RESSURRECTION,
Chapter 10: "Showdown over Juuban Park"
By Bill K.
The four senshi ran into the clearing by the lake in Juuban Park just in time to witness Serenity and Kakyuu be engulfed by a massive fireball. Jupiter's eyes went wide and she stumbled to a stop. Mercury choked, her hands flying up to her mouth. Venus let out a strangled little sob as her worst nightmare seemed to sweep over her like a giant wave. Echoing through the trees was a bellowed snarl of pain and rage that sounded like it might be Sailor Star Fighter. Then Mars turned to them, eyes huge and mouth drawn back in a delirious smile, and for a tense moment the others thought she had collapsed into madness.
"It's OK!" she said, almost giddy with relief. "She's not dead! I can feel it!"
Mercury had trouble reconciling the clear evidence she'd witnessed against the supernatural sight of Mars. The other two dared for a moment to hope. Then they noticed Endymion poised atop a lamppost, his sword drawn, waiting for a reason to act. Cautiously they all looked back at where they had seemingly seen Serenity and Kakyuu immolated.
"STAR SERIOUS LASER!" rang out from the trees. It was followed by a beam of energy knifing out and striking the Fire Giant squarely in the temple. The giant recoiled from the pain the beam inflicted upon it. The beam couldn't destroy it, but it was hurting the giant. The quartet had to squint, for the beam was far more intense and brilliant than any they could recall Star Fighter ever emitting before.
And all at once the fireball withdrew, condensing down into nearly nothing. There floated Serenity and Kakyuu, unscathed by the fire. Kakyuu had her hands cupped and the once massive flames danced and cavorted in her palms like a playful puppy. Caressing the fire lovingly, Kakyuu turned to the Fire Giant.
"You have chosen the wrong way to attack me," she gently admonished the giant. "The fire and I are old and dear friends. I was born of the fire. I matured in the fire. I listened to the fire and heard its wisdom and felt its power." She held out her hand, the fire cupped in her palm, and gently thrust out. The fire seemed to leap back to the giant like a docile pet. "I implore you now," she said kindly and the giant seemed to cock its head and listen. "Leave this place and return to where you belong."
The giant hesitated, torn between its mission and the siren song of Kakyuu. Then the sky seemed to thunder above it. Huge flames roared out through the temporal portal, disgorging heat and smoke as if from Hell itself. Serenity flinched back, though Kakyuu watched with calm assurance. The portal seemed to stretch to its limit, then spat out three more Fire Giants and a man.
The man was tall and wiry, but with a chiseled frame of powerful muscles. He wore loose red pants, cinched at the waist with a woven leather belt, and thick leather boots. His shirt was brilliant orange, again loose and flowing, and he had a cape of red with yellow lining. His features were long and thin, his eyes sloped and his nose tapered. Wild, unkempt thick orange hair topped his skull and a gold earring dangled from his left ear. The stranger levitated in the center of the quintet of Fire Giants and looked to the two princesses with a menacing glower.
"You seek to command my subjects, woman?" he snapped, his words contemptuous, but warning tones hidden beneath.
"I seek merely to return them to their home," Kakyuu replied, calm and pleasant.
"You would best be served by surrender," he told her. "I am Nefris, King of the Children of Surt. Do you speak for this pitiful lot of creatures we have come to judge?"
"That would be her," Kakyuu said, bowing and floating back behind and to the right of Serenity. "She is Usagi, the Princess Serenity."
Nefris looked Serenity over.
"You're a fair wench," he said, an eyebrow raised, "but I doubt you're much of a challenge. I give you a choice: accept the judgment and die a quick death or fight and die slowly and painfully, but with honor."
Serenity's chest heaved. "Do we have to go through this again?" she asked.
The question seemed to catch everybody off guard, except Kakyuu.
"We've all been through so much already," Serenity continued. "Can't you just go? Go back where you came from and live in peace, and let us live in peace? This won't accomplish anything except get people hurt! I don't want that!"
"If you've no stomach for battle," Nefris sneered, "then I'll accept your surrender - - on your knees!"
"Why do you all sound alike?" sighed Serenity. "Do you all go to some school and learn to do it that way?" The loud snicker that escaped from Venus's mouth echoed over the lake. "Go home. We've already gone through your world's 'judgment' and we passed! Leave us alone! Go home! Go home to your families and your friends and leave us in peace! And if you don't have any families to go home to - - well, maybe that's your problem!"
The jaunty superiority was gone from her foe's face, replaced by simmering anger.
"Indeed, Princess?" Nefris said with a low, threatening tone. "Perhaps you first need a lesson in the price of mockery."
Watching from the clump of trees, Star Fighter saw the invader's arm track around until it pointed at the group of firefighters parked by the lake. Instantly sensing what was coming, Star Fighter bolted toward them at blinding speed, trying to arrive in time to push them out of harm's way. As she ran, she knew she couldn't make it.
The fire exploded out from Nefris, much the way it had exploded out from Candes; however this was far more intense. The gigantic ball of flame hurled down at the wide-eyed firefighters. They were frozen in their tracks, the threat barely having time to register in their minds before it was upon them.
But at the last moment, the fire struck an invisible shield and fanned out from the impact point. Grass was scorched and trees set afire, but the firefighters were protected. Star Fighter stopped and backtracked from the flames, then looked up to the two princesses. Serenity was gesturing; she had thrown up the energy shield. Star Fighter smiled proudly.
"Who are you to think you can thwart my will?" demanded Nefris, whirling on her and Kakyuu. Then his eyes narrowed. "Perhaps you are this mysterious princess of Midgard? The one who defeated King Vodun and laid waste to the wretched Sons of Ymir? You strike me as little more than a kitchen wench - - yet perhaps there is more to you than meets the eye. Perhaps I will enjoy this challenge more than I thought I would."
"Ohhhh!" fumed Serenity. "Poopy on your challenge!"
Venus snickered again. Mars put her hand to her forehead and shook her head in disgust. But Nefris was not amused.
"I won't let you hurt anyone," Serenity told him. "I don't want to fight you! I don't want this silly little war you seem so eager to fight! But I won't let you hurt anyone!"
"You dare!" Nefris hissed, eyes flaring with anger. "You dare deride the challenge? The challenge is our life! We of Knorr wage war for centuries to win the right to present the challenge to a lower race! I have seen the blood of friends and family spill to secure the right! And you, an insignificant human and a woman besides, dare to sneer at it! You'll die for that!"
His arms came up, ready to throw another fireball. In an eye-blink, a dark shadow passed in front of his vision. Cold steel hammered against the leather gauntlets on his forearms, blocking them from fixing on Serenity. Nefris refocused and found Endymion face to face with him. The man stared into the fire king's eyes, his message clear.
"You defend her?" Nefris asked, his eyes dancing. His hand extended and a sword grew from it. It was a sword of pure fire. "Very well. Have at it, while your world burns! Destroy them all, my giants!"
The five Fire Giants lunged forward, their arms extended to project more flame. Endymion began to move to intercept them, but fell back into a defensive position when Nefris brought his sword into play.
"Jupiter! Oak Evolution!" Jupiter's voice sang out.
"Exploding Golden Kiss!" Venus yelled.
The twin attacks exploded into the Fire Giants in the lead of the pack. They fell back, hurt by the bursts of energy and electricity. Emboldened, Star Fighter brought her power to bear.
"Star Serious Laser!" she cried out and her beam struck the giant Venus had staggered. The giant's fire seemed to burn even more brightly for a moment, then snuffed, sending the ashen remains beneath tumbling to the ground.
"Mars! Flame Sniper!" came the call from Mars. She loosened a shaft of fire that pierced the heart of the giant reeling from Jupiter's electrical bursts. But rather than finish it off, the arrow seemed to revitalize the giant.
"Obviously you can't fight fire with fire in this case," Mercury told her.
"Then I'll have to fight it a different way," Mars replied.
Producing one of her wards, Mars pressed it to her forehead while reciting the chant that invoked its power. Chaos was breaking out all around her, but Sailor Mars remained steady and in command. With a sudden burst of speed, Mars shot forward several paces and launched the ward at the nearest Fire Giant. Defying the flames, the paper ward struck the forehead of the giant and attached itself. Immediately the giant stopped, lunging around blindly in a futile attempt to find the ward and remove it.
"Take it, Mercury!" Mars said.
"Sparkling Tsunami!" Mercury called out.
Immediately the giant was inundated by a torrential blizzard. Chill wind and ice and snow pelted the giant, whipping at its flames and dousing them little by little. The creature fumbled blindly, confused and unable to mount a defense until little by little the creature was snuffed out and disintegrated into ashes.
"Good going, team!" Venus shouted in encouragement. "But there's still plenty more where they came from! You all know the drill by now!"
Endymion's sword slashed once again through the sword of flame. As it did, the sword flashed brilliantly. The seemingly intangible flame deflected Endymion's blade. As it did, the sound of steel on steel echoed around them. Endymion glared at Nefris and was greeted with a mocking smile.
"So, 'Champion', the mettle of Nefris is more than you first imagined," Nefris gloated.
"I never underestimated you," Endymion replied as he parried a thrust of the flaming sword and felt his own deflected away. "It's you who have underestimated Earth - - you and your opposite chess piece, Vodun. You think of us as inferior, as unworthy of you both. How little you both know of us!"
Endymion evaded a thrust by executing a perfect pirouette and slashing down at Nefris, who blocked. With each clash of sword blades, Endymion studied the sword. It didn't react normally. If it was truly made of fire, his blade should pass through it. There was something in the center of the flame, whether tangible or mystical, that gave the blade substance. He parried another thrust and came up face to face with Nefris.
"I know more than I care to know!" sneered Nefris. "Vodun died because he grew weak and complacent in victory! We of the grace of Surt have hungered for our time and that time is now! We will not be denied, not by the dog sons of Ymir or by the mud children of Midgard!" He hacked at Endymion, driving the man back. With every plunge of the sword, the blade grew hotter and more brilliant. "You will not stop us! You don't have the power!"
"We do!" retorted Endymion, dancing out of the way of another hacking swing of the fiery blade. "I will defeat you! For the sake of the billions of voices that cry out to me in pain and anger, demanding an end to this vile contest of yours! And for the sake of a single woman who has graced me with the greatest gift she could ever bestow!"
Their blades clashed again, shooting sparks. Each ember fell to the ground and from them grew more Fire Giants.
"This is threatening to get out of hand!" Mercury judged. "Serenity! Contain them!"
Mesmerized by the battle and her fear for Endymion's safety, Serenity shook herself and looked down. Mercury's words seemed to register in her brain for the first time. Nodding, she swooped down on the spreading Fire Giants. As they shot their flames out at anything that lived, Serenity gestured. An invisible wall sprang up around the Giants, blocking and containing their bursts.
"Please stop this," Serenity pleaded with the nearest giant, levitating near the creature.
It replied by shooting fire at her, fire that was easily blocked by the barrier. Sighing in resignation, Serenity cupped her hands and the barrier became a bubble around the giants. They all struck at the bubble, filling it with fire until the sight of them was obliterated.
"You have them, Serenity!" Star Fighter called out. "Crush them while you can!"
"No, Star Fighter," Serenity replied. "There's still a place for mercy in this world." She looked up to Kakyuu, who was calmly observing the battles. "Kakyuu! Can you help me? Can you open a portal to Knorr so I can send these creatures back?"
"For you, dear friend, anything," Kakyuu smiled serenely.
Her hands came up and she seemed to wipe at nothing. The sky shimmered and a patch began to open. It was visible only because the blue of the sky within seemed brighter and bluer than the one over Tokyo.
Nefris seemed distressed by this turn of events and his distraction gave Endymion an opening. Shifting his sword to his other hand, Endymion materialized a rose and flung it. The rose embedded itself in the wrist of the sword hand of Nefris. The sword dropped from his grip and the flame snuffed out, revealing a deadly blade that hid in the center of the flame. Endymion's sword came up, its tip pointed under the chin of Nefris.
"Endgame," Endymion proclaimed.
"Impossible!" Nefris gasped, reeling with the thought of defeat. "What are you? No human is capable of this!"
"All humans are capable of this," replied Endymion. "I am the Prince of this world and its strength flows through me."
On the ground, Uranus had finally roused. Though battered and bruised, she ignored the pain and made her way over to Neptune.
"Neptune?" she asked fearfully, gently shaking the woman.
"I'll make it," Neptune whispered, rousing painfully. "I guess the others came through where we didn't."
"We would have beaten them eventually," Uranus replied.
Neptune flashed her a playful smile, then glanced over her shoulder. Pluto was already up and observing what transpired above them. Feeling Uranus supporting her, Neptune looked, too.
"So?" Nefris asked bitterly. "Kill me and be done with it."
"I'd like to," Endymion told him. "I know the mindset that possesses you all too well. Peace is an alien thing to you. It's almost a slow death. So you'll be back to attack us again, to inflict more pain and suffering and revel in it."
"Then do it! What stays your hand? Cowardice?"
"She wouldn't approve," Endymion stated. He could feel Serenity look back at him, even as she shoved eight Fire Giants through the dimensional portal Kakyuu had opened up. He felt her grateful, loving smile. "And her love and approval is worth a thousand of you." Endymion lowered his sword. "You're beaten. Go home."
Pluto watched from the ground with a grimace, like she knew what was coming. It gave Neptune a sudden flash of apprehension and she turned back to the skies.
As Endymion's sword lowered, Nefris raised his arm. Suddenly fire shot out from his hand, aimed at Endymion's head. Endymion flinched back and Nefris pivoted, gesturing to his sword.
"NOW!" he bellowed, lunging with his newly energized sword at Endymion.
More Fire Giants lunged from the temporal portal. They threw fire at the startled Serenity and Kakyuu and at the senshi on the ground. Neptune's eyes widened and she tried to speak her attack phrase before it was too late.
"CHRONOS WHIRLPOOL!" Neptune heard Pluto shout and her blood ran cold.
For all the senshi, for Serenity and Endymion, and for Kakyuu and Star Fighter, the world ground to a halt around them. The fireballs that were streaming at them slowed and stopped. The movements of Nefris and of his Fire Giants stopped. Everything around them was frozen.
"What happened?" puzzled Serenity.
"We have been given a reprieve," judged Kakyuu. "I will dissipate the fireballs, Usagi. I leave the disposition of the invaders to you."
While keeping the portal to Knorr open, Kakyuu focused on a fireball and slowly dissipated it. She moved from fireball to fireball until each one was neutralized.
"What are you going to do with them, Serenity?" Jupiter asked as Serenity gathered Nefris and the Fire Giants in the temporal portal into another bubble.
"Send them home," Serenity replied. "Then find a way to seal off that time hole once and for all."
"What happens if they come back?" Venus posed. "Just because you beat them and sent them home doesn't mean they'll accept it and stay there."
Everyone seemed to hang on Serenity's words.
"If they come back," Serenity said finally, with conviction in her voice, "I'll just have to stop them again - - I mean we'll have to stop them. But everyone deserves a chance to make amends and learn from their mistakes."
"I hope we all don't end up regretting that decision," Mars cautioned.
"If we do, I'm sure you'll let me know about it," Serenity replied. The two flashed playful grins at each other, then Serenity shoved the intruders through the portal back to Knorr.
Instantly the world began to move normally again. Satisfied things were finally set right, Serenity turned back to her senshi. That's when she spotted Sailor Pluto flat on her back, the Time Staff inches from her hand. Sailor Neptune was already crouching next to her, with Uranus behind her.
"Pluto!" Serenity shrieked.
She flew down to the ground where Neptune cradled Sailor Pluto. Serenity knelt beside her.
"Is she . . .?" Serenity gasped.
"Not yet," Neptune whispered, feeling for a pulse. "I can barely feel a pulse, though." Mercury instantly shoved her way in and felt the pulse.
"She's going into shock," Mercury said. "Get something to cover her with! Get those paramedics over here! I'm going to need their equipment!"
"Come on, Pluto! Hang on a little longer!" Neptune implored her.
"What happened?" Serenity pleaded. "Was she hit?"
"No," Neptune said. "It was when she stopped time! She tried it once before, but the strain and the energy expenditure was too much for her! It nearly killed her then!"
"She's going into cardiac arrest!" Mercury said. Her hands went to Pluto's chest to begin heart massage. "If you medics have any Epnodrine over there, I need it stat!" Epnodrine was the new wonder drug used to treat emergency heart attack patients.
"NO!" wailed Serenity.
Before Mercury could touch her, Serenity seized Pluto's shoulders. Upon contact, a silver glow enveloped them both. Mercury snatched her hands away and she and Neptune stared in wonder. Endymion and Kakyuu glided down to flank Serenity, while the others crowded around to watch. They saw the edges of Pluto's mouth begin to curl.
Then contact was broken. The glow dissipated. Serenity fell backwards, swooning, and was caught by Endymion. He cradled his wife gently and caressed her cheek. Shaking herself, Mercury checked Pluto.
"Pulse," she mumbled, "breathing - - all normal."
"Pluto's all right?" asked Neptune.
"Don't ask me how," Mercury said. "Although I suppose it's obvious." Then she looked, awe-struck, at Serenity. "Endymion . . .?"
"It took a little out of her," Endymion said, cradling Serenity protectively. "But she'll be all right."
"She took a great risk," Kakyuu said, Star Fighter flanking her. "This woman was slipping past life into death and Usagi plucked her back. She could very easily have slipped in with her."
"I'm not that clumsy anymore," Serenity mumbled.
"Forgive me for doubting you," Kakyuu replied in good humor.
"Serenity, are you . . .?" Mercury began.
"I'll be all right," Serenity told her, rousing and sitting up. "How's Pluto?"
"Recovering," Pluto whispered, her eyes inching open. "I thank you for my life, My Queen."
"I'm just glad I could save you," Serenity smiled, weakly pulling herself over next to Pluto. Then she grew cross. "But don't you ever, ever, EVER do that again! It's too dangerous! Don't you ever stop time ever again! I absolutely forbid it!"
Pluto, sitting up as well, bowed her head, then smothered a smile. "By your decree, My Queen: From this day forth, I am forbidden to stop time," and she looked up at Serenity, her smile quite wry, "under penalty of death."
"Nice to know you still have your weird sense of humor," Neptune jabbed playfully. Everybody else smiled except Serenity, who didn't get the joke. Then Pluto sobered. She looked at Serenity, distress and apology obvious in her eyes.
"I fear though, My Queen," she said painfully, "that one day circumstances will compel me to disobey you."
Continued in Chapter 11
Chapter 10: "Showdown over Juuban Park"
By Bill K.
The four senshi ran into the clearing by the lake in Juuban Park just in time to witness Serenity and Kakyuu be engulfed by a massive fireball. Jupiter's eyes went wide and she stumbled to a stop. Mercury choked, her hands flying up to her mouth. Venus let out a strangled little sob as her worst nightmare seemed to sweep over her like a giant wave. Echoing through the trees was a bellowed snarl of pain and rage that sounded like it might be Sailor Star Fighter. Then Mars turned to them, eyes huge and mouth drawn back in a delirious smile, and for a tense moment the others thought she had collapsed into madness.
"It's OK!" she said, almost giddy with relief. "She's not dead! I can feel it!"
Mercury had trouble reconciling the clear evidence she'd witnessed against the supernatural sight of Mars. The other two dared for a moment to hope. Then they noticed Endymion poised atop a lamppost, his sword drawn, waiting for a reason to act. Cautiously they all looked back at where they had seemingly seen Serenity and Kakyuu immolated.
"STAR SERIOUS LASER!" rang out from the trees. It was followed by a beam of energy knifing out and striking the Fire Giant squarely in the temple. The giant recoiled from the pain the beam inflicted upon it. The beam couldn't destroy it, but it was hurting the giant. The quartet had to squint, for the beam was far more intense and brilliant than any they could recall Star Fighter ever emitting before.
And all at once the fireball withdrew, condensing down into nearly nothing. There floated Serenity and Kakyuu, unscathed by the fire. Kakyuu had her hands cupped and the once massive flames danced and cavorted in her palms like a playful puppy. Caressing the fire lovingly, Kakyuu turned to the Fire Giant.
"You have chosen the wrong way to attack me," she gently admonished the giant. "The fire and I are old and dear friends. I was born of the fire. I matured in the fire. I listened to the fire and heard its wisdom and felt its power." She held out her hand, the fire cupped in her palm, and gently thrust out. The fire seemed to leap back to the giant like a docile pet. "I implore you now," she said kindly and the giant seemed to cock its head and listen. "Leave this place and return to where you belong."
The giant hesitated, torn between its mission and the siren song of Kakyuu. Then the sky seemed to thunder above it. Huge flames roared out through the temporal portal, disgorging heat and smoke as if from Hell itself. Serenity flinched back, though Kakyuu watched with calm assurance. The portal seemed to stretch to its limit, then spat out three more Fire Giants and a man.
The man was tall and wiry, but with a chiseled frame of powerful muscles. He wore loose red pants, cinched at the waist with a woven leather belt, and thick leather boots. His shirt was brilliant orange, again loose and flowing, and he had a cape of red with yellow lining. His features were long and thin, his eyes sloped and his nose tapered. Wild, unkempt thick orange hair topped his skull and a gold earring dangled from his left ear. The stranger levitated in the center of the quintet of Fire Giants and looked to the two princesses with a menacing glower.
"You seek to command my subjects, woman?" he snapped, his words contemptuous, but warning tones hidden beneath.
"I seek merely to return them to their home," Kakyuu replied, calm and pleasant.
"You would best be served by surrender," he told her. "I am Nefris, King of the Children of Surt. Do you speak for this pitiful lot of creatures we have come to judge?"
"That would be her," Kakyuu said, bowing and floating back behind and to the right of Serenity. "She is Usagi, the Princess Serenity."
Nefris looked Serenity over.
"You're a fair wench," he said, an eyebrow raised, "but I doubt you're much of a challenge. I give you a choice: accept the judgment and die a quick death or fight and die slowly and painfully, but with honor."
Serenity's chest heaved. "Do we have to go through this again?" she asked.
The question seemed to catch everybody off guard, except Kakyuu.
"We've all been through so much already," Serenity continued. "Can't you just go? Go back where you came from and live in peace, and let us live in peace? This won't accomplish anything except get people hurt! I don't want that!"
"If you've no stomach for battle," Nefris sneered, "then I'll accept your surrender - - on your knees!"
"Why do you all sound alike?" sighed Serenity. "Do you all go to some school and learn to do it that way?" The loud snicker that escaped from Venus's mouth echoed over the lake. "Go home. We've already gone through your world's 'judgment' and we passed! Leave us alone! Go home! Go home to your families and your friends and leave us in peace! And if you don't have any families to go home to - - well, maybe that's your problem!"
The jaunty superiority was gone from her foe's face, replaced by simmering anger.
"Indeed, Princess?" Nefris said with a low, threatening tone. "Perhaps you first need a lesson in the price of mockery."
Watching from the clump of trees, Star Fighter saw the invader's arm track around until it pointed at the group of firefighters parked by the lake. Instantly sensing what was coming, Star Fighter bolted toward them at blinding speed, trying to arrive in time to push them out of harm's way. As she ran, she knew she couldn't make it.
The fire exploded out from Nefris, much the way it had exploded out from Candes; however this was far more intense. The gigantic ball of flame hurled down at the wide-eyed firefighters. They were frozen in their tracks, the threat barely having time to register in their minds before it was upon them.
But at the last moment, the fire struck an invisible shield and fanned out from the impact point. Grass was scorched and trees set afire, but the firefighters were protected. Star Fighter stopped and backtracked from the flames, then looked up to the two princesses. Serenity was gesturing; she had thrown up the energy shield. Star Fighter smiled proudly.
"Who are you to think you can thwart my will?" demanded Nefris, whirling on her and Kakyuu. Then his eyes narrowed. "Perhaps you are this mysterious princess of Midgard? The one who defeated King Vodun and laid waste to the wretched Sons of Ymir? You strike me as little more than a kitchen wench - - yet perhaps there is more to you than meets the eye. Perhaps I will enjoy this challenge more than I thought I would."
"Ohhhh!" fumed Serenity. "Poopy on your challenge!"
Venus snickered again. Mars put her hand to her forehead and shook her head in disgust. But Nefris was not amused.
"I won't let you hurt anyone," Serenity told him. "I don't want to fight you! I don't want this silly little war you seem so eager to fight! But I won't let you hurt anyone!"
"You dare!" Nefris hissed, eyes flaring with anger. "You dare deride the challenge? The challenge is our life! We of Knorr wage war for centuries to win the right to present the challenge to a lower race! I have seen the blood of friends and family spill to secure the right! And you, an insignificant human and a woman besides, dare to sneer at it! You'll die for that!"
His arms came up, ready to throw another fireball. In an eye-blink, a dark shadow passed in front of his vision. Cold steel hammered against the leather gauntlets on his forearms, blocking them from fixing on Serenity. Nefris refocused and found Endymion face to face with him. The man stared into the fire king's eyes, his message clear.
"You defend her?" Nefris asked, his eyes dancing. His hand extended and a sword grew from it. It was a sword of pure fire. "Very well. Have at it, while your world burns! Destroy them all, my giants!"
The five Fire Giants lunged forward, their arms extended to project more flame. Endymion began to move to intercept them, but fell back into a defensive position when Nefris brought his sword into play.
"Jupiter! Oak Evolution!" Jupiter's voice sang out.
"Exploding Golden Kiss!" Venus yelled.
The twin attacks exploded into the Fire Giants in the lead of the pack. They fell back, hurt by the bursts of energy and electricity. Emboldened, Star Fighter brought her power to bear.
"Star Serious Laser!" she cried out and her beam struck the giant Venus had staggered. The giant's fire seemed to burn even more brightly for a moment, then snuffed, sending the ashen remains beneath tumbling to the ground.
"Mars! Flame Sniper!" came the call from Mars. She loosened a shaft of fire that pierced the heart of the giant reeling from Jupiter's electrical bursts. But rather than finish it off, the arrow seemed to revitalize the giant.
"Obviously you can't fight fire with fire in this case," Mercury told her.
"Then I'll have to fight it a different way," Mars replied.
Producing one of her wards, Mars pressed it to her forehead while reciting the chant that invoked its power. Chaos was breaking out all around her, but Sailor Mars remained steady and in command. With a sudden burst of speed, Mars shot forward several paces and launched the ward at the nearest Fire Giant. Defying the flames, the paper ward struck the forehead of the giant and attached itself. Immediately the giant stopped, lunging around blindly in a futile attempt to find the ward and remove it.
"Take it, Mercury!" Mars said.
"Sparkling Tsunami!" Mercury called out.
Immediately the giant was inundated by a torrential blizzard. Chill wind and ice and snow pelted the giant, whipping at its flames and dousing them little by little. The creature fumbled blindly, confused and unable to mount a defense until little by little the creature was snuffed out and disintegrated into ashes.
"Good going, team!" Venus shouted in encouragement. "But there's still plenty more where they came from! You all know the drill by now!"
Endymion's sword slashed once again through the sword of flame. As it did, the sword flashed brilliantly. The seemingly intangible flame deflected Endymion's blade. As it did, the sound of steel on steel echoed around them. Endymion glared at Nefris and was greeted with a mocking smile.
"So, 'Champion', the mettle of Nefris is more than you first imagined," Nefris gloated.
"I never underestimated you," Endymion replied as he parried a thrust of the flaming sword and felt his own deflected away. "It's you who have underestimated Earth - - you and your opposite chess piece, Vodun. You think of us as inferior, as unworthy of you both. How little you both know of us!"
Endymion evaded a thrust by executing a perfect pirouette and slashing down at Nefris, who blocked. With each clash of sword blades, Endymion studied the sword. It didn't react normally. If it was truly made of fire, his blade should pass through it. There was something in the center of the flame, whether tangible or mystical, that gave the blade substance. He parried another thrust and came up face to face with Nefris.
"I know more than I care to know!" sneered Nefris. "Vodun died because he grew weak and complacent in victory! We of the grace of Surt have hungered for our time and that time is now! We will not be denied, not by the dog sons of Ymir or by the mud children of Midgard!" He hacked at Endymion, driving the man back. With every plunge of the sword, the blade grew hotter and more brilliant. "You will not stop us! You don't have the power!"
"We do!" retorted Endymion, dancing out of the way of another hacking swing of the fiery blade. "I will defeat you! For the sake of the billions of voices that cry out to me in pain and anger, demanding an end to this vile contest of yours! And for the sake of a single woman who has graced me with the greatest gift she could ever bestow!"
Their blades clashed again, shooting sparks. Each ember fell to the ground and from them grew more Fire Giants.
"This is threatening to get out of hand!" Mercury judged. "Serenity! Contain them!"
Mesmerized by the battle and her fear for Endymion's safety, Serenity shook herself and looked down. Mercury's words seemed to register in her brain for the first time. Nodding, she swooped down on the spreading Fire Giants. As they shot their flames out at anything that lived, Serenity gestured. An invisible wall sprang up around the Giants, blocking and containing their bursts.
"Please stop this," Serenity pleaded with the nearest giant, levitating near the creature.
It replied by shooting fire at her, fire that was easily blocked by the barrier. Sighing in resignation, Serenity cupped her hands and the barrier became a bubble around the giants. They all struck at the bubble, filling it with fire until the sight of them was obliterated.
"You have them, Serenity!" Star Fighter called out. "Crush them while you can!"
"No, Star Fighter," Serenity replied. "There's still a place for mercy in this world." She looked up to Kakyuu, who was calmly observing the battles. "Kakyuu! Can you help me? Can you open a portal to Knorr so I can send these creatures back?"
"For you, dear friend, anything," Kakyuu smiled serenely.
Her hands came up and she seemed to wipe at nothing. The sky shimmered and a patch began to open. It was visible only because the blue of the sky within seemed brighter and bluer than the one over Tokyo.
Nefris seemed distressed by this turn of events and his distraction gave Endymion an opening. Shifting his sword to his other hand, Endymion materialized a rose and flung it. The rose embedded itself in the wrist of the sword hand of Nefris. The sword dropped from his grip and the flame snuffed out, revealing a deadly blade that hid in the center of the flame. Endymion's sword came up, its tip pointed under the chin of Nefris.
"Endgame," Endymion proclaimed.
"Impossible!" Nefris gasped, reeling with the thought of defeat. "What are you? No human is capable of this!"
"All humans are capable of this," replied Endymion. "I am the Prince of this world and its strength flows through me."
On the ground, Uranus had finally roused. Though battered and bruised, she ignored the pain and made her way over to Neptune.
"Neptune?" she asked fearfully, gently shaking the woman.
"I'll make it," Neptune whispered, rousing painfully. "I guess the others came through where we didn't."
"We would have beaten them eventually," Uranus replied.
Neptune flashed her a playful smile, then glanced over her shoulder. Pluto was already up and observing what transpired above them. Feeling Uranus supporting her, Neptune looked, too.
"So?" Nefris asked bitterly. "Kill me and be done with it."
"I'd like to," Endymion told him. "I know the mindset that possesses you all too well. Peace is an alien thing to you. It's almost a slow death. So you'll be back to attack us again, to inflict more pain and suffering and revel in it."
"Then do it! What stays your hand? Cowardice?"
"She wouldn't approve," Endymion stated. He could feel Serenity look back at him, even as she shoved eight Fire Giants through the dimensional portal Kakyuu had opened up. He felt her grateful, loving smile. "And her love and approval is worth a thousand of you." Endymion lowered his sword. "You're beaten. Go home."
Pluto watched from the ground with a grimace, like she knew what was coming. It gave Neptune a sudden flash of apprehension and she turned back to the skies.
As Endymion's sword lowered, Nefris raised his arm. Suddenly fire shot out from his hand, aimed at Endymion's head. Endymion flinched back and Nefris pivoted, gesturing to his sword.
"NOW!" he bellowed, lunging with his newly energized sword at Endymion.
More Fire Giants lunged from the temporal portal. They threw fire at the startled Serenity and Kakyuu and at the senshi on the ground. Neptune's eyes widened and she tried to speak her attack phrase before it was too late.
"CHRONOS WHIRLPOOL!" Neptune heard Pluto shout and her blood ran cold.
For all the senshi, for Serenity and Endymion, and for Kakyuu and Star Fighter, the world ground to a halt around them. The fireballs that were streaming at them slowed and stopped. The movements of Nefris and of his Fire Giants stopped. Everything around them was frozen.
"What happened?" puzzled Serenity.
"We have been given a reprieve," judged Kakyuu. "I will dissipate the fireballs, Usagi. I leave the disposition of the invaders to you."
While keeping the portal to Knorr open, Kakyuu focused on a fireball and slowly dissipated it. She moved from fireball to fireball until each one was neutralized.
"What are you going to do with them, Serenity?" Jupiter asked as Serenity gathered Nefris and the Fire Giants in the temporal portal into another bubble.
"Send them home," Serenity replied. "Then find a way to seal off that time hole once and for all."
"What happens if they come back?" Venus posed. "Just because you beat them and sent them home doesn't mean they'll accept it and stay there."
Everyone seemed to hang on Serenity's words.
"If they come back," Serenity said finally, with conviction in her voice, "I'll just have to stop them again - - I mean we'll have to stop them. But everyone deserves a chance to make amends and learn from their mistakes."
"I hope we all don't end up regretting that decision," Mars cautioned.
"If we do, I'm sure you'll let me know about it," Serenity replied. The two flashed playful grins at each other, then Serenity shoved the intruders through the portal back to Knorr.
Instantly the world began to move normally again. Satisfied things were finally set right, Serenity turned back to her senshi. That's when she spotted Sailor Pluto flat on her back, the Time Staff inches from her hand. Sailor Neptune was already crouching next to her, with Uranus behind her.
"Pluto!" Serenity shrieked.
She flew down to the ground where Neptune cradled Sailor Pluto. Serenity knelt beside her.
"Is she . . .?" Serenity gasped.
"Not yet," Neptune whispered, feeling for a pulse. "I can barely feel a pulse, though." Mercury instantly shoved her way in and felt the pulse.
"She's going into shock," Mercury said. "Get something to cover her with! Get those paramedics over here! I'm going to need their equipment!"
"Come on, Pluto! Hang on a little longer!" Neptune implored her.
"What happened?" Serenity pleaded. "Was she hit?"
"No," Neptune said. "It was when she stopped time! She tried it once before, but the strain and the energy expenditure was too much for her! It nearly killed her then!"
"She's going into cardiac arrest!" Mercury said. Her hands went to Pluto's chest to begin heart massage. "If you medics have any Epnodrine over there, I need it stat!" Epnodrine was the new wonder drug used to treat emergency heart attack patients.
"NO!" wailed Serenity.
Before Mercury could touch her, Serenity seized Pluto's shoulders. Upon contact, a silver glow enveloped them both. Mercury snatched her hands away and she and Neptune stared in wonder. Endymion and Kakyuu glided down to flank Serenity, while the others crowded around to watch. They saw the edges of Pluto's mouth begin to curl.
Then contact was broken. The glow dissipated. Serenity fell backwards, swooning, and was caught by Endymion. He cradled his wife gently and caressed her cheek. Shaking herself, Mercury checked Pluto.
"Pulse," she mumbled, "breathing - - all normal."
"Pluto's all right?" asked Neptune.
"Don't ask me how," Mercury said. "Although I suppose it's obvious." Then she looked, awe-struck, at Serenity. "Endymion . . .?"
"It took a little out of her," Endymion said, cradling Serenity protectively. "But she'll be all right."
"She took a great risk," Kakyuu said, Star Fighter flanking her. "This woman was slipping past life into death and Usagi plucked her back. She could very easily have slipped in with her."
"I'm not that clumsy anymore," Serenity mumbled.
"Forgive me for doubting you," Kakyuu replied in good humor.
"Serenity, are you . . .?" Mercury began.
"I'll be all right," Serenity told her, rousing and sitting up. "How's Pluto?"
"Recovering," Pluto whispered, her eyes inching open. "I thank you for my life, My Queen."
"I'm just glad I could save you," Serenity smiled, weakly pulling herself over next to Pluto. Then she grew cross. "But don't you ever, ever, EVER do that again! It's too dangerous! Don't you ever stop time ever again! I absolutely forbid it!"
Pluto, sitting up as well, bowed her head, then smothered a smile. "By your decree, My Queen: From this day forth, I am forbidden to stop time," and she looked up at Serenity, her smile quite wry, "under penalty of death."
"Nice to know you still have your weird sense of humor," Neptune jabbed playfully. Everybody else smiled except Serenity, who didn't get the joke. Then Pluto sobered. She looked at Serenity, distress and apology obvious in her eyes.
"I fear though, My Queen," she said painfully, "that one day circumstances will compel me to disobey you."
Continued in Chapter 11