Author's Notes: Okay, seriously, I'm about ready to put this story on hiatus and start posting something new. If you are reading this story and have not reviewed yet, please take the time to leave one. I don't leave stories indefinatly incomplete or hold my stories ransom for reviews, however, it does make me put new material up quicker if I see I'm getting a positive response for it. Thank you.
Chapter 9
Before the group could travel any further, they were interrupted yet again. This time there was a clash of lightning, and out of the lightening appeared a figure dressed in black, his eyes and hair a deep brown. Kasami gasped. Despite her fear and the darkness surrounding him when they first met, she knew this person.
"It's you!" she exclaimed. The others looked at her like she was nuts.
"Kasami, you know this person?" Shiro asked. The young girl nodded. "He was the one who kidnapped Michiko and Ceres! I'm sure I felt his presence when they disappeared."
"I see the princess failed to warn you to stay out of my way," Maigo retorted. A blaze of anger came across Akio's face.
"Where is my sister?" he demanded. Maigo seemed unmoved.
"What do you care? You're the one who left her out of her sight, aren't you?"
At this, Akio hung his head in shame. Kasami tried to comfort him by placing a hand on his shoulder, but he only turned away. "Yes," he admitted. "I know I should have been a better protector. But that's not going to stop me from defending her now."
Maigo shook his head. "My patience grows thin. But since I said it to your sister, I'll say it to you as well. I'm here only for the Asteroid senshi. If you wish to survive, you won't put up a fight and leave Crystal Tokyo. Otherwise I bear no responsibility for what happens to you."
"So you're after Crystal Palace?" Shiro demanded. His adversary did not respond with anything more that a sly smile.
"You've been given your warning," he said. "Now stand back or face dire consequences." The children looked at each other. They stood back alright, but instead of stepping away from Sailor Juno, they formed a semi-circle around her. Even Anzino, although she still kept herself behind Juno rather than in front of her.
"Children…" Juno began. She was touched by their bravery and willingness to defend her, but she could still sense the power coming from their enemy. She was assigned to be their protector, not the other way around.
"We'll hold him off," Shiro said. "You should try to make your escape."
"No," Juno said. "We fight him together."
Shiro was about to object, but the planning strategy had to end there, for into the center of the circle suddenly shot a sharp of direct spray of water, missing Juno and the children, but leaving nasty crater in the ground where it impacted.
"Water?" Akio gasped. But last we saw, he used plant attacks."
"Idiot!" Maigo yelled. "Do you really think my master would give me only one type of attack? I have been well-versed in a variety of techniques, there is nothing you can do to counter me!" He raised his hand and this time a ball of fire appeared. He threw it in the senshi's direction, who had to quickly scrambled to get out of the way.
"I wanna go home!" Anzino called, still sticking to Juno like a shadow. "Please, can we go?"
"No," Juno answered. "We must stand our ground." She looked towards her opponent.
"Amazon Jungle arrow!" she yelled. A ray of green light flew forward, but Maigo dodged the attack.
"World shaking!" Kasami yelled.
"Deep submerge!" seconded Akio.
"Shine Aqua Illusion!" finished Shiro. The three attacks combined themselves for a massive impact, but Maigo only put up his arms, forming a shield of water that neutralized the attacks.
"I'm trying to get a reading on his weaknesses!" Marie announced. The single-eye visor was covering her right eye as she typed madly onto her hand computer. Their enemy was very powerful, and as he claimed, he had any number of magical powers up his sleeve. But he bragged just a bit too much. There was one type of power he had yet to master.
Unfortunately, before Marie could make this known, the vines attacked again, grabbing her by the leg and hoisting her into the air.
"Marie!" Shiro called out, and in his hesitation, he was caught as well. Maigo held the two children of Mercury above Juno and the others' heads like a prize, wrapping more and more vines around their body, including their necks.
"Now surrender yourself, Juno," he demanded. "Or you might find yourself burdened with the guilt of watching these two suffocate to death."
Kasami gripped her sword angrily, but upon hearing the cries of her comrades, she dropped it to the ground, as did Akio his shield.
"Why are you doing this?" Kasami asked, shivering. "You said you let Michiko go with a warning, and I can tell by your eyes. You aren't that heartless. Why are you attacking us like this?"
For a moment, there was a look of regret on Maigo's face, as if he suddenly called into question everything he had been fighting for up to this point. But that look was quickly covered over by an expression of frustration and anger. "Shut up!" he yelled. "You could not possibly understand my motivations. Now decide. Your friend's lives or Juno's capture?"
Akio looked down at the ground. "Is there nothing we can do?" he asked solemnly, and more to the air around him than anyone else.
Marie, though her body screamed for her to put every effort into getting more oxygen, managed to turn her head and yell to the group,
"Don't give into him, never give in! His weakness is lightning! Attack him with lightning!" At this, the plant tightened its grip and Marie could no longer speak. Anzino gasped. Lightening was her specialty.
"The powers over thunder and lightening are difficult to master, it's true I haven't learned them yet," Maigo said. "But then, judging by the attacks you've been using, neither have any of you." At this, the snake-like vines wrapped themselves around Kasami and Akio, holding them into the air along with the others. A third vine wrapped itself around Juno' wrists, not capturing her completely, but preventing her from launching a direct attack. The jewel on her tiara blared as a warning for it to try no more.
"Anzino," she said, kneeling down to the little girl next to her and whispering so Maigo could not hear. "Anzino, you know you can beat this guy. We have faith in you."
"Me?" Anzino gasped. "But Miss Juno, I can't. My technique never works out right when we practice it in class. I'm not very strong, and I'm not very brave. How can I possibly beat him?"
"You have the power within you," Juno assured her. "And if you are able to free your comrades, they fill fight with you. Believe in yourself." At this point, the vines around her wrists suddenly grew exponentially, wrapping themselves around her body as she allowed herself to be caught off-guard.
"At last…" Maigo said. "Another one the Asteroid senshi is mine!"
"Anzino…" Juno gasped as the vines tightened around her neck. "Anzino, please..." Anzino touched the gem on her forehead. Juno' had given off the power to protect her. And what was she? Wasn't Anzino Kino a Sailor Senshi just like the others? Didn't she have the strength and will to fight like they did? Well, maybe not as much, but she had something. And she wasn't about to allow her fears to suppress it when her friends needed help. Carefully she stood up, making sure to stay out of Maigo's sight. The vines dropped Shiro, Marie, Kasami, and Akio, but held fast onto Juno.
"You'll be coming with me," Maigo said. But before he could vanish, there was suddenly a loud clash of thunder. He whirled around the see, but it was too late to react.
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" The power of Jupiter flowing within her, Anzino let off a viscous cloud of lightening that found its mark perfectly. The lightening shocked Maigo's system, weakening him dramatically. Unfortunately, it also flowed through the vines he was using to hold Juno, and she too, let out a scream of pain.
"Oh no!" Anzino gasped when she realized what she had done.
"It's okay!" Kasami yelled, picking up her sword and slashing the vines that held Juno away. The Asteroid senshi fell to the ground. Marie immediately went over to do a medical examination with her computer.
"She's alright," she announced. "She's just been knocked out. Maigo took the blunt of the blow." Anzino breathed a sigh of relief, though she still couldn't help but feel a little guilty for injuring her teacher like that.
"Don't be upset," said Shiro, as if reading her thoughts. "You did exactly what you had to do. We're proud of you, Anzino, or I guess, Neo Jupiter." The young senshi smiled proudly at her accomplishment. But unfortunately, the pride was to be short-lived.
Though he had taken a serious impact from the attack on his weakness, Maigo still had not been killed. Perhaps it was his own strength, or the love of Anzino's heart that had not allowed it to happen. But in either case, he had taken serious injuries and needed to return at once. Gasping he reached out his hand and pointed towards Juno.
"No!" Marie gasped, but it was too late. The tips of their fingers touched and both Maigo and Sailor Juno disappeared.
"A teleporting technique!" Akio scowled. "We should have known. But why didn't he use it earlier?"
"There was too much going on, and he couldn't get a hold of Juno," Marie explained. "I believe he has to physically touch the person to take them with him."
Kasami lowered her sword and sighed. "So what do we do now?" she asked.
"We find the others," announced Shiro, holding his shield to his side. "Maigo was obviously weakened from that attack. If we can group together at their headquarters, we might be able to beat him and free the senshi as well."
"Alright," Anzino said boldly. "Let's go!"