Author's Notes: Ah, Glad you're back. Well, Time to find out just who the hell that was(who's voice was in the previous chapter). Continue on...

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Chapter 36: Who 'Is' the Enemy?...

~Hariel's Chamber~

Before Hariel can speak another word, a beam pierces his chest and he drops to his knees, then onto his side... dead. The voice begins laughing again.

Rei starts looking around, almost frantically, "Where..." she says, concerned, "Where is he? I... I can sense his presence, but... it's like it's everywhere!" 'Anyone with the power to kill Hariel with a single attack is someone to be concerned about!' she adds in her mind.

Suddenly, Sailor Moon notices a beam fly at Rei from behind, "Rei! Look out!" she states, shoving her out of the attack's tragectory. Thus, Placing herself in its path and getting hit by it.

"SERENA!!!" Rei shouts, worried as her lavender eyes widen.

A gust of wind blows away the dust to reveal Serena as she was during the battle with Chaos(white feathered wings and a long white dress). Then, She turns to Rei.

"Serena? You okay?" asks the ravenhaired girl, as she gets up to her feet.

"Yep." Serena responds, smiling, "I'm fine."

Rei hugs the odango-atama, "You worried me." she says, then smiles, "Besides, y'know, I'm the one s'posed to protect you."

Once again, The voice laughs, "Every moment that passes, the two of you display the need for your... extermination." it says.

"!?" Rei and Serena look to see the enemy finally step into view... He's wearing a white cape and black armor, has slightly past shoulder length blue hair, and his appearance is that of an average human. His eyes, however, are blank and gray.

"Who 'are' you!" Rei demands, narrowing her eyes.

"My name is, Hyperion." the enemy replies, calmly, "And, as all things, I am a mere tool of fate, which is governed by the Eternals."

Serena turns to the other senshi, "Maybe you guys better go." she says, "This isn't your battle."

"Maybe..." Pluto responds, "However, Kyoko's still unconscious and, unfortunately, we couldn't teleport out if we wanted to."

"Shawn." Rei says, still looking toward Hyperion, "Can you teleport the others, and yourself, outta here?"

"... perhaps. Why?" Toramaru responds, wearing a questioning look on his face.

"Then, Do it." Rei responds, not taking her eyes off Hyperion, "And take Serena, too. I'll face him, alone."

"But!!" Toramaru says, then looks at the others... and realizes that it would be best to get them out, "... very well."

"I'm not going." Serena says, determinedly, "I'm staying here to fight with you, Rei!"

"But--"

"No, Rei! I'm staying." Serena interrupts. Rei finally nods in agreement.

Pluto, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Neptune, and Uranus gather near Kyoko's unconscious frame. After collecting the Zanmato and replacing it in the scabbard on his back, Toramaru stands near them and brings his hands up the same way he did when he spoke mentally with Ryuumaru, "Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Sai, Zen!" he says, a field encircles himself and the senshi(except Serena and Rei, of course), "Ninja teleport!!" in a moment, all eight vanish from sight.

"Now, We begin." Hyperion says, holding up his right arm, "Sword of the Eternals!" a glowing white sword appears in his right hand and he draws it back, "You shall now learn..." he adds, "Fate has no forgiveness for those who dare defy it!" he dashes at the two and swings his sword in an overhead-swing.

Rei and Serena both fly out of the way, and are astonished to see what happens when Hyperion's sword hits the floor... it splits the pocket-dimension in half, causing there to be two separate halves of Hariel's former created dimension.

"Impossible!" Rei states, with wide eyes as she stays aloft in the air, "Not even the Zanmato could do that!"

"Wahahahahaha!" Hyperion laughs, "You would dare to compare my sword to that mere demon weapon?" he says, "Surely, That be a jest."

A new power(or an old one) is reawakened within Rei, as the Ifrit gauntlets' flames grow more intense.

"Ifrit Flame!!"

Rei launches an extremely powerful fireball from her hands(basically, a hugely more powerful version of 'Mars Fire Ignite', 'cept it's performed like 'Celestial Fire') which flies toward Hyperion.

However, Hyperion evades the attack and swings his sword in a diagonal slash-motion, launching an energy attack from the blade which flies at Rei. Rei uses her wings to fly to one side out of its way. Unfortunately for her, Hyperion appears behind her and blasts her with his left hand, knocking her down to the floor.

"Time to die." Hyperion says, and he flies down toward Rei('he' doesn't need wings to fly). However, he hears...

"Crystal Flash!!"

A new attack is launched from his right side, causing him to stop his approach toward Rei and fly back slightly to avoid Serena's attack. Serena's standing on the floor, by the way, and holding out her crystal which is floating between her open palms.

"Wahahaha!" Hyperion laughs again, "Very well, If you wish to be first..." he says, then flies toward her.

Rei steps infront of Serena, as Hyperion begins to close in on her. Hyperion begins a swing with his sword. However, suddenly, Toramaru appears again infront of Rei.

Toramaru quickly crosses his arms over his chest in an 'X' and shouts, "Shield of the Four Gods!!" he jerks his arms to his sides and all four of the symbols on his arms glow.

Hyperion's sword connects only with the energy shield.

"Shawn!" Rei says, surprised, "What're you doing? I told you to escape with the senshi!"

"Forgive me." Toramaru replies, closing his eyes momentarily. He reopens his eyes and adds, "The others are safe, but I can not sit idly by and do nothing whilst you put your lives on the line for everyone!"

"Foolish boy!" Hyperion states, "How long do you think an under-powered being such as yourself can hold that 'four-gods' shield against the Sword of the Eternals?"

"Rei." Toramaru whispers, "I am going to drop the shield in a moment and, as Hyperion's sword strikes me, I want the two of you to focus your powers on the blade... the combined powers of the two of you should be able to break it."

"But," Rei responds, in a whisper also, "You'll die if that blade touches you... you didn't see when it split this dimension in half."

"I... cannot die." Toramaru responds, still in a whisper, "As I am Chaos' son, the last to share his blood... thus, I am unable to die, for there must always exist Chaos."

"... alright." Rei agrees, with a nod.

"Are you sure, Rei?" asks Serena, unconvinced as she blinks her eyes.

Rei nods and Serena reluctantly agrees.

"Now!" Toramaru says, "Shield disperse!!" the barrier against Hyperion's sword vanishes and the blade hits Toramaru, cutting a gash along his chest, and sends him flying backward.

However, at that exact moment, Rei and Serena fly to either side of Hyperion.

"Crystal Flash!!"

"Ifrit Flame!!"

They each launch their newest, and most powerful, attack at the sword's blade.

"What!?" Hyperion says, as the two blasts hit the blade and shatter it.

"Now, Shawn. Get outta here!" Rei states, as Toramaru is indeed getting up, "Me and Serena will take care o' this guy!"

Toramaru nods slowly and again teleports out of the pocket dimension.

"Wahahahahahaha..." Hyperion laughs once again, almost hysterically, "This is better than I could have imagined." he says, "I am going to thoroughly enjoy ending your lives."

"Fated Circle!!"

Hyperion moves his arms in a circle, starting with his right one up and his left one down, and ending with his right one down and his left one up. The movement creates a ring of energy, then Hyperion brings his hands back to his right side and thrusts them forward toward the center of the circle, firing a blast through it. (In case you're wondering, The circle of energy greatly increases the power of his blast).

"Crystal Flash!!"

"Ifrit Flame!!"

Rei and Serena both launch their blasts(they're standing close to each other, beside one another), which collide with Hyperion's.

"Give up." Hyperion says, "Even with the combined powers of both of you, You can not overpower fate!"

~Normal Dimension~

Toramaru places himself in a sitting position on his knees, then wordlessly goes through the hand symbols for: rin, pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, sai, zen. He begins focusing on helping Rei and Serena however he can.

The others look on for a few moments, then, "Right." Venus says, "We 'can' still help." She pulls out her henshin pen and focuses on it. After a moment or so passes, The other senshi follow suit and do the same thing as her.

"Venus Crystal Power!!"

"Pluto Crystal Power!!"

"Jupiter Crystal Power!!"

"Mercury Crystal Power!!"

"Uranus Crystal Power!!"

"Neptune Crystal Power!!"

~Pocket Dimension~

"???" "D'you feel that, Serena?" Rei asks.

Serena nods, "It's the others!" she says, smiling, "They're lending us their powers. I can feel it in the crystal."

"I see." Rei responds, "Then, Let's not waste 'em." she moves her hands to position the right one above Serena's crystal and her left one below it.

"Mars Crystal Power!!"

She infuses her own power into the crystal as well and an extremely powerful beam fires from it and begins overpowering Hyperion's beam.

Rei looks over at Serena and the odango-atama returns her gaze. Rei wordlessly moves her lips in an 'I love you' motion and smiles softly. Serena smiles back at the ravenhaired priestess, then... the colliding blasts explode, causing the entire pocket dimension to expand and then collapse back in on itself.

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To Be Continued...

Ramblings: Yep, That's right. This still wasn't the last chapter. So, You gotta keep checking back to see how it's gonna end.