Author's Note:
The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.
There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal.
If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.
All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.
Army of Immortals
Chapter 19: Into Oblivion
She had them gathered altogether, ready to make it up to Kail even through their skeptical expressions. Tomi had never, though, prepared for any trouble…
The wall of the warehouse flew inward in an explosion of epic proportions. She shook her head, dazedly, and staggered to her feet. Her eyes immediately scanned the room for her brother. Finding him picking himself up from the ground, she heaved a sigh of relief.
At his horrified stare behind her, slowly she turned around to see something out of a nightmare made real. It was grotesque in a way that not even Picasso dreamed of. With a movement so fast her eyes and brain couldn't process it, its arm flew out toward her.
Tomi dropped to the ground, a small but triumphant grin on her face. You won't get me that easily! But she wasn't used to fighting things like this; she wasn't prepared that it would be smart, anticipate a move like that. A tentacle that made up its other arm wrapped around her waist and drew her to it, holding her like a protective shield.
Her shocked gaze locked with Kail's, straight through that mask covered his eyes. He was horrified, yes, but when she saw him glance to the right she knew why he stayed still, indecisive.
Mamoru, that Prince of old, didn't see the danger coming up from behind him. It was almost as if she was blessed with telepathy; she knew what the options were and what he would choose. He could only save one of them, either Tomi or Mamoru. And from his eyes, she knew that he would save Mamoru.
A slow smile touched her lips, as she suddenly felt a smidgen of the deep devotion for him that her brother had. A small bit of understanding, too. Slowly she nodded, realizing many things she couldn't begin to put into words as she was pulled away and through blackness. Her last thought was that she…understood.
Kail watched in horror as his sister was yanked away from him. But that nod…had she understood why…that he couldn't abandon Mamoru? Did she understand, wasn't angry at him, that he had chosen over her?
He spun on his heel and managed to intercept the blow to Tuxedo Kamen's unprotected back with his sword. His friend, having seen Tomi taken away, stared at him in shock.
"What the hell did you do, Kunzite?" he screamed over the noise of battle. "What—Tomi?"
It hurt him, but he shook his head.
"Damn it, why? You let—Tomi!"
He seemed quite unable to finish a sentence. Kunzite didn't know if he was angry or just too stunned to complete one.
The battle was a daze for him, fighting the betrayal he felt. The only comfort he could see was the others would understand his choice and why he had done what he had done. Small comfort, but comfort nonetheless.
They fought away the horde, slow step by deliberate step. Beryl's face appeared in the sky above them just as they thought they might have a chance to rest.
"Very, very entertaining warriors of justice," she sneered. "What will you do, Kunzite, now that I have your sister? I am not so stupid as to not notice something so obvious and obvious your guilt is over choosing Endymion over her."
The only consolation to be found was that she had not seemed to know who their civilian lives were.
"But I expected nothing less of the most devoted Knight," the dark queen continued. She sighed theatrically. "Now I have this girl that I don't know anything to do with. Should I just hand her over to my youma or," Her casual tone sharpened and she stared hard at Kunzite, "does she have a use? I will make you a deal, fighters. Would you care to hear it?"
"What choice do we have?" Nephrite muttered.
"You come to my home, all ten of you, and come and get her. I'll hand her over if at least one of you reaches my throne room. A little amusement for me, a little test for you. Well? What do you say? I'll even open a portal for you. Oh, but you'll have to make your decision soon; those sounds don't bode well for you."
Indeed, carried on the wind were the noises of police sirens.
"How about this: I'll give you a day to think about my offer, but no longer. If you haven't decided one way or another, she'll die." With that, her face wavered and faded away in the sunlight.
Not five seconds later, at least seven police cars skidded to a stop in front of them. Officers jumped out and pointed their guns with hard faces. The Senshi, with only one thought in their minds, surrounded their princess, their eyes daring the men and women of law enforcement to shoot.
Kunzite stood still even though every instinct yelled at him to follow his comrades' leads and protect his prince. But his feelings jumbled in his head and heart; he didn't know what to do. He knew without a doubt that Beryl's 'deal' was a trap, but what else was he supposed to do? Was it finally time to take the battle to Beryl's doorstep? Time to finish this once and for all? The second-in-command of the Earthen Knights certainly hoped so.
Through all his thoughts, the police were talking, probably reading them their rights. It was so sudden he didn't know where it came from or how to stop it.
"SHUT UP!" Kunzite shouted. "Just SHUT UP!"
Silence.
His breathing heavy, he glared the men and women in front of him down. "Look, we've just been through a very, VERY strenuous battle. I don't care what you want to do, but you are NOT arresting us, do you understand me? We have enough problems right now without having to break out of jail AGAIN! We are absolutely innocent and we can prove it!"
Zoisite leaned near him and whispered, "We can?"
"You can?" asked a man skeptically.
"Yes." He made an effort to calm down and succeeded, but barely. By this time, everyone's attention was on him. "Zoisite and Mercury are our medics. They will go to your morgue and show you the details that you will have missed; details that will prove that they are not human, least of all police officers!"
The leading officer put in a call to his superior. After a moment of talking, he nodded grudgingly. "We'll take you to the court and you can put forth your suggestion to the judge. If he okays it, then your companions may prove your innocence that way."
Not ten minutes later Mercury and Zoisite found themselves in the morgue.
"What differences are there in the illusion to prove that we're innocent?" the man hissed in her ear.
"There is one thing that illusion can't change," she admitted, "but it is something that most of them wouldn't think to look at."
The doctor waited patiently while she typed on her computer, showing Zoisite what he was looking for. Realization donned and he hit his forehead in exasperation. "Of course!" he muttered.
They approached the table with a youma/human lying on it…
Jadeite paced in the small room while his friends watched. "How long are they going to take?" he demanded. "It's already been half an hour!"
"Calm down, Jadeite," Tuxedo Kamen soothed, though he was as nervous and anxious as his friend.
The blue colored Knight didn't even pause in his strides. He looked helplessly at Mars.
With a sigh, the Soldier of War stood up and touched her boyfriend's hand. "Please stop doing that. You're going to wear a track in the flooring."
He managed to smile and forced himself to sit down.
Mamoru glanced at his second-in-command in concern. Kunzite, after his speech at the nearly fallen apart warehouse, had said nothing except to tell the judge his suggestion to prove their innocence. He also noticed that he was not the only one worried about his friend. Venus kept watching him out of the corner of her eye every five minutes.
Sailor Moon leaned on his shoulder and he automatically put his arm around his beloved. She snuggled closer to his warmth, but he knew it was not because she was physically cold.
"Between the police and Beryl, who has time for anything else?" she muttered. "I haven't talked to Luna all day and she expected me back home an hour ago. Do you think Beryl plans for a trap?"
"I'd be my entire apartment on yes," he replied grimly. "But its time to finish this."
"Yes. It's time to finish this."
The door to the empty courtroom opened and the judge entered, followed by the twelve jury members.
"Your innocence has been proven to our satisfaction. It is being announced the public as we speak."
Mamoru stood and bowed solemnly to the judge. "Our thanks. But we really must go."
He let them pass, but a jury member, a woman with gray hair and a fair complexion, touched his Venus' arm. "Is this going to be over soon?" There was fear in her eyes and hope, as if she didn't dare believe that the attacks that could possibly destroy the Earth be stopped.
The blonde warrior glanced at her leader and friends. Finally she turned back to the woman. "Yes. One way or another, it will be over soon."
"Promise me one thing," she called as they started to move on toward the door. "Promise me, as a representative of Japan's population, that you all will come back."
It was the one statement that could have stopped all ten of them in their tracks. They turned to look at her earnest expression, eyes moving to all the other jurors and judges faces, seeing the exact copy of hers on theirs.
"Why?" whispered Zoisite.
"Because…because…because all the people in Japan need you! Do you realize how many people look up to you? If you were to…not come back…what would happen to Japan? You're its hero, our hero. You…just have to come back!"
"We…we didn't know we were appreciated that much," Jupiter murmured, her face a little thunderstruck.
"You're more than appreciated," the judge answered with a warm smile.
"So promise the people of Japan that you will come back! You will come back, all ten of you, and tell us that it's over!" the female juror finished.
Sailor Moon stepped toward her a little. "We promise. All ten of us will come back and tell the people of Japan that…it's over."
They slipped out of the courtroom and bounded away toward their respective homes. Each of them had a few goodbyes to say to friends or family; in case they didn't make it back together.
End Chapter 19.
Almost done. Chapter 20 will start the spiraling chapters that will finish this story. Woo-hoo right? There won't be a second one to this though, before any fans ask. I definitely toyed with the idea, but I can't see much else to say or a future beyond this one. But hey, then I'll have the extra time to get The Last Journey underway!
Speaking of sequels, once The Last Journey has reached around Chapter 9, which isn't as long as it sounds (I write chapters very fast), the sequel to Return of the Valkyries will be started. I don't have a title for it yet, but it will soon.
Thank you for reading this far and good luck and many ideas come to every fanfiction writer out there, especially Evil Authoress Inc. I loved Chapter 4, by the way Spirit-hime. Anyone who hasn't visited Peppermint Storm () must go there ASAP. It's the best site out there for information on the manga Shitennou.