KONTROLEIR?
(Controller?)
"Sailor Moon....."
The friends are devastated. They lay in wait, the fate they are handed welting all over their skin. Blood. Pain. Duty. It is one and the same to them.
But it was normally the other way around. The enemies were to be the ones on the ground, crying, broken, beaten by the enemy they had so underestimated as being nothing more than girls. The enemies of Earth were always the ones to be defeated.
It is not so this time. The tables have irrefutably turned.
And all have crashed before them, in a strange reversal, where the victor is the creature that stands over them, a mockin smile upon his face. For the irony of the soldiers' situation is not completely lost on him.
"(Master, where do these pitiful humans go?)"
"(Over in this compartment.)" The voice of Atrava filled the room. "(In the bags. They'll be of use to us later. Remember, when I appear in the ship....)"
The creature nods, understands, and obeys. This creature, once near and dear to a group of people he called his family and friends, now nothing more than a ruthless killer who wants nothing more than revenge on the very man who helped to make him who he was. His enemy. His father.
For destroying the race of their origins. For placing personal gain over his people's survival. For abandoning the people to search for more power. All reasons that, if one looks under Atrava and Vanguard's careful and slippery words of pseudoanger, never truly give his father the true benefit of the doubt.
In other words, the father must die for all the reasons that the father is even fighting the cold Russian in the first place. For everything Atrava did, the father must die because, imbedded into the jaded mind of the creature by his uncle and boss, it was the father who did it all. Not the men who were truly responsible.
Revenge is a funny thing. It can turn over civilizations, burn a man up with hatred, but in the end, all you truly have is millions of people starving here, and others trying to blow you up there. It doesn't change anything for the better, like you might have thought, and if anything does change, it's only for the worse.
Like I said, funny...
--------------------
"Huh?!"
Sailor Moon's head snapped up.
My friends...?!?
"I don't know, Locke...." Julie-Su looked around uneasily. "This place is a complete maze after Sector 5. This is as far as I remember."
"Well," Locke replied as he adjusted his hat, which he retireved from one of the guards they subdued, "I guess then that we're both new to this. Usagi?"
"....Eh?" My head. In the distance, I can hear the cries.... "What?"
"Do you remember this path? I think this might have been the way we went when they brought us here, but I could very much be wrong."
"I....I'm not sure." The thoughts of her friends mixed in with her hazy memories of the ride to that room. "I think.....I don't know. I don't really remember."
"Well, then we're just going to have to do this cold turkey."
"Don't worry." Julie-Su looked around. "I have the feeling he's nearby. I don't know....why I do, but....I do."
Julie-Su loaded the laser she held, which she snatched from another guard. The gun that she had obtained from the room she was held in, she had given to Locke after their tussle with the guards, who promptly handed it to Usagi, who turned into Sailor Moon and threw it into an empty room. Without another word, she put it into her holster.
"Besides, as long as he doesn't have the Controller, it's no problem. I hope."
"Controller?" Sailor Moon's head cocked up at that. "What's the Controller?"
"Well..." Julie-Su hesitated upon looking at Sailor Moon. "I...don't know..."
"It's an Emerald on our planet." Locke stepped in. "Controller Emerald is....sort of like a nullifier, whose point of existance is to....nullify Chaos Emeralds."
"An Emerald that can..." Sailor Moon's face became contorted with confusion. "But....if such an Emerald exists, why....was it not mentioned in that book or by...by that man?"
"I don't know." Locke muttered. He scratched his chin in thought. "Perhaps they know nothing about the Controller, or....when they were using the Master Emerald....hopefully, they didn't figure out about the Controllers then. I....I completely forgot about the possibility of a Controller Emerald of this world. But, of course, the Emeralds of Earth obviously work differently than the ones on our world do, so of course its possible that no one could know about it...It might not do good to go and look for it now, anyways." Locked looked back up. "But we can use it to our advantage. If Atrava doesn't know, then we can bluff it."
"Let's hope Vanguard or Atrava doesn't call our bluff, then, if we find him." Julie-Su held out her hand after a moment. "Ready?".
"I suppose so...."
"Come on, Locke, team spirit." She kept her hand out. "We're going to need it. For Knuckles....and this world."
"...........For Knuckles." Locke slowly put his hand over Julie-Su's.
"Sailor Moon?"
"Oh." Putting her hand over theirs, her thoughts could not dismiss her bad feeling about what was happening to her friends. "For everyone. Friends who are here, friends who aren't. For them."
------------------------
"Hmmm...."
Atrava frowned as he looked over the papers, which were all written in a skaky Russusian dialect. The disgusted look onhis face revealed his anger over the information which Googolov learned in his fifty years of research.
"Nechego. Nechego!" he muttered. His head cocked to the side. "(These papers conatin nothing I don't know, Vanguard.)"
"(Eh?)"
The black echidna's eyes grew wide as he entered. It was the first time in a while that he had been out of human form - in fact, the first time in years - and it was a shock that his boss even knew he was apporaching.
"I didn't know that you-"
"I knew you were coming in, Vanguard." Atrava's voice did not hide his disgust. "I an rather disappointed in the worthless quality I am getting from you at so late an hour in the operation."
"I beg your pardon?"
"They've escaped." Atrava's voice was sharp. "With her."
"What?" Vanguard's eyes grew wide. "Impossible..."
"Is it now?"
Atrava looked at the echidna with flashing eyes, and for the first time in his life, Vanguard felt tinges of fear well up within him.
"It seems you are incompetent in fulfilling your duties as a mercenary." Atrava looked away. "Perhaps I should take care of them myself."
"What?!"
"Prepare your ship." Atrava muttered. "Go now."
Without another word, the black echidna walked out of the room. Atrava gave an evil smile as he looked over to the six emeralds, all in place holders on a platform.
"Come to me...." the emeralds began to glow. "I know how to bring you here. You;re not too far away now. Come, and I will show you the way, princess......the way to oblivion............"
--------------------------------
"WAIT!!!"
Suddenly, Sailor Moon turned around and ran towards another direction.
"SAILOR MOON!!"
Julie-Su and Locke ran after her, but Sailor Moon was too quick. She turned to the right, down the maze of corridors, her thoughts racing.
He's here........ she thought as she turned another corner. He's here....I can.....I can....
Suddenly, a new door appeared where there hadn't been one.
"WHAT?!" Julie-Su huffed. "A secret passage!"
"Usagi!!!" Locke shouted. "Wait!!!"
The door opened, and inside stood a man. A man with silver locks in his hair, but only at his temples. A man who wore all black. A man whose arms were raised up, a man who was standing on a podium with six glowing emeralds around him.
"Atrava!!!!"
The man stopped, and turned to face the three. Sailor Moon stopped as well, staring at the man who now stood on the podium with the six emeralds.
This man…..I have seen him before!….
"You escaped, princess." The matter-of-factly way that the Communist put it made her shiver. "And I see you freed the Legionaire as well. No thanks to Vanguard, naturally…."
"Princess….!?" Sailor Moon's eyes grew wide.
"Damn you…."
"And Locke." Atrava gave a smile, a dark, cruel smile, to the guardian. "A pleasure to finally meet you! Your brother Vanguard has spoken volumes of your prolific career. Such a pity to see you out of your physical element, in this room, looking to me for vengeance…"
"SHUT UP!!"
With an angry yell, Locke grabbed a plank from the wall and jumped on Atrava.
"LOCKE?!?" Julie-Su screamed.
"Hmph." Atrava muttered. "Echidnas. You never learn."
Locke suddenly stopped in mid-air, screaming. A force field had materialized in front of Atrava and the Emeralds, throwing him across the room.
"Nrrrgh!!" Locke slammed into a wall, collapsing to the ground.
"No!!!"
"Bravo, guardian! Your taste for venegance is admirable!" Atrava threw his hair back, laughing.
"Asshole! How dare you mock him like that, you murderer!!" Julie-Su cocked her gun.
"Stand firm, Julie-Su." Atrava's voice turned towards the pink echidna. "The force field that I have created will do the same to your little bullet as it did to Locke. Googolov's string-atom theory certainly came in handy with the podium, don't you think, princess?"
"Stop calling me that!!!" Sailor Moon angrily shouted. "I don't know you, and you wouldn't know any such thing like that!"
"Wouldn't I? Fool!" Atrava's eyes flashed. "I have dealt with the curse of knowing for an eternity."
"Liar! What are you talking about?!"
Sailor Moon's moon sign suddenly flashed, and her hands immediately went to her head.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGGGGGGH!!!!!!!!!"
The stinging sensation shot from her head all the way down to her legs, turning them into jelly. She gave another scream as she fell, unaware of Atrava's snorting.
"Annoying heffer…"
"USAGI!!"
Locke began to run towards her, but suddenly fell to the ground, gasping.
"Locke?!?!?!?!?" Julie-Su also fell to the ground, gasping.
"Interesting." Atrava pretended to comtemplate. "Enerjak…..or should I say your ancestor Dimitri, Julie-Su….his use of chaos energy to stem air circulation is becoming fast useful to me. How wonderful."
"Nnnnnngh…" Locke gasped. "U………..Usagi!………."
-----------------
Locke's shouts and gasps did not reach Usagi as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Huh….?"
She was inside a small, wooded forest, wearing a red hood over a long red dress. She slowly got herself up, looking around to see vivid white, green and red colors around her, on the trees and ground, and especially on her hood, as she looked around. Up in the distance, there was a clearing, the beautiful earthmoon shining brilliantly. Around her, strange images seemed to instantly project upon the trees, only to disappear within seconds.
"Where…..where am I…so beautiful…" She noticed a basket, and picked it up. "What…is this?…"
"You are in your psyche." A voice suddenly boomed behind her. "Your subconscious brain area. Going to Grandma's, Red Riding Hood?"
"There are three rules that all keepers must abide by," A silver-haired woman with a moon sign noded to a young man carrying a staff. "You must never leave your post. You must never let anyone from our kingdom through. But most importantly, you must stop any evil that might come through here. Failure will lead to cruel punishment."
Usagi swerved to see another red echidna walking towards her from behind a tree. He wore a pair of costume wolf ears.
"Oh!" She gave a gasp.
"Oh, don't mind me, princess," the echidna muttered as he adjusted his glasses. "I only saved your brain from being well done and served to some unsuspecting family in Atrava's restaurants down in Bladograd."
"Truly….?" Usagi looked at the echidna confusedly. "I thought……for certain….you were a-"
"Wolf?" The echidna looked around. "No. I am serving in place of your subconscious, which is, at the moment, incapacitated. See? The green indicates contamination by Emerald energy."
"Eme…" Memories began to flood Usagi. "Of course!!! The Earth Emeralds!!"
"Quick, I can see." The echidna looked over Usagi's subconscious clothing. "Nice. Red Riding Hood, huh? I suppose then that you are a virgin?"
"I beg your pardon?!?" The sudden turn of the conversation took Usagi by surprise.
"No, wait, you're not." The echidna shook his head. "But…….you see it as an escape, no?"
"See what as….!!!!!" Usagi could feel a bit of anger well up within her.
"Desire, of course…'getting it on', so to speak…"
"How dare you make assumptions that all I think about is sex!"
"No, I make no assumptions, princess." The echidna held up Usagi's red hood. "Why else would you be wearing red in your subconscious psyche? Why not orange, or blue, or Venetian sand? You don't think about it, per se, but you subconsciously wish you could get a bit at this moment of anxiety. Who would blame you? But….no offense intended!" The echidna quickly asserted himself as Usagi's hand went up to slap him. "You also have a good quotient of white around you. It means that you are duly pure, or at least faithful to your Mamo-chan. Really, you have no need to slap me, but if you wish to…..whose the basket for?"
"The basket…." Usagi, though becoming irritated by the echidna's dodging, decided to satisfy him with an answer. "I found it, ok?"
"Is that so?"
"I suppose there's a meaning to this to?" Usagi's tone became more annoyed.
"Suppression."
"Sexual, I assume…"
"No. Memories."
"Sir!"
Up in the distance of a white castle, a young girl bowed down to a silver-haired man. Both stood next to a large doorway, adorned with words of a foreign language.
"Great sir." The girl looked up. "I wish to see the blue satellite that I always dreamed of. I know its forbidden by law, but would you allow me to pass through?"
Usagi stopped, and looked at the echidna thoughtfully.
"Memories?"
"Of course." The echidna snatched the bag from Usagi and looked it over. "Aah. Russian lumber was made to make this. See? The poor quality. And the clasp….a moon sign."
"A….." Realization dawned on Usagi. "It can't mean…."
"The key to understanding." The echidna nodded. "Memories pertaining to your life on the moon - suppressed for whatever reason - your mother or you consciously doing it yourself, not sure….but this basket holds everything. Memories from your other life that you haven't faced, or ones you have intentionally allowed yourself to forget because they are too painful. But it has all you would need to know of a Russian who has recently entered your life."
"Russian….." Usagi's face fell. "Atrava."
"Why the glum face?" the echidna looked up to see Usagi's trembling body. "Now, Little Red Riding Hood, there's no need to be saddened. This is one time you don't have to face it alone. Why don't you and I look into this basket……together?"
Usagi looked up at the echidna with wide eyes.
"You….would look into the basket with me?"
"Of course. If you're too frightened. And from the looks of it, I think you are upset, not yet ready to face what might be in this box, alone. But you know you'll have to do it someday, so let's make it today. Come."
"I should love to let you through," The man had smiled. "But remember, this is all a secret. I won't tell anyone I let you through if you don't utter a word of this either."
The echidna held out his gloved hand, beckoning her come. Very reluctantly, Usagi reached her hand, only to pause.
"Who are you?"
"Hmm?"
"Your….your name." Usagi's hand drew back. "I'm not so sure unless I can trust you won't eat me alive."
"Ms. Tsukino," the echidna gave a chuckle. "If you really want to know, I already had lunch with your Grandma. I assure you that I won't eat you lest I give myself a stress ulcer or a heart attack from fatty foods, whichever comes first."
"…………Ok……….." Usagi looked confused.
"If you truly wish to know, my name is Edmund. Now, come." Edmund held out his hand. "Let's look into this basket and pick out the rotten fruit, shall we?"
"The time is soon, highness." The silver-haired man looked up at the moon. "The eclipse is upon the world I come from. And soon the hated ones will be blotted out forever."
After another moment, Usagi's hand folded into Edmund's and the two went out under the stars, and beneath the bright Earth satellite, to picnic.
-------------------------
"……………………………………RaaaaaaaaAAAAAAH!!!!"
Sailor Moon's eyes snapped open. Gasping, she took out her tier and pointed it at Atrava, whose head snapped to her direction.
"YOU!!!!!!"
"You awaken quickly." Atrava's eyes flashed. "Surprising. I thought you would have been dead from that."
"Papu Atrava….." Sailor Moon's eyebrows furrowed. "…..Or should I say Desduvius?"
A cruel smile formed on Atrava's face. But not even that could hide his anger of being revealed.
"You remember me, then."
"Desduvius?!" Locke gasped as he struggled to get up. "Usagi, what do you-"
"I remember you." The memories, locked away long ago, materialized in from of the soldier. "You were the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper of Silver Milennium! The queen trusted you to keep out dark spirits. But you always shunned the rules in your duty. You let me though to earth because you knew that my presence there would anger the people of Earth and bring them to battle with the moon! You made a deal with Beryl and told her when the eclipse would be so that they could attack! You slapped my mother in the face with your dishonorable, unspeakable atrocities…"
"Wha…?" Julie-Su gasped. "I…..I don't understand…….what….you mean!!!"
"Heh. You think the same way as your mother did when she cursed me."
"Cursed you?! Then you deserved whatever she punished you with."
"I did the right thing in allowing Metallia into Silver Milennium, princess."
"It was genocide you allowed!!" Sailor Moon screamed. "You killed an entire civilization!!!!"
"You deserved it!"
The words were a slap to Sailor Moon's face
"I was the glorious one who protected you and your family!" Atrava angrily shouted in reply. "I held the world in my hands. I should have been given great rewards for keeping spirits out that would have otherwise destroyed your fragile little world. But your dear mother, your beloved people, to all of them and you I was nothing more than a cuckold. Just something to take for granted, to use up like money, a worthless boy in a job that could spell the end of everything for them and you!"
Atrava began to laugh as he paced, looking straight into Sailor Moon's eyes as he did. His eyes steamed with anger.
"What choice did I have? I had to show them. Show you. Show that without me the world would be as wasted as death itself. So I broke the rules to prove the point I made. But I made it, and my position, it was understood. Your kingdom didn't survive without me. But what is the thanks I get for showing the way?! Life! But not just life, life eternal. My punishment from Queen Serenity for showing her how important I really was. Do you know?! Know how it feels to live, live cursed, knowing that all of the waiting that you do for death does no good, because death will never come?!" Atrava gave a growl at this. "Of course not. You have been reincarnated, through flesh and bone, and have been relieved by happy death each time. But I have had no rest. Until now."
Atrava snapped his hand, and the emeralds around him glowed. Locke and Julie-Su gasped, free from the power that the Communist had them under.
"I sensed them when the power of the Silver Crystal died out. The Earth Emeralds. For centuries I followed them, hoping to unite them all and fulfill my deepest wish: to meet death. But there were humans who always thwarted me. Humans who learn of my plans and shuffled them off, having them end up in the hands of foolish Asian masters, decrepit Indian chiefs and their squaws, or incompetent European radicals." The anger was still there, but a smirk returned to Atrava's face. "But the cards are in my hands now. The Bloc, then the fall of the Soviet Union, the messy implementation of the Independent Commonweath - it was the plays I had been waiting for. The errors the humans have made in bringing Emeralds to this country, where nuclear information falls through the cracks as easily as change. And the globalization of news, and media, and the arts - splendid idea. I learned where more than half of the Emeralds were without ever having to spill one drop of blood. And I know that dear Locke knew about most of the Emeralds in the same way, isn't it so, Locke?"
"Leave Locke out of this!" Julie-Su shouted. "He's not a part of your stupid vengeance plan anyways, is he? It was all about her!!"
"No, Julie-Su." Locke shook his head. "I am in as deep as you are. And you are in as deep as I."
"Yes." Atrava's smile became more sinister. "And by that standard - because you were involved with trying to stop me - you must die. As must everyone else suffer your fate."
"What….?!"
The three looked at Atrava, whose eyes, though they kept staring at Sailor Moon, seemed to spark with triumph against all who stood against him.
"You………" Sailor Moon's grip on the tier was almost lost. "You wouldn't!!"
"Why not?" Atrava seemed pleased with the soldier's reaction. "These pathetic humans, if I took them over all they would do is whine and rebel. And besides, I'm not into world domination, nor do I want anyone else to take the spoils of this planet. It's all rotten, anyways. There's no use for humans in the universe. They have all defied me, and I have vowed that those who deified me in my search will meet a terrible death….and so they shall! Including friends, family, loved ones or yours….and all others…….will perish under my wrath!"
"NOO!!!!!!!!" Sailor Moon screamed.
"Heheheheh…"
"Yeah right!!"
Atrava's pleasure of watching Sailor Moon suffer at the thought was interrupted by the cocking of Julie-Su's gun.
"You may think you have the upper hand in all this," Julie-Su pointed the laser at Atrava, "But you're nothing more than an idiot if you think you can just destroy this world just like that!!"
"Julie-Su!! Don't shoot!!"
"Besides," Julie-Su ignored Locke's shout of protest. "you're forgetting one thing, ass! If you're so cultured about the Emeralds, you would know that there's a Controller to bind those Earth gems you've got there!"
"No! Don't tell him!!" Locke screamed.
"Is there now." Atrava seemed unimpressed by the news.
"You bet there is!" Julie-Su crimped her eyes for a better view of Atrava. "I would think you of all people would have figured that and gotten that Emerald before all of the others! Even if you used the power of the Seven, the Controller would activate its power and neutralize your attack!"
"Hmmm…" Atrava snickered after a moment. "Now, I haven't thought of that possibility. But….why bother when you don't have to?"
"Huh?"
"You pathetic echidna!!" Atrava began to laugh heartily at Julie-Su. "Don't you think I would have thought of that already?! I know the Emeralds from years of study. If you think you can pull off a trick with me, you are dead wrong."
"What are you talking about?!"
"Dense female! What do you think?!……..There is no Controller."
Julie-Su's eyes widened, the laser dropping to the floor. Locke's face fell just as quickly. Sailor Moon's hold on the tier, however, did not slip.
"No….you liar!!" Julie-Su screeched. "YOU'RE LYING!!!"
A moment passed with silence, save or the buzzing of emerald power.
"You can call me anything." Atrava looked at Julie-Su with darkened eyes. "Call me evil, call me murderous, call me a monster, but never……NEVER…..CALL ME A LIAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The energy blast from the six emeralds hit Julie-Su so hard it sent her through the wall, screaming until the impact cut her off.
"JULIE-SU!!" Locke's shout was cut off by a similar blast.
"HAMPH!!" Atrava snarled as he called up more emerald energy. "You will regret defying ME!!!!!!"
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!"
Atrava turned to see a brilliant flash of white light from Sailor Moon's chest. With a scream, the soldier threw down her tier and jumped at Atrava, teeth clenched.
"LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"USAGI!!!!!!!!!!" Locke's head flew up to see Sailor Moon jumping towards Atrava. "The force field!! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
It happened in a split second. The smirk on Atrava's face told Sailor Moon plenty. She had also seen what happened to Locke, who had attempted to attack Atrava, only to be thrown back by the power of the Emeralds. He had the upper hand, the shield to protect him. But her desire to stop the madman was what made her do it. It was a desire she had always felt against her enemies, but it had never been as profound as this, because she knew that she was alone in this battle.
I won't let you stop me! Sailor Moon crystal flashed. Nothing will stop me from stopping you, not even power! I can get through! I can do this!!
*Skaaaaaaaa-SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN-BAAAAM!!!!!!*
The hit was completely unexpected, on the parts of both the attacker and the attacked. Sailor Moon saw her body fly past the Emerald barrier, could feel her body soar through the power that was supposed to be impenetrable, but yet felt like passing through nothing more than empty space. She looked to see Atrava's face change, from a look of haughtiness to a look of complete shock and horror, just as her elbow met the cartilage of his shoulder, her head into his cheek. She could feel bones cracking within both her and her adversary as the two fell to the floor, tumbling until they were stopped by the walls of the room.
"Urrgh!!!!!!!!!"
Sailor Moon tumbled off of him, moaning.
"USAGI!!!!!!!!!"
Julie-Su and Locke limped up to the podium, only to be thrown back once more.
"Huh...?!?"
Sailor Moon turned and gave a gasp. Atrava was back on his feet, warm blood coursing from his nose.
"THIS IS NOT OVER!! I will not be thrwarted!!" He roared angrily. "You surpassed the power of Six. It will not be so when I have all Seven! This will end were it began. NOOOOW!!!!!!!!!"
Suddenly, the bodies of the Emeralds and the gatekeeper shifted, and disappeared.
"NOO!!!!!" Sailor Moon screamed.
She jumped up as Atrava disappeared, but was stopped by Locke, who was barely able to control her kicking and screaming.
"WAIT!! Not here!! He's gone." Locke grabbed Sailor Moon, turned her around and shook her. "Gone."
"What happened?" Julie-Su put her hand onto the platform, then put her full body on it. "You went through the force field! How did you do that!!"
"I.....I don't know...." Sailor Moon shakily replied.
"Only the one with the Controller is capable of doing that." Julie-Su shook her head. "It wouldbe impossible for you to have done it...unless..."
"The Earth's Emeralds must work differently somehow," Locke replied determinedly. "But that's not important now. We have to get to Atrava. And thank goodness he didn't sense that we still have the Heart of Hestia."
"End it.......where it began....." Sailor Moon muttered, wiping her eyes. "But wha-"
Her question was interrupted by a loud rumbling sound from the other side of the wall.
"EARTHQUAKE?!?"
"No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Julie-Su screamed. "YAAAAAAAAAH!!!:
Taking out her laser, she shot out the wall, only to be blown back by exhaust. Blasts of smoke bellowed into the room at almost unimaginable speeds, sending everyone to the wall.
"JULIE-SU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"SAILOR MOON!!!!!!!!!!!"
"LOCKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"LOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
All three turned in time to see the tail end of a space shuttle as it bellowed more smoke. It shot up from in front of them, and, going through a slot in the side of the mountain, flew into the distant sky.
"...........A space shuttle...."
As the wind from the shuttle engines died down in the room they were in, the smoke cleared, and the three found themselves staring into the hole. What they saw was a gigantic launchpad created from the mountain, with one spacehip still preparing for launch.
".........He's going to the moon......."
"What?" Julie-Su looked at him.
"The moon." Sailor Moon's voice crakced. "I know it. 'End it where it began'. For him, his supposed suffering started when my mother cursed him!"
"Shit." Julie-Su looked at Locke. "And we've got no choice but to follow him in that other spaceship. Otherwise we won't be able to stop him."
"Correct."
At the sound of the new voice, Julie-Su turned to aim her gun at him, but froze when she saw the origin of the voice.
"Huh...?!"
"Moving isn't suggested." The click of the gun's barrel obviously pleased Vanguard. Though he was a black echidna now, Sailor Moon still recognized the cold eyes. "I may may have underestimated you last time, but this is different now. Atrava was expecting that you'd want to come. There seems to be a lot to talk about. Why don't we all get on board my ship? I'm thinking that you'll want to now, won't you?" Then, motioning to them all, "Drop your weapons and give them to me. That is, if you don't wish for your body to turn cold under my watch."
Sailor Moon looked at Locke. Locke looked back at her. For a moment, they simply stared at each other, one slightly confused, the other grim, while Julie-Su's laser fell to the ground with an angry bang.
"Hey! Lyoobovneks!! I'm waiting!!"
Turning back to Vanguard, Locke slowly dropped his staff and kicked it over to Vanguard. Sailor Moon quietly did the same, her head down.
"Much better." After the weapos were collected, the gun motioned to the spaceship. "Now, let's go. Atrava doesn't want to wait for your Emerald."
As the three were marched like lambs to the slaughterhouse, Sailor Moon looked up at the sky. In the distance, a tiny black dot spurted towards the full white moon.
You're right, Atrava. Right about only one thing.
Sailor Moon could feel the determination bubble up in her. She looked over to Locke, her eyes blazing. His slightly sunken eyes looked up, widening when he saw her expression, and he quietly nodded. The spaceship began to loom over them as they walked closer.
This is not over.
