call of distress, Sailor Neptune, here to fight for the people of this planet also."
"Answering the distress call to a new threat, the two Outer Guardians of this planet..." Sailor Uranus said.
"Are here to fight for this world." Uranus and Neptune said, standing back to back in the entrance of the barn.
"Uranus. Neptune." Sailor Moon said.
"Mind if we join the party?" Uranus asked.
"It'll be fun." Sailor Neptune said.
"We even brought back-up." Uranus said before she and Neptune stepped away from each other, revealing Sailor Saturn.
"Sailor Saturn." Sailor Moon said.
"Here on behalf of Heaven, the realm of eternal life, I am the Guardian of ruin and rebirth...Sailor Saturn." Saturn said.
"Together we are the Outer Guardians of Earth." Uranus said.
"And all will be judged." Neptune said.
"And that means you." Uranus, Neptune and Saturn said.
The woman snarled before charging at the Outer Senshi.
"World Shaking!" Uranus said before firing the attack.
"Deep Submerge!" Neptune said before firing the attack.
Both attacks hit the snarling woman, seriously injuring her, but not to the point to where was no longer a threat. The now injured woman turned back to Sailor Moon, charged at her, and jumped back on her and started choking her again.
"Sailor Moon!" Uranus, Neptune and Saturn cried.
Sailor Moon struggled against the snarling, growling woman, trying to free himself, but the woman was still too strong despite the injuries she had sustained from Uranus and Neptune's attacks.
A loud explosion was then heard, woman ceased her strangling, her eyes stopped glowing purple, and her rage and anger ceased, followed by her falling on Sailor Moon.
Realizing the woman was now dead, Sailor Moon pushed the body off of her, looking up to see the young boy standing shaking while holding a shotgun, indicating that he had shot the woman in the back of the head, killing her instantly.
All was quiet in the world once again.
"Sailor Moon!" Uranus, Neptune and Saturn said as they rushed insides the barn and past the boy, who dropped the shotgun, and they went over to Sailor Moon and helped her to her feet.
"Are you okay?" Uranus asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine, thanks." Sailor Moon said. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Luna called and filled us in on what's happening. So we came here to the United States to help. Wherever here is." Sailor Neptune said, glancing around, trying to pinpoint an exact location.
"Will someone please explain to us what's going on?!" said the voice of the guy, getting the attention of the Senshi, who saw that he was now standing by the boy's right side. Now that this man was facing Sailor Moon, it was easy for her to make out all of his features. He had long neck-length blond hair, brown eyes, a goatee, muscular arms, he was taller than the boy, and he wore a gray sleeveless undershirt and a black belt with a big gray buckle to go with his blue pants and brown hiking-boots. "What are you all doing here?! Tell me!"
"Certainly. Why don't we start by you telling us your names and where we are?" Saturn said.
"I'm Perry River. This here is the countryside of Bandera, Texas." answered the guy now known as Perry. "And this is my 13-year old brother, Casey."
"Hi." said the light brown-haired boy now known as Casey. He was clearly in shock due to the events.
"Hi, nice to meet you." Sailor Moon greeted with a weak smile. "And now, if you don't mind telling me...who was that woman?" she asked, referring to the deceased lying on the ground on her back.
"Mrs. Grace McCafeey." Casey answered sadly. "She was the step-Mom of two of my friends, or what's left of her."
"Oh. I'm sorry." Sailor Moon said. Knowing that this was someone these two brothers knew really sad. But knowing she was a mother figure of two kids was even worse.
This reminded her of when Hilary told her and Venus that Ron had been her best friend in college. She then turned to the dead woman, bent down...brushed the front of her hair away from her forehead...and saw nothing. The seal was not on her forehead...meaning she had not been a believer...meaning she hadn't gone to Heaven. She was in Hell, just like Ron and all of her defeated/deceased enemies. Once again, someone had died not hearing the truth on Sailor Moon's watch.
"We can be sad later." Perry said before he bent down, picked up the shotgun, and turned and walked off.
"Wait. Where are you going?" Sailor Moon asked.
"The kids." Perry stated as he exited the barn.
"Hey!" Casey said. "Wait up!" He said as he ran after Perry.
"Let's help them." Uranus said.
"Mm." Sailor Moon, Neptune and Saturn nodded.
The four Sailor Guardians of Earth then ran off after the American boy and his older brother.
Later, inside the McCafeey farm-house, which was the same one from earlier, the Senshi, Perry and Casey stood outside one of the kids' bedrooms upstairs. The door was locked and fingernail marks scarred the wooden door, with the bottom part splintered. Sailor Moon had to enter in through the open front screen-door sideways due to her big wings.
"Hey, Jayla? Richie?" Perry called. "It's Perry and Casey. Everything's clear out here now, you're safe."
Silence.
"Hey, guys..." Casey began. "it's me."
"Casey?" Richie finally answered on the other side of the door.
Sailor Moon could tell Casey was closer with the McCafeey kids than his brother, Perry, was.
"Yeah." Casey said. "Come on out now and let us help you."
"Our step-Mom..." Richie said through the door. "she tried to help us again. Except-" His voice quivered.
"Again?" Sailor Moon thought to herself. Was the woman who had attacked Casey's brother and tried to kill her abusive towards these kids? Was she the one responsible for the marked/splintered door?
"Except this time it wasn't your step-mom." Casey said.
Sailor Moon looked at Casey with concern. Did he know this woman had been abusing these kids? If so...why hadn't he said anything to anyone? Why hadn't he reported this woman to the police? Not that speaking the truth or telling the police helped nowadays. Social Services, orphanages and the police were all owned by Nicolae Carpathia and the Global Community now. Yet still, the boy should've at least said something to someone. She immediately shut down those feelings. Whatever happened in these kids' lives before the asteroid impact didn't matter now. What was past was past. All that mattered was getting these kids to a safe place and sharing the truth.
A moment later they heard the click of the door unlocking and it swung in to reveal the tear-stained faces of Richie and Jayla. Richie held a wooden baseball-bat, and Jayla clutched a pink stuffed toy Bunny to her chest.
Sailor Moon and the Outer Senshi gasped with shock at the sight of the McCafeey kids. They were so young.
Richie looked to be about 10 years old, he had brown hair and brown eyes, with the front of his hair stopping at his eyebrows and both sides of it half-covered his ears. He wore a violet-red short-sleeved shirt with black lines for stripes, a black neckline, light brown pajama pants, and he was barefoot.
Jayla appeared to be around 8. She had blond hair that went past her shoulders and stopped at her upper-back, blue eyes, she wore a white sleeveless night-gown that went down to the calf of her legs, and she was barefoot.
The Senshi were stunned. They hadn't seen any kids under the age of twelve since the vanishings two years ago when Heaven took all the believers and all the children younger than thirteen. Yet here these two kids were still on Earth. Left Behind just like them and the rest of their friends. But why?
Richie and Jayla gasped with fear when they saw the Senshi and their eyes glazed over with fear.
"It's alright. They're with us. They saved our lives." Perry assured.
That assurance seemed to have the desired effect on the McCafeey kids, for they both stepped out of Jayla's bedroom.
"Where is she now? Our step-mom, I mean." Richie asked fearfully.
"You don't have to worry about her ever again. She can't hurt you anymore." Perry said.
"Good." Richie said, clearly trying not to cry.
"Our Daddy." Jayla said. "He wasn't our Daddy either. Not when he left."
"When did he leave?" Perry asked.
"Earlier tonight after the asteroid show in the sky." Jayla answered.
"Where'd he go?" Casey asked.
"The water tower." Jayla said.
"Water tower?" Sailor Moon asked, confused.
"The one in the corn-field past the Frances' farm." Casey explained.
Sailor Moon and the Outer Senshi just looked at each other with puzzled looks on their faces. This made no sense. Why did these kids' father just up and leave without saying a word? And right after the asteroid impact, no less. What was going on around here?
Later, the Senshi and the River brothers headed downstairs with the McCafeey kids, who were still in their pajamas, but were now wearing footwear. Richie wore black sneakers with white laces and white trims, and Jayla wore black boots that stopped at the calf of her legs, with her holding her stuffed toy Bunny.
"He looked weird." Richie said, referring to his and Jayla's Dad as he and the gang descended the stairs.
"Like your step-mom?" Perry asked, choosing his words carefully.
"No, not like her." Jayla said. "His stomach was swollen and he was all weird and stumbly."
"And nuts." Richie added.
Sailor Moon and the Outer Senshi looked at Perry and Casey's confused facial expressions. The Japanese super-heroes knew the River brothers weren't sure what to make of that, and they weren't either.
"Our step-mom, she went into one of her usual rages after Dad left." Richie said. "She started having one of her scream episodes in the kitchen. She just shouted and yelled at us and started throwing things. We didn't know what to do. She stormed out of the kitchen, we ran after her in the living-room, and she went out to look for him, but as soon as she stepped out on the porch, she came back in...changed. She was full of even more rage than we had ever seen and her eyes were glowing purple." He explained as he and the others made it down to the bottom of the stairs, entering into the living-room, and made their way over to the counter where the house-phone was.
Perry picked up the phone receiver and held it to his left ear, then he tapped the switch-hook a few times.
"What's wrong?" Sailor Moon asked.
Perry hung the receiver back up on the phone. "The phone is dead."
"Mrs. McCafeey must have cut the phone-line." Sailor Uranus guessed.
"Seems crazy to me that she'd have thought to do something like that." Sailor Neptune said.
"Same here. By the time we saw her, it didn't seem like she was thinking at all." Casey said.
"What are we gonna do?" Sailor Moon asked.
"We're gonna head back to our place and wake Uncle James and Aunt Sally." Perry answered. "We've got to get some help."
"I want him." Jayla said. "I want my Dad."
"I understand that, Jaybug." Casey said. "But we need to let the sheriff know what happened here."
"You think he'll believe us?" Sailor Saturn asked, not sure if getting law enforcement involved was the best thing.
The Global Community now owned every police system in the world, and if she was right, it most likely owned the police unit in this community also. Going to the cops would most likely do more harm than good, especially if they found out four of the alleged "moon aliens" were involved.
"I don't see why not. Perry and I have known the sheriff of this town since we were little. He'll know we're telling the truth." Casey said.
"You can't trust that." Sailor Saturn said.
Friends meant nothing to people anymore. In this dark time in human history, friends were now either traitors, spies, or narcs. And law enforcement was no different.
"But our Dad was hurt." Richie said to Perry and Casey. "He's been gone a long time since he left. What if he needs our help now? Your place is the opposite way. Can we find and help him first?"
Jayla started crying. "I want my Dad."
Casey looked at Perry and he nodded. "Okay. We'll do a quick loop to look for him in case he's in trouble, then head home and call the sheriff."
"Thank you." Richie said.
"You're welcome." Casey said. "Keep behind us." He said to Richie and Jayla.
The River brothers, the McCafeey siblings, and the Senshi exited the farm-house through the front screen-door, with Sailor Moon exiting the sideways due to her big wings.
Outside, Richie and Jayla stopped in their tracks, making the Senshi stop, and they looked back at the farm-house with sad expressions on their faces, taking a look at the McCafeey house and sighed before they resumed running, following after the River brothers.
The Senshi just looked at the McCafeey kids with sad expressions on their faces. They didn't know how, but somehow they knew that the siblings knew that after tonight they would probably never see their childhood home again and that their lives would never be the same. The Japanese teen super-heroes then ran after the four Americans ahead of them.
Birmingham, Alabama was a warzone due to the impact of the asteroid disaster.
Buildings were in ruins, the city was chaos, the sky was covered with purple smoke that smelled like cotton candy, vehicles were either wrecked, abandoned, or on fire, and all of the adults were filled with rage and anger and their eyes were glowing purple as they ran through the streets looking for and chasing after kids, with some of them being their own.
...
Elsewhere in the city, a 12-year old boy ran through a ruin building, looking for his missing, barking dog. He had dark brown hair, brown eyes, he wore a gray shirt, a red un-buttoned plaid short-sleeve shirt, dark blue pants, and black and white sneakers with white laces. His clothes and face were coded with soot.
"Bailey?!" The boy called as he heard the sound of barking. "Bailey!"
Meanwhile, inside a damaged building, four people-two men and two women-were trapped inside an elevator.
"Someone help us!" One of the men shouted as he banged on the elevator-doors. "We're stuck in the elevator! Can anybody hear us out there?!" He shouted as the lights flickered.
Somewhere else in the city, a man was pinned under a pillar. He was trying to push it off himself, to no avail.
"Please help! This man's hurt!" came a female voice.
Sailor Mercury ran through the chaotic city and made her way over to where the man was. "Don't worry, sir, I've got this."
"It's you." The man said, clearly stunned to see Sailor Mercury in person.
"Shine Aqua Illusion!" Sailor Mercury fired the attack at the pillar on the man, freezing it, followed by her pushing it off the man and helping him sit up. She then bent down and checked his pulse. "Everything seems fine. You're gonna be okay."
"Oh. Okay. Thanks." The man said before the seal appeared on his forehead, indicating he was a believer, which made Mercury smile in relief.
Back in the ruined building, the boy was still looking for his dog as it continued barking.
"Baily!" He called as Sailor Jupiter ran past him. The boy turned to see her run over to a pile of rubble where the barking was coming from and he watched as she dug through the rubble and pulled out the dog, which turned out to be a black Labrador puppy. "You found him. Is he okay?"
"Here you go." Sailor Jupiter said as she walked over to the boy. "He's alright." She said as she handed him the puppy.
"Thank you." The boy said.
"Devin!" said a woman with blond shoulder-length hair and blue eyes as she ran towards the boy from behind, who turned to see her.
"Mom! She saved Baily!" The boy known as Devin said as the woman known as his Mom ran up to him, followed by hugging him.
The Mom and Devin then ended the hug and looked at Sailor Jupiter.
"Oh, thank you. Thank you so much." The woman said.
"Don't mention it. Who are you?" Jupiter said.
"Devin. I'm 12 years old. And this is Bailey." The American boy said, introducing himself and his pup.
"And I'm Carly. Devin's Mom." The blond-haired woman said before Jupiter noticed the seal on the foreheads of her and Devin.
"Nice names." Sailor Jupiter said. "Now come on. Let's get you somewhere safe." She said before she ran past Carly and Devin, who both turned and ran after her.
Back in the elevator...
"Help! We're trapped!" The man shouted, still banging on the doors as the lights continued to flicker.
"No one can hear us!" said one of the two women cryingly, standing in the corner of the elevator, holding the rails.
The man then heard something on the roof of the elevator and looked up at the ceiling at the emergency exit. "Hello?"
The emergency exit then opened, revealing Sailor Pluto and Tuxedo Mask on top of the roof.
"Hold on. We'll get you out." Tuxedo Mask said.
"Come." Sailor Pluto said. "Here, take my staff." she said, lowering her staff down into the elevator.
"Don't worry. You're safe now." Tuxedo Mask assured, with a smile on his face.
The other woman grabbed ahold of Pluto's staff and was pulled out of the elevator through the emergency exit by the sailor of time.
In Indianapolis, Indiana, a van was hanging over a bridge, with a large hole in the windshield and a slightly heavy-set 10-year old boy trapped in the back-seat. He had brown shaggy hair, brown eyes, he wore an orange and white shirt, an orange un-buttoned short sleeve shirt, brown pants, and black and white sneakers with white laces. The sky was covered with purple smoke that smelled like purple cotton candy.
"Help!" The boy shouted. "Help! Help! Somebody please help me!"
Sailor Venus landed on the hood of the van, got on her hands and knees, and looked inside through the vehicle through the large hole in the windshield. She was stunned that this young boy was still here on Earth and not in Heaven like all the other kids under 12, but now was not the time to be wondering. "Grab my hand." She said, offering her left hand. "It's okay. I'm here to help you."
"I can't. I'm scared." The boy said.
Sailor Venus withdrew her left hand and her love chain appeared in it. "Hold on to this." She said before tossing the end of the chain inside the van, with it landing in the back-seat where the boy was.
The boy grabbed ahold of the chain.
"Come on." Venus said before the boy crawled up to the front seats. "That's it." She said as the American boy made his way to her. "Great job." She said. The boy made his way to Venus. "Great job." She said as she pulled him out of the van through the hole. "I got you." She said before she jumped off the hood of the van, with the boy in her arms, and the van fell off the bridge and onto the ground below, exploding on impact.
Elsewhere in Indianapolis, in an alley, five pre-teen kids, wearing dirty clothes, were surrounded by seven angry adults, who's eyes were glowing purple. Four of the kids were boys and the fifth kid was a girl. Three of the adults were women and four of them were men. The first boy had blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a white short-sleeve shirt, blue pants, and white sneakers. The second boy was black and had black hair and brown eyes. He wore a red short-sleeve shirt, blue pants, and black sneakers. The third boy had shaggy curly brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a black watch on his left wrist, an unbuttoned white/lime green/pale blue plaid short-sleeve shirt, an orange shirt, blue pants, and black sneakers. The fourth boy had light brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a blue short-sleeve shirt, camo-green shorts that half-covered his knees, black socks, and black sneakers with white laces and white trims. The girl had long black-length messy hair that went past her shoulders and stopped at her upper-back, and her eyes were brown. She wore a gray hooded long sleeve sweat-shirt, blue pants, with a slash on the right leg, and black sneakers with white trims.
"Whoa, hey. Settle down, guys. Come on." said the blond-haired boy. But this did not change the angry moods of the adults.
"H-heeeelp!" The boy with the brown curly shaggy hair shouted.
"Leave them alone!" shouted a female voice from behind the angry adults. The adults turned to face the source of the voice. "How dare you tarnish children's trust in grown-ups! Adults are supposed to make children feel safe and secure, and I will not let you redefine them!" Sailor Mars said. "On behalf of Heaven's authority, I am one of the Guardians of Earth!" She said. "I am Sailor Mars!" She said, doing her pose. "By the will of the most High...you will be judged!" She said, pointing at the seven angry adults.
The angry adults growled as they glared at Mars with their purple-glowing eyes. Sailor Mars could tell they were getting ready to attack her, and she knew she had to defend herself.
But then she took the time to examine the foreheads of the adults and saw that none of them had the seal, meaning these people did not know the truth. Then again, maybe they did. Or maybe they had heard the truth and just chose not to believe it like so many others had, out of bitterness or spite. Even so...she didn't want to use an attack and risk ending the lives of seven people.
The Death Busters were people too, but she and the other Guardians didn't kill them, the villains killed each other. She and her friends became the Sailor Guardians to protect the people of Earth. And now...they had become wanted vigilantes who were fighting against the people of Earth. Including the world leaders and the authorities. There was nobody left to protect this planet from evil. Within the first two years of the apocalypse, she and the other Guardians had lost several friends or people they knew, she would never forget those losses ever. Now...whatever had happened to these seven people was something she would have to face. More than face though. She would have to deal with it on her own. She would have to make a choice. If this change in the grown-ups of this city was permanent...if there was no reverse switch...no matter who these seven people were, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins or someone's friend, they were no longer inwardly human, and she would have to realize and accept that. Otherwise risk being added to the list of her dead friends herself.
The seven adults snarled as they charged at Mars. "Vade retro..." Mars began, holding a parchment in her hand but instead of her trademark ofuda, it contained old Latin wars. "spiritus malus!" She finished as she fired the new attack at the seven adults. The attack hit all of the adults on the forehead, and they began screaming as they ran until they fell to the ground. Whether they were dead or unconscious Sailor Mars wasn't sure.
The kids all stared in shock and wide-eyed at the fallen adults lying on the ground, followed by staring at Sailor Mars.
"Are you kids alright?" Sailor Mars asked. They all nodded, with their shocked expressions still on their faces. "Good." Sailor Mars said. "Now what are you all doing here?" She asked as she started making her way over to the kids.
"Stay back!" The blond-haired boy said, making Sailor Mars stop in her tracks. "Get off our planet, you alien scum!"
"Relax, I'm here to help you." Sailor Mars assured, holding up her gloved hands. "And now, reiterating my question...what are you all doing out here?"
"What's it to you?!" The black boy demanded.
"We've been living on the streets since the earthquake/meteor shower several weeks ago. We don't know where our families are or if their even still alive or not." The girl answered unsurely.
"What are your names?" Sailor Mars asked.
"Mikey. Age 10." The blond-haired boy stated reluctantly.
"Jay. Age 11." The black boy stated sternly.
"I'm Jake. Age 12." The boy with shaggy brown curly hair said.
"My name's Oliver. I'm 11." The light brown-haired boy.
"And in Amber. I'm 10." The girl with the black hair answered. "What wonderful names." Sailor Mars said. "I'm Sailor Mars, one of the Pretty Guardians of Earth. Now that we all know each other, let's get you all somewhere safe."
"Have you looked around?! Almost every grown-up in the city has gone nuts from the asteroid disaster, there is no such place as safe!" Mikey said.
"I think I know where to go." Jay said. Mars and the other four kids focused on Jay.
On high alert, the Senshi, the kids and Perry walked through the corn-field toward the Frances's land, with Perry and Casey keeping lead. No one had spoken a word to each other since leaving the McCafeey farm. Probably because they were all in shock still over what had happened. Even the Senshi were speechless.
"What do you think that was in the barn?" Sailor Uranus asked Sailor Neptune.
"I don't know." Sailor Neptune responded. "But it wasn't Mrs. McCafeey. Not anymore."
"Casey killed her." Sailor Moon said.
"No." Sailor Uranus said. "You saw her. She was already dead."
"Then what was she? And don't say the Z-word." Sailor Saturn said. To be honest, she wouldn't have been at all surprised if that's what this was. A zombie outbreak. But somehow she knew that wasn't what she and the others were dealing with.
"I have no idea." Sailor Neptune said. "It's like she was sick with some mad disease. Rabies or a mutated variety."
"Yet rabies doesn't make the eyes glow purple." Sailor Saturn said.
"A new strain then." Sailor Neptune said. "Or some other killer virus."
"But what disease does that?" Sailor Moon asked. "It's like something had...taken her over." Just saying it out loud made the back of her neck prickle.
"She was more like a host." Sailor Saturn said.
If anyone knew the signs of someone being controlled by a host, it was her. She still had nightmares to this day about being controlled by Mistress 9. It was frightening thought, but they can't rule out possession just yet.
"But what was she trying to do?" Sailor Moon asked.
"I think she was trying to take me prisoner." Perry said.
"Prisoner? For what?" Casey asked.
Instead of answering, Perry just remained silent and he and the gang kept walking forward through the corn-field. They soon made it to their destination: The water tower. They stood at the base of the metal ladder leading up.
"Why do you think he came out here?" Richie asked.
"I don't know." Casey said. "Maybe your Dad went up there to do something."
"Please help him." Jayla begged. "Please bring him down."
"Don't worry. We will." Sailor Moon assured. Jayla reminded her so much of Chibi-usa in so many ways, minus the troublesome personality, that is. Even though the pink-haired girl was a brat, Sailor Moon couldn't help but think about her and be thankful that she wasn't here experiencing all of this. "I'm coming with you." She said to Perry.
"So are we." Uranus added, referring to herself, Sailor Neptune and SailorSaturn.
"Okay, let's go." Perry said before placing the shotgun on the ground and then settling his hands on a rung.
"Can I come too?" Casey asked.
"Yes." Perry said.
Casey turned to the McCafeey siblings. "Stay here. If you see anything or anyone, just shout."
Richie and Jayla nodded in agreement. Perry then started climbing the metal ladder and Casey started climbing up after him, followed by Uranus and Neptune climbing up. Perry soon reached the top of the ladder where the tank was, and Casey and the two Outer Guardians followed him, soon making it to the top themselves, then there was silence.
"You guys?!" Sailor Moon shouted. But there was no response.
"Everything okay up there?!" Saturn yelled.
"No!" Sailor Uranus shouted.
Sailor Moon then flapped her wings and flew up to the top of the water tower, with Sailor Saturn jumping up to it. They both landed at the top where the others were. Their eyes went wide and their legs felt wobbly. They couldn't believe the sight before them. There on his back lay what was left of a dead bald man with brown eyes – and it wasn't pretty. Noticeably the purple cotton candy scented smoke was exiting out of his mouth and stomach.
"Who-who-who is that?" Sailor Moon asked, her voice coming out reedy.
"Mr. McCafeey." Perry answered.
Sailor Moon quickly looked at the dead man's forehead and saw that he did not have the seal. Meaning that he too had not gone to Heaven, just like his wife. Another person lost to Hell forever.
"What is that stuff coming out of him?" Casey asked, referring to the purple smoke.
"I don't know." Perry said. "We need help. We need to tell someone."
"What happened to him?" Uranus asked, stunned.
"Call me crazy, but it looks like his stomach exploded from the inside." Sailor Saturn noted.
"But...how could that have happened?" Sailor Neptune asked.
"I know not." Sailor Saturn said.
Sailor Moon watched Casey follow the purple smoke's course to the distant lights of town and felt something inside her go cold.
That was when the gang heard Richie and Jayla screaming. The whole gang looked down and saw a screaming Richie and Jayla being chased by the black-haired woman wearing a white night-gown and white slippers.
"Who is that?!" Sailor Moon asked.
"Mrs. Frances?!" Casey questioned, revealing the woman's name.
"What?!" Sailor Moon gasped. So the woman down below was Mrs. Frances. But why was she chasing the children? Was she infected with what Mrs. McCafeey had been infected with?
"Come on." Casey said before he headed down the ladder, followed by Perry climbing down after him.
"Let's help them." Uranus said, looking at Neptune, Sailor Moon and Saturn.
"Right." Neptune said.
The Moon Heartache rod appeared in Sailor Moon's right hand, Neptune's mirror in her right hand, and Sailor Uranus's space sword appeared in her right hand. A pink orb enveloped Sailor Moon, then disappeared, revealing her as Super Sailor Moon. Wasting no time wondering what just happened and why, the Senshi jumped down from the water tower and landed on the ground on their feet.
"Hey, kids, over here!" Uranus shouted.
Richie and Jayla noticed the Senshi, made their way around Mrs. Frances, and ran over to them and got behind them. Mrs. Frances stopped in her tracks and turned to face the Senshi, revealing her purple-glowing eyes. The Senshi gasped in horror.
"Her eyes! She is infected!" Sailor Moon said. Her suspicions were correct. Mrs. Frances was infected with the same thing Mrs. McCafeey had.
"Yes. And she doesn't have the seal on her forehead either." Neptune said.
Mrs. Frances snarled as she charged forward with rage.
"Spacesword Blaster!" Uranus said, firing the attack with her sword.
"Submarine Reflection!" Neptune said, firing the attack with her mirror.
"Saturn Shadow Ball!" Saturn said, firing the new attack with her staff.
All three attacks hit Mrs. Frances, making her let out a howl of pain, injuring her, and she fell to the ground on her back unconscious. The Senshi and the siblings then heard the sound of something fall and land on the ground behind them. They turned around and saw Casey lying on his back at the bottom of the ladder, indicating he had lost his footing and fallen.
A man then stepped into view and stood over Casey. He had black hair, his eyes were glowing purple, and he was in his robe, pajamas and house-shoes.
"Mr. Frances?" Casey asked.
The man now known as Mr. Frances looked at the Senshi and the McCafeey siblings.
"Do you see that?" Sailor Moon asked. "He doesn't have the seal either."
Mr. Frances looked back down at Casey and reached down for the 13-year old boy with both hands, the Perry landed on the man, knocking him over.
Perry got to his feet, quickly picked up the shotgun, and shot Mr. Frances in the head with it, killing him instantly. Casey got up and stared at the dead body of Mr. Frances. High-pitched screams snapped the brothers out of their daze.
The Senshi turned to see that the screams belonging to Richie and Jayla. Then they saw Mrs. Frances back on her feet and running toward them once again, snarling like an animal.
Perry rushed in front of the gang, aimed the shotgun at Mrs. Frances, and shot her in the face. She fell and landed on her back, with her night-gown going up, exposing her thighs.
The kids cowered behind Perry. Richie sobbed while Jayla held her stuffed toy bunny and didn't make a sound, just staring at the now dead woman.
Casey walked up to the Senshi, stopped at their side, and stared in horror at the woman's dead body.
Super Sailor Moon glanced at Casey. She could tell that though he standing, he felt like he was falling, with his entire foundation tumbling away. To be honest, she really couldn't blame him for feeling that way. Seeing him-a 13 year old boy-shoot Mrs. McCafeey had been horrifying. But this was worse. For Sailor Moon, standing there at the bottom of the water tower over the corpses of two of the River brothers'/McCafeey siblings' neighbors was one of those 'Nothing will ever be the same' moments. Not for her...but for the River brothers and the McCafeey siblings.
In the space of several minutes, Perry and Casey had killed three grown-ups. Grown-ups they knew and trusted once upon a time. Including Hilary shooting Ron, this was the fourth time Sailor Moon had seen someone kill a person they were close friends with. And the purple smoke in the sky and the purple smoke that was coming out of Mr. McCafeey above the gang. The asteroid disaster, the purple smoke that smelled like purple cotton candy. She couldn't help but think that it had something to do with what was going on. That whatever she and the Outer Senshi had stumbled upon was just getting started.
Sailor Moon watched as Casey walked over to Mrs. Frances's body and straightened out her gown so it covered her legs. She didn't know why it mattered to the boy...but it did. Then leaned over and threw up.
Perry walked up to Casey from behind and put his left hand on the 13-year old boy's left shoulder.
Casey wiped his mouth before standing up straight. "Sorry. Sorry." He and Perry then turned back to the kids and the Senshi.
Jayla held her toy Bunny to her chest, shivering violently despite it not being cold. "Did you find our Dad?"
Perry nodded. He didn't say anything, but it was enough.
The McCafeey kids' eyes glazed over with shock, knowing their father was dead.
Sailor Saturn-Hotaru-thought about her mother when she died and how it impacted her life in a very bad way. Then she thought about her father's death in World War III and how devastated she was when she lost him. She wanted to say something to these kids. Something that would assure them that everything would be okay. But what was she supposed to say? Both their father and step-mother were dead. Not just dead, but most likely in Hell. And so were the Frances couple. This made her think about her own parents and where they were spending their afterlife. Were either of them in Heaven? Or were they both in Hell like the two middle-aged couples? She didn't want to think about it, not now. Later, maybe, but not now.
Casey walked up to the gang and crouched down to Jayla's angle and placed his right hand on her left shoulder. "Why don't you just stay with us now?"
Sailor Moon and the Outer Senshi smiled warmly at Casey's offer. He was wonderful to offer to take these kids in being that he was only 13 years old. Just like Haruka and Michiru adopted Hotaru after her father was killed in the war. More importantly, they understood why Casey offered so suddenly and out of the blue. Now was not the time to get lost in grief or depression. They had to get these young ones to safety and start figuring out just what was going on. Jayla managed a nod.
"Come on." Perry said, making Casey turn and look at him. "We have to get back home and wake uncle James and ant Sally."
Casey stood up and he, Perry, the Senshi and the McCafeey siblings walked off together, with the River residence being their next destination.
Later, the Senshi, River brothers, and the McCafeey siblings were walking through the blooming countryside, with Perry and Casey leading the way ahead of everyone. Sailor Moon looked up at the purple smoke covering the entire sky, wondering what kind of smoke it could be. She felt something twist inside her chest.
"That purple smoke." Perry asked, getting Sailor Moon's attention.
"What?" Sailor Moon asked.
"What do you think it is?" Perry asked Casey.
It was now clear to Sailor Moon that Perry was talking to Casey and not to her.
"Some kind of new form of clouds? It all sounds nuts." Casey said.
"Maybe we're overthinking it." Perry said. "It could just be how people react when they're infected with whatever it is."
"But the people around here didn't start acting this way until after the smoke covered the sky. That seems like too much to be a coincidence." Saturn said.
"So you're saying people are breathing the smell of the smoke in, getting infected by it?" Sailor Uranus asked.
"Yes." Sailor Saturn answered.
"But what kind of smoke does that? Where did this kind of smoke come from?" Sailor Neptune asked.
"That's what I wanna know." Perry said.
"So do I." Casey added.
"The asteroids." Sailor Saturn said looking analytical.
"What?" Uranus asked.
"The asteroids." Sailor Saturn repeated.
"The asteroids?" Sailor Neptune asked.
"Yeah, the asteroids. None of this weird stuff stated happening until after the asteroid disaster. Maybe those falling asteroids unleashed this purple smoke after impacting the area, and it took over the town sky. And whatever component in the smoke that took over the sky took the people over too." Saturn theorized.
"You mean like some kind of airborne disease? A pandemic?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Pandemics make people sick, they don't turn them violent or make their stomachs bust open." Perry pointed out.
"I don't think this is a pandemic scenario. I think this is something else." Sailor Saturn said.
"Like what?" Casey asked.
"I think whatever is in the smoke is some type of drug that makes people behave erratically." Sailor Saturn said.
"Yeah, but what could it be?" Sailor Uranus asked.
"Cotton candy." Sailor Moon answered.
"What?" Uranus asked.
"Cotton candy." Sailor Moon repeated.
"I don't think this is the time for your sweet tooth to be craving sugar." Neptune said.
"No, the scent. The scent of the purple smoke, it smells like cotton candy. And that's likely what the drug is. The scent of cotton candy." Sailor Moon explained.
"You're right. This has gotta be the result of that." Sailor Neptune agreed.
"Even if they were infected or drugged...it still feels like we've killed people, ya know?" Casey said to Perry.
"If you were like that, would you want to keep living?" Perry asked. "Would you want to know your body was still running around, terrorizing people?" He looked back at the Senshi. "Would you girls?"
Sailor Moon pictured herself with purple glowing eyes and doing awful things without knowing she was doing them. This made her think about those first two times she had transformed into Princess Sailor Moon, caused destruction and bloodshed, and snapped out of it later, having no recollection of what she had done. "No." She said. "No way."
The Outer Senshi shook their heads at Perry's question.
"The smoke in the sky is floating over the whole town. Like a crop-dusting." Perry said.
"That's right." Sailor Saturn said. "A dusting."
"Then why aren't we infected?" Casey asked. "We breathed the same air as Mrs. McCafeey and the Frances couple. If the smoke turns people, why hasn't it turned us?"
"Maybe we're immune." Sailor Moon said.
"Or maybe..." Perry began grimly. "we're all already infected and it's just a matter of time."
Casey, the McCafeey siblings, and the Senshi gasped in horror. Sailor Moon looked at her white gloved hands and then at the Outer Senshi, the McCafeey siblings, and the River brothers. Was something already creeping beneath their skin, transforming them? She felt each breath cool in her throat, filling her lungs.
As the gang kept walking, a farm came into view, consisting of a barn, a silo, a windmill, and a farm-house, with the porch lights of the house being on along with the lights inside the home. Everyone stopped in their tracks.
"There it is, our home." Casey said.
"And the porch lights are on." Sailor Moon said.
"And so are the lights in the house." Uranus added.
"I wonder why." Neptune said.
"Uncle James and Aunt Sally must've woken up and realized we were gone. They're probably waiting for us." Perry said.
"Well, let's not keep them waiting any longer. Let's go." Casey and Perry proceeded to run.
"Wait!" Sailor Moon said, stopping Perry and Casey, who turned to looked at her. "Won't your ant and uncle be upset when they see us with you and the McCafeey siblings?"
"Not at all. In fact, they're very supportive of you. Especially since you're protecting their kind of people." Perry said.
"Their kind of people?" Sailor Saturn asked.
"Yeah. Religious people." Perry said.
"You mean your Aunt and Uncle are-"
"Religious? Yes." Perry said, cutting Sailor Moon off. "Now come on. Let's go." He said before he and Casey took off running towards the farm, with the Senshi and the McCafeey kids following after them.
As they made their way towards the farm, a purple asteroid shot over their heads in the purple smoke-covered sky like a jetliner, which they took notice of, and crash-landed on the farm-house, causing an explosion on impact that was so powerful, the windmill, barn and silo all got caught in the blast. The whole farm...gone.
The gang stopped in their tracks.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Casey screamed.
"Neptune, do something! Put out the fire now!" Sailor Moon wailed.
"It's no good. They're gone." Sailor Neptune said, referring to James and Sally.
As everyone stared at the flames of the burning farm property, Sailor Moon zoned out and wondered if she and the Outers could've done something. They had time only to glimpse up at the asteroid shooting over their heads like a jetliner before it crash-landed on the house, destroying it. The beat of her heart hammered in her chest like crazy. She wanted to cry, but the shock from all the defense killings she had witnessed had numbed her grief and prevented her from doing so. She then looked and saw Perry holding Casey, who was struggling to get out of his grasp so he could run to the burning farm-house and help their Aunt and Uncle, to no avail, with the shotgun lying on the ground. Casey beat and scratched at Perry's arms, but it was futile.
The 13-year old tried desperately to break free from his brother's grip. In one last effort to free himself, he wrestled Perry to the blooming grass-covered ground. He fought like crazy against his brother for long moments. Then Perry was able to push him off and over on his back, got on top of him, and pinned him to the ground by his wrists. Then she looked back at the burning house. In those moments, Sailor Moon could actually hear her mind contemplating the deaths of James and Sally and the impact and explosion of the asteroid when it hit the house. But they likely didn't feel any pain or know what was happening. The impact and instant explosion had most likely made them impervious to it.
She knew they were already dead as soon as the asteroid hit the house, that they were now in Heaven, and in her last thoughts of them, she was aware of a blend of surprise and regret. That the act of death could be so quick and instant, yet dramatic at the same time. She wished she and Outers could've saved Perry and Casey's Aunt and uncle. She wished she and the others hadn't taken so long to get here before the asteroid arrived. She wondered if Perry and Casey's Aunt and uncle would be mad at her and the Outer Senshi when they and the forces of Heaven arrived on Earth five years from now. She wondered if they would be angry with her and the Outers for taking their sweet old time to get here and letting them die. The Moon Guardian zoned back to the present, and the next thing she heard...was Casey's screams and sobs.
To be continued…