Sailor Moon: World Rebirth -Part 3, Hope and Chaos
Episode 21 'Unwelcome'
Haiku stood at the bow of the ship. The future was actually starting to look
bright indeed. The day before Hotaru had told her about the friendship they
would have made in the past that should have happened. In Crystal Tokyo
Hotaru had been waiting for Chibi-usa to experience those times after the
senshi had defeated Galaxia [let's just say she did go back again] but it
never came. Although Haiku had never actually experienced them, it still
brought them closer together.
Now they were approaching the most southern continental region, the volcanic
lavalands.
Michiru stood at the side of the ship as well but was looking down into the
water instead. An arm across her back and a head on her shoulders signaled
that Haruka was behind her. "Just like old times, ne?"
"Yeah,.." Michiru replied gloomily.
"What's the matter?"
"I...it's...I just don't feel well." Michiru turned and took a step away. "I
think I'll go lay down 'til we land," she said before hurrying off. Haruka
shrugged and turned to the approaching landscape.
It was mostly just black rock. The makeup was somewhat similar to that of
the mountain region only here there were visible places where it would be
possible to land the ship and get out safely. Haruka had plenty of
experience in that area. She had spent nearly a year searching for places
where she could land her ship around the mountain region and then try to
scale the cliff. Of course she never succeeded but something had been
pulling her towards the interior of that region so she wasn't about to let a
little 50-foot cliff stop her.
She had found the underwater pass completely by accident. She had been
trying to climb the cliff when she slipped and the climbing rope didn't hold
under the sudden weight increase. She had fallen maybe 15 feet before
hitting the water and it was either luck or fate which allowed her to find
the underwater cavern below. From there it was just a simple matter of
marking the spot, returning to Afkzo, and "borrowing" the diving equipment
on a permanent basis. Who was going to say no to a senshi?
She hadn't even guessed at the time that the other senshi were only a day
behind her after leaving Afkzo. When they had caught up to her her mind had
been so enriched with the talismans' song that her surprise at seeing them
didn't really register to her conscious thought. From there on it had just
been a roller-coaster ride right until the gathering.
Returning her attention to the present she found herself acting without
thinking again. She was walking towards the bow where Haiku and Hotaru were
standing and monitoring the strands of magic that were guiding the ship.
Haruka had noticed that over the duration of the voyage Haiku and Hotaru had
become closer but she hadn't figured out why yet. Not that she really cared.
Unlike before now, she really did believe that the only way the senshi could
succeed was if the inner senshi and the outers were to work together.
Although she still didn't like it, she had come to terms with Sailor Moon's
actions during their last battle with the deathbusters. Even though she
believed that all of the senshi should work together she was still glad at
the fact that Usagi and Haiku had decided to split up the inners and outers.
It's not that she didn't like them; it's just that she wasn't sure how close
each group's view on fighting was now.
When she reached the front of the ship Hotaru was -actually for once-
laughing. Haiku had an annoyed look on her face and was looking away
sheepishly. "What's so funny?" Haruka snorted.(She still had an appearance
to keep up)
"Sorry Haruka, ...you had to be there." Hotaru answered amid her giggling.
Haiku sighed. Actually Haruka HAD been there. Just not this Haruka. Hotaru
was chuckling about an event in Chibi-usa's childhood. Haiku couldn't see
what was so funny but she couldn't really remember the incident either.
When Hotaru quieted down Haruka spoke seriously. "So where are we going to
land the ship? I think there's a good place a little to the left a ways."
Haiku shook her head. "No, we're aren't going to land the ship on the shore
here."
"Then what?"
"I'm going to follow the coast to the right a bit. According to our maps
back at the palace there should be an inlet coming up. It runs nearly to the
center of the continent, right next to the Command City."
"That doesn't sound like a very good idea. If we get attacked it will make
escaping pretty difficult."
"You just let me worry about that. We'll deal with the situation as it
develops." Haruka didn't like Haiku's authority over their actions but
accepted her command. It wouldn't do to get Hotaru mad at her, so she
resumed her watch of the coastline.
The channel was worse than Haruka had hoped for. Unlike around the outside
of the continent, here the land shot up nearly vertical from the water. Her
mind was screaming, 'Ambush! Ambush!', and she was just getting more and
more anxious. In all of her travels she had never moved around out in the
open like this. If it had been up to her they would be moving cautiously in
small watercrafts instead of grandly in a sea vessel. She glanced over and
found that Haiku was scanning the shore as meticulously as herself. Maybe
she did know what she was doing. Hotaru was just staring down into the
water. "If anything happens, don't transform unless you have to," Haiku
cautioned. "I don't know what the attitude towards the senshi is like here.
Haruka only nodded. "I'll go grab Michiru something. Is there anything I can
get for you Hotaru?"
"Nuh uh," Hotaru replied. She held her hand up and her glaive formed in it.
Haiku stood with her mouth opened. "But you're not even transformed."
"What makes you think that?" Hotaru said innocently. "Is there really a
difference?"
Making no reply Haiku turned and called to Haruka, "If you see Setsuna tell
her that she shouldn't come up on deck as Pluto again." Haruka waved as she
was walking away, signaling that she would.
Later, when she was back on deck, Haruka found herself studying the shore
again. Every so often there was a place where lava had flowed through cracks
in the shore and hardened as soon as it reached the water. These natural
'staircases' were the only places where one could actually climb up onto the
shore. Of course the ship was moving so quickly that it was hard to
determine their climbability. Haiku was just as uneasy as herself and wanted
to reach the end of the canal before nightfall.
At what Haruka guessed to be about 3/4 of the way to the centre of the
continent the ship suddenly stopped moving smoothly. There was a giant heave
and she nearly found herself thrown overboard. As it was she was only able
to just grab the railing before falling down the other side of the ship.
Jumping back on board she realized that something was missing. Haruka
charged towards the bow. "What's going on?!" she hollered.
"Can't you feel it?" Haiku called back. Haruka stopped. What was missing?
Everything looked fine. Then she felt it. Or rather didn't feel it. There
were no strands of magic! No one was controlling the ship! Looking ahead she
saw that they were approaching a turn. Even if she managed to get to the
tiller there wouldn't be enough time to turn the ship. They were going way
too fast. In the meantime the ship was still shaking, making walking around
nearly impossible.
"Why is the ship still shaking?"
"It has something to do with the way that the magic was ripped away," Hotaru
answered from where she was holding Haiku to the side. "I don't think it's
going to let up!"
"We're going to have to jump," Haruka said but Hotaru and Haiku were already
over the side.
"I'm with you," she heard Michiru call from behind as she leapt over the
side.
The water was warm but their clothes were still completely soaked. They
watched helplessly as the ship smashed itself to pieces against the rock
face.
"Why do I get the feeling that someone had intended for our ship to be
totally ruined?" Haruka muttered as she swam towards the nearest lavarun.
"Clever, very clever," she heard Haiku say. "A perfect was to keep away
outsiders, but it still doesn't explain where the magic went."
They climbed up onto the rocks and squeezed some of the water out of their
clothing. "It looks like Setsuna's disappeared again," Haiku commented.
"I've had enough of this nonsense," Haruka exclaimed. "Uranus Eternal,
Unite!" Nothing happened. "What the-"
"Neptune Eternal, Unite!" Still Nothing happened.
"Because there aren't any strands of magic here we obviously can't
transform," Haiku said "Let's get moving. It's going to be a long walk and
we might as well get started on it now."
A little later found Haruka and Michiru hanging back a bit and Haiku and
Hotaru up ahead. "Haiku, I think if I tried I could still become Sailor
Saturn." Hotaru spoke softly.
"I know. I can transform as well. It's just the eternal transformations that
are actually fed by the magic grid. Because the senshi went through rebirth
they can't use their original powers unless they can destroy the magic grid.
But you weren't affected in the future I guess."
"My transformation isn't eternal," Hotaru said. "I still have the wings in
the future."
"Then what is your transformation?"
"I don't really know. But since I was also removed from the timestream the
same as you, my powers haven't been affected." Hotaru stopped to think for a
moment. "So if we succeed and the magic grid disappears the senshi will get
their original powers back?"
"I... I'm not really sure. Without being able to understand what happened in
the first place I don't want to make a guess. In theory they should."
Hotaru turned back to the road ahead of them.
No one felt like sleeping when it got dark so they just continued to walk
through the night. It was about mid morning when they reached the top of the
final ridge and what met their eyes was not what they had expected. Instead
of the black rock that they had been seeing all day and that they had
expected to see, there was green grass. The centre of the region formed a
giant crater and in the middle of it was the Command Point. On one side was
the Command City with its 10-foot wall. Surrounding it was a grove of trees,
with each one being perfectly green all over. But the most disturbing part
was the half-mountain half-tower structure that had been erected on the
opposite side of the Command Point as the Command City. Waves of magic were
rising from the land and from the Command Point to converge at the top of
this structure which stood at about half of the Command Point's height. From
there the magic flooded onto the valley, creating the plants. For those who
could actually see the strands of magic like the senshi it was quite a light
show. "This is eerie," Hotaru commented. They hadn't been able to see any of
this until they had topped the ridge. Aside from approaching it on foot the
only way one could reach the crater would be to come in through the canal.
The canal continued into the crater for a little bit, creating a small
harbour, before disappearing underground.
"Now what?" Haruka asked. "It's not like we can just waltz in there and ask
what's going on."
"Sure we can Haruka," Haiku replied. "We can just say that we're refugees.
We fled the other continents on a ship. We found the canal and followed it.
We wrecked our ship on the rocks and were forced to walk and we just
followed the river and ended up in this place."
"...fine. I suppose it should work."
"And don't forget to be mad at me."
"That won't be hard." Haiku gave her a look but said nothing. "You did after
all steer the ship right into the rocks. Even a ditz like you should have
been able to avoid something like that."
Haiku looked at her but said nothing.
***
The streets of the Command City were deserted. No sound; nothing moved. The
high skyscrapers shadowing the run-down shacks in the dim light created an
eerie atmosphere. Haiku, Hotaru, Haruka, and Michiru were walking down one
of those streets.
"It wasn't like this the last time I was here. I don't like it," Haruka
muttered.
"You don't like anything."
Haruka grinned. "No, I can think of some things that I like," she replied,
placing a hand on Michiru's shoulder.
They entered what appeared to be a marketplace, only without any of the
stalls. The pavement was set in a large circular pattern a few times wider
than the streets branching off from it with buildings placed where there
were no streets. In the middle was a statue of a man with his left foot up
on a rock and his left arm resting on that knee. The problem with it was
that it didn't have a head. Although unusual, it seemed natural for it to be
there.
"Now where?"
"I don't see anyone here so let's hurry and head for that weird tower over
on the other side of the Command Point," Haiku answered. "The sooner we
finish the better." She was about to lead on when she heard a sound from
behind. "On second thought, how about we wait here to see who is coming to
greet us." As they waited, more shouts joined the first and they got
progressively louder. They didn't sound too happy.
Finally, the crowd, or rather the mob, came into view. It was a whole bunch
of people, armed with pitch-forks and chunks of wood with nails through
them. They were all being led by a robed figure. Haiku drew her sword from
its sheath on her back. The ginzuishou was now placed in its hilt.
"Here comes the welcoming committee," Haruka announced. "Why is it that
everywhere you go Haiku there's someone trying to kill you?"
"Maybe this is the way they greet all of their guests."
"There they are!" A shout was heard. "Kill them all!"
"Or maybe not."
The robed figure held its hands forward. Haiku moved into a fighting stance.
Or at least she tried to. Haruka cursed. "We can't move. I told you we
should have found a way to transform. He's holding us to the spot."
"Relax. I'll take care of it," Haiku replied. The ginzuishou pulsed and
exploded in a flash of blinding white light followed by a deafening crash of
thunder. When the light faded the senshi could move again. The cloaked
figure was lying on the ground unmoving. The mob was silent, unsure of what
to do. All of the buildings in the surrounding area had been leveled.
A flash of light in the sky drew the senshi's attention to the tower
standing beside the Command Point. Suddenly a beam of light shone down from
it and engulfed them. "Not again," Haruka muttered as she found that once
again she could not move.
Fortunately, this time Hotaru jumped out of the way, and therefore didn't
get caught in the beam's light. In a flash of dark light she became Sailor
Saturn, and out of that darkness her wing's and her glaive formed. Without a
pause she pointed her glaive towards the tower and said, "Silent
destruction."
If silence could be a sound, rather than just the absence of sound, that's
was happened next. All of the current noises suddenly became harder to hear.
Next, the whole top half of the tower exploded, but there was no sound.
Along with the destruction of the tower the beam of light dispersed and the
other senshi were able to move once again.
Violent energies began to swirl around and around as the strands of magic
that had been drawn to the tower began to return to their place of origin.
People fell back hurt and even more buildings collapsed. The ground started
to shake as it reshaped itself. Some parts of the earth rised while others
fell.
A portal formed above the senshi and Sailor Pluto dropped out of it.
"Soldiers, transform quickly," she said. "In a short while this entire area
is going to be destroyed and become as barren as the rest of the region. And
the princess needs our help."
"Uranus Eternal, Unite!"
"Neptune Eternal, Unite!"
Haiku had no need to transform.
The five senshi gathered in a circle, joining hand to hand. "I'll lead,"
Haiku said. "I can feel Usagi's presence."
"SAILOR TELEPORT!"
The sailor soldiers left the valley to its own destruction.
*****
Episode 21 'Unwelcome'
Haiku stood at the bow of the ship. The future was actually starting to look
bright indeed. The day before Hotaru had told her about the friendship they
would have made in the past that should have happened. In Crystal Tokyo
Hotaru had been waiting for Chibi-usa to experience those times after the
senshi had defeated Galaxia [let's just say she did go back again] but it
never came. Although Haiku had never actually experienced them, it still
brought them closer together.
Now they were approaching the most southern continental region, the volcanic
lavalands.
Michiru stood at the side of the ship as well but was looking down into the
water instead. An arm across her back and a head on her shoulders signaled
that Haruka was behind her. "Just like old times, ne?"
"Yeah,.." Michiru replied gloomily.
"What's the matter?"
"I...it's...I just don't feel well." Michiru turned and took a step away. "I
think I'll go lay down 'til we land," she said before hurrying off. Haruka
shrugged and turned to the approaching landscape.
It was mostly just black rock. The makeup was somewhat similar to that of
the mountain region only here there were visible places where it would be
possible to land the ship and get out safely. Haruka had plenty of
experience in that area. She had spent nearly a year searching for places
where she could land her ship around the mountain region and then try to
scale the cliff. Of course she never succeeded but something had been
pulling her towards the interior of that region so she wasn't about to let a
little 50-foot cliff stop her.
She had found the underwater pass completely by accident. She had been
trying to climb the cliff when she slipped and the climbing rope didn't hold
under the sudden weight increase. She had fallen maybe 15 feet before
hitting the water and it was either luck or fate which allowed her to find
the underwater cavern below. From there it was just a simple matter of
marking the spot, returning to Afkzo, and "borrowing" the diving equipment
on a permanent basis. Who was going to say no to a senshi?
She hadn't even guessed at the time that the other senshi were only a day
behind her after leaving Afkzo. When they had caught up to her her mind had
been so enriched with the talismans' song that her surprise at seeing them
didn't really register to her conscious thought. From there on it had just
been a roller-coaster ride right until the gathering.
Returning her attention to the present she found herself acting without
thinking again. She was walking towards the bow where Haiku and Hotaru were
standing and monitoring the strands of magic that were guiding the ship.
Haruka had noticed that over the duration of the voyage Haiku and Hotaru had
become closer but she hadn't figured out why yet. Not that she really cared.
Unlike before now, she really did believe that the only way the senshi could
succeed was if the inner senshi and the outers were to work together.
Although she still didn't like it, she had come to terms with Sailor Moon's
actions during their last battle with the deathbusters. Even though she
believed that all of the senshi should work together she was still glad at
the fact that Usagi and Haiku had decided to split up the inners and outers.
It's not that she didn't like them; it's just that she wasn't sure how close
each group's view on fighting was now.
When she reached the front of the ship Hotaru was -actually for once-
laughing. Haiku had an annoyed look on her face and was looking away
sheepishly. "What's so funny?" Haruka snorted.(She still had an appearance
to keep up)
"Sorry Haruka, ...you had to be there." Hotaru answered amid her giggling.
Haiku sighed. Actually Haruka HAD been there. Just not this Haruka. Hotaru
was chuckling about an event in Chibi-usa's childhood. Haiku couldn't see
what was so funny but she couldn't really remember the incident either.
When Hotaru quieted down Haruka spoke seriously. "So where are we going to
land the ship? I think there's a good place a little to the left a ways."
Haiku shook her head. "No, we're aren't going to land the ship on the shore
here."
"Then what?"
"I'm going to follow the coast to the right a bit. According to our maps
back at the palace there should be an inlet coming up. It runs nearly to the
center of the continent, right next to the Command City."
"That doesn't sound like a very good idea. If we get attacked it will make
escaping pretty difficult."
"You just let me worry about that. We'll deal with the situation as it
develops." Haruka didn't like Haiku's authority over their actions but
accepted her command. It wouldn't do to get Hotaru mad at her, so she
resumed her watch of the coastline.
The channel was worse than Haruka had hoped for. Unlike around the outside
of the continent, here the land shot up nearly vertical from the water. Her
mind was screaming, 'Ambush! Ambush!', and she was just getting more and
more anxious. In all of her travels she had never moved around out in the
open like this. If it had been up to her they would be moving cautiously in
small watercrafts instead of grandly in a sea vessel. She glanced over and
found that Haiku was scanning the shore as meticulously as herself. Maybe
she did know what she was doing. Hotaru was just staring down into the
water. "If anything happens, don't transform unless you have to," Haiku
cautioned. "I don't know what the attitude towards the senshi is like here.
Haruka only nodded. "I'll go grab Michiru something. Is there anything I can
get for you Hotaru?"
"Nuh uh," Hotaru replied. She held her hand up and her glaive formed in it.
Haiku stood with her mouth opened. "But you're not even transformed."
"What makes you think that?" Hotaru said innocently. "Is there really a
difference?"
Making no reply Haiku turned and called to Haruka, "If you see Setsuna tell
her that she shouldn't come up on deck as Pluto again." Haruka waved as she
was walking away, signaling that she would.
Later, when she was back on deck, Haruka found herself studying the shore
again. Every so often there was a place where lava had flowed through cracks
in the shore and hardened as soon as it reached the water. These natural
'staircases' were the only places where one could actually climb up onto the
shore. Of course the ship was moving so quickly that it was hard to
determine their climbability. Haiku was just as uneasy as herself and wanted
to reach the end of the canal before nightfall.
At what Haruka guessed to be about 3/4 of the way to the centre of the
continent the ship suddenly stopped moving smoothly. There was a giant heave
and she nearly found herself thrown overboard. As it was she was only able
to just grab the railing before falling down the other side of the ship.
Jumping back on board she realized that something was missing. Haruka
charged towards the bow. "What's going on?!" she hollered.
"Can't you feel it?" Haiku called back. Haruka stopped. What was missing?
Everything looked fine. Then she felt it. Or rather didn't feel it. There
were no strands of magic! No one was controlling the ship! Looking ahead she
saw that they were approaching a turn. Even if she managed to get to the
tiller there wouldn't be enough time to turn the ship. They were going way
too fast. In the meantime the ship was still shaking, making walking around
nearly impossible.
"Why is the ship still shaking?"
"It has something to do with the way that the magic was ripped away," Hotaru
answered from where she was holding Haiku to the side. "I don't think it's
going to let up!"
"We're going to have to jump," Haruka said but Hotaru and Haiku were already
over the side.
"I'm with you," she heard Michiru call from behind as she leapt over the
side.
The water was warm but their clothes were still completely soaked. They
watched helplessly as the ship smashed itself to pieces against the rock
face.
"Why do I get the feeling that someone had intended for our ship to be
totally ruined?" Haruka muttered as she swam towards the nearest lavarun.
"Clever, very clever," she heard Haiku say. "A perfect was to keep away
outsiders, but it still doesn't explain where the magic went."
They climbed up onto the rocks and squeezed some of the water out of their
clothing. "It looks like Setsuna's disappeared again," Haiku commented.
"I've had enough of this nonsense," Haruka exclaimed. "Uranus Eternal,
Unite!" Nothing happened. "What the-"
"Neptune Eternal, Unite!" Still Nothing happened.
"Because there aren't any strands of magic here we obviously can't
transform," Haiku said "Let's get moving. It's going to be a long walk and
we might as well get started on it now."
A little later found Haruka and Michiru hanging back a bit and Haiku and
Hotaru up ahead. "Haiku, I think if I tried I could still become Sailor
Saturn." Hotaru spoke softly.
"I know. I can transform as well. It's just the eternal transformations that
are actually fed by the magic grid. Because the senshi went through rebirth
they can't use their original powers unless they can destroy the magic grid.
But you weren't affected in the future I guess."
"My transformation isn't eternal," Hotaru said. "I still have the wings in
the future."
"Then what is your transformation?"
"I don't really know. But since I was also removed from the timestream the
same as you, my powers haven't been affected." Hotaru stopped to think for a
moment. "So if we succeed and the magic grid disappears the senshi will get
their original powers back?"
"I... I'm not really sure. Without being able to understand what happened in
the first place I don't want to make a guess. In theory they should."
Hotaru turned back to the road ahead of them.
No one felt like sleeping when it got dark so they just continued to walk
through the night. It was about mid morning when they reached the top of the
final ridge and what met their eyes was not what they had expected. Instead
of the black rock that they had been seeing all day and that they had
expected to see, there was green grass. The centre of the region formed a
giant crater and in the middle of it was the Command Point. On one side was
the Command City with its 10-foot wall. Surrounding it was a grove of trees,
with each one being perfectly green all over. But the most disturbing part
was the half-mountain half-tower structure that had been erected on the
opposite side of the Command Point as the Command City. Waves of magic were
rising from the land and from the Command Point to converge at the top of
this structure which stood at about half of the Command Point's height. From
there the magic flooded onto the valley, creating the plants. For those who
could actually see the strands of magic like the senshi it was quite a light
show. "This is eerie," Hotaru commented. They hadn't been able to see any of
this until they had topped the ridge. Aside from approaching it on foot the
only way one could reach the crater would be to come in through the canal.
The canal continued into the crater for a little bit, creating a small
harbour, before disappearing underground.
"Now what?" Haruka asked. "It's not like we can just waltz in there and ask
what's going on."
"Sure we can Haruka," Haiku replied. "We can just say that we're refugees.
We fled the other continents on a ship. We found the canal and followed it.
We wrecked our ship on the rocks and were forced to walk and we just
followed the river and ended up in this place."
"...fine. I suppose it should work."
"And don't forget to be mad at me."
"That won't be hard." Haiku gave her a look but said nothing. "You did after
all steer the ship right into the rocks. Even a ditz like you should have
been able to avoid something like that."
Haiku looked at her but said nothing.
***
The streets of the Command City were deserted. No sound; nothing moved. The
high skyscrapers shadowing the run-down shacks in the dim light created an
eerie atmosphere. Haiku, Hotaru, Haruka, and Michiru were walking down one
of those streets.
"It wasn't like this the last time I was here. I don't like it," Haruka
muttered.
"You don't like anything."
Haruka grinned. "No, I can think of some things that I like," she replied,
placing a hand on Michiru's shoulder.
They entered what appeared to be a marketplace, only without any of the
stalls. The pavement was set in a large circular pattern a few times wider
than the streets branching off from it with buildings placed where there
were no streets. In the middle was a statue of a man with his left foot up
on a rock and his left arm resting on that knee. The problem with it was
that it didn't have a head. Although unusual, it seemed natural for it to be
there.
"Now where?"
"I don't see anyone here so let's hurry and head for that weird tower over
on the other side of the Command Point," Haiku answered. "The sooner we
finish the better." She was about to lead on when she heard a sound from
behind. "On second thought, how about we wait here to see who is coming to
greet us." As they waited, more shouts joined the first and they got
progressively louder. They didn't sound too happy.
Finally, the crowd, or rather the mob, came into view. It was a whole bunch
of people, armed with pitch-forks and chunks of wood with nails through
them. They were all being led by a robed figure. Haiku drew her sword from
its sheath on her back. The ginzuishou was now placed in its hilt.
"Here comes the welcoming committee," Haruka announced. "Why is it that
everywhere you go Haiku there's someone trying to kill you?"
"Maybe this is the way they greet all of their guests."
"There they are!" A shout was heard. "Kill them all!"
"Or maybe not."
The robed figure held its hands forward. Haiku moved into a fighting stance.
Or at least she tried to. Haruka cursed. "We can't move. I told you we
should have found a way to transform. He's holding us to the spot."
"Relax. I'll take care of it," Haiku replied. The ginzuishou pulsed and
exploded in a flash of blinding white light followed by a deafening crash of
thunder. When the light faded the senshi could move again. The cloaked
figure was lying on the ground unmoving. The mob was silent, unsure of what
to do. All of the buildings in the surrounding area had been leveled.
A flash of light in the sky drew the senshi's attention to the tower
standing beside the Command Point. Suddenly a beam of light shone down from
it and engulfed them. "Not again," Haruka muttered as she found that once
again she could not move.
Fortunately, this time Hotaru jumped out of the way, and therefore didn't
get caught in the beam's light. In a flash of dark light she became Sailor
Saturn, and out of that darkness her wing's and her glaive formed. Without a
pause she pointed her glaive towards the tower and said, "Silent
destruction."
If silence could be a sound, rather than just the absence of sound, that's
was happened next. All of the current noises suddenly became harder to hear.
Next, the whole top half of the tower exploded, but there was no sound.
Along with the destruction of the tower the beam of light dispersed and the
other senshi were able to move once again.
Violent energies began to swirl around and around as the strands of magic
that had been drawn to the tower began to return to their place of origin.
People fell back hurt and even more buildings collapsed. The ground started
to shake as it reshaped itself. Some parts of the earth rised while others
fell.
A portal formed above the senshi and Sailor Pluto dropped out of it.
"Soldiers, transform quickly," she said. "In a short while this entire area
is going to be destroyed and become as barren as the rest of the region. And
the princess needs our help."
"Uranus Eternal, Unite!"
"Neptune Eternal, Unite!"
Haiku had no need to transform.
The five senshi gathered in a circle, joining hand to hand. "I'll lead,"
Haiku said. "I can feel Usagi's presence."
"SAILOR TELEPORT!"
The sailor soldiers left the valley to its own destruction.
*****