~*~The Fight Begins~*~

~*~Chapter Six~*~

Tarda laughed quite evily as the first building fell at her hands, completely demolished. The place to her seemed like a ghost town, no one dared to step outside. She leaped down to the street, looking at all the bodies on the ground. She sighed almost boredly. "And here I was, expecting a fight." She looked to the tall building she'd been standing on when she began her attack. She pointed her hand to it and began to blast the lower floors, wishing to see it collapse, she smiled as she heard the screams of the people inside.

The six senshi appeared in the middle of a street and apparently in the middle of it all as they could hear loud blasts not to far away. They ran quickly to where the sound came from, stopping when they saw the cause of it all. A white haired girl, dressed all in white, seemingly in her late teens was malishiously blasting a building with innocents inside, no hint of remorse to her face, she actually appeared to be enjoying it.

This angered Eternal Sailor Mars the most. "Hold it right there!" she yelled. The girl looked to her, her eyes widening but only slightly. She raised both hands in the air. "COSMIC PHEONIX....!!!!" she yelled as a large transparent flaming pheonix appeared above her. "CHARGE!!!!" as she yelled the command the bird flew quickly twords Tarda. Tarda grinned and with unnatural speed she did a backflip and the pheonix whizzed past her only to crash into the building Tarda had been trying to bring down mere moments ago. "Damn it!"

Tarda giggled. "Thanks for the extra help but I really don't need it." she looked at all six senshi. "So you're the Sailor Senshi, the hope of the Earth."

"Thats right!" said Eternal Sailor Jupiter. "And just who the hell are you? Who sent you?!"

"Questions, questions, mere formalities I assure you. But if you must know I'm Tarda, loyal follower to Lord Cosmosis."

Neo Sailor Moon gasped. This was what she'd been waiting for all these years, she prayed she had the power and confidance to not let everyone down.

"I never was one to chat though. Tell you what senshi. If you can defeat my drones then I'll give you the privilage and honor of fighting me." Tarda giggled and before the senshi could agree to anything she lept up onto a building, and almost as soon as she did there appeared a dozen white puddles all around the senshi. The puddles rose and solidized to form creatures that looked feminine with ominous dark eyes.

"Looks like its going to be two each, I hope you're all ready." Said Eternal Sailor Mercury, sounding only slightly worried. The rest of the senshi nodded.

Eternal Sailor Jupter chose the two drones nearest her. "SUPREME THUNDER SPIKE....!!!!" a larger, more powerful spike formed in her hands now. She raised the spike abover her head, seperating her hands so that the spike split in two. "STRIKE!!!!" She hurled both spikes at each of them. One was dusted but the other rose to its feet and sent a surge of dark energy at Eternal Sailor Jupiter. She was thrown against a wall but got quickly to her feet and continued to fight with the remaining drone.

"SWIRLING ICE WRATH....!!!!" Eternal Mercury yelled as a large orb of swirling white and blue liquid appeared in front of her. Her hands were outstretched twords the orb as it grew slowly but steadily larger. When it was about half her size, and when it looked like she was losing her strength, she yelled. "FREEZE!!!!" The orb headed quickly to the two drones nearest her and the one which seemed to elude Eternal Jupiter's attacks, who was tiring herself as well. Once the orb connected with the three drones it to split into three seperate globs, each encasing a drone, then freezing till the drones were nothing but standing frozen statues. "Now Jupiter!" Eternal Mercury yelled.

Eternal Jupiter nodded. "Right." She wasted no more time. "ETERNAL THUNDER SWORD....!!!!" The sound of thunder came from out of no where. Lightning shot down from the clouds and into her open hand, forming a sword made entirely out of lightning energy. "SLASH!!!!" She charged quickly at the trapped, stationary drones and slashed at their midsections, making one clean swipe through all three of them. For a moment it seemed as if nothing happened, then a loud craking sound was heard. Eternal Jupiter smiled and staightened as all three frozen drones shattered in thousands of small peices to the ground.

Meanwhile Mars and Venus were each down to one drone each. They were now teaming up to get rid of their remaining two. Then a little further away Neo Sailor Moon and Eternal Saturn were having trouble with their four drones. So far they'd gone at them with physical attacks, since Neo Moon wanted to see how strong she was first before she tried out her still unused powers. However her kicks, punches and jabs were to no avail, the two senshi were tiring but the drones were not phased. Suddenly the two drones focused on Eternal Saturn both attacked her at once, they both seemed to sense that she had healing abilities. Eternal Saturn was thrown against a wall and hit with Dark energy, rendering her unconscious. Neo Moon gasped and screamed for her fallen friend. "No! Hotaru!" Neo Moon became furious and she spoke in an angry voice."Enough. Its time." The four drones looked at eachother then back to Neo Moon, wondering what the hell she was talking about. Neo Moon closed her eyes, searching for the words, the motions, in her heart. Her eyes quickly shot open and she smiled. She brought her hands to her chest and closed her eyes to concentrate. The drones sensed her increasing energy as it built and they all took a step back. "NEO MOON SYLPH....!!!!" A bright light shown on the ground beneath her and grew till it was about three feet wide. A white cloud then appeared a few feet over it and irridescent Moon dust was showered on the light below which began to take the form of a beautiful white fairy-like figure with pink wings and the symbol of the Moon on its forehead. Both the cloud and light disappeared and the Sylph was now Neo Moons size. Neo Moon pointed at the four shocked drones. "IRRADICATE!!!!" A double bladed white and pink spear appeared in the Sylphs hands, it then flew quickly to the four drones and engaged in a fight with them, however the drones didn't stand a chance and were dusted when slashed by the Sylphs spear. Once the drones were gone the Sylph disappeared. Mercury and Jupiter had been stunned as they watched the spectacle.

"Way to go Neo Moon!" Jupiter called out.

Mercury was about to do the same until she saw that Neo Moon collapsed to her knees. She instantly ran to help her. "Neo Moon, Princess, are you alright?" she said, sounding very concerned.

Neo Moon looked up to her as Jupiter had just got there to see what was wrong. "I'm alright, really, the attack, it just took a lot out of me, thats all. I'll be ok." She was greatful when they both helped her to her feet. She leaned on Jupiter for support. "Mercury, please help Saturn." she said, her eyes almost in tears as she looked to where Eternal Saturn lay. Mercury nodded and ran to help Saturn.

Eternal Mars's arm was injured and Eternal Venus was nursing her side. The remaining two drones were giving them a run for their money. "We can't keep this up for much longer Venus, lets take an example and hit them with a combined attack."

Venus nodded. "You're right, I'll go first." until now she'd been sort of hunched over and had to straighten for her attack, which caused her more pain. "VENUS LOVE BONDS....!!!!" she brought her hands together as if to pray but lifted them over her head, slowly bringing them apart. As she did that a bright yellow circle of light appeared over her hands, growing as her hands seperated. Once her arms were as far apart as she could bring them she brought them to the front of her, which made the circle move directly over the last two dronse. "ENTRAP!!!!" she then lowered her hands and brought them closer together, however it was clear that it was taking a lot of strength to do that. The bright yellow circle was now around the two drones, squeezing them together. "I can't hold this for long Mars, do something and quick!"

"I'm on it." She held her hands outstretched in front of her. "MARS FLAME AND MAGMA....!!!!" A large ball of fire appeared in front of her. "MELT!!!!" Fire and magma then shot out from the fire ball, hitting the drones, melting them to nothing but puddles which soon disappeared. Both Mars and Venus sighed in relief as they joined the others. Jupiter was still supporting Neo Moon while Mercury was kneeling beside Saturn who had regained consciousness.

Somewhere high above the recovering senshi Tarda was having a fit. "Those wretches! My drones should have been able to do away with them easily. They are stronger than I'd expected, and so it seems I'll have to deal with them myself." A mischievous smile came to her lips. Tarda felt that since watching them fight just now she would have the upper hand, plus she prided herself on being the only other twin to survive the destruction of a planet full of Mage warriors. If it were not for her and Azure being as strong as they were, Cosmosis would never have chosen them to accompany him on his destructive journeys throughout the universe. She simply had to put any faith she had in that. She appeared behind the senshi who instantly turned, each glaring at her.

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Neo Queen Serenity paced back and forth, her shoes clacking on the white stone floor being the only sound that could be heard throughtout the large throne room. Elios entered quietly, standing at the entrance watching her for a few moments, wondering weather or not to intrude on her. "Don't just stand there Elios, come closer, tell me whats happening." she said once she stoped pacing to look at him.

He nodded and did as he was told. He bowed lightly before her then began. "As you know the others are in the palace's mainframe control room, watching the fight as best they can, for a while we only had audio but Artemis managed to get a visual.....for a while but we lost it. He's working on it as we speak, but as far as we can tell the Senshi are doing just fine your majesty." he showed her a reassuring smile.

She nodded, her features softer yet still a little grim. "I don't know why Elios but I have a bad feeling, about all of this, something just isn't right."

Elios saw that she was genuinely concerned. "I'm sure everything will be fine my queen, the Senshi have suprised us so far with the way they've been fighting the enemy and Usako is doing wonderfully."

She smiled now. "I suppose you're right Elios." she turned to look out a large window, her eyes catching the sunset. "You care for her don't you? I've seen it, in her eyes, the way she looks at you. Its the same look you return, its the way I look at Endymion."

Her words made him smile and a light pink tint covered his cheeks as he nodded. "Yes I do. I love her, but then I think you already know that. You're very perceptive my queen."

She giggled softly. "I like to think so, especially when it comes to matters of the heart, and love."

Two dark figures then appeared at the entrance to the throne room. "Figures, only our fair queen could talk of love at a time such as this." The two came forward and when light was cast it was seen that they were Haruka and Michiru, both with calm features and an air of sophistication surrounding them.

Neo Queen Serenity smiled happily. "And why not? I've been assured thet everything will be fine." she looked to Elios. Both Haruka and Michiru's glance followed Serenity's, their eyes widened.

Michiru smiled politely. After her and Haruka hugged their old friend she cast her eyes on Elios. "And whos this young man?" she questioned.

Serenity gestured twords Elios, "This is Elios, a dear friend of ours, an ally, and the one who helped us defeat the Dead Moon Circus." she smiled and added in a girlish tone. "He's also in love with my daughter." Elios blushed at this then greeted Haruka and Michiru.

At this point Haruka was puzzeled. "I thought he was different. When Chibi-Usa wrote to Hotaru she mentioned that he could turn into a winged horse but that either human or horse he always had a golden crystal or horn thing on his head, along with a red jewel on his forehead. But now he looks completely--"

"Human." Serenity said with a smile. "Last night, at the ceremony, he gave all his power to Chibi--, I mean Usagi, to the crystal actually. He knew much more about the new enemy then we did and he was sure Usagi would need the extra power." she looked out the window again, her eyes watery. "You should have seen her Michi, Ruka-Chan, she was so beautiful, we're all so proud."

Haruka nodded. "I'm sure we will be as well. Usagi eh? Guess its about time we all started to call her that." her features then turned serious, as did Michiru's. "But now on to why we're here. We've sensed it Serenity, even in Paris, its so strong and its focused on Crystal Tokyo."

Serenity nodded. "That much we've been able to guess. But we've known about this for a little longer than that, so has Elios. You see, four years ago, just before Usagi came back there was a sort of disturbance in time space, we thought something was coming then but Ami was able to deduce that whatever it was would take more time to get here, four and a half years I think, give or take. Anyway its made itself known now. All the Senshi are out fighting it as we speak."

"Even Hotaru?" Michiru questioned.

Serenity nodded. "She transformed when everyone else did, teleported with them. I've been worried ever since, for all of them, I didn't have the heart to sit in the central mainframe room and watch, or listen to the fight, I guess out of a motherly fear."

Michiru went and hugged her friend once more. "I know exactly what you mean, I've been scared too, but we're here now. We'll help as much as we can, I promise."

Haruka nodded. "And there will be plenty of time to catch up on everything once everyones safe. For now tell us where the fight is. I don't want to waste any more time now that I know Hota-Chan and the others are out there fighting." Haruka didn't want to admit that she was concerned so much for Hotaru, who had been like a daughter to her and Michiru for so long, especially since she'd gone to Paris to attend college and they had gone with her, both on a promise to her father to watch over her, and because they were both offered remarkably good jobs there. She was anxious to get out there and help in whatever way she and Michiru could. It had been so long since they'd all fought together, and she sensed that in some way the Outer Senshi would be needed.

"Of course, you're absolutely right. They're all in downtown Crystal Tokyo. Thats where the attack started, it couldn't be too much further from there. Be carefull you two, and please, keep an eye on Usagi for me."

They both nodded then took a few steps further from eachother.

"NEPTUNE PLANET POWER, MAKE UP!!!!"

"URANUS PLANET POWER, MAKE UP!!!!"

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"We got rid of all your drones Tarda now either give up or fight us!" Mars yelled as she held her injured right arm with her left. Saturn looked better as she got up, with some help from Jupiter, and went to heal Mars's arm.

Tarda let out a short mocking laugh. "I don't give up so easily Senshi, this fight is far from over!" she held her hand outward twords the six senshi and a white blast was shot out from it. Everyone was about to scramble to dodge but Neo Moon stood her ground, a look of determination to her face.

Neo Moon held her arms out and far apart from eachother. "CELESTIAL SPHERE PROTECT!!!!" This time the sphere was much larger and grew to protect the entire group from the blast, absorbing it. Tarda stood in shock as she saw this. Neo Moon lowered her hands back to her sides and the sphere was gone. She then looked to Saturn questioningly. Saturn nodded and took a step forward.

Her glaive appeared in her hands and she lifted it, pointing it twords the sky. "SATURN DEATH....!!!!" A black sort of energy began to collect at the tip of her glaive. She then quickly pointed it directly at Tarda. "RELEASE!!!!" A thick black beam was shot at Tarda, her midsection taking the blow which pushed her halfway through the building behind her. Neo Moon took a step forward cheering as she hugged Saturn. Saturn however was skeptickal, her features were serious. "Shes still alive." The six senshi stared at the building, waiting for something to happen. Moments later they heard something move. They all took a step back and no sooner had they done that did they see a large blast come from inside the building. A second later Tarda appeared in front of them, where she'd been standing when Saturn attacked, looking very ticked and hurt to boot.

Jupiter smiled as she saw Tarda in this state. "Ready to give up yet?"

Tarda smirked. "I underestimated you. A mistake I don't intend to repeat. This has been fun Senshi but its time to stop holding back wouldn't you say?"

"Holding back?! She's been holding back?!" Venus said sounding fairly distressed.

Mercury's vizors appeard on her face. "Theres no real way to tell. I don't know exactly what she is so I can't get a reading on what kinds of powers she's got." She touched her earing and the vizors disappeared.

"In other words we're going to have to wing it." Jupiter said as she punced her right palm with her left fist.

Mercury nodded. "Right."

"You twirps haven't even seen a fraction of my real power." With no further warning she held out her hands and shot out two large white orbs, the first connected with Jupiter and Mars, the second hit Venus and Mercury, exploding on impact, leaving them injured or unconscious on the ground.

Saturn went to stand defensively in front of Neo Moon, who at the moment was dealing with what just happened. "Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus!" she yelled, tears welling up in her eyes. She then glared angrily at Tarda and was about to say something when two people jumped in front of her and Saturn.

"Neptune, Uranus! You're here!" Saturn hugged the two older senshi, half happily and half in relief.

"Thats right munchkin." Uranus looked behind them to the four fallen Inner Senshi. "Looks like we got here just in time too."

Neptune was glaring at the mysterious woman in white before them. "She's strong Uranus. I think we can do it though if we double up, shall we try?"

Uranus nodded as she looked to Tarda. "Yeah, I don't wanna take any chances."

"What are you mumbling about? I've had enough of this, its time to get rid of you pests!" At this point Tarda was very annoyed, having rid herself of four only to have another two senshi appear.

Neptune didn't give her enough time to act on her rage though. She held her arms up over her head. "SURGING WHIRLPOOL....!!!!" A cirlcle of water appeard at Tarda's feet. "ECNCASE!!!" The water began rising and swirling around Tarda, trapping her. Neptune then nodded to Uranus.

Uranus closed her eyes. "DEADLY WIND SWORD....!!!!" A small tornado like wind surrounded Uranus. When it subsided a more beautiful version of her Space Sword was in her hands. "TERMINATE!!!!" The swords blade began to glow brightly and she quickly charged forward, impaling Tarda through the water, through her stomach, then smiled triumphantly as Tarda was blasted by the sword which was buried in her.

Tarda let out a screeching yell. Neptune's whirlpool died down and Tarda fell to her knees. Uranus then withdrew her sword and took a step back. "How could you...?" Tarda said a bit brokenly. She looked to her bleeding wound where her dark green blood was freely flowing. Her body hurt all over from the blast, she could barely keep her eyes open. She was about to fall backward when she was caught by something, something black. She opened her eyes enough to see Azure's black robes, her eyes traveling slowly upward to his saddened face. The four standing senshi stared on in awe, wondering who the man was. "Azure....you came." Tarda said softly, too softly in fact.

"No, Tarda. Hang on, please." He said as he held her tighter.

"You were right. I did skrew up, I'm so sorry. You'll do better, I know that."

"Tarda, stop it, you're going to be ok!" Azure almost screamed defiantly. He stood and held her in his arms and she weakly linked her arms around his neck.

She managed to giggle softly. "You'd like to think that wouldn't you?" she turned her eyes away from him to look up at what had become the evening sky. "No, its over. But who better to pick up the peices.....than...you?" Her head fell back then, lifeless, her arms loosened from his neck and fell as well. Her body the glowed a bright white, disappearing all together moments later, leaving his arms empty.

He stared blankly at the ground for a moment, fighting back tears, his arms falling limply to his sides.

Neo Moon took a step forward. "You don't have to end up like that. She was obviously very important to you but you don't have to share her fate. Give up while you still can." she said gently but sternly.

His head shot up now to glare at the four of them. "Never." he said through clenched teeth. "I'll deal with all of you soon enough, make you pay for what you did to my sister, you can count on that." With nothing else to say he stepped back and disappeared.

Both Saturn and Neo Moon breathed out in relief. "Its over, for now. Right?" Saturn asked as she looked to Uranus and Neptune.

Uranus nodded. "For now."

Just then Neo Moon's eyes widened. "The Inners!" she turned and ran to where Venus lay since she was the closest to her. "She's knocked out. Saturn can't you do something?"

"Yeah but I think it'd be safer if we got everyone back to the palace first." The other three nodded. They gathered the four Inner Senshi closer together on the ground.

Neo Moon, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus stood in a circle around their four unconscious friends, closed their eyes, then once they'd all built up enough power they yelled in unison. "SAILOR TELEPORT!!!!"

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