CHAPTER FIVE: THE FALL OF THE LAST MARTIAN!
The explosion shattered windows for blocks in every direction. It shook the ground throughout the entire city. The blast force whipped the wind to incredible force, causing the scouts to struggle to maintain control in the air. Serenity had brought her arms up to shield herself from the heat. When it finally subsided again, she brought her arms down and looked on in horror as fully a block of the city was now on fire!
Squinting through the smoke, she faintly saw two figures slugging it out in the midst of the flames.
Lord! Serenity thought. How can they still be standing? And fighting in that inferno as well?!
Another gas main went up in an explosion. The fire was going to spread quickly at this rate. But Galaxia was too busy with Dark Mercury to stop the spread of the flames.
"MICHELLE! AMY! LET'S GO! QUICKLY!!" Trista shouted. Sailor Mercury and Sailor Neptune flew down with her to where Serenity hovered.
"What do you want, Sailor Pluto?" asked Michelle. The others followed up behind her.
"We need to stop those flames from spreading!" said Pluto, pointing to the fire. "We need to put this out, and you two are the best ones to do it!"
Mercury and Neptune examined the fire. Amy calculated the exact radius of the flames, while Michelle pondered just how to go about putting this flame out without destroying even more property.
"I've got it," said Amy. "Michelle, you ready for a plan?"
"I'm still thinking, so if you got one, you can tell me."
"Good," Amy replied. She pointed to the air directly over the fire. "I want you to form a gigantic disk of water, not a ball as you usually do, but a flat disk, like Sailor Moon's tiara disk, only about half an inch thick, can you do that?"
"It's not what I'm used to," said Michelle. "But I think I can pull that off."
"Do it then," said Amy. "Once it's formed, hold it in the air while I freeze it into solid ice. Once it's like that, we let it fall."
"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Amora. "Won't that just flatten the city?"
"It would seem that way but no," said Amy. "If we let it fall without freezing, the water will fall all at once, too fast to be evaporated by the heat, and crush that entire neighborhood! But if it is frozen, and if the disk is thin enough, it will fall, but it will break up into pieces. The heat of the fire will melt the ice and it should be broken up enough by then to fall sort of as rain. We keep doing that until the fire is completely extinguished."
"By George, it just might work!" exclaimed Michelle. "You're a genius, Ames!"
Without further words, the two scouts began the process of carrying out their plan. Galaxia and Dark Mercury had emerged from the flames and were carrying the fight to other areas of town.
Sailor Pluto told the rest of the scouts to follow her and keep tabs on the rest of the fight, leaving just Sailor Mercury and Sailor Neptune to fight the fire. Tokyo fire trucks were arriving as well.
"Their help will be appreciated," said Michelle, looking down at them.
"But their hoses won't be enough against a gas fire," Amy replied. "We need to work fast!"
As the Firemen below fought the flames, Michelle collected all the water vapor in the air and gently condensed it into a floating pool of water all around her. "Neptune Deep Submerge!" she chanted, and aquamarine water began filling the sky. Slowly, it conformed to a disk shape about two blocks in diameter. It was now Amy's turn.
"Mercury Ice Bubbles, Freeze!" she shouted. A storm of bubbles appeared and surrounded the water disk. Guiding her power, feeling a connection with it that she'd never felt before, she stuck the ice bubbles to the floating water disk, and watched as the water slowly froze.
It has to be less than half an inch thick, she calculated as she froze the water. If it is any thicker it won't thaw out right away, and hailstones will fall on the city instead.
When she had gotten the job just right, she shouted: "Alright, Sailor Neptune! Release the water!"
Neptune released it, and the two Senshi watched the ice disk fall from the sky. Firefighters below began to panic and run away from it. To their amazement however, the ice broke up into tiny pieces, and the heat did the rest, thawing them and breaking them up even further. By the time it hit the ground, it was coming down like rain, and the Firefighters cheered. The fire itself died down, but didn't go out. Now the Firemen opened up with all the water they had, spraying the wounded fire mercilessly. What flames had remained were quickly extinguished.
"We did it!" exclaimed Michelle. "Your plan worked, Amy!"
Amy let out a sigh of relief. It really had worked. "I couldn't have done it alone, Michelle," she said to her. "Thanks."
Michelle smiled at Amy. "Hey, this reminds me, when all this is over, you wanna go swimming?"
Amy smiled back. "Sure. That would be just great."
* * * *
The fight between Galaxia and Dark Mercury had taken to the air once again. Both fighters were badly burned, and a bit slower for having been in the middle of such a blast. They were both beginning to wear each other down.
I can't let this fight drag on! Dark Mercury thought. She's tougher than I remember her being. I'm beginning to lose power!
Hatching a quick plan, Dark Mercury blazed off and missiled straight at Galaxia. The other fighter saw this and got ready to meet the charge. Once again, Dark Mercury voice activated her teleport control, and in an eye blink she was directly behind Galaxia, slamming into her unprotected backside! Galaxia cried out in pain, as Dark Mercury grabbed her and smashed her face first into another building! Moving quickly, she took control of the fight, punching and kicking Galaxia in rapid succession! Each time her opponent seemed to be getting the advantage in close quarters again, she would teleport to the other side of her and strike again!
Galaxia was slowed by the explosion, and seemed perplexed by the sudden lightning quick movements of Dark Mercury. Finally, she managed to get a grip on Dark Mercury, but she was uppercut hard to the chin. She felt one of her teeth crack as her jaw was bent by the punch! Blood began to come out of her mouth. Dark Mercury took Galaxia's arm and began swinging her around. Seeing a half constructed building nearby, she flung the Senshi into the steel supports at the base of the building! Rocking with the impact, the new skyscraper was built to withstand point nine earthquakes and force five hurricanes, but all that strength proved useless against the astounding power of Dark Mercury! Blasting out the remaining supports, Dark Mercury caused the massive building to collapse in on itself. Hundreds of tons of steel, concrete and wood crushed a helpless Galaxia beneath it! There was no movement as the dust settled!
* * * *
"Is...I-is she dead?" asked Serena.
"I doubt it," said Sailor Pluto. "But she's probably incapacitated somehow. I think that it's our turn now." The nine Senshi nodded grimly, and then descended to the ground.
Dark Mercury was laughing again as they settled down. "Galaxia couldn't beat me. Hotaru couldn't kill me. I ask you, Sailor Scouts, what makes you think you've got a chance?"
"Even if our odds are dim," said Serena. "We won't stop fighting until either we are dead, or you are!"
Dark Mercury scowled. "Very well, you annoying little pests!" she spat. "We'll see how well you use your new powers!"
* * * *
"Look!" said Avery. "There they are!"
The four sisters had followed the path of destruction as they attempted to find the Sailor Scouts. They had been dodging panic stricken people and trying to stay hidden from those little fighters the entire time. Now they had finally caught up to their friends. The falling building had led them right here.
It was then they finally saw the face of the enemy.
She looked strikingly familiar, with long, blue hair, blue eyes, and a black outfit with a badly tattered and singed cape attached.
"Do you think she's from Nemesis?" asked Katsie.
"I'm almost certain she is," replied Birdie. "She's dressed almost like Emerald, except with a cape, and no jewels on her outfit. There's some sort of symbol on her forehead."
Prisma gasped. "The Black Moon symbol?!"
"No. It's not that," said Birdie, squinting. "It looks like... oh, my God!"
"What?!" the other three asked frantically. "What is it?"
"It appears to be the symbol of the planet Mercury, but it looks like its been carved with a knife!" said Birdie. "And her face! It suddenly occurred to me why she looked so familiar! She's Amy!"
"AMY?!" exclaimed Avery. "That's nonsense! Sailor Mercury is right over there, helping the rest of the scouts!!"
Birdie shrugged, "I'm only telling you what I see," she replied. "She looks just like Amy does."
"What? Is she some sort of evil twin or something?" Katsie asked nervously.
Birdie shook her head. "I can't begin to guess. For right now, however, we'll have to see how this whole thing turns out. All we can do is watch."
* * * *
Unaware of the new arrivals, Dark Mercury and the Sailor Senshi faced each other on the street just in front of what used to be the new Madoko Computer Corporate headquarters.
"So who's going to go first?" asked Dark Mercury.
"We were thinking you should do the honors, Dark Mercury," said Sailor Uranus challengingly. "Since you're so incredibly powerful, why don't you take on all of us at once?!"
Dark Mercury smiled. "An excellent idea, Amara," she said, and then she abruptly vanished from sight.
"Watch it, Sailor Scouts!" Pluto warned. "She's using her teleport power!"
The attack came from directly beneath their feet! The pavement split open and Dark Mercury came bursting out. The force upended the scouts, and sent them sprawling on the road.
Moving with unbelievable speed, Dark Mercury went on a fierce offensive. She went after the two Sailor Moon's first, blasting away with a barrage of blue energy. Serenity hopped out of the way, but Serena was hit and sent flying into a garbage truck.
"Eeeeyuck!!" Serena moaned in disgust. "This will take a week to wash out the smell!"
Dark Mercury had engaged Serenity in midair. Knocking the Senshi into the side of another building with her fist! She was just about to strike once more when Sailor Venus grabbed her cocked fist and slammed her own into Dark Mercury's back!
Grunting in pain, Dark Mercury spun around and plastered Venus with a spin-kick! Neptune and Pluto both attacked at once. Michelle ducked a thrown punch, and barely missed with an elbow to the midsection. Dark Mercury brought up her knee, and clocked Neptune in the chin. Sailor Pluto had her Garnet Rod raised to strike, but Dark Mercury activated her own weapon and the two met with electrifying impact.
Sailor Mercury looked on in wonder. "Is that... MY weapon?" she asked.
"Yes," said Serenity. "She too has harnessed the Planet Power."
Sailor Uranus joined Pluto in her battle, by activating her Space Sword. In an astounding display of reflexes, Dark Mercury not only saw the new attacker, but brought her staff up in such a way as to block both attacks at once! Sailor Pluto and Uranus teamed up to take Dark Mercury down, but each time their weapons met with solid ice. Parrying their blows, Dark Mercury pushed the two fighters back against the wall!
"Let's see how well she handles three at once!" Sailor Jupiter leapt up and made a beeline toward the evil mercury. Dark Mercury glanced over her shoulder, and teleported again. Jupiter's fist met with the concrete instead.
"Dammit!" Mars swore, her psychic energies picking up a flash of evil behind her. She turned too late to block the chop that hit her like a freight train! Mars fell next to an overturned pick-up. Her head was spinning.
Sailor Mercury frowned in determination. She focused on what the real problem was. That gauntlet Dark Mercury was wearing was the culprit! She was using the teleport function on it to increase her speed in battle!
"Very clever, Amy," she said to herself. " When fighting with brute strength no longer works, use speed and intellect. But you forget you are fighting someone just as intelligent as you are!" She decided to try out her talisman.
"Mercury Ice Staff!" Her own staff flashed into her open hand and she charged at Dark Mercury.
Dark Mercury reactivated her staff and turned to meet the attack. Amy shifted her weight at the last second and drove the end of the staff into the pavement. Her feet left the ground as she vaulted over her opponent's head. Landing behind her, Amy swung with the staff right for the gauntlet, but Dark Mercury moved just in time, and whacked the staff right out of her hand!
Amy braced herself for the inevitable counterattack, but her friends were beginning to catch on to the game plan. As a team they struck, in groups of twos or threes, they jumped in and landed their own blows on the surprised Dark Mercury. Amy rolled away and went for her staff, but it had dematerialized the moment it left her hand.
"Venus Love-Me Chain!" Mina cried out. Her chain left her hand and flew in Dark Mercury's face! The power failed to damage her, but it did put her off balance enough so that Sailor Neptune could use her Deep Submerge. A gigantic funnel of water came down from nowhere and plowed the enemy through the ground level of a nearby post office! The water knocked her clear through to the next street!
Serena gritted her teeth and was one of the first to take off after her. Flying down the narrow alley, she aimed herself like a spear, with both fists out in front of her, at Dark Mercury!
The Dark Senshi somersaulted away from the oncoming sailor. Pivoting on the balls of her feet, Sailor Moon stopped her momentum and halted on the place where she might otherwise have crashed.
"Very good, Serena, I'm impressed!" said Dark Mercury. "I see Sailor Pluto has given all of you some improvements in powers since we last met. Your bravery has definitely improved also! Too bad it's still not enough!" Dark Mercury moved faster than Serena could react, and felt an iron grip clamp down on her forearm.
Swinging with all her might, Dark Mercury tossed Sailor Moon away just in time to meet the rest of the oncoming scouts.
Serena screamed as she flew through the air, until she heard a man's voice in her ear, "Sailor Moon, go limp!"
Serena didn't even think, she just did as the man said. She felt her flight stop as she softly landed in his arms.
"Tuxedo Mask?" asked Serena, confused.
"Naw," said a familiar voice. "He's still helping the army evacuate."
Serena looked up and saw Alan's smiling face. "Oh! I-It's you!"
Alan touched down on a rooftop and watched as the Sailor Scouts poured everything they had to take Dark Mercury down. The simultaneous assault was enough to keep Dark Mercury on her toes, and off the offensive, but the fighting was still resulting in a beat down of Serena's friends.
"Where's Ann?" Serena asked. "And why aren't you helping the Scouts?"
"Ann and I were just over with the Starlights," Alan replied. "Word is, they're preparing some sort of counteroffensive against the mother ship. They wanted us to tell you guys. That's where we've been all this time."
Ann landed right beside Alan. "But we're here now," she said. "What do you want us to do?"
"Galaxia's unconscious," said Serena. "So we need some high octane energy! I hope you guys are up to it."
"No problem," said Alan. "We've spent the last four years bulking up on energy from our Doomtree. We've got some energy to blow that woman into next week!"
* * * *
"We're coming to you live from the slopes of Mount Fuji!" Lyle Yoshii shouted with excitement into his microphone. "As you can see behind me, Tokyo is engulfed in flames!" Lyle moved aside and let the camera zoom in on the broken skyline of the once great city. "It is war, people! There is no other way to describe it! Aliens have come down from Outer Space and are now turning Tokyo into a veritable Cemetary! And with them came that very same villain the heroes of Tokyo were battling earlier today! Many questions are flying about, but we may finally be able to answer a few of them!"
Lyle turned and the camera focused on the person next to him. Oddly enough he wore a Black Tuxedo and a funny white mask like out of a Masquerade Ball. His black hair was slightly ruffled. He looked at Lyle. "Let's make this quick. The evacuations are not yet done."
"I understand, but this is possibly just as important. You have information that may be vital to our Armed Forces!" Lyle stuck the microphone in Tuxedo Mask's face. "Who are these enemies that are destroying our countryside? And who are those costumed fighters that are fighting their leader?"
"They are called Sailor Senshi," Tuxedo Mask explained. "They are not a new addition to Tokyo. In fact they have secretly been protecting Tokyo and the world from the forces of evil for years. Until now they have kept themselves secret. Only a few people have seen them, yet no one believed their stories of the Senshi. They became like a myth. An Urban Legend if you will. But they are real. They are all that stands between this world and utter disaster!
"The villain they fight is a woman named Dark Mercury," Tuxedo Mask continued. "She comes from the future, along with this invasion force, and seeks to destroy all that we hold dear. My advice to you is to stay away from her and her forces. I advise all military units and people to stay clear of this battle zone! This battle is beyond your capabilities. You would do better to pray for victory, and make no mistake, this is a battle we intend to win! This is PERSONAL!! That's all I have to say! I have to get back to saving lives!"
Tuxedo Mask practically threw the microphone at Lyle Yoshii and leapt away like a black flash! Yoshii tried to quickly utter another question at the hero, but he lost him from sight in a heartbeat. He turned back to the Camera. "Is that thing still running?" he asked his Cameraman.
Dan gave a silent thumbs up sign. Lyle put the microphone back to his mouth. "Well there you have it, folks. A direct statement from one of the many heroes fighting to preserve our city! Previous indications and footage caught on tape of ineffectual military actions against this. Dark Mercury person add fuel to the speculation that indeed we are at the mercy of this enemy! The rest of the world has assured us that United Nations forces are on their way as fast as they can make it! The question is, will they arrive in time to save Japan?! Perhaps that masked man WAS right! Perhaps. all we CAN do is pray!!"
* * * *
"A gaping hole in their ship," Proxima said. "Fortune is on our side it seems."
"Huh, huh. You said 'hole'." Starfighter snickered.
"Saiya, it's been four years! You still remember that dumb show?!" Starhealer rolled her eyes.
"Shut up, bunghole! That show was cool!" Saiya replied in her Butthead voice.
"LADIES!!" Sailor Nova Beetelgeuse snapped.
The Starlights shut up.
"Okay, here's the plan," Proxima ignored their playfulness. She was all business in this situation. "Starlights, you're our point guards. I want you three to carve a path to that opening. The enemy has concentrated their defenses around there, and they'll fight tooth and nail to keep us out of that ship! Once you've opened a lane for us, Beetelgeuse, Hercules and I will penetrate the ship. You three, plus Orion and Sirius will continue to fight on the outside to prevent any rear guards from overtaking us from behind."
"Aye, Aye, Captain!" Starfighter snapped to attention and puffed out her chest in exaggerated manner.
"Does everyone have the plan?" Proxima asked her own teammates.
Everyone nodded.
"Let's do it," Beetelgeuse announced. "Starlights? You're up!"
"Alright, Starlights!" shouted Saiya. "On my mark! LET'S PLOW THIS HERE ROW!!"
"Fly in a loose formation," Proxima commanded. "Don't let them know what we're up to until we're ready to commit!"
For minutes, the Starlights and Novae cleared the sky of any nearby fighters. Proxima measured the time it would take to execute this plan, and get out of there before the ship crashed into the water. It would be approximately three minutes after detonation. They would have three minutes to escape the collapsing hulk of the ship. She knew that the enemy kept reserve forces within the ship's docking bays, and that they would have to battle their way to the core. All told, all details taken into account, they would have about ten minutes to themselves before all bets were off.
Proxima deactivated her visor, and turned to her two comrades. "It is time," she said seriously. "Follow closely behind me and keep your eyes peeled once we're inside the hull."
Orion and Sirius nodded. Quick strikes such as this were what they were trained to accomplish. They knew their duties, and also the stakes for which they played their game. But these five women were professionals of the highest order. They would succeed, or die trying, without any second thoughts.
"NOW!" shouted Proxima, and they rocketed their way toward the beckoning hole. The Starlights saw the enemy forces react to the attack, and redoubled their defense techniques. Sirius and Orion split off and began their circle around the ship's perimeter. They drew some of the fighters with them.
The plan so far had been flawless. The three Novae reached the hole without a hitch. It was once they'd gotten inside that the situation changed drastically.
The Daimons and defense drones swarmed like bees at the invaders. The three Novae went to work, methodically blasting their way through the ship's many levels.
"Nova Orange Flame!" Proxima shouted, letting loose with explosive energy.
"Nova Shining Burst!" Beetelgeuse exclaimed.
"Nova Star Collapse!" Hercules bellowed.
As quickly as they came, the drones were melted to slag, and Daimons by the dozens were vaporized. But still more came on, seemingly in endless numbers!
"Keep at it, ladies," Proxima said, blasting away at her obstacles. "We've got us a real battle on our hands here!"
* * * *
The pile of rubble and steel shifted and then bulged up by some force from below. The four Ayakashi Sisters were deciding amongst themselves whether or not to stay far away from the fighting when they noticed the movement. They started and looked at the moving pile with fear on their faces. Once upon a time they had powers of their own, but ever since they had been cured by Sailor Moon they lost that power. If this were one of the enemies they wouldn't have a chance!
The giant rocks and I-beams fell by the wayside, and a lone female, covered in white dust and visibly bleeding, emerged from the carnage!
"Who is that?!" asked Katsie.
"How should I know?!" Prisma cried. "Let's get out of here!"
"Wait! Don't run! It's that woman! The one who was fighting the enemy mano- a-mano before she got thrown into that building!" Birdie stood as firmly as her shaking knees would allow her to. The other three whimpered and hid behind her back. "Oh, great!" she whined to them. "Why do I have to be your shield?!!"
The woman descended to the broken street and fixed her eyes on the four sisters. Her lip was bleeding and she was cut in bruised in several places on her body. Her armor was broken, and a layer of white dust made her look like a specter! She looked a wee bit shaky on her feet.
"Where. where is Dark Mercury?!" the woman demanded of them.
"W-wh-who a-are you?!" Birdie stuttered.
"I am Sailor Galaxia," the woman replied. "There is no need to be afraid of me. I have come to defeat Dark Mercury. She will pay for humiliating me!"
"Geez! She gets her butt whipped and she wants to fight her again? Are all Senshi crazy or what?!" Avery whispered.
Galaxia obviously heard the comment because her gaze became sour. "Know this. Never have I faced a more powerful opponent than Dark Mercury! Punching her is like punching a solid chunk of lead! You seem to know a thing or two about the Sailor Senshi. Who are you girls?!"
Birdie decided the spotlight was on her to answer the Senshi. She gulped and stepped forward. "We are all sisters. I am Birdie Ayakashi, and these are Prism, Avery and Katsie Ayakashi. We're friends of Sailor Moon and her Senshi. She saved our lives once. We wanted to return the favor somehow. So when we heard about this attack we came back to Tokyo." Birdie hesitated. "I don't see as how we could be of help. We're way out of our league here."
Galaxia beat the dust off of her body and rubbed the dust off her face. "Help does not always have to be in fighting," she replied at last. "Even some of the locals on this Planet have played a valuable role in this war. It is likely you four, or at least one of you four, may have some part yet to play. for good or for ill." Galaxia walked up to them. "There is more to you four than is apparent, that much is obvious. Come with me. We must find the battle before it is finished!" Galaxia took off at a run. She knew that if she flew she would leave these four behind. The Ayakashi sisters glanced at one another and then ran as fast as they could on her heels.
* * * *
The blasts came like giant surgical lasers! The Senshi Battle Cruisers sliced through the enemy deflector shields in short order. The Black Moon Fleet was good, but they were up against Super-powered warriors born to fight! In the end they didn't really have a chance!
Sailor Jade Fire watched as the Senshi pushed the enemy back against the globe of Planet Earth. Pretty soon they had no place to run, and from there on in the slaughter began! The Black Moon ships fought back fiercely. None surrendered, and so after an hour-long exchange of fire, the battle was resolved!
"All enemy units have been destroyed," said Sailor Atomos. "Shall we send our ships down to Earth to take down the main Battleship?"
"Stand by for orders, lieutenant," Fire held her hand out. "We haven't heard from Galaxia as yet, and I will not risk damaging the Earth without her say-so. I'm sure Senshi Prime has the situation under control. The enemy has nowhere left to run. The battle is ours."
* * * *
The United Nations watched as the images of the ships in orbit blinked out one by one! In their place were twelve MORE ships, but they did not show any signs of attacking. In fact it was they who had destroyed the enemy. No one could tell who they were, but everyone began to breathe a sigh of relief.
"The ships have pulled up in orbit and are standing idle now," an American soldier read from his radar screen. "No signs of advancement up above. There's still that ship over Tokyo, however."
"We have no choice but to continue to proceed as planned," said General Marshal. "Get me the President on Air Force One. We have to tell him what's happened. There's a lot going on here that even the news reports aren't letting on."
* * * *
Alan and Ann waited until most of the scouts were cleared away by Dark Mercury's rampage, then they simultaneously took to the air and dove for their target.
"What in the name of...?" Dark Mercury trailed off, the sudden movement catching her eye.
Alan blasted at her feet, attempting to shake her up a bit. Dark Mercury leaped up and began to fly straight at them. Ann broke away and looped around behind the belligerent foe. Dark Mercury followed the movement with her eyes, and made the tactical mistake of ignoring Alan.
Alan blasted again, this time he hit his mark. Dark Mercury's momentum collapsed and crumbled as she fell back to Earth. Ann knew they had her momentarily helpless, and used her own powers to blow Dark Mercury through a nearby overpass on the highway! The last cars leaving the city were caught in the middle of the battle as the body of Dark Mercury smashed the support pillars of the overpass! Rocking dangerously with the impact, the road threatened to tumble down just like a stack of cards! Countless lives would be lost if that happened!
* * * *
"Go! Get out of your cars and run!!" Colonel Yamada shouted at the frightened civilians. People screamed in terror and skittered like ants out of their vehicles and ran as fast as they could to get off the bridge! The road began to tilt, and some of the cars were sliding toward the barrier! Some of them had people still stuck inside them!
Jedite was waving people by when he saw one particular car nearby. The gray Toyota still had a forgotten child inside, banging on the window and crying her eyes out! Jedite didn't even stop to think. He had never saved a life before, yet he reacted out of sheer instinct! He leapt over cars and nearly tore the door desperately off its hinges! Jedite reached in, grabbed the terrified girl, and ran as fast as he could toward the safety of the ground.
* * * *
Taking up the slack, the Sailor Senshi again flew to the rescue. The Outer Senshi flew underneath and held up the bridge for as long as they could, while the Inner Senshi caught falling cars and helped the overwhelmed Traffic Police and Army Soldiers clear the last few cars from the city limits.
Sailor Mercury knew that they did not have much time left before Dark Mercury once again lost control and blew up in anger, thus turning the tide once again against them all. She shouted at the twin attackers.
"ALAN! ANN! GO FOR HER GAUNTLET! DESTROY IT SO SHE CAN'T USE IT AGAINST YOU!!"
Sailor Mars overheard the shouts, and flew up next to Sailor Mercury.
"Go help the others, Amy," said Raye. "I've got an idea."
Amy looked at the determined Raye and then nodded. She turned and went to help the others. Sailor Mars shut her eyes and concentrated. Dark Mercury was moving far too quickly and skillfully to make that gauntlet an easy target, even for energy wielders like Alan and Ann. If she could somehow focus her psychic energies right, she could mentally feel out when the time was right to strike and destroy it then. It was a narrow hope, but it was the only sure way to take that madwoman down. She was sure that Dark Mercury had been badly hurt in her battle against Galaxia. Once the gauntlet that enabled her to react so quickly was destroyed, she could ostensibly bring the enemy down to their level.
Alan and Ann held their advantage for several more minutes, but they could not get to the gauntlet, no matter how much they softened Dark Mercury up. There inevitably came that moment when they hesitated for just a split second too long, and then, Dark Mercury seized the moment and used her teleport skill to shift momentum once again! This was truly a genius they were fighting here! A genius backed by an incredible strength. By far their most difficult challenge ever!
Dark Mercury struck back with unrivaled fury! Alan and Ann were hopelessly outmatched! They managed to maneuver better than the Sailor Scouts, but no matter how fast they flew, they could not escape the teleport sequence, which was faster than light itself! Raye focused even harder, gritting her teeth in concentration.
"Just relax, Raye," said a female voice in her mind.
Raye's eyes flew open in disbelief. "Hotaru?!"
"Yes, it's me, Raye," said Hotaru's ghost from inside her mind. "Look, I'm breaking a lot of rules by communicating with you this way, so I need to cut this real short! Let your mind free and relax every muscle in your body. Your powers will act of their own accord and let you know when the time is right. Bye now. I'll be seeing you again soon..." and Hotaru's presence faded from her mind.
Raye uttered a prayer to her Gods and then relaxed all her muscles and thoughts. She cleared her mind and created a hole in her thoughts. Like a river had opened in her head, she felt her consciousness flow into that hole. Time itself seemed to slow to a crawl. Suddenly, even with the teleport, Dark Mercury seemed to be going ridiculously sluggish. The controls on her right hand shone like a beacon in her vision.
It was not so much a voice, like Hotaru's, in her head, as it was a sudden jerking of her perception that told her the exact moment to strike! Raye didn't waste a second as she took off in a straight line for Dark Mercury! The gauntlet seemed to guide her toward it of its own accord, though it was really her mind acting as lasso, pulling her in.
* * * *
Sailor Mercury gasped. "What is she doing?!" she exclaimed. "She's engaging Dark Mercury without the rest of us!"
The other scouts turned in the middle of their activities and looked to see Sailor Mars charging toward an unawares Dark Mercury, who was beating on a senseless Alan! Ann had fallen to the ground, and lay unconscious, or dead, on the broken asphalt. They looked on in wonder at the sudden bold move made by their comrade.
Trista put a hand on Amy's shoulder. "I think... I think she knows what she's doing, Mercury," she replied.
* * * *
Sailor Mars was nearly at her target. Dark Mercury's head perked as she must have heard or felt the oncoming attack. She turned, still sluggish in Raye's mind, and dropped the broken body of Alan.
It was too late!
Sailor Mars balled up both her fists in a club-like form, and brought them down with all her might on the exposed gauntlet! The metal cracked and then broke under the enormous pressure of the blow! Sparks flew up in a shower and just like that, the one weapon that had made Dark Mercury virtually invincible up until this moment was now no longer a factor!
"NOOOOOOO!!" Dark Mercury screamed in frustration and chagrin as her secret weapon now was shattered! Her eyes burned with an evil fire. Sailor Mars felt her time sense return to normal, her job was finished. As she looked upward at the evil eyes of Dark Mercury, she realized suddenly what Hotaru had meant when she'd said: "I'll be seeing you again soon."
Dark Mercury lashed out and punished the exposed body of Raye like a rag doll! All sense of playfulness and swagger was gone from the woman who was once a Senshi like her! The game had finally, for her, become a deadly one! She would fight like a trapped animal now, and Raye had just sacrificed herself for the rest of her teammates!
Dark Mercury tore into Raye, punching, kicking, blasting, and bashing her body! Raye felt her consciousness slip away as she was beaten senseless, beaten to within inches of her life! Her vision went black as her eyes swelled over. Her last vision was of an enraged and desperate Dark Mercury, and a brief flash of Hotaru, a smile on her pretty face.
* * * *
"NO!" screamed Sailor Mercury. "WE NEED TO GO TO HER!! WE NEED TO HELP!!"
Trista looked around desperately. The Outer Senshi were still holding up the overpass, and there were still people in danger that the rest had to take care of. Maybe if she froze time... but she immediately banished that thought. I can't do anything! she thought desperately. Raye knew what she was doing! She sacrificed her life to take away Dark Mercury's outstanding advantage over us!
Sailor Mercury looked about to fly off, but Neo-Queen Serenity leapt forward and held her back. "No, Amy!" she said, tears in her eyes. "We can't abandon the people! They are our first priority!!"
"Screw the people!" Amy screamed. "RAYE'S DYING UP THERE!!"
"Raye knew that going in, Amy!" Serenity cried. "She knew that, and was willing to make that sacrifice. Just as Hotaru did before her! Even if you went to her aid now, there's nothing you could do to help her in time!"
"LET GO OF ME!! RAAAAAYYYYYEEEE!!!!" Amy struggled even more.
"AMY MIZUNO!! YOU KNOW YOUR DUTY!! NOW GET A GRIP ON YOURSELF!!" Serenity shook Sailor Mercury roughly. "YOU ARE A SENSHI, GOD DAMN IT!! WOULD YOU SACRIFICE EVEN MORE PEOPLE IN THIS SENSELESS BLOODBATH JUST TO TRY AND SAVE A FRIEND WHO IS BEYOND HELP?!! WHAT WOULD RAYE SAY IF YOU DID THAT?!!!?"
Mercury stopped struggling and looked at Serenity helplessly, and then she fell to her knees and burst into tears. Neo-Queen Serenity shook her head, also wracked with grief, and then flew back to assist the others, leaving Sailor Mercury an emotional wreck on the ground.
* * * *
Raye's face was swollen and bleeding! Her uniform was torn to shreds! Her body was broken! She couldn't move even if she wanted to!
Dark Mercury's hands, both her metal claw and her normal left hand were caked in Sailor Mars' blood! She held Mars by the throat with her left hand and pulled the other one back. Her metal talons flexed threateningly.
"You. you have done more to harm me than anyone I have faced! Out of all the Senshi I have murdered you took away my only sure victory! But make no mistake! If it takes me a thousand years. or a BILLION!! I will win! Sailor Moon's head will decorate the mantelpiece in the Palace I plan to build and rule over this Universe with! And you?! You're nothing more to me than the billions of lives I have squelched in the future! Now you will join them, as will your friends after you!!"
Dark Mercury plunged her metal claw into the stomach of Sailor Mars! Her hook-like fingers buried themselves deep in her torso, shredding internal organs and muscle like razor sharp knives! Sailor Mars had been unconscious, but the pain awoke her once again and she screamed! The scream was strangled off after a few seconds, and Mars coughed up a fountain of blood from her mouth and nose!
Dark Mercury pulled her arm out and thrust Raye's body out for all to see. "DO YOU FEEL IT, SAILOR MOON?!!" she shouted down to the Sailor Senshi. "DO YOU FEEL THE AGONY?!! THIS IS THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR VICTORY!! THIS IS YOUR FATE!! I HAVE KILLED YOU AND YOUR DESCENDANTS THOUSANDS OF TIMES OVER, AND THIS TIME WILL BE NO DIFFERENT!! EVEN IF IT TAKES MY VERY. LAST. BREATH!!!" Dark Mercury tossed Sailor Mars' body down as hard as she could at them and laughed insanely.
Raye's body bounced on the pavement and came to a stop at the Senshi's feet. Policemen and Soldiers gathered around as well. Looking on in horrified disbelief. Sailor Mercury shoved her way through the crowd and knelt down next to Raye. Serenity and Serena did the same. The others just stood there. Their heads bowed in shame.
"Sailor Mars!! SAILOR MARS!!!" Mercury lifted Raye's body and tried covering up the gaping hole in her stomach! Her efforts were desperate however. Everyone else knew that her fate was sealed.
Raye's vision was distant and far away as she turned to look at Serena. "Hey. meatball head." she said weakly. "What. are you. doing. here? I felt it. Sailor Moon. I felt her fear. Dark. Mercury is. afraid! I. did. what Amy. said to do.I. I took out. her. controls.! Go and. beat her ass!"
"Stop talking!!" Amy cried. "Save your strength! Just hang on! the Ambulances will be here any minute. PLEASE!!"
Raye smiled weakly. "It's. too late for me. I. will die. but I. have no regrets. If I. had to. do it all. over again. I would.be.because. I. love you guys. You're. all. the best. friends. anyone. could ever. ask for!"
"Oh, Mars!" Neptune murmured with her own tears streaming down her face.
"Hail Mary, full of Grace. The Lord is with thee." Sailor Pluto whispered.
She rolled her eyes back to Serena's face, though her eyes were still glazed. It was obvious she didn't really see them at all. But still she knew they were there listening to her final words. She raised her hand and Serena reached out and grabbed it. It felt so cold! "You are. my friends. And I am. and always will be. yours! Fare.well. All. of you. Until. we meet again. I will. always. love. you... Always......"
Sailor Mars' hand fell out of Sailor Moon's and lifelessly hit the ground. Raye's eyes went completely blank. Her chest stopped rising and falling. Her lips turned a shade of purple, and all of a sudden her tiara faded and vanished. The Mars transformation Pen materialized in her right hand. And the last child of Mars died amidst the company of her loved ones!
".. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us Sinners now and at the hour of our deaths. Amen." Pluto finished the eulogy quietly.
Sailor Moon felt her eyes blur over as she reached down and gently pulled Raye's eyelids shut. Sailor Neptune fell into Uranus' arms, sobbing violently. Sailor Mercury collapsed, covered in the blood of her friend, screaming with grief. Sailor Venus threw her arms around Mercury, trying to comfort the devastated Senshi. Sailor Jupiter sank to her knees and braced herself against the ground, as if she was no longer able to stand up. Those people who stood around and who had heard that tragic final words of Sailor Mars cried as well. At that moment the blackest despair and grief descended upon them! Two brave Senshi had fallen in a single day in defense of everything they held dearly!
The elder Sailor Moon's lip quivered emotionally, but she refused to cry just yet. Instead a rage built within her, replacing the sadness! It was a rage she had never felt before in her entire life! She had witnessed the death of all her own friends in the 30th Century, yet somehow the death of Sailor Mars here in the 20th Century struck home even more heavily! This had to stop! Dark Mercury had officially taken one life too many! Serenity turned and speared Dark Mercury with a gaze that would have nuked all of Tokyo if looks could kill! Her fists curled and tightened to the point where blood oozed between the fingers! Her teeth gritted together, and her breath began to emanate from her mouth in snarls! Her blue eyes literally turned blood red, and her battle aura burst into its Holiest light yet!
Dark Mercury landed. Her eyes gazed back at Serenity unflinchingly. "So at last it comes to it," she growled. "This battle started between the two of us, Neo-Queen Serenity! It's only appropriate that it finish this way!"
"No more, Dark Mercury! NO MORE!!" Serenity's Angelic wings unfolded and grew until they spread over twenty-five feet in each direction! "IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, I WILL SEND YOU BACK TO HELL FROM WHENCE YOU CAME!!!"
Dark Mercury roared and her own Aura flared up to rival that of Sailor Moon's. "THEN LET'S END THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL!! LET'S FINISH WHAT WE STARTED IN CRYSTAL TOKYO, SAILOR MOON!!!"
Without any further hesitation, Neo-Queen Serenity sprang into flight and streaked unflinchingly at Dark Mercury! Both beings screamed out, one in bottomless rage! One in pure, unfettered hatred! With a 'BOOM' that literally shook the world, the two beings clashed in final battle!!
TO BE CONCLUDED.
The explosion shattered windows for blocks in every direction. It shook the ground throughout the entire city. The blast force whipped the wind to incredible force, causing the scouts to struggle to maintain control in the air. Serenity had brought her arms up to shield herself from the heat. When it finally subsided again, she brought her arms down and looked on in horror as fully a block of the city was now on fire!
Squinting through the smoke, she faintly saw two figures slugging it out in the midst of the flames.
Lord! Serenity thought. How can they still be standing? And fighting in that inferno as well?!
Another gas main went up in an explosion. The fire was going to spread quickly at this rate. But Galaxia was too busy with Dark Mercury to stop the spread of the flames.
"MICHELLE! AMY! LET'S GO! QUICKLY!!" Trista shouted. Sailor Mercury and Sailor Neptune flew down with her to where Serenity hovered.
"What do you want, Sailor Pluto?" asked Michelle. The others followed up behind her.
"We need to stop those flames from spreading!" said Pluto, pointing to the fire. "We need to put this out, and you two are the best ones to do it!"
Mercury and Neptune examined the fire. Amy calculated the exact radius of the flames, while Michelle pondered just how to go about putting this flame out without destroying even more property.
"I've got it," said Amy. "Michelle, you ready for a plan?"
"I'm still thinking, so if you got one, you can tell me."
"Good," Amy replied. She pointed to the air directly over the fire. "I want you to form a gigantic disk of water, not a ball as you usually do, but a flat disk, like Sailor Moon's tiara disk, only about half an inch thick, can you do that?"
"It's not what I'm used to," said Michelle. "But I think I can pull that off."
"Do it then," said Amy. "Once it's formed, hold it in the air while I freeze it into solid ice. Once it's like that, we let it fall."
"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Amora. "Won't that just flatten the city?"
"It would seem that way but no," said Amy. "If we let it fall without freezing, the water will fall all at once, too fast to be evaporated by the heat, and crush that entire neighborhood! But if it is frozen, and if the disk is thin enough, it will fall, but it will break up into pieces. The heat of the fire will melt the ice and it should be broken up enough by then to fall sort of as rain. We keep doing that until the fire is completely extinguished."
"By George, it just might work!" exclaimed Michelle. "You're a genius, Ames!"
Without further words, the two scouts began the process of carrying out their plan. Galaxia and Dark Mercury had emerged from the flames and were carrying the fight to other areas of town.
Sailor Pluto told the rest of the scouts to follow her and keep tabs on the rest of the fight, leaving just Sailor Mercury and Sailor Neptune to fight the fire. Tokyo fire trucks were arriving as well.
"Their help will be appreciated," said Michelle, looking down at them.
"But their hoses won't be enough against a gas fire," Amy replied. "We need to work fast!"
As the Firemen below fought the flames, Michelle collected all the water vapor in the air and gently condensed it into a floating pool of water all around her. "Neptune Deep Submerge!" she chanted, and aquamarine water began filling the sky. Slowly, it conformed to a disk shape about two blocks in diameter. It was now Amy's turn.
"Mercury Ice Bubbles, Freeze!" she shouted. A storm of bubbles appeared and surrounded the water disk. Guiding her power, feeling a connection with it that she'd never felt before, she stuck the ice bubbles to the floating water disk, and watched as the water slowly froze.
It has to be less than half an inch thick, she calculated as she froze the water. If it is any thicker it won't thaw out right away, and hailstones will fall on the city instead.
When she had gotten the job just right, she shouted: "Alright, Sailor Neptune! Release the water!"
Neptune released it, and the two Senshi watched the ice disk fall from the sky. Firefighters below began to panic and run away from it. To their amazement however, the ice broke up into tiny pieces, and the heat did the rest, thawing them and breaking them up even further. By the time it hit the ground, it was coming down like rain, and the Firefighters cheered. The fire itself died down, but didn't go out. Now the Firemen opened up with all the water they had, spraying the wounded fire mercilessly. What flames had remained were quickly extinguished.
"We did it!" exclaimed Michelle. "Your plan worked, Amy!"
Amy let out a sigh of relief. It really had worked. "I couldn't have done it alone, Michelle," she said to her. "Thanks."
Michelle smiled at Amy. "Hey, this reminds me, when all this is over, you wanna go swimming?"
Amy smiled back. "Sure. That would be just great."
* * * *
The fight between Galaxia and Dark Mercury had taken to the air once again. Both fighters were badly burned, and a bit slower for having been in the middle of such a blast. They were both beginning to wear each other down.
I can't let this fight drag on! Dark Mercury thought. She's tougher than I remember her being. I'm beginning to lose power!
Hatching a quick plan, Dark Mercury blazed off and missiled straight at Galaxia. The other fighter saw this and got ready to meet the charge. Once again, Dark Mercury voice activated her teleport control, and in an eye blink she was directly behind Galaxia, slamming into her unprotected backside! Galaxia cried out in pain, as Dark Mercury grabbed her and smashed her face first into another building! Moving quickly, she took control of the fight, punching and kicking Galaxia in rapid succession! Each time her opponent seemed to be getting the advantage in close quarters again, she would teleport to the other side of her and strike again!
Galaxia was slowed by the explosion, and seemed perplexed by the sudden lightning quick movements of Dark Mercury. Finally, she managed to get a grip on Dark Mercury, but she was uppercut hard to the chin. She felt one of her teeth crack as her jaw was bent by the punch! Blood began to come out of her mouth. Dark Mercury took Galaxia's arm and began swinging her around. Seeing a half constructed building nearby, she flung the Senshi into the steel supports at the base of the building! Rocking with the impact, the new skyscraper was built to withstand point nine earthquakes and force five hurricanes, but all that strength proved useless against the astounding power of Dark Mercury! Blasting out the remaining supports, Dark Mercury caused the massive building to collapse in on itself. Hundreds of tons of steel, concrete and wood crushed a helpless Galaxia beneath it! There was no movement as the dust settled!
* * * *
"Is...I-is she dead?" asked Serena.
"I doubt it," said Sailor Pluto. "But she's probably incapacitated somehow. I think that it's our turn now." The nine Senshi nodded grimly, and then descended to the ground.
Dark Mercury was laughing again as they settled down. "Galaxia couldn't beat me. Hotaru couldn't kill me. I ask you, Sailor Scouts, what makes you think you've got a chance?"
"Even if our odds are dim," said Serena. "We won't stop fighting until either we are dead, or you are!"
Dark Mercury scowled. "Very well, you annoying little pests!" she spat. "We'll see how well you use your new powers!"
* * * *
"Look!" said Avery. "There they are!"
The four sisters had followed the path of destruction as they attempted to find the Sailor Scouts. They had been dodging panic stricken people and trying to stay hidden from those little fighters the entire time. Now they had finally caught up to their friends. The falling building had led them right here.
It was then they finally saw the face of the enemy.
She looked strikingly familiar, with long, blue hair, blue eyes, and a black outfit with a badly tattered and singed cape attached.
"Do you think she's from Nemesis?" asked Katsie.
"I'm almost certain she is," replied Birdie. "She's dressed almost like Emerald, except with a cape, and no jewels on her outfit. There's some sort of symbol on her forehead."
Prisma gasped. "The Black Moon symbol?!"
"No. It's not that," said Birdie, squinting. "It looks like... oh, my God!"
"What?!" the other three asked frantically. "What is it?"
"It appears to be the symbol of the planet Mercury, but it looks like its been carved with a knife!" said Birdie. "And her face! It suddenly occurred to me why she looked so familiar! She's Amy!"
"AMY?!" exclaimed Avery. "That's nonsense! Sailor Mercury is right over there, helping the rest of the scouts!!"
Birdie shrugged, "I'm only telling you what I see," she replied. "She looks just like Amy does."
"What? Is she some sort of evil twin or something?" Katsie asked nervously.
Birdie shook her head. "I can't begin to guess. For right now, however, we'll have to see how this whole thing turns out. All we can do is watch."
* * * *
Unaware of the new arrivals, Dark Mercury and the Sailor Senshi faced each other on the street just in front of what used to be the new Madoko Computer Corporate headquarters.
"So who's going to go first?" asked Dark Mercury.
"We were thinking you should do the honors, Dark Mercury," said Sailor Uranus challengingly. "Since you're so incredibly powerful, why don't you take on all of us at once?!"
Dark Mercury smiled. "An excellent idea, Amara," she said, and then she abruptly vanished from sight.
"Watch it, Sailor Scouts!" Pluto warned. "She's using her teleport power!"
The attack came from directly beneath their feet! The pavement split open and Dark Mercury came bursting out. The force upended the scouts, and sent them sprawling on the road.
Moving with unbelievable speed, Dark Mercury went on a fierce offensive. She went after the two Sailor Moon's first, blasting away with a barrage of blue energy. Serenity hopped out of the way, but Serena was hit and sent flying into a garbage truck.
"Eeeeyuck!!" Serena moaned in disgust. "This will take a week to wash out the smell!"
Dark Mercury had engaged Serenity in midair. Knocking the Senshi into the side of another building with her fist! She was just about to strike once more when Sailor Venus grabbed her cocked fist and slammed her own into Dark Mercury's back!
Grunting in pain, Dark Mercury spun around and plastered Venus with a spin-kick! Neptune and Pluto both attacked at once. Michelle ducked a thrown punch, and barely missed with an elbow to the midsection. Dark Mercury brought up her knee, and clocked Neptune in the chin. Sailor Pluto had her Garnet Rod raised to strike, but Dark Mercury activated her own weapon and the two met with electrifying impact.
Sailor Mercury looked on in wonder. "Is that... MY weapon?" she asked.
"Yes," said Serenity. "She too has harnessed the Planet Power."
Sailor Uranus joined Pluto in her battle, by activating her Space Sword. In an astounding display of reflexes, Dark Mercury not only saw the new attacker, but brought her staff up in such a way as to block both attacks at once! Sailor Pluto and Uranus teamed up to take Dark Mercury down, but each time their weapons met with solid ice. Parrying their blows, Dark Mercury pushed the two fighters back against the wall!
"Let's see how well she handles three at once!" Sailor Jupiter leapt up and made a beeline toward the evil mercury. Dark Mercury glanced over her shoulder, and teleported again. Jupiter's fist met with the concrete instead.
"Dammit!" Mars swore, her psychic energies picking up a flash of evil behind her. She turned too late to block the chop that hit her like a freight train! Mars fell next to an overturned pick-up. Her head was spinning.
Sailor Mercury frowned in determination. She focused on what the real problem was. That gauntlet Dark Mercury was wearing was the culprit! She was using the teleport function on it to increase her speed in battle!
"Very clever, Amy," she said to herself. " When fighting with brute strength no longer works, use speed and intellect. But you forget you are fighting someone just as intelligent as you are!" She decided to try out her talisman.
"Mercury Ice Staff!" Her own staff flashed into her open hand and she charged at Dark Mercury.
Dark Mercury reactivated her staff and turned to meet the attack. Amy shifted her weight at the last second and drove the end of the staff into the pavement. Her feet left the ground as she vaulted over her opponent's head. Landing behind her, Amy swung with the staff right for the gauntlet, but Dark Mercury moved just in time, and whacked the staff right out of her hand!
Amy braced herself for the inevitable counterattack, but her friends were beginning to catch on to the game plan. As a team they struck, in groups of twos or threes, they jumped in and landed their own blows on the surprised Dark Mercury. Amy rolled away and went for her staff, but it had dematerialized the moment it left her hand.
"Venus Love-Me Chain!" Mina cried out. Her chain left her hand and flew in Dark Mercury's face! The power failed to damage her, but it did put her off balance enough so that Sailor Neptune could use her Deep Submerge. A gigantic funnel of water came down from nowhere and plowed the enemy through the ground level of a nearby post office! The water knocked her clear through to the next street!
Serena gritted her teeth and was one of the first to take off after her. Flying down the narrow alley, she aimed herself like a spear, with both fists out in front of her, at Dark Mercury!
The Dark Senshi somersaulted away from the oncoming sailor. Pivoting on the balls of her feet, Sailor Moon stopped her momentum and halted on the place where she might otherwise have crashed.
"Very good, Serena, I'm impressed!" said Dark Mercury. "I see Sailor Pluto has given all of you some improvements in powers since we last met. Your bravery has definitely improved also! Too bad it's still not enough!" Dark Mercury moved faster than Serena could react, and felt an iron grip clamp down on her forearm.
Swinging with all her might, Dark Mercury tossed Sailor Moon away just in time to meet the rest of the oncoming scouts.
Serena screamed as she flew through the air, until she heard a man's voice in her ear, "Sailor Moon, go limp!"
Serena didn't even think, she just did as the man said. She felt her flight stop as she softly landed in his arms.
"Tuxedo Mask?" asked Serena, confused.
"Naw," said a familiar voice. "He's still helping the army evacuate."
Serena looked up and saw Alan's smiling face. "Oh! I-It's you!"
Alan touched down on a rooftop and watched as the Sailor Scouts poured everything they had to take Dark Mercury down. The simultaneous assault was enough to keep Dark Mercury on her toes, and off the offensive, but the fighting was still resulting in a beat down of Serena's friends.
"Where's Ann?" Serena asked. "And why aren't you helping the Scouts?"
"Ann and I were just over with the Starlights," Alan replied. "Word is, they're preparing some sort of counteroffensive against the mother ship. They wanted us to tell you guys. That's where we've been all this time."
Ann landed right beside Alan. "But we're here now," she said. "What do you want us to do?"
"Galaxia's unconscious," said Serena. "So we need some high octane energy! I hope you guys are up to it."
"No problem," said Alan. "We've spent the last four years bulking up on energy from our Doomtree. We've got some energy to blow that woman into next week!"
* * * *
"We're coming to you live from the slopes of Mount Fuji!" Lyle Yoshii shouted with excitement into his microphone. "As you can see behind me, Tokyo is engulfed in flames!" Lyle moved aside and let the camera zoom in on the broken skyline of the once great city. "It is war, people! There is no other way to describe it! Aliens have come down from Outer Space and are now turning Tokyo into a veritable Cemetary! And with them came that very same villain the heroes of Tokyo were battling earlier today! Many questions are flying about, but we may finally be able to answer a few of them!"
Lyle turned and the camera focused on the person next to him. Oddly enough he wore a Black Tuxedo and a funny white mask like out of a Masquerade Ball. His black hair was slightly ruffled. He looked at Lyle. "Let's make this quick. The evacuations are not yet done."
"I understand, but this is possibly just as important. You have information that may be vital to our Armed Forces!" Lyle stuck the microphone in Tuxedo Mask's face. "Who are these enemies that are destroying our countryside? And who are those costumed fighters that are fighting their leader?"
"They are called Sailor Senshi," Tuxedo Mask explained. "They are not a new addition to Tokyo. In fact they have secretly been protecting Tokyo and the world from the forces of evil for years. Until now they have kept themselves secret. Only a few people have seen them, yet no one believed their stories of the Senshi. They became like a myth. An Urban Legend if you will. But they are real. They are all that stands between this world and utter disaster!
"The villain they fight is a woman named Dark Mercury," Tuxedo Mask continued. "She comes from the future, along with this invasion force, and seeks to destroy all that we hold dear. My advice to you is to stay away from her and her forces. I advise all military units and people to stay clear of this battle zone! This battle is beyond your capabilities. You would do better to pray for victory, and make no mistake, this is a battle we intend to win! This is PERSONAL!! That's all I have to say! I have to get back to saving lives!"
Tuxedo Mask practically threw the microphone at Lyle Yoshii and leapt away like a black flash! Yoshii tried to quickly utter another question at the hero, but he lost him from sight in a heartbeat. He turned back to the Camera. "Is that thing still running?" he asked his Cameraman.
Dan gave a silent thumbs up sign. Lyle put the microphone back to his mouth. "Well there you have it, folks. A direct statement from one of the many heroes fighting to preserve our city! Previous indications and footage caught on tape of ineffectual military actions against this. Dark Mercury person add fuel to the speculation that indeed we are at the mercy of this enemy! The rest of the world has assured us that United Nations forces are on their way as fast as they can make it! The question is, will they arrive in time to save Japan?! Perhaps that masked man WAS right! Perhaps. all we CAN do is pray!!"
* * * *
"A gaping hole in their ship," Proxima said. "Fortune is on our side it seems."
"Huh, huh. You said 'hole'." Starfighter snickered.
"Saiya, it's been four years! You still remember that dumb show?!" Starhealer rolled her eyes.
"Shut up, bunghole! That show was cool!" Saiya replied in her Butthead voice.
"LADIES!!" Sailor Nova Beetelgeuse snapped.
The Starlights shut up.
"Okay, here's the plan," Proxima ignored their playfulness. She was all business in this situation. "Starlights, you're our point guards. I want you three to carve a path to that opening. The enemy has concentrated their defenses around there, and they'll fight tooth and nail to keep us out of that ship! Once you've opened a lane for us, Beetelgeuse, Hercules and I will penetrate the ship. You three, plus Orion and Sirius will continue to fight on the outside to prevent any rear guards from overtaking us from behind."
"Aye, Aye, Captain!" Starfighter snapped to attention and puffed out her chest in exaggerated manner.
"Does everyone have the plan?" Proxima asked her own teammates.
Everyone nodded.
"Let's do it," Beetelgeuse announced. "Starlights? You're up!"
"Alright, Starlights!" shouted Saiya. "On my mark! LET'S PLOW THIS HERE ROW!!"
"Fly in a loose formation," Proxima commanded. "Don't let them know what we're up to until we're ready to commit!"
For minutes, the Starlights and Novae cleared the sky of any nearby fighters. Proxima measured the time it would take to execute this plan, and get out of there before the ship crashed into the water. It would be approximately three minutes after detonation. They would have three minutes to escape the collapsing hulk of the ship. She knew that the enemy kept reserve forces within the ship's docking bays, and that they would have to battle their way to the core. All told, all details taken into account, they would have about ten minutes to themselves before all bets were off.
Proxima deactivated her visor, and turned to her two comrades. "It is time," she said seriously. "Follow closely behind me and keep your eyes peeled once we're inside the hull."
Orion and Sirius nodded. Quick strikes such as this were what they were trained to accomplish. They knew their duties, and also the stakes for which they played their game. But these five women were professionals of the highest order. They would succeed, or die trying, without any second thoughts.
"NOW!" shouted Proxima, and they rocketed their way toward the beckoning hole. The Starlights saw the enemy forces react to the attack, and redoubled their defense techniques. Sirius and Orion split off and began their circle around the ship's perimeter. They drew some of the fighters with them.
The plan so far had been flawless. The three Novae reached the hole without a hitch. It was once they'd gotten inside that the situation changed drastically.
The Daimons and defense drones swarmed like bees at the invaders. The three Novae went to work, methodically blasting their way through the ship's many levels.
"Nova Orange Flame!" Proxima shouted, letting loose with explosive energy.
"Nova Shining Burst!" Beetelgeuse exclaimed.
"Nova Star Collapse!" Hercules bellowed.
As quickly as they came, the drones were melted to slag, and Daimons by the dozens were vaporized. But still more came on, seemingly in endless numbers!
"Keep at it, ladies," Proxima said, blasting away at her obstacles. "We've got us a real battle on our hands here!"
* * * *
The pile of rubble and steel shifted and then bulged up by some force from below. The four Ayakashi Sisters were deciding amongst themselves whether or not to stay far away from the fighting when they noticed the movement. They started and looked at the moving pile with fear on their faces. Once upon a time they had powers of their own, but ever since they had been cured by Sailor Moon they lost that power. If this were one of the enemies they wouldn't have a chance!
The giant rocks and I-beams fell by the wayside, and a lone female, covered in white dust and visibly bleeding, emerged from the carnage!
"Who is that?!" asked Katsie.
"How should I know?!" Prisma cried. "Let's get out of here!"
"Wait! Don't run! It's that woman! The one who was fighting the enemy mano- a-mano before she got thrown into that building!" Birdie stood as firmly as her shaking knees would allow her to. The other three whimpered and hid behind her back. "Oh, great!" she whined to them. "Why do I have to be your shield?!!"
The woman descended to the broken street and fixed her eyes on the four sisters. Her lip was bleeding and she was cut in bruised in several places on her body. Her armor was broken, and a layer of white dust made her look like a specter! She looked a wee bit shaky on her feet.
"Where. where is Dark Mercury?!" the woman demanded of them.
"W-wh-who a-are you?!" Birdie stuttered.
"I am Sailor Galaxia," the woman replied. "There is no need to be afraid of me. I have come to defeat Dark Mercury. She will pay for humiliating me!"
"Geez! She gets her butt whipped and she wants to fight her again? Are all Senshi crazy or what?!" Avery whispered.
Galaxia obviously heard the comment because her gaze became sour. "Know this. Never have I faced a more powerful opponent than Dark Mercury! Punching her is like punching a solid chunk of lead! You seem to know a thing or two about the Sailor Senshi. Who are you girls?!"
Birdie decided the spotlight was on her to answer the Senshi. She gulped and stepped forward. "We are all sisters. I am Birdie Ayakashi, and these are Prism, Avery and Katsie Ayakashi. We're friends of Sailor Moon and her Senshi. She saved our lives once. We wanted to return the favor somehow. So when we heard about this attack we came back to Tokyo." Birdie hesitated. "I don't see as how we could be of help. We're way out of our league here."
Galaxia beat the dust off of her body and rubbed the dust off her face. "Help does not always have to be in fighting," she replied at last. "Even some of the locals on this Planet have played a valuable role in this war. It is likely you four, or at least one of you four, may have some part yet to play. for good or for ill." Galaxia walked up to them. "There is more to you four than is apparent, that much is obvious. Come with me. We must find the battle before it is finished!" Galaxia took off at a run. She knew that if she flew she would leave these four behind. The Ayakashi sisters glanced at one another and then ran as fast as they could on her heels.
* * * *
The blasts came like giant surgical lasers! The Senshi Battle Cruisers sliced through the enemy deflector shields in short order. The Black Moon Fleet was good, but they were up against Super-powered warriors born to fight! In the end they didn't really have a chance!
Sailor Jade Fire watched as the Senshi pushed the enemy back against the globe of Planet Earth. Pretty soon they had no place to run, and from there on in the slaughter began! The Black Moon ships fought back fiercely. None surrendered, and so after an hour-long exchange of fire, the battle was resolved!
"All enemy units have been destroyed," said Sailor Atomos. "Shall we send our ships down to Earth to take down the main Battleship?"
"Stand by for orders, lieutenant," Fire held her hand out. "We haven't heard from Galaxia as yet, and I will not risk damaging the Earth without her say-so. I'm sure Senshi Prime has the situation under control. The enemy has nowhere left to run. The battle is ours."
* * * *
The United Nations watched as the images of the ships in orbit blinked out one by one! In their place were twelve MORE ships, but they did not show any signs of attacking. In fact it was they who had destroyed the enemy. No one could tell who they were, but everyone began to breathe a sigh of relief.
"The ships have pulled up in orbit and are standing idle now," an American soldier read from his radar screen. "No signs of advancement up above. There's still that ship over Tokyo, however."
"We have no choice but to continue to proceed as planned," said General Marshal. "Get me the President on Air Force One. We have to tell him what's happened. There's a lot going on here that even the news reports aren't letting on."
* * * *
Alan and Ann waited until most of the scouts were cleared away by Dark Mercury's rampage, then they simultaneously took to the air and dove for their target.
"What in the name of...?" Dark Mercury trailed off, the sudden movement catching her eye.
Alan blasted at her feet, attempting to shake her up a bit. Dark Mercury leaped up and began to fly straight at them. Ann broke away and looped around behind the belligerent foe. Dark Mercury followed the movement with her eyes, and made the tactical mistake of ignoring Alan.
Alan blasted again, this time he hit his mark. Dark Mercury's momentum collapsed and crumbled as she fell back to Earth. Ann knew they had her momentarily helpless, and used her own powers to blow Dark Mercury through a nearby overpass on the highway! The last cars leaving the city were caught in the middle of the battle as the body of Dark Mercury smashed the support pillars of the overpass! Rocking dangerously with the impact, the road threatened to tumble down just like a stack of cards! Countless lives would be lost if that happened!
* * * *
"Go! Get out of your cars and run!!" Colonel Yamada shouted at the frightened civilians. People screamed in terror and skittered like ants out of their vehicles and ran as fast as they could to get off the bridge! The road began to tilt, and some of the cars were sliding toward the barrier! Some of them had people still stuck inside them!
Jedite was waving people by when he saw one particular car nearby. The gray Toyota still had a forgotten child inside, banging on the window and crying her eyes out! Jedite didn't even stop to think. He had never saved a life before, yet he reacted out of sheer instinct! He leapt over cars and nearly tore the door desperately off its hinges! Jedite reached in, grabbed the terrified girl, and ran as fast as he could toward the safety of the ground.
* * * *
Taking up the slack, the Sailor Senshi again flew to the rescue. The Outer Senshi flew underneath and held up the bridge for as long as they could, while the Inner Senshi caught falling cars and helped the overwhelmed Traffic Police and Army Soldiers clear the last few cars from the city limits.
Sailor Mercury knew that they did not have much time left before Dark Mercury once again lost control and blew up in anger, thus turning the tide once again against them all. She shouted at the twin attackers.
"ALAN! ANN! GO FOR HER GAUNTLET! DESTROY IT SO SHE CAN'T USE IT AGAINST YOU!!"
Sailor Mars overheard the shouts, and flew up next to Sailor Mercury.
"Go help the others, Amy," said Raye. "I've got an idea."
Amy looked at the determined Raye and then nodded. She turned and went to help the others. Sailor Mars shut her eyes and concentrated. Dark Mercury was moving far too quickly and skillfully to make that gauntlet an easy target, even for energy wielders like Alan and Ann. If she could somehow focus her psychic energies right, she could mentally feel out when the time was right to strike and destroy it then. It was a narrow hope, but it was the only sure way to take that madwoman down. She was sure that Dark Mercury had been badly hurt in her battle against Galaxia. Once the gauntlet that enabled her to react so quickly was destroyed, she could ostensibly bring the enemy down to their level.
Alan and Ann held their advantage for several more minutes, but they could not get to the gauntlet, no matter how much they softened Dark Mercury up. There inevitably came that moment when they hesitated for just a split second too long, and then, Dark Mercury seized the moment and used her teleport skill to shift momentum once again! This was truly a genius they were fighting here! A genius backed by an incredible strength. By far their most difficult challenge ever!
Dark Mercury struck back with unrivaled fury! Alan and Ann were hopelessly outmatched! They managed to maneuver better than the Sailor Scouts, but no matter how fast they flew, they could not escape the teleport sequence, which was faster than light itself! Raye focused even harder, gritting her teeth in concentration.
"Just relax, Raye," said a female voice in her mind.
Raye's eyes flew open in disbelief. "Hotaru?!"
"Yes, it's me, Raye," said Hotaru's ghost from inside her mind. "Look, I'm breaking a lot of rules by communicating with you this way, so I need to cut this real short! Let your mind free and relax every muscle in your body. Your powers will act of their own accord and let you know when the time is right. Bye now. I'll be seeing you again soon..." and Hotaru's presence faded from her mind.
Raye uttered a prayer to her Gods and then relaxed all her muscles and thoughts. She cleared her mind and created a hole in her thoughts. Like a river had opened in her head, she felt her consciousness flow into that hole. Time itself seemed to slow to a crawl. Suddenly, even with the teleport, Dark Mercury seemed to be going ridiculously sluggish. The controls on her right hand shone like a beacon in her vision.
It was not so much a voice, like Hotaru's, in her head, as it was a sudden jerking of her perception that told her the exact moment to strike! Raye didn't waste a second as she took off in a straight line for Dark Mercury! The gauntlet seemed to guide her toward it of its own accord, though it was really her mind acting as lasso, pulling her in.
* * * *
Sailor Mercury gasped. "What is she doing?!" she exclaimed. "She's engaging Dark Mercury without the rest of us!"
The other scouts turned in the middle of their activities and looked to see Sailor Mars charging toward an unawares Dark Mercury, who was beating on a senseless Alan! Ann had fallen to the ground, and lay unconscious, or dead, on the broken asphalt. They looked on in wonder at the sudden bold move made by their comrade.
Trista put a hand on Amy's shoulder. "I think... I think she knows what she's doing, Mercury," she replied.
* * * *
Sailor Mars was nearly at her target. Dark Mercury's head perked as she must have heard or felt the oncoming attack. She turned, still sluggish in Raye's mind, and dropped the broken body of Alan.
It was too late!
Sailor Mars balled up both her fists in a club-like form, and brought them down with all her might on the exposed gauntlet! The metal cracked and then broke under the enormous pressure of the blow! Sparks flew up in a shower and just like that, the one weapon that had made Dark Mercury virtually invincible up until this moment was now no longer a factor!
"NOOOOOOO!!" Dark Mercury screamed in frustration and chagrin as her secret weapon now was shattered! Her eyes burned with an evil fire. Sailor Mars felt her time sense return to normal, her job was finished. As she looked upward at the evil eyes of Dark Mercury, she realized suddenly what Hotaru had meant when she'd said: "I'll be seeing you again soon."
Dark Mercury lashed out and punished the exposed body of Raye like a rag doll! All sense of playfulness and swagger was gone from the woman who was once a Senshi like her! The game had finally, for her, become a deadly one! She would fight like a trapped animal now, and Raye had just sacrificed herself for the rest of her teammates!
Dark Mercury tore into Raye, punching, kicking, blasting, and bashing her body! Raye felt her consciousness slip away as she was beaten senseless, beaten to within inches of her life! Her vision went black as her eyes swelled over. Her last vision was of an enraged and desperate Dark Mercury, and a brief flash of Hotaru, a smile on her pretty face.
* * * *
"NO!" screamed Sailor Mercury. "WE NEED TO GO TO HER!! WE NEED TO HELP!!"
Trista looked around desperately. The Outer Senshi were still holding up the overpass, and there were still people in danger that the rest had to take care of. Maybe if she froze time... but she immediately banished that thought. I can't do anything! she thought desperately. Raye knew what she was doing! She sacrificed her life to take away Dark Mercury's outstanding advantage over us!
Sailor Mercury looked about to fly off, but Neo-Queen Serenity leapt forward and held her back. "No, Amy!" she said, tears in her eyes. "We can't abandon the people! They are our first priority!!"
"Screw the people!" Amy screamed. "RAYE'S DYING UP THERE!!"
"Raye knew that going in, Amy!" Serenity cried. "She knew that, and was willing to make that sacrifice. Just as Hotaru did before her! Even if you went to her aid now, there's nothing you could do to help her in time!"
"LET GO OF ME!! RAAAAAYYYYYEEEE!!!!" Amy struggled even more.
"AMY MIZUNO!! YOU KNOW YOUR DUTY!! NOW GET A GRIP ON YOURSELF!!" Serenity shook Sailor Mercury roughly. "YOU ARE A SENSHI, GOD DAMN IT!! WOULD YOU SACRIFICE EVEN MORE PEOPLE IN THIS SENSELESS BLOODBATH JUST TO TRY AND SAVE A FRIEND WHO IS BEYOND HELP?!! WHAT WOULD RAYE SAY IF YOU DID THAT?!!!?"
Mercury stopped struggling and looked at Serenity helplessly, and then she fell to her knees and burst into tears. Neo-Queen Serenity shook her head, also wracked with grief, and then flew back to assist the others, leaving Sailor Mercury an emotional wreck on the ground.
* * * *
Raye's face was swollen and bleeding! Her uniform was torn to shreds! Her body was broken! She couldn't move even if she wanted to!
Dark Mercury's hands, both her metal claw and her normal left hand were caked in Sailor Mars' blood! She held Mars by the throat with her left hand and pulled the other one back. Her metal talons flexed threateningly.
"You. you have done more to harm me than anyone I have faced! Out of all the Senshi I have murdered you took away my only sure victory! But make no mistake! If it takes me a thousand years. or a BILLION!! I will win! Sailor Moon's head will decorate the mantelpiece in the Palace I plan to build and rule over this Universe with! And you?! You're nothing more to me than the billions of lives I have squelched in the future! Now you will join them, as will your friends after you!!"
Dark Mercury plunged her metal claw into the stomach of Sailor Mars! Her hook-like fingers buried themselves deep in her torso, shredding internal organs and muscle like razor sharp knives! Sailor Mars had been unconscious, but the pain awoke her once again and she screamed! The scream was strangled off after a few seconds, and Mars coughed up a fountain of blood from her mouth and nose!
Dark Mercury pulled her arm out and thrust Raye's body out for all to see. "DO YOU FEEL IT, SAILOR MOON?!!" she shouted down to the Sailor Senshi. "DO YOU FEEL THE AGONY?!! THIS IS THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR VICTORY!! THIS IS YOUR FATE!! I HAVE KILLED YOU AND YOUR DESCENDANTS THOUSANDS OF TIMES OVER, AND THIS TIME WILL BE NO DIFFERENT!! EVEN IF IT TAKES MY VERY. LAST. BREATH!!!" Dark Mercury tossed Sailor Mars' body down as hard as she could at them and laughed insanely.
Raye's body bounced on the pavement and came to a stop at the Senshi's feet. Policemen and Soldiers gathered around as well. Looking on in horrified disbelief. Sailor Mercury shoved her way through the crowd and knelt down next to Raye. Serenity and Serena did the same. The others just stood there. Their heads bowed in shame.
"Sailor Mars!! SAILOR MARS!!!" Mercury lifted Raye's body and tried covering up the gaping hole in her stomach! Her efforts were desperate however. Everyone else knew that her fate was sealed.
Raye's vision was distant and far away as she turned to look at Serena. "Hey. meatball head." she said weakly. "What. are you. doing. here? I felt it. Sailor Moon. I felt her fear. Dark. Mercury is. afraid! I. did. what Amy. said to do.I. I took out. her. controls.! Go and. beat her ass!"
"Stop talking!!" Amy cried. "Save your strength! Just hang on! the Ambulances will be here any minute. PLEASE!!"
Raye smiled weakly. "It's. too late for me. I. will die. but I. have no regrets. If I. had to. do it all. over again. I would.be.because. I. love you guys. You're. all. the best. friends. anyone. could ever. ask for!"
"Oh, Mars!" Neptune murmured with her own tears streaming down her face.
"Hail Mary, full of Grace. The Lord is with thee." Sailor Pluto whispered.
She rolled her eyes back to Serena's face, though her eyes were still glazed. It was obvious she didn't really see them at all. But still she knew they were there listening to her final words. She raised her hand and Serena reached out and grabbed it. It felt so cold! "You are. my friends. And I am. and always will be. yours! Fare.well. All. of you. Until. we meet again. I will. always. love. you... Always......"
Sailor Mars' hand fell out of Sailor Moon's and lifelessly hit the ground. Raye's eyes went completely blank. Her chest stopped rising and falling. Her lips turned a shade of purple, and all of a sudden her tiara faded and vanished. The Mars transformation Pen materialized in her right hand. And the last child of Mars died amidst the company of her loved ones!
".. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us Sinners now and at the hour of our deaths. Amen." Pluto finished the eulogy quietly.
Sailor Moon felt her eyes blur over as she reached down and gently pulled Raye's eyelids shut. Sailor Neptune fell into Uranus' arms, sobbing violently. Sailor Mercury collapsed, covered in the blood of her friend, screaming with grief. Sailor Venus threw her arms around Mercury, trying to comfort the devastated Senshi. Sailor Jupiter sank to her knees and braced herself against the ground, as if she was no longer able to stand up. Those people who stood around and who had heard that tragic final words of Sailor Mars cried as well. At that moment the blackest despair and grief descended upon them! Two brave Senshi had fallen in a single day in defense of everything they held dearly!
The elder Sailor Moon's lip quivered emotionally, but she refused to cry just yet. Instead a rage built within her, replacing the sadness! It was a rage she had never felt before in her entire life! She had witnessed the death of all her own friends in the 30th Century, yet somehow the death of Sailor Mars here in the 20th Century struck home even more heavily! This had to stop! Dark Mercury had officially taken one life too many! Serenity turned and speared Dark Mercury with a gaze that would have nuked all of Tokyo if looks could kill! Her fists curled and tightened to the point where blood oozed between the fingers! Her teeth gritted together, and her breath began to emanate from her mouth in snarls! Her blue eyes literally turned blood red, and her battle aura burst into its Holiest light yet!
Dark Mercury landed. Her eyes gazed back at Serenity unflinchingly. "So at last it comes to it," she growled. "This battle started between the two of us, Neo-Queen Serenity! It's only appropriate that it finish this way!"
"No more, Dark Mercury! NO MORE!!" Serenity's Angelic wings unfolded and grew until they spread over twenty-five feet in each direction! "IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, I WILL SEND YOU BACK TO HELL FROM WHENCE YOU CAME!!!"
Dark Mercury roared and her own Aura flared up to rival that of Sailor Moon's. "THEN LET'S END THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL!! LET'S FINISH WHAT WE STARTED IN CRYSTAL TOKYO, SAILOR MOON!!!"
Without any further hesitation, Neo-Queen Serenity sprang into flight and streaked unflinchingly at Dark Mercury! Both beings screamed out, one in bottomless rage! One in pure, unfettered hatred! With a 'BOOM' that literally shook the world, the two beings clashed in final battle!!
TO BE CONCLUDED.