CHAPTER FOUR: THE WAR TO END ALL WARS!
Space Command, The Pentagon;
"General Marshal! I think you should take a look at this!" cried Major Larson.
General Marshal, a largely built man in his lower fifties, with silver shot hair and a wrinkled complexion that made him look older than he was, moved to take a look at Major Larson's radar console.
There were thirteen in all. The Computer was picking up several large blobs hovering in lower Earth orbit all around the world! Three were hovering over North America, two over South America, three over Asia, two over Europe, one over Africa and Austrailia, and one was reading as inside the Earth's Atmosphere, hovering directly over Japan! Not just any city, but Tokyo!
"They just suddenly appeared!" Major Larson pointed at the blobs. "Thirteen contacts! Each of them over ten miles in diameter and shaped like three- dimensional stars! The one over Japan is currently active, appearing to attack the city directly, but the other ships are just sitting there in orbit as if they were waiting for something!"
"Tokyo." General Marshal's hair nearly turned pure white. "That's the same place that was on the news earlier because of that fight! What in Hell is going on over there now?!"
"I don't know, sir! Maybe it's on the news again!" the Major turned to his Commanding Officer fearfully. "But sir, what about those other twelve ships?!"
"Get me the President of the United States, the Secretary of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the line!" General Marshal barked to his subordinates without hesitation! "Tell them the situation and recommend we go to Defcon Three! I want planes in the air over EVERY city with a population greater than 200,000! I want the Coast Guard, National Guard, Army AND Marine Corps called into active duty and readied for an invasion! And I want Norfolk, Pearl Harbor, Whidbey Island and Mayport Naval Stations deploying every ship-shape vessel they have available and get them ready for a fight!" He paused as if thinking of anything he forgot. Then he said: "AND SOMEBODY GET ME SOME COFFEE!!"
* * * *
"Secretary General!" a lone, panicked Japanese Ambassador broke into the enclosed chamber of the United Nations Security Council and fell on his knees before the Secretary General of the UN.
"What's the meaning of this interruption?!" the Secretary General broke off his speech to look at the blubbering Ambassador.
"Honorable Sirs!" he croaked. "It's horrible! They say there are Alien Spacecraft in the skies over this very world, and they're currently attacking Japan! No one has been able to contact the Japanese Government in Tokyo for over a half hour! All broadcasts coming from Tokyo were suddenly cut off when the attack began! Please, I beseech you! Japan needs military assistance POST HASTE!!"
"What did you say?!" the Chinese Ambassador jumped to his feet.
"Alien ships?!" scoffed the Russians.
"Rubbish! How dare you interrupt a meeting with such a vile hoax!?" the British Ambassadors accused the poor man.
"I'M TELLING YOU IT'S TRUE!!" the Japanese Ambassador shrieked.
All of a sudden the phones on the desks of every nation represented in the chamber began to ring off the hook! They all looked at one another and answered their phones. The babble in the chamber became immediately frantic and excited!
Someone came up and whispered something in the Secretary General's ear. The UN leader dropped his phone and fell disbelievingly into his chair! According to news reports cropping up all over the world. the rumors were true! The world was being attacked by Alien forces!
It took several minutes to calm everyone down to the point of deliberation. When that was achieved it didn't take long for EVERY nation to unanimously approve worldwide deployment of military forces and the marshalling of aid to the Islands of Japan!
* * * *
"They're here Commander!" shouted an ensign at the controls. "Twelve marks coming out of Hyperspace! They're Senshi design alright!"
Commander Zinc blinked and tore his gaze away from his beloved Dark Mercury. "Very well, Ensign! Call all warships and tell them to form up into higher orbit! The 'Gorgonite' shall remain here to continue to pound Tokyo into dust! The end game begins NOW!!"
* * * *
The 'Colossus' shuddered; a loud booming, like a clap of thunder, resounded in everyone's ears; and the rainbow mottling of Hyperspace shrank back and formed the normal sight of the Universe in real space. Directly before them the Earth and its eternal companion, Luna, drifted in the star-spangled void! They had arrived at last!
"All hands to battle stations!" Sailor Jade Fire broadcasted to all ships. "Raise deflector shields and ready all Senshi Combat Units! Stand by for my mark!"
She turned to Sailor Galaxia, who stood from her chair for the first time in hours. "Senshi Prime, victory is ours!"
"As I said back at Kinmoku, Jade, this is YOUR theater of expertise! Is my personal Space Suit ready?" Galaxia asked.
"Ready as ordered. The Nova Senshi should already be down there suiting up," Jade saluted the Golden Senshi. "Good hunting, Sailor Galaxia."
"Likewise, Sailor Jade Fire," Galaxia completed the old adage respectfully. She turned and left the bridge. Jade grinned and turned back, taking the Commander's Chair once again. Through the View Screen she saw the twelve star-like Battleships streaking full speed toward her fleet. Thousands of smaller fighters launched from the hangar bays and closed the distance even more rapidly.
"All ships, fire at will! In the name of Kinmoku and Princess Kakyuu. FULL SPEED AHEAD!!" Jade stretched her arm forward. The Senshi Space Fleet began to roar into battle.
* * * *
Tokyo was in flames! Building burned and toppled as more fighters strafed by overhead, firing their lasers and rockets at their foundations! People screamed and ran about in a mindless panic, trying to escape the devastation! But where could they go?! Tokyo was under siege! And the only people who could possibly do anything about it were otherwise occupied.
* * * *
"I should have done this in the first place," Dark Mercury remarked. "In retrospect it would have saved me a lot of time and trouble, but I got cocky. It was a regrettable mistake, but one which I survived. You Senshi wasted a valuable opportunity to finish me off. Hotaru's honorable sacrifice was just short of enough to kill me!"
"Sailor Moon! We have to do something about Tokyo! People are dying left and right! We don't have time to play around with this twisted psycho!" Sailor Starfighter said tightly.
"Pluto! Can't you freeze time or something?!" Sailor Uranus begged.
"I wish I could! But in the condition the Time Stream is in right now, freezing the flow of time could well put an end to all of us!!" Pluto was looking paralyzed with indecision.
"Not the inspirational words I was hoping for." Sailor Jupiter gulped.
"We know all about you, Dark Mercury!" Serena stepped forward. "Sailor Pluto told us your story. It's terrible! You see you may have had the element of surprise on us before, but that is an opportunity YOU squandered!" Serena pointed at Dark Mercury, her face was dark with anger. "And I'm now certain of something else. YOU ARE NOT AMY MIZUNO!! You're just some evil MONSTER who wears her face and holds her memories and speaks with her voice! You're nothing more than a SHADOW! A pathetic case of PMS gone bad!! Without that chunk of Nemesis you would never have been able to take over Amy's body and do the things you do!"
"Did you get all that?" Tuxedo Mask seconded. "We're NOT afraid of you anymore! You've pushed us and pushed us, trying to break us spiritually as well as physically! But when somebody pushes the Sailor Scouts they push back! In memory of Sailor Saturn. WE'LL FIGHT TO THE LAST BREATH TO SEND YOU AND YOUR CURSED FLEET BACK TO HELL!!!"
Dark Mercury screamed and blasted a wave of dark energy that literally plowed the pavement up before it! The Senshi dove out of the way and then went on the offensive.
"Jupiter Thunder Hammer!" Sailor Jupiter yelled as she charged at Dark Mercury. She swung with all her might at her opponent's head. Dark Mercury dodged and drove a knee into Jupiter's midsection. Sailor Venus threw her Love-Me Chain and it snagged around Dark Mercury's metal wrist. Dark Mercury snarled and yanked Venus toward her as hard as she could.
Venus was headed for a hurting, but Sailor Mercury flew in and dropkicked Dark Mercury across the face, causing the Dark Senshi to stumble.
"We have her now!" Sailor Uranus exclaimed. "World Shaking!!" The Uranian blast kept Dark Mercury staggered and off-balance. Sailor Neptune finished the combination with a 'Deep Submerge' attack. Dark Mercury fell flat on her back, smacking hard to the pavement!
"Move away!" Sailor Mars shouted. Sailor Neptune jumped aside as Mars fired her new and improved 'Flame Sniper'. The arrow struck Dark Mercury in the chest as she was getting to her feet and suddenly she was engulfed in fire as if an Incendiary Bomb went off all over her!
Dark Mercury screamed in pain and suddenly the wind began to whip around like a Cyclone. The flames were snuffed out, and Dark Mercury was glowing a deep dark blue! "DIE YOU PESKY INSECTS!!" Suddenly balls of energy flew out from her body in all directions! They were barely the size of footballs, yet they completely blew up everything they touched! Cars, buildings, it didn't matter!
The Senshi who were closest to her went airborne, trying to dodge the energy bombs.
"She'll take out the whole city!" Tuxedo Mast shouted to his allies. "Try to keep those balls from hitting everything!" He reached out and whacked one with his Cane like a baseball, sending it crashing into another. The two balls exploded in midair, damaging nothing!
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!" Sailor Jupiter fired her electric leaves like darts and detonated as many energy balls as she could catch.
"Mars Celestial Fire!" Sailor Mars cried.
"Venus Crescent Beam!" Venus joined in.
"Mercury Ice Bubbles!" Mercury shouted.
Everyone began to target the energy balls. People who had been trapped inside their buildings or vehicles in terror got out and began to run down the street.
"Very good, Sailor Scouts! But let's see you handle several threats at once!" Dark Mercury raised her hand skyward in some sort of signal. Several Black Moon Fighters broke off and spewed laser fire down the broad street! The blasts incinerated dozens of people at a time as they passed over the fleeing citizens!
"You MONSTER!!" Sailor Moon aimed a blast at Dark Mercury, but it was swatted aside. "What's more important, Sailor Moon?! Killing me or saving these people! You can't do everything at once!" Dark Mercury began to laugh wickedly.
"She's right! Unless we split our forces we'll be playing this deadly game all night! She'll tire us out!" Sailor Neptune said. "It's a brilliant strategy. How are we going to get all these innocents out of the way?!"
"FOUL MURDERER!!!" a voice boomed behind Dark Mercury.
"What the...?" Dark Mercury turned, just in time to see a golden gloved hand strike her right in the nose. The impact sent her hurtling into the side of a nearby building, spider-webbing the concrete and shattering windows!
"I don't believe it!" Sailor Starhealer exclaimed.
"She finally came!" said Sailor Starmaker.
"Oh my God! That can't be." Sailor Moon trailed off.
Sailor Pluto fell to one knee. "Thank goodness." she breathed.
"Sailor Galaxia! It's great to see you! Better late than never, you know?" Starfighter teased.
Indeed Galaxia stood right where Dark Mercury had a moment before. Her fists were crackling with energy that the scouts could feel in the air around them! Her face was a mirror of defiance! Behind her there alighted five Senshi. Each of them had on red and white Senshi Uniforms, as well as matching colored red hair. One of them was huge and heavily muscled with thick straight hair that spilled to her back; another was rather small in stature, her hair was lopped short at the neck; one of them looked like a female basketball player, thin and speedy, with two braids in back and exaggerated bangs; while another was dark skinned and wore a black pair of shades over her eyes. Her hair was done up in dreadlocks; the fifth one wore her hair in a long French braid and had a bright orange visor over her eyes that looked just like Sailor Mercury's computer visor. The Scouts had never seen them before in their lives.
"The Nova Senshi," Yaten confirmed.
"Who are they?" asked Sailor Neptune.
"Only the Universe's Premier Senshi Strike-Force!" Saiya replied smugly. "Galaxia brought the big guns to the dance tonight!"
"With those five, plus Galaxia," said Sailor Pluto, "the tide against Dark Mercury may have just turned."
"The blood of your victims screams for vengeance! In the name of Justice I will finish you off once and for all!" Galaxia declared to Dark Mercury, seemingly ignoring the others.
Dark Mercury blasted out of the building she'd been knocked into. She flew back down to Earth, steaming mad. Galaxia and Dark Mercury stood facing one another. The Nova Senshi got into various fighting stances behind her. The Earth defenders followed suit.
"I'll handle this now, Sailor Moon!" Galaxia said to Serena in a commanding voice. "You have fought admirably up until now, but someone needs to fight Dark Mercury to keep her from hurting any further humans! Go and protect the citizens of Earth, as is your first duty! I shall take care of this one myself!"
"Hey--!" Sailor Mars broke off as Sailor Pluto put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head silently.
"You may need our help." Sailor Moon hesitated, not sure whether to be offended by Galaxia's arbitrary command, or to be relieved.
"Rest assured things are under my complete control," Galaxia told them. "Besides, Dark Mercury has not yet come up against an opponent who can match her blow for blow!" She looked at Dark Mercury. "Care to fight someone who can put up a challenge?!"
Dark Mercury turned her head aside and spat. "You're in a big hurry to die aren't you?"
"Amusing," Galaxia said without the slightest grin of amusement. She turned to the Nova Senshi. "Go! Take the Sailor Starlights and take the fight away from this city! Find a way to bring that Battleship overhead down!" She looked again at Sailor Moon. "Why are you still here?! Evacuate this city before it becomes a graveyard! NOW!!"
The Senshi were startled into action. Each of them scattered and began to gather up survivors in the immediate area. The Nova Senshi stepped back.
Sailor Nova Proxima looked at Sailor Starfighter. "Let's go," she said.
Saiya gave her a victory sign and grinned. "Finally! Some REAL action!!" They too took off, leaving Galaxia facing off against Dark Mercury.
* * * *
"Artemis," said Luna, weakly. "I don't know how much longer I can stay conscious."
"You must," Artemis said frantically. "If you fall unconscious, you might go into shock and die!"
Luna nodded. "I know that," she said. "But I cannot stay awake much longer. I'll need some help for this." Artemis looked down at Luna's leg and saw she was losing a lot of blood. He had pulled the glass shard out and wrapped a paper towel around her leg like a tourniquet, but her leg was still leaking steadily, if not as quickly.
"I'll go get help," he said to her, tears in his eyes. "I won't let you die on me! Not now!"
He ran over to the stunned Tsukino family. "John! Karen! You guys need to help me now!"
Mrs. Tsukino only looked over at Artemis in shock, and began to scream. "OH, MY GOD!! I'M GOING CRAZY!! THAT CAT JUST TALKED TO ME!!!"
John tried to calm her down, looking at Artemis in terror. "It's alright, hon," he said shakily. "Y-you're not th-the o-o-only one!"
Artemis had no time to lose here. "Look," he said. "I have no time to explain things. Needless to say, your cat, Luna is hurt badly. Unless she gets treated she'll die!"
"Way cool!" exclaimed Sammy. "A talking cat!"
"Yes, yes," said Artemis impatiently. "But I really need your help to get Luna better!"
"Lu-lu-luna?" stammered Karen. "Y-you m-mean, Serena's c-ca-at!"
"Yes," said Artemis. "Now take a deep breath and calm down. I'm only doing this as an emergency measure. Luna needs help. She can talk too, if you want her to, but she was injured in the bombing a few moments ago. I took out the glass, but she's losing blood fast!"
"W-what can we d-do?" John seemed to be getting a hold of himself pretty quickly. It must have been because he had already seen stranger things today. Sammy thought this was a blast. Karen, however, fainted from the overwhelming stress.
"Karen!" said John.
"Don't worry about her," said Artemis. "She's just unconscious. Put her on the couch and then help me get her wrapped up in a better dress for Luna's wound."
"Uhhhh.... right." agreed John, finally taking all this weirdness in stride. Sammy had already acted by taking Luna gently to the dining room table.
After John left his wife on the couch, Artemis began shouting commands. "Alright, Sammy, get some towels from the kitchen! John, come over her, take this tissue off and then get ready to put pressure on the wound!" Sammy bolted, and John did as he was told.
After Sammy returned, Artemis ordered him to wrap the towel around Luna's leg. In a few minutes, the leg was wrapped tightly. A red stain appeared, but thankfully, did not spread. The bleeding had been stopped.
"Whew," said Artemis.
"Thank, you, my darling," said Luna, barely above a whisper.
"Wow, she CAN talk!" exclaimed Sammy. "I wonder if she ever talked to Serena?!"
"Oh, God!!" yelled John. "I forgot about SERENA!!"
All of a sudden, the house shook from the impact of another blast from a passing fighter! Plaster and wood began to fall from the ceiling. The electricity flickered and went out.
"We need to get out of here," said Artemis. "Sammy, you got Luna. John, you better see what you can do for your wife. Hurry! We need to get out of here before the whole place comes crashing down around our ears!"
It took several minutes, but the five emerged from the house, shaken, but otherwise fine. They made it to the storm shelter and John opened the door to the cellar.
"Ok," he said. "We should be relatively safe down here."
All of a sudden, one of the far away fighters turned and started to scream toward them. Its targeting systems centered on their bodies.
"We're in for it now!" exclaimed Artemis, his heart sinking. And he never got to tell Luna how much he really did love her.
* * * *
Galaxia's wings burst out of her back and she launched herself at Dark Mercury. Despite her readiness Dark Mercury was taken aback by the speed of the assault. She barely blocked the first punch, and then fell victim to the second. She flew backward with the force, Galaxia stayed hot on her heels.
Shifting her momentum with her own flying abilities, Dark Mercury somersaulted in midair and hit the ground on her feet. Galaxia reared back for another punch, her red eyes gleaming with an inner fire that rivaled her own. Dark Mercury crouched, putting all her strength into her legs, and leapt into the sky. Galaxia's fist missed and cracked the pavement where she was standing just a split second ago.
Recovering even swifter than Dark Mercury thought she would, Galaxia lifted off in pursuit. Dark Mercury needed to go on the offensive, so she looped around and flew at her opponent. The two superpowers met in a titanic collision that caused them to ricochet off one another like a pair of tennis balls. Both of them were unfazed by the impact. Again and again, almost too fast for most anyone to follow with their eyes, the balls of light caused by the glowing energy in each being bounced off one another.
Dark Mercury managed to throw off Galaxia just a little about the fifth time around. She opened fire with all her might! Blue energy blazed out and smashed into Galaxia with incredible force. The hit sent the Senshi free- falling through the roof of a nearby banking building.
Galaxia was far from finished! She burst out the side of the skyscraper, and charged at Dark Mercury once again. With both her feet, Galaxia kicked Dark Mercury in the chest, knocking the breath out of her. Smiling, Galaxia turned up the pressure, giving the Dark Senshi a crushing blow to the chin with a right hook. She fell into an idling City Bus, turning it into so much junk in a heartbeat. The people inside were terrified, but not for long. Dark Mercury used her energy to blast out in all directions, shattering the bus and killing everyone inside!
Galaxia saw this and shuddered. Such disregard for human life! The fight needed to end very soon or Tokyo would be nothing but rubble!
Dark Mercury stood on the street level, gazing up in hatred at the intergalactic warrior. Why had she chosen now to interfere?! She had never taken direct action like this against her in all the days she could remember! Why now?! She saw the battle was not going well either. The Nova Senshi, whoever they were, were more than a match for the ships. Her forces were being decimated by those red-headed Senshi.
"Dark Mercury! Come in, milady!" said a voice in the radio built into her metal armlet.
"What is it?!" she snapped.
"We have engaged a Senshi Fleet composed of twelve ships! So far we've halted their advance, but if it comes down to a long, protracted fight I'm afraid it's possible they will outgun us and defeat our fleet!" said Commander Zinc calmly, yet urgently. "We may have to retreat and plan for another day!"
"Zinc, if you so much as utter the word 'retreat' again, I'll tear your head off your shoulders! I WILL have my revenge! Even if I have to single- handedly go through every Senshi in this Universe to achieve it!" Dark Mercury closed her communicator so she wouldn't be interrupted again.
Galaxia hovered in the air, her arms crossed in a posture of defiance. Dark Mercury began to build up her powers to their fullest! She would need every ounce of strength to turn the tide. The victory she had been certain was hers moments before was slipping away now. Taking a parked car, she tossed it up at her enemy. Galaxia frowned in contempt, blowing the car up with a single blast. While she was busy with that, Dark Mercury launched off the ground and flew straight at Galaxia. The Senshi saw the attack and moved out of the way just in time.
Dark Mercury swooped around, and looked to see an empty sky. Galaxia had suddenly disappeared!
"Where is she?!" she asked out loud to herself.
She felt the attack just seconds before she could turn to see it. She felt a metal boot strike her in the back and blast her forward. She hit the roof of the Starlight Tower, denting and cracking the steel plated surface. She felt a bruise forming where she was kicked. This was not good.
Galaxia followed up with a storm of fireballs. Dark Mercury flipped and vaulted out of the way of the shower, but they kept right on following her. It was inevitable, therefore, that she ran out of roof and fell over the edge. Before she could correct her fall, Galaxia rocketed around the corner of the tower and hit her with a head-butt to the kidney. Dark Mercury screamed in pain, then was silenced with a double fist to the gut that plowed her into the street and against traffic at over 500 miles per hour! The street, fortunately, was nearly devoid of humanity due to the evacuations that the Army and Senshi were now conducting. That would make this fight a lot easier on Galaxia's conscience.
* * * *
The Senshi were not far behind the fight. People were pretty much fleeing Tokyo on their own. The Army and National Guard were directing traffic along the highways out of the city. The Senshi were merely picking up stragglers and saving them from the collateral damage resulting from the fight between the two Superpowers! They watched with a mixture of horrified fascination as the fighters tore into each other. The damage was already astonishing as Dark Mercury was thrown headlong down Himeko Avenue. The impact left a deep trench in the street! Cars were flipped over and trashed badly! Every window on the block shattered in the shockwave!
"I hope those people are alright!" said Jupiter.
"Those that hung around, that is," said Uranus. "I think this section of town was abandoned due to our own fight." She pointed toward the Yamaha Center. "See, it was only two blocks away from here."
"Other parts of the city are still filled with people though!" exclaimed Mars.
"Galaxia's a smart woman," said Neptune. "She'll keep the casualties to a minimum, though if we see anyone in the way, we'll have to be the ones to keep them safe."
As they watched, Dark Mercury emerged from the trench, carrying several bad looking bruises. A little bit of blood was actually leaking from the left corner of her mouth. She was more banged up than the other Senshi had ever seen her, but she was also mad as a hornet now!
* * * *
"Let's move it along in a calm and orderly fashion!" Colonel Yamada ushered scared civilians along the highway. The road was clogged with bumper-to- bumper traffic in both lanes going the same way! Horns were going off frantically and many people were yelling irritably at one another as traffic slowed to a crawl! Not far from where they were sitting a war was descending upon their home city such as had never been witnessed since the Second World War! The famous Tokyo skyline was slowly burning to the ground and becoming far more fractured as time progressed.
It was hard to maintain order and discipline in the face of such odds! However midway through the evacuation a miracle seemingly occurred! More of the young women dressed in Sailor Uniforms had appeared and formed a sort of net overhead with their powers. Anytime the enemy came close and tried to blast the highways, a Senshi would fly in and intercept it!
On top of everything the Army wasn't without its own resources! The Air Force had flown in and was now bombarding the enemy for all it was worth! The missiles and rockets did little but splash harmlessly off the impenetrable deflector shields of the Black Moon Fleet, however sometimes a missile was all that was needed to simply knock a ship or a Daemon off its course and buy time for the Senshi. Those who were in the business of saving lives were cooperating wordlessly with the defenders of peace. It was an unspoken agreement that helped to shed a sort of detached calm over the frightened civilians.
"I've never imagined anything like this! Girls that can fly, Superheroes, Alien Space Ships! It's like Manga come to life!" the Colonel remarked.
"They're called Senshi," said a voice behind them. The soldiers turned to see a blonde young man in soldier fatigues of alien nature. "They are the beings that are fighting the enemy and saving these people. The woman they fight is named Dark Mercury. If you want an analogy, picture Adolf Hitler with super powers. The Sailor Senshi are all that stands between these people." he motioned to the grid-locked traffic to the right, "and total annihilation."
"And just who the hell are you?! And how did you get inside our security net!" the Colonel barked.
"Just call me. Jed," said the young man with an icy smile. "You have no need to fear me. I am the least of your worries. However, if you are looking for a chance to strike back at the villains responsible for this attack on your homes, I can help."
One soldier raised his rifle suspiciously. "Lies! Those clothes give him away! He must be an agent of the enemy! I've never seen a Uniform like that on Earth!"
The man named Jed rolled his eyes. "I have information. Information and." he speared the Colonel with a determined gaze. "I have the knowledge you may need if you want to bring that monster in the sky down!"
Colonel Yamada looked at Jed with suspicion at first, but then he seemed to realize something. "Stand down, Captain," he said to the soldier with his rifle raised. "For some odd reason I think he's telling the truth. So what's this outstanding plan you got, son?"
Jed looked at the 'Gorgonite' with hateful eyes. "Your weapons. They are useless against their deflector shields. However, the advantage will not last forever. The Senshi are slowly decimating the enemy's forces. Once they have them on the defensive, they will make a move for the Mother Ship. The ship is called the 'Gorgonite'. If you want a crack at the enemy, you follow the Senshi's lead and do as they do." Jed's eyes became distant, as if recalling some memory. The Nova Senshi. I haven't seen them in over a thousand years, he mused. Yet they're still as fantastic and efficient as they were back then.
* * * *
With relentless speed, the small, star shaped fighter zoomed at the Tsukino family, its guns warming up to fire the blasts that would kill them all.
"This is it," said Artemis, his heart sinking in despair. "I love you, Luna!"
The attack never came. Something suddenly blasted the fighter and sent it careening into the house next door. The house exploded and debris rained down on the Tsukinos.
"Everybody! DOWN!" shouted John, pushing everyone to the ground. For a few seconds, metal and wood rained down and pelted their bodies. It hurt, but not as much as it would have hurt to have been vaporized to dust by those blasters!
I wonder who...? Artemis was about to ask who had saved them, but the answer was descending down to where they lay.
She had long, red hair, and a red and white Senshi uniform. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her outfit kept it out of her eyes by way of a half-hood that came together and formed the tiara in front. She wore an amber visor over her face. On the tiara was a symbol of some far away star. An alien symbol, which Artemis recognized from somewhere.
"You're from the Nova Senshi!" he said in surprise.
"Wow! Look Dad!" exclaimed Sammy. "A new Sailor Scout!"
"Who are you, who knows what I am?" asked the Senshi.
"I am Artemis," he replied, walking forward. "I was a court advisor to the late Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom."
"I remember you," she said. "Except you were human then, weren't you?"
"Yes," he said, abashed. "A few things have happened since then."
"I remember the Moon Kingdom. My sisters and I visited the Moon Kingdom once on an errand of diplomacy from Alpha Senshi. It was a short time before the kingdom was destroyed."
The Tsukino family looked on in distraught shock as the white cat and the Sailor Senshi spoke of things that they shouldn't even know about. But it was too late. At this rate, they were bound to find out about Serena's identity sooner or later.
"Nova... Proxima, I presume," said Artemis.
"You have a very good memory, Artemis," Nova Proxima replied. "Most have trouble telling my sisters apart. We all look the same save for some slight skin variations and hair-style. For what it's worth, I'm sorry we could not assist the Moon Kingdom in time. We arrived too late to stop Beryl."
Artemis lifted a paw. "That's in the past. It doesn't matter now. So if you're here then Galaxia must have come as well."
"Yes," said Proxima. "Even now she does battle with the dark one. My comrades and the Sailor Starlights are battling the sky sentinels right now."
Artemis nodded. "Thank you, Nova Senshi. You may carry on," with that, he turned to lead the family of Serena Tsukino into the basement. Nova Proxima waved, smiling, and took off into the air to resume her activities.
* * * *
Dark Mercury redoubled her efforts. She took off straight at Galaxia, who stood waiting for her assault. They met once again. This time they didn't try anything fancy. It was mortal combat as they locked horns, punching, kicking, chopping, scratching, doing anything they could to catch the other off guard.
The fight was a spectacle of Martial Arts that made all those watching feel insignificant by comparison. There were powers at play here that were way out of their league! From far away, as she destroyed enemy units with glee, Starfighter came to a halt and wondered how Galaxia had been defeated by Sailor Moon, when she held her own so beautifully against someone who was so much more powerful? Unless.
Dark Mercury went into a fury and began glowing bright blue with energy. She doubled her speed and managed to sneak a few blows past Galaxia's defenses. A spinning heel kick sent her soaring into the side of a building, where Dark Mercury pursued her.
Inside the building, those who had stayed behind after the evacuations found their offices trashed by the flying body of a gold clad Sailor Scout. Bursting in just behind her was a woman with blue hair, dressed in black leather. Galaxia tried to recover, but with so much debris everywhere, her movements were impeded. The panicking people didn't make it any better. Dark Mercury no longer cared about all the bystanders. Taking the time to kill them before had only cost her a swift victory, but it was not wise to do so facing such a powerful opponent. She elbowed Galaxia in the throat and uppercut her through the ceiling. Again she leapt after her, hot on her heels, determined not to give her any room to recover.
Galaxia was good, though! She still had the presence of mind to use her upward momentum to blast out of the confined space. In open air once again, she waited at the gaping hole for Dark Mercury.
Dark Mercury was using her intelligence now, however. She saw what Galaxia did, and knew the Senshi would wait for her at the top. She went out a side window, and flew up behind her.
Galaxia felt herself get tackled to the roof from behind. Dark Mercury let loose with punches to the back of her skull that knocked her face repeatedly into the asphalt. She hammered with swift repetition, and didn't let up.
Galaxia brought her back leg up and clubbed her opponent's head with it. Dark Mercury let up just for a heartbeat, and Galaxia threw her off, and got quickly to her feet.
Galaxia wiped the blood from her nose. "You will pay for the sins you've committed, evil one!" she declared.
"Come get some!" snarled Dark Mercury.
Galaxia attacked again.
Dark Mercury blocked a blast of energy, then spun around, sensing that her enemy had dodged around behind her. Her senses were correct. She blocked a kick with her elbow, and took off into the air once again. Galaxia recovered, and followed. Dark Mercury powered up and blasted a giant beam of energy.
Galaxia stopped and fired back. "GALAXY GUN ATTACK!" she bellowed.
Red and Blue beams of energy met with a rumbling explosion! The blasts lit the sky and reflected off the giant ship hovering overhead. They opposed each other and deflected away, and pushed against one another in a battle to see who would overpower whom.
* * * *
Sailor Mercury was stuck on the battle. She activated the Computer Visor and took readings. "Both energies are off the charts!" exclaimed Mercury. "But it appears Galaxia may just be a little bit stronger."
* * * *
The red beam began to push back the blue one. Dark Mercury desperately pushed back, but could not divert any more power. Galaxia was just too strong for a head to head bout. Thinking quickly, she shouted: "Gauntlet! Voice-activate! Teleport function now!"
Dark Mercury teleported out of the way as the red beam knifed through the air where she had been just an eyeblink before. Coming out of teleport directly behind Galaxia, Dark Mercury aimed a kick to her lower back. Galaxia stiffened in pain, and grunted from the hit. Dark Mercury grabbed the Senshi by the hair and threw her downward toward a gas station. She hit the store, and the gas pumps burst, sending gasoline gushing out. It soon covered everything within a block.
Dark Mercury laughed, but her laughter was short lived when she heard a muffled thud. Looking up, she saw that the beam of energy she had dodged had slammed into the bottom of the 'Gorgonite', and flames were now bursting out of the gaping hole!
* * * *
"Sir!" cried an Ensign aboard the 'Gorgonite's Bridge. "We've taken a major hit! Our Hull is breached on our Starboard side! Our shield strength is fading!"
"What hit us?!" Commander Zinc demanded.
"Apparently Senshi energy, Commander!" the Ensign replied. "You know Senshi power is the only weakness of Black Moon Technology! Prince Diamond never COULD figure out a way to completely ward that kind of magic off!"
"Enough! Shut up!" Zinc cut him off angrily. "I want you to recall all ships! Recall them to the ship at once! If our Hull is breached then the Senshi will try to come inside the ship themselves! We must not allow that to happen! Keep the deflector shields up as best you can and order all units to head to the breached area immediately!!"
"Aye, Sir!"
Zinc glared down at the city below. Why is this happening now? he wondered desperately. Why does it appear as if Dark Mercury's campaign is failing? Why now are we losing momentum? Are the Senshi really that powerful?!
* * * *
Sailor Nova Orion tapped Nova Sirius on the shoulder.
"Look," she said, pointing at the ruptured mother ship. "The big ship has been hit. Let's help it go down."
"Let's take it down into that harbor over there," said Nova Sirius. "No one will get hurt out there."
"Good thinking," the other agreed. "What say we find Proxy and alert her to the current, uh. situation."
"Very good, Orion, did you think of that one all by yourself?" Sirius teased.
Orion barely missed with a punch as Sirius took off toward the 'Gorgonite'.
* * * *
"BLAST!" Dark Mercury raged. She should have been more careful. She looked and saw Galaxia getting up out of the gas. "I need to take her down first!"
She missiled down right at the soaked Senshi, but Galaxia dodged and grabbed the left arm of Dark Mercury. Swinging her around, she threw her into the side of the mini-mart next to the pumps.
"I'll teach you to strike me dishonorably!" she shouted, grabbing a telephone pole, intending to use it as a club.
Serenity gasped and began to fly down to the fight zone. "GALAXIA! NO!" she screamed. "THE TELEPHONE POLE WILL SPARK!!"
It was too late. Galaxia ripped up the telephone pole, and the effect sent a shower of sparks raining down onto the gas-flooded street. The whole block immediately went up in a shattering explosion! Serenity was thrown back by the heat blast, and both Galaxia and Dark Mercury were swallowed up in the flames and smoke!
Space Command, The Pentagon;
"General Marshal! I think you should take a look at this!" cried Major Larson.
General Marshal, a largely built man in his lower fifties, with silver shot hair and a wrinkled complexion that made him look older than he was, moved to take a look at Major Larson's radar console.
There were thirteen in all. The Computer was picking up several large blobs hovering in lower Earth orbit all around the world! Three were hovering over North America, two over South America, three over Asia, two over Europe, one over Africa and Austrailia, and one was reading as inside the Earth's Atmosphere, hovering directly over Japan! Not just any city, but Tokyo!
"They just suddenly appeared!" Major Larson pointed at the blobs. "Thirteen contacts! Each of them over ten miles in diameter and shaped like three- dimensional stars! The one over Japan is currently active, appearing to attack the city directly, but the other ships are just sitting there in orbit as if they were waiting for something!"
"Tokyo." General Marshal's hair nearly turned pure white. "That's the same place that was on the news earlier because of that fight! What in Hell is going on over there now?!"
"I don't know, sir! Maybe it's on the news again!" the Major turned to his Commanding Officer fearfully. "But sir, what about those other twelve ships?!"
"Get me the President of the United States, the Secretary of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the line!" General Marshal barked to his subordinates without hesitation! "Tell them the situation and recommend we go to Defcon Three! I want planes in the air over EVERY city with a population greater than 200,000! I want the Coast Guard, National Guard, Army AND Marine Corps called into active duty and readied for an invasion! And I want Norfolk, Pearl Harbor, Whidbey Island and Mayport Naval Stations deploying every ship-shape vessel they have available and get them ready for a fight!" He paused as if thinking of anything he forgot. Then he said: "AND SOMEBODY GET ME SOME COFFEE!!"
* * * *
"Secretary General!" a lone, panicked Japanese Ambassador broke into the enclosed chamber of the United Nations Security Council and fell on his knees before the Secretary General of the UN.
"What's the meaning of this interruption?!" the Secretary General broke off his speech to look at the blubbering Ambassador.
"Honorable Sirs!" he croaked. "It's horrible! They say there are Alien Spacecraft in the skies over this very world, and they're currently attacking Japan! No one has been able to contact the Japanese Government in Tokyo for over a half hour! All broadcasts coming from Tokyo were suddenly cut off when the attack began! Please, I beseech you! Japan needs military assistance POST HASTE!!"
"What did you say?!" the Chinese Ambassador jumped to his feet.
"Alien ships?!" scoffed the Russians.
"Rubbish! How dare you interrupt a meeting with such a vile hoax!?" the British Ambassadors accused the poor man.
"I'M TELLING YOU IT'S TRUE!!" the Japanese Ambassador shrieked.
All of a sudden the phones on the desks of every nation represented in the chamber began to ring off the hook! They all looked at one another and answered their phones. The babble in the chamber became immediately frantic and excited!
Someone came up and whispered something in the Secretary General's ear. The UN leader dropped his phone and fell disbelievingly into his chair! According to news reports cropping up all over the world. the rumors were true! The world was being attacked by Alien forces!
It took several minutes to calm everyone down to the point of deliberation. When that was achieved it didn't take long for EVERY nation to unanimously approve worldwide deployment of military forces and the marshalling of aid to the Islands of Japan!
* * * *
"They're here Commander!" shouted an ensign at the controls. "Twelve marks coming out of Hyperspace! They're Senshi design alright!"
Commander Zinc blinked and tore his gaze away from his beloved Dark Mercury. "Very well, Ensign! Call all warships and tell them to form up into higher orbit! The 'Gorgonite' shall remain here to continue to pound Tokyo into dust! The end game begins NOW!!"
* * * *
The 'Colossus' shuddered; a loud booming, like a clap of thunder, resounded in everyone's ears; and the rainbow mottling of Hyperspace shrank back and formed the normal sight of the Universe in real space. Directly before them the Earth and its eternal companion, Luna, drifted in the star-spangled void! They had arrived at last!
"All hands to battle stations!" Sailor Jade Fire broadcasted to all ships. "Raise deflector shields and ready all Senshi Combat Units! Stand by for my mark!"
She turned to Sailor Galaxia, who stood from her chair for the first time in hours. "Senshi Prime, victory is ours!"
"As I said back at Kinmoku, Jade, this is YOUR theater of expertise! Is my personal Space Suit ready?" Galaxia asked.
"Ready as ordered. The Nova Senshi should already be down there suiting up," Jade saluted the Golden Senshi. "Good hunting, Sailor Galaxia."
"Likewise, Sailor Jade Fire," Galaxia completed the old adage respectfully. She turned and left the bridge. Jade grinned and turned back, taking the Commander's Chair once again. Through the View Screen she saw the twelve star-like Battleships streaking full speed toward her fleet. Thousands of smaller fighters launched from the hangar bays and closed the distance even more rapidly.
"All ships, fire at will! In the name of Kinmoku and Princess Kakyuu. FULL SPEED AHEAD!!" Jade stretched her arm forward. The Senshi Space Fleet began to roar into battle.
* * * *
Tokyo was in flames! Building burned and toppled as more fighters strafed by overhead, firing their lasers and rockets at their foundations! People screamed and ran about in a mindless panic, trying to escape the devastation! But where could they go?! Tokyo was under siege! And the only people who could possibly do anything about it were otherwise occupied.
* * * *
"I should have done this in the first place," Dark Mercury remarked. "In retrospect it would have saved me a lot of time and trouble, but I got cocky. It was a regrettable mistake, but one which I survived. You Senshi wasted a valuable opportunity to finish me off. Hotaru's honorable sacrifice was just short of enough to kill me!"
"Sailor Moon! We have to do something about Tokyo! People are dying left and right! We don't have time to play around with this twisted psycho!" Sailor Starfighter said tightly.
"Pluto! Can't you freeze time or something?!" Sailor Uranus begged.
"I wish I could! But in the condition the Time Stream is in right now, freezing the flow of time could well put an end to all of us!!" Pluto was looking paralyzed with indecision.
"Not the inspirational words I was hoping for." Sailor Jupiter gulped.
"We know all about you, Dark Mercury!" Serena stepped forward. "Sailor Pluto told us your story. It's terrible! You see you may have had the element of surprise on us before, but that is an opportunity YOU squandered!" Serena pointed at Dark Mercury, her face was dark with anger. "And I'm now certain of something else. YOU ARE NOT AMY MIZUNO!! You're just some evil MONSTER who wears her face and holds her memories and speaks with her voice! You're nothing more than a SHADOW! A pathetic case of PMS gone bad!! Without that chunk of Nemesis you would never have been able to take over Amy's body and do the things you do!"
"Did you get all that?" Tuxedo Mask seconded. "We're NOT afraid of you anymore! You've pushed us and pushed us, trying to break us spiritually as well as physically! But when somebody pushes the Sailor Scouts they push back! In memory of Sailor Saturn. WE'LL FIGHT TO THE LAST BREATH TO SEND YOU AND YOUR CURSED FLEET BACK TO HELL!!!"
Dark Mercury screamed and blasted a wave of dark energy that literally plowed the pavement up before it! The Senshi dove out of the way and then went on the offensive.
"Jupiter Thunder Hammer!" Sailor Jupiter yelled as she charged at Dark Mercury. She swung with all her might at her opponent's head. Dark Mercury dodged and drove a knee into Jupiter's midsection. Sailor Venus threw her Love-Me Chain and it snagged around Dark Mercury's metal wrist. Dark Mercury snarled and yanked Venus toward her as hard as she could.
Venus was headed for a hurting, but Sailor Mercury flew in and dropkicked Dark Mercury across the face, causing the Dark Senshi to stumble.
"We have her now!" Sailor Uranus exclaimed. "World Shaking!!" The Uranian blast kept Dark Mercury staggered and off-balance. Sailor Neptune finished the combination with a 'Deep Submerge' attack. Dark Mercury fell flat on her back, smacking hard to the pavement!
"Move away!" Sailor Mars shouted. Sailor Neptune jumped aside as Mars fired her new and improved 'Flame Sniper'. The arrow struck Dark Mercury in the chest as she was getting to her feet and suddenly she was engulfed in fire as if an Incendiary Bomb went off all over her!
Dark Mercury screamed in pain and suddenly the wind began to whip around like a Cyclone. The flames were snuffed out, and Dark Mercury was glowing a deep dark blue! "DIE YOU PESKY INSECTS!!" Suddenly balls of energy flew out from her body in all directions! They were barely the size of footballs, yet they completely blew up everything they touched! Cars, buildings, it didn't matter!
The Senshi who were closest to her went airborne, trying to dodge the energy bombs.
"She'll take out the whole city!" Tuxedo Mast shouted to his allies. "Try to keep those balls from hitting everything!" He reached out and whacked one with his Cane like a baseball, sending it crashing into another. The two balls exploded in midair, damaging nothing!
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!" Sailor Jupiter fired her electric leaves like darts and detonated as many energy balls as she could catch.
"Mars Celestial Fire!" Sailor Mars cried.
"Venus Crescent Beam!" Venus joined in.
"Mercury Ice Bubbles!" Mercury shouted.
Everyone began to target the energy balls. People who had been trapped inside their buildings or vehicles in terror got out and began to run down the street.
"Very good, Sailor Scouts! But let's see you handle several threats at once!" Dark Mercury raised her hand skyward in some sort of signal. Several Black Moon Fighters broke off and spewed laser fire down the broad street! The blasts incinerated dozens of people at a time as they passed over the fleeing citizens!
"You MONSTER!!" Sailor Moon aimed a blast at Dark Mercury, but it was swatted aside. "What's more important, Sailor Moon?! Killing me or saving these people! You can't do everything at once!" Dark Mercury began to laugh wickedly.
"She's right! Unless we split our forces we'll be playing this deadly game all night! She'll tire us out!" Sailor Neptune said. "It's a brilliant strategy. How are we going to get all these innocents out of the way?!"
"FOUL MURDERER!!!" a voice boomed behind Dark Mercury.
"What the...?" Dark Mercury turned, just in time to see a golden gloved hand strike her right in the nose. The impact sent her hurtling into the side of a nearby building, spider-webbing the concrete and shattering windows!
"I don't believe it!" Sailor Starhealer exclaimed.
"She finally came!" said Sailor Starmaker.
"Oh my God! That can't be." Sailor Moon trailed off.
Sailor Pluto fell to one knee. "Thank goodness." she breathed.
"Sailor Galaxia! It's great to see you! Better late than never, you know?" Starfighter teased.
Indeed Galaxia stood right where Dark Mercury had a moment before. Her fists were crackling with energy that the scouts could feel in the air around them! Her face was a mirror of defiance! Behind her there alighted five Senshi. Each of them had on red and white Senshi Uniforms, as well as matching colored red hair. One of them was huge and heavily muscled with thick straight hair that spilled to her back; another was rather small in stature, her hair was lopped short at the neck; one of them looked like a female basketball player, thin and speedy, with two braids in back and exaggerated bangs; while another was dark skinned and wore a black pair of shades over her eyes. Her hair was done up in dreadlocks; the fifth one wore her hair in a long French braid and had a bright orange visor over her eyes that looked just like Sailor Mercury's computer visor. The Scouts had never seen them before in their lives.
"The Nova Senshi," Yaten confirmed.
"Who are they?" asked Sailor Neptune.
"Only the Universe's Premier Senshi Strike-Force!" Saiya replied smugly. "Galaxia brought the big guns to the dance tonight!"
"With those five, plus Galaxia," said Sailor Pluto, "the tide against Dark Mercury may have just turned."
"The blood of your victims screams for vengeance! In the name of Justice I will finish you off once and for all!" Galaxia declared to Dark Mercury, seemingly ignoring the others.
Dark Mercury blasted out of the building she'd been knocked into. She flew back down to Earth, steaming mad. Galaxia and Dark Mercury stood facing one another. The Nova Senshi got into various fighting stances behind her. The Earth defenders followed suit.
"I'll handle this now, Sailor Moon!" Galaxia said to Serena in a commanding voice. "You have fought admirably up until now, but someone needs to fight Dark Mercury to keep her from hurting any further humans! Go and protect the citizens of Earth, as is your first duty! I shall take care of this one myself!"
"Hey--!" Sailor Mars broke off as Sailor Pluto put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head silently.
"You may need our help." Sailor Moon hesitated, not sure whether to be offended by Galaxia's arbitrary command, or to be relieved.
"Rest assured things are under my complete control," Galaxia told them. "Besides, Dark Mercury has not yet come up against an opponent who can match her blow for blow!" She looked at Dark Mercury. "Care to fight someone who can put up a challenge?!"
Dark Mercury turned her head aside and spat. "You're in a big hurry to die aren't you?"
"Amusing," Galaxia said without the slightest grin of amusement. She turned to the Nova Senshi. "Go! Take the Sailor Starlights and take the fight away from this city! Find a way to bring that Battleship overhead down!" She looked again at Sailor Moon. "Why are you still here?! Evacuate this city before it becomes a graveyard! NOW!!"
The Senshi were startled into action. Each of them scattered and began to gather up survivors in the immediate area. The Nova Senshi stepped back.
Sailor Nova Proxima looked at Sailor Starfighter. "Let's go," she said.
Saiya gave her a victory sign and grinned. "Finally! Some REAL action!!" They too took off, leaving Galaxia facing off against Dark Mercury.
* * * *
"Artemis," said Luna, weakly. "I don't know how much longer I can stay conscious."
"You must," Artemis said frantically. "If you fall unconscious, you might go into shock and die!"
Luna nodded. "I know that," she said. "But I cannot stay awake much longer. I'll need some help for this." Artemis looked down at Luna's leg and saw she was losing a lot of blood. He had pulled the glass shard out and wrapped a paper towel around her leg like a tourniquet, but her leg was still leaking steadily, if not as quickly.
"I'll go get help," he said to her, tears in his eyes. "I won't let you die on me! Not now!"
He ran over to the stunned Tsukino family. "John! Karen! You guys need to help me now!"
Mrs. Tsukino only looked over at Artemis in shock, and began to scream. "OH, MY GOD!! I'M GOING CRAZY!! THAT CAT JUST TALKED TO ME!!!"
John tried to calm her down, looking at Artemis in terror. "It's alright, hon," he said shakily. "Y-you're not th-the o-o-only one!"
Artemis had no time to lose here. "Look," he said. "I have no time to explain things. Needless to say, your cat, Luna is hurt badly. Unless she gets treated she'll die!"
"Way cool!" exclaimed Sammy. "A talking cat!"
"Yes, yes," said Artemis impatiently. "But I really need your help to get Luna better!"
"Lu-lu-luna?" stammered Karen. "Y-you m-mean, Serena's c-ca-at!"
"Yes," said Artemis. "Now take a deep breath and calm down. I'm only doing this as an emergency measure. Luna needs help. She can talk too, if you want her to, but she was injured in the bombing a few moments ago. I took out the glass, but she's losing blood fast!"
"W-what can we d-do?" John seemed to be getting a hold of himself pretty quickly. It must have been because he had already seen stranger things today. Sammy thought this was a blast. Karen, however, fainted from the overwhelming stress.
"Karen!" said John.
"Don't worry about her," said Artemis. "She's just unconscious. Put her on the couch and then help me get her wrapped up in a better dress for Luna's wound."
"Uhhhh.... right." agreed John, finally taking all this weirdness in stride. Sammy had already acted by taking Luna gently to the dining room table.
After John left his wife on the couch, Artemis began shouting commands. "Alright, Sammy, get some towels from the kitchen! John, come over her, take this tissue off and then get ready to put pressure on the wound!" Sammy bolted, and John did as he was told.
After Sammy returned, Artemis ordered him to wrap the towel around Luna's leg. In a few minutes, the leg was wrapped tightly. A red stain appeared, but thankfully, did not spread. The bleeding had been stopped.
"Whew," said Artemis.
"Thank, you, my darling," said Luna, barely above a whisper.
"Wow, she CAN talk!" exclaimed Sammy. "I wonder if she ever talked to Serena?!"
"Oh, God!!" yelled John. "I forgot about SERENA!!"
All of a sudden, the house shook from the impact of another blast from a passing fighter! Plaster and wood began to fall from the ceiling. The electricity flickered and went out.
"We need to get out of here," said Artemis. "Sammy, you got Luna. John, you better see what you can do for your wife. Hurry! We need to get out of here before the whole place comes crashing down around our ears!"
It took several minutes, but the five emerged from the house, shaken, but otherwise fine. They made it to the storm shelter and John opened the door to the cellar.
"Ok," he said. "We should be relatively safe down here."
All of a sudden, one of the far away fighters turned and started to scream toward them. Its targeting systems centered on their bodies.
"We're in for it now!" exclaimed Artemis, his heart sinking. And he never got to tell Luna how much he really did love her.
* * * *
Galaxia's wings burst out of her back and she launched herself at Dark Mercury. Despite her readiness Dark Mercury was taken aback by the speed of the assault. She barely blocked the first punch, and then fell victim to the second. She flew backward with the force, Galaxia stayed hot on her heels.
Shifting her momentum with her own flying abilities, Dark Mercury somersaulted in midair and hit the ground on her feet. Galaxia reared back for another punch, her red eyes gleaming with an inner fire that rivaled her own. Dark Mercury crouched, putting all her strength into her legs, and leapt into the sky. Galaxia's fist missed and cracked the pavement where she was standing just a split second ago.
Recovering even swifter than Dark Mercury thought she would, Galaxia lifted off in pursuit. Dark Mercury needed to go on the offensive, so she looped around and flew at her opponent. The two superpowers met in a titanic collision that caused them to ricochet off one another like a pair of tennis balls. Both of them were unfazed by the impact. Again and again, almost too fast for most anyone to follow with their eyes, the balls of light caused by the glowing energy in each being bounced off one another.
Dark Mercury managed to throw off Galaxia just a little about the fifth time around. She opened fire with all her might! Blue energy blazed out and smashed into Galaxia with incredible force. The hit sent the Senshi free- falling through the roof of a nearby banking building.
Galaxia was far from finished! She burst out the side of the skyscraper, and charged at Dark Mercury once again. With both her feet, Galaxia kicked Dark Mercury in the chest, knocking the breath out of her. Smiling, Galaxia turned up the pressure, giving the Dark Senshi a crushing blow to the chin with a right hook. She fell into an idling City Bus, turning it into so much junk in a heartbeat. The people inside were terrified, but not for long. Dark Mercury used her energy to blast out in all directions, shattering the bus and killing everyone inside!
Galaxia saw this and shuddered. Such disregard for human life! The fight needed to end very soon or Tokyo would be nothing but rubble!
Dark Mercury stood on the street level, gazing up in hatred at the intergalactic warrior. Why had she chosen now to interfere?! She had never taken direct action like this against her in all the days she could remember! Why now?! She saw the battle was not going well either. The Nova Senshi, whoever they were, were more than a match for the ships. Her forces were being decimated by those red-headed Senshi.
"Dark Mercury! Come in, milady!" said a voice in the radio built into her metal armlet.
"What is it?!" she snapped.
"We have engaged a Senshi Fleet composed of twelve ships! So far we've halted their advance, but if it comes down to a long, protracted fight I'm afraid it's possible they will outgun us and defeat our fleet!" said Commander Zinc calmly, yet urgently. "We may have to retreat and plan for another day!"
"Zinc, if you so much as utter the word 'retreat' again, I'll tear your head off your shoulders! I WILL have my revenge! Even if I have to single- handedly go through every Senshi in this Universe to achieve it!" Dark Mercury closed her communicator so she wouldn't be interrupted again.
Galaxia hovered in the air, her arms crossed in a posture of defiance. Dark Mercury began to build up her powers to their fullest! She would need every ounce of strength to turn the tide. The victory she had been certain was hers moments before was slipping away now. Taking a parked car, she tossed it up at her enemy. Galaxia frowned in contempt, blowing the car up with a single blast. While she was busy with that, Dark Mercury launched off the ground and flew straight at Galaxia. The Senshi saw the attack and moved out of the way just in time.
Dark Mercury swooped around, and looked to see an empty sky. Galaxia had suddenly disappeared!
"Where is she?!" she asked out loud to herself.
She felt the attack just seconds before she could turn to see it. She felt a metal boot strike her in the back and blast her forward. She hit the roof of the Starlight Tower, denting and cracking the steel plated surface. She felt a bruise forming where she was kicked. This was not good.
Galaxia followed up with a storm of fireballs. Dark Mercury flipped and vaulted out of the way of the shower, but they kept right on following her. It was inevitable, therefore, that she ran out of roof and fell over the edge. Before she could correct her fall, Galaxia rocketed around the corner of the tower and hit her with a head-butt to the kidney. Dark Mercury screamed in pain, then was silenced with a double fist to the gut that plowed her into the street and against traffic at over 500 miles per hour! The street, fortunately, was nearly devoid of humanity due to the evacuations that the Army and Senshi were now conducting. That would make this fight a lot easier on Galaxia's conscience.
* * * *
The Senshi were not far behind the fight. People were pretty much fleeing Tokyo on their own. The Army and National Guard were directing traffic along the highways out of the city. The Senshi were merely picking up stragglers and saving them from the collateral damage resulting from the fight between the two Superpowers! They watched with a mixture of horrified fascination as the fighters tore into each other. The damage was already astonishing as Dark Mercury was thrown headlong down Himeko Avenue. The impact left a deep trench in the street! Cars were flipped over and trashed badly! Every window on the block shattered in the shockwave!
"I hope those people are alright!" said Jupiter.
"Those that hung around, that is," said Uranus. "I think this section of town was abandoned due to our own fight." She pointed toward the Yamaha Center. "See, it was only two blocks away from here."
"Other parts of the city are still filled with people though!" exclaimed Mars.
"Galaxia's a smart woman," said Neptune. "She'll keep the casualties to a minimum, though if we see anyone in the way, we'll have to be the ones to keep them safe."
As they watched, Dark Mercury emerged from the trench, carrying several bad looking bruises. A little bit of blood was actually leaking from the left corner of her mouth. She was more banged up than the other Senshi had ever seen her, but she was also mad as a hornet now!
* * * *
"Let's move it along in a calm and orderly fashion!" Colonel Yamada ushered scared civilians along the highway. The road was clogged with bumper-to- bumper traffic in both lanes going the same way! Horns were going off frantically and many people were yelling irritably at one another as traffic slowed to a crawl! Not far from where they were sitting a war was descending upon their home city such as had never been witnessed since the Second World War! The famous Tokyo skyline was slowly burning to the ground and becoming far more fractured as time progressed.
It was hard to maintain order and discipline in the face of such odds! However midway through the evacuation a miracle seemingly occurred! More of the young women dressed in Sailor Uniforms had appeared and formed a sort of net overhead with their powers. Anytime the enemy came close and tried to blast the highways, a Senshi would fly in and intercept it!
On top of everything the Army wasn't without its own resources! The Air Force had flown in and was now bombarding the enemy for all it was worth! The missiles and rockets did little but splash harmlessly off the impenetrable deflector shields of the Black Moon Fleet, however sometimes a missile was all that was needed to simply knock a ship or a Daemon off its course and buy time for the Senshi. Those who were in the business of saving lives were cooperating wordlessly with the defenders of peace. It was an unspoken agreement that helped to shed a sort of detached calm over the frightened civilians.
"I've never imagined anything like this! Girls that can fly, Superheroes, Alien Space Ships! It's like Manga come to life!" the Colonel remarked.
"They're called Senshi," said a voice behind them. The soldiers turned to see a blonde young man in soldier fatigues of alien nature. "They are the beings that are fighting the enemy and saving these people. The woman they fight is named Dark Mercury. If you want an analogy, picture Adolf Hitler with super powers. The Sailor Senshi are all that stands between these people." he motioned to the grid-locked traffic to the right, "and total annihilation."
"And just who the hell are you?! And how did you get inside our security net!" the Colonel barked.
"Just call me. Jed," said the young man with an icy smile. "You have no need to fear me. I am the least of your worries. However, if you are looking for a chance to strike back at the villains responsible for this attack on your homes, I can help."
One soldier raised his rifle suspiciously. "Lies! Those clothes give him away! He must be an agent of the enemy! I've never seen a Uniform like that on Earth!"
The man named Jed rolled his eyes. "I have information. Information and." he speared the Colonel with a determined gaze. "I have the knowledge you may need if you want to bring that monster in the sky down!"
Colonel Yamada looked at Jed with suspicion at first, but then he seemed to realize something. "Stand down, Captain," he said to the soldier with his rifle raised. "For some odd reason I think he's telling the truth. So what's this outstanding plan you got, son?"
Jed looked at the 'Gorgonite' with hateful eyes. "Your weapons. They are useless against their deflector shields. However, the advantage will not last forever. The Senshi are slowly decimating the enemy's forces. Once they have them on the defensive, they will make a move for the Mother Ship. The ship is called the 'Gorgonite'. If you want a crack at the enemy, you follow the Senshi's lead and do as they do." Jed's eyes became distant, as if recalling some memory. The Nova Senshi. I haven't seen them in over a thousand years, he mused. Yet they're still as fantastic and efficient as they were back then.
* * * *
With relentless speed, the small, star shaped fighter zoomed at the Tsukino family, its guns warming up to fire the blasts that would kill them all.
"This is it," said Artemis, his heart sinking in despair. "I love you, Luna!"
The attack never came. Something suddenly blasted the fighter and sent it careening into the house next door. The house exploded and debris rained down on the Tsukinos.
"Everybody! DOWN!" shouted John, pushing everyone to the ground. For a few seconds, metal and wood rained down and pelted their bodies. It hurt, but not as much as it would have hurt to have been vaporized to dust by those blasters!
I wonder who...? Artemis was about to ask who had saved them, but the answer was descending down to where they lay.
She had long, red hair, and a red and white Senshi uniform. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her outfit kept it out of her eyes by way of a half-hood that came together and formed the tiara in front. She wore an amber visor over her face. On the tiara was a symbol of some far away star. An alien symbol, which Artemis recognized from somewhere.
"You're from the Nova Senshi!" he said in surprise.
"Wow! Look Dad!" exclaimed Sammy. "A new Sailor Scout!"
"Who are you, who knows what I am?" asked the Senshi.
"I am Artemis," he replied, walking forward. "I was a court advisor to the late Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom."
"I remember you," she said. "Except you were human then, weren't you?"
"Yes," he said, abashed. "A few things have happened since then."
"I remember the Moon Kingdom. My sisters and I visited the Moon Kingdom once on an errand of diplomacy from Alpha Senshi. It was a short time before the kingdom was destroyed."
The Tsukino family looked on in distraught shock as the white cat and the Sailor Senshi spoke of things that they shouldn't even know about. But it was too late. At this rate, they were bound to find out about Serena's identity sooner or later.
"Nova... Proxima, I presume," said Artemis.
"You have a very good memory, Artemis," Nova Proxima replied. "Most have trouble telling my sisters apart. We all look the same save for some slight skin variations and hair-style. For what it's worth, I'm sorry we could not assist the Moon Kingdom in time. We arrived too late to stop Beryl."
Artemis lifted a paw. "That's in the past. It doesn't matter now. So if you're here then Galaxia must have come as well."
"Yes," said Proxima. "Even now she does battle with the dark one. My comrades and the Sailor Starlights are battling the sky sentinels right now."
Artemis nodded. "Thank you, Nova Senshi. You may carry on," with that, he turned to lead the family of Serena Tsukino into the basement. Nova Proxima waved, smiling, and took off into the air to resume her activities.
* * * *
Dark Mercury redoubled her efforts. She took off straight at Galaxia, who stood waiting for her assault. They met once again. This time they didn't try anything fancy. It was mortal combat as they locked horns, punching, kicking, chopping, scratching, doing anything they could to catch the other off guard.
The fight was a spectacle of Martial Arts that made all those watching feel insignificant by comparison. There were powers at play here that were way out of their league! From far away, as she destroyed enemy units with glee, Starfighter came to a halt and wondered how Galaxia had been defeated by Sailor Moon, when she held her own so beautifully against someone who was so much more powerful? Unless.
Dark Mercury went into a fury and began glowing bright blue with energy. She doubled her speed and managed to sneak a few blows past Galaxia's defenses. A spinning heel kick sent her soaring into the side of a building, where Dark Mercury pursued her.
Inside the building, those who had stayed behind after the evacuations found their offices trashed by the flying body of a gold clad Sailor Scout. Bursting in just behind her was a woman with blue hair, dressed in black leather. Galaxia tried to recover, but with so much debris everywhere, her movements were impeded. The panicking people didn't make it any better. Dark Mercury no longer cared about all the bystanders. Taking the time to kill them before had only cost her a swift victory, but it was not wise to do so facing such a powerful opponent. She elbowed Galaxia in the throat and uppercut her through the ceiling. Again she leapt after her, hot on her heels, determined not to give her any room to recover.
Galaxia was good, though! She still had the presence of mind to use her upward momentum to blast out of the confined space. In open air once again, she waited at the gaping hole for Dark Mercury.
Dark Mercury was using her intelligence now, however. She saw what Galaxia did, and knew the Senshi would wait for her at the top. She went out a side window, and flew up behind her.
Galaxia felt herself get tackled to the roof from behind. Dark Mercury let loose with punches to the back of her skull that knocked her face repeatedly into the asphalt. She hammered with swift repetition, and didn't let up.
Galaxia brought her back leg up and clubbed her opponent's head with it. Dark Mercury let up just for a heartbeat, and Galaxia threw her off, and got quickly to her feet.
Galaxia wiped the blood from her nose. "You will pay for the sins you've committed, evil one!" she declared.
"Come get some!" snarled Dark Mercury.
Galaxia attacked again.
Dark Mercury blocked a blast of energy, then spun around, sensing that her enemy had dodged around behind her. Her senses were correct. She blocked a kick with her elbow, and took off into the air once again. Galaxia recovered, and followed. Dark Mercury powered up and blasted a giant beam of energy.
Galaxia stopped and fired back. "GALAXY GUN ATTACK!" she bellowed.
Red and Blue beams of energy met with a rumbling explosion! The blasts lit the sky and reflected off the giant ship hovering overhead. They opposed each other and deflected away, and pushed against one another in a battle to see who would overpower whom.
* * * *
Sailor Mercury was stuck on the battle. She activated the Computer Visor and took readings. "Both energies are off the charts!" exclaimed Mercury. "But it appears Galaxia may just be a little bit stronger."
* * * *
The red beam began to push back the blue one. Dark Mercury desperately pushed back, but could not divert any more power. Galaxia was just too strong for a head to head bout. Thinking quickly, she shouted: "Gauntlet! Voice-activate! Teleport function now!"
Dark Mercury teleported out of the way as the red beam knifed through the air where she had been just an eyeblink before. Coming out of teleport directly behind Galaxia, Dark Mercury aimed a kick to her lower back. Galaxia stiffened in pain, and grunted from the hit. Dark Mercury grabbed the Senshi by the hair and threw her downward toward a gas station. She hit the store, and the gas pumps burst, sending gasoline gushing out. It soon covered everything within a block.
Dark Mercury laughed, but her laughter was short lived when she heard a muffled thud. Looking up, she saw that the beam of energy she had dodged had slammed into the bottom of the 'Gorgonite', and flames were now bursting out of the gaping hole!
* * * *
"Sir!" cried an Ensign aboard the 'Gorgonite's Bridge. "We've taken a major hit! Our Hull is breached on our Starboard side! Our shield strength is fading!"
"What hit us?!" Commander Zinc demanded.
"Apparently Senshi energy, Commander!" the Ensign replied. "You know Senshi power is the only weakness of Black Moon Technology! Prince Diamond never COULD figure out a way to completely ward that kind of magic off!"
"Enough! Shut up!" Zinc cut him off angrily. "I want you to recall all ships! Recall them to the ship at once! If our Hull is breached then the Senshi will try to come inside the ship themselves! We must not allow that to happen! Keep the deflector shields up as best you can and order all units to head to the breached area immediately!!"
"Aye, Sir!"
Zinc glared down at the city below. Why is this happening now? he wondered desperately. Why does it appear as if Dark Mercury's campaign is failing? Why now are we losing momentum? Are the Senshi really that powerful?!
* * * *
Sailor Nova Orion tapped Nova Sirius on the shoulder.
"Look," she said, pointing at the ruptured mother ship. "The big ship has been hit. Let's help it go down."
"Let's take it down into that harbor over there," said Nova Sirius. "No one will get hurt out there."
"Good thinking," the other agreed. "What say we find Proxy and alert her to the current, uh. situation."
"Very good, Orion, did you think of that one all by yourself?" Sirius teased.
Orion barely missed with a punch as Sirius took off toward the 'Gorgonite'.
* * * *
"BLAST!" Dark Mercury raged. She should have been more careful. She looked and saw Galaxia getting up out of the gas. "I need to take her down first!"
She missiled down right at the soaked Senshi, but Galaxia dodged and grabbed the left arm of Dark Mercury. Swinging her around, she threw her into the side of the mini-mart next to the pumps.
"I'll teach you to strike me dishonorably!" she shouted, grabbing a telephone pole, intending to use it as a club.
Serenity gasped and began to fly down to the fight zone. "GALAXIA! NO!" she screamed. "THE TELEPHONE POLE WILL SPARK!!"
It was too late. Galaxia ripped up the telephone pole, and the effect sent a shower of sparks raining down onto the gas-flooded street. The whole block immediately went up in a shattering explosion! Serenity was thrown back by the heat blast, and both Galaxia and Dark Mercury were swallowed up in the flames and smoke!