Konnichi wa, minna. This is a fairly short, but very intense chapter. I hope you find it as powerful as I do. I wrote this whole thing in one sitting. I really hope you like, since it's the final battle scene!
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Manga-moo: Yep, she's going down today. I hope you like it!
karone-sakura: I'm so glad you're lovin it! I'm lovin to write it! Here's the update!
Twin Kats: Yes, I had to end it there. But here's your update so you don't have to sit in utter turmoil a moment longer!!!
Neonlights: You will just have to read and see! . I hope you like this chapter. I really really do. I tried to throw in something about Setsuna in there, so look for it!
omystars: Yay, update!! Go, Usagi, go! Thanks for reviewing!
JadesRose: Wow. I'm utterly floored. You certainly know how to make a writer feel good, so I'll try to return the favor. I read your update, and it rocks of course. You know that. Or do you? IT WAS UTTERLY ASTONISHING! Like the story as a whole. Great job! Thanks for reviewing!
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numbersmfan: Thanks so much! I worked especially hard on Usagi. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for reviewing!
vixen519: As a matter of fact, I do enjoy writing cliffhangers! Not only do they entice the readers to come back, but they entice ME to hurry up and write, cuz I wanna know what happens just as much as you guys do! Thanks for reviewing!
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MissAnnThrophy2600: Oh, don't worry; I'm a sap for happy endings. However, this is not the end! It's only the beginning of another segment! I hope you stick around! In order to have a happy ending, it had to go on longer.
Starlit Warrior: Omg, you are so right. I did need that good luck. The final battles are probably the most fun, most difficult to write, and I'm pretty sensitive to what readers think of this particular chapter. Be kind, lol! Thanks for reviewing!
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Chapter 12: The Final Battle
It took Sailor Moon several precious moments to stagger over the black, dry hills to her comrades. Just as she came over the hill, she stumbled and her knee landed heavily on a sharp rock. A wound on her knee opened and dripped blood down her red boot, and now she was limping. But nothing mattered, nothing mattered but getting to the battle in time, nothing mattered but saving the people she loved the most.
At this point, it wasn't about getting revenge. It was about keeping her friends alive.
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The Senshi, Generals, and Endymion definitely showed the signs of a harsh battering. But their anger at their Princess' capture kept them going; their worry for Usagi kept the attacks coming, but Metallia had boundless power.
The massive evil creature prepared to launch a fatal blow at Endymion. He saw the black energy gathering at her hands, and knew at once that he was going to die without ever again telling Usako how much he loved her.
Then, time seemed to slow down, and it wasn't Pluto's doing, as she was injured, and launching a "Death Scream!" through the air. The massive entity staggered from the ferocity of the attack, then threw her own back with a vengeance.
He saw her. One of her eyes was an ugly black and blue, and swollen viciously shut. Her Senshi fuku was ripped, and soaked with sweat. Blood had soaked through the bandages around her hands, and dripped slowly from a cut on her face. Her blonde hair was tangled, and caked with blood on the back of her head. Then, just as she came over the hill, she fell, and his heart skipped a beat. His throat closed. He could see the pain flash through her eyes, but STILL she pushed herself back to her feet, and continued to run as best she could, dizzy and limping, blood sluggishly pouring from her knee.
Endymion thought she'd never looked more beautiful to his eager eyes. When she got back up from the ground, Sailor Moon stood to her full height and locked eyes with him before running again.
Then, his attention was reclaimed by the deadly blast hurtling towards him as Time resumed its normal speed.
He shut his eyes, and braced himself, his last thought was of the image of a beaten Sailor Moon standing tall, but the blast never came. A slender form, whose body was frightfully cold and clammy, moved in front of him, arms thrown out to either side.
"NOOO!!" Endymion bellowed, heart sinking. However, her body was so small, that in the next second, the mortal blast hit him as well. They both crumbled to the ground, entwined in a still, still embrace.
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Queen Serenity fled the refuge of her palace when she felt her daughter's soul fade away. She saw her precious Serenity and her beloved would-be son- in-law entwined together on the ground in a dead bloody embrace of everlasting love. When the Outer Senshi arrived, they were greeted with the same sight, untouched save a few tears from the Queen.
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"No!" Sailor Venus cried, desperately. "We're just repeating our past lives!"
Mercury confirmed no pulse on either royal, her face utterly white as she saw the injuries Sailor Moon had sustained. The reality didn't settle with her.
"This can't be what we were reborn for!" Uranus shouted to the sky, seemingly unaware of the huge, smirking Metallia.
Blasts continued to rain down on them, but instead of firing back, Saturn cried, "Silence Wall!" and a barrier formed around all of them. Her face slowly turned redder with the effort to sustain it.
"I will not accept this," Sailor Mars snarled at the bodies. "Never." Jadeite grasped her hand tightly, and found that her skin was a fiery hot.
"What can we do, Mars?" Neptune whispered, her face turned away from the couple on the ground.
"We can do what we are meant to do," Kunzite said with authority. "It is our job," he said, motioning to the Generals, "to do anything in order to protect Prince Endymion."
"And it is ours to protect Serenity at all costs," Jupiter affirmed fiercely, nodding.
"So, there is only one option." Nephrite realized.
"We will give all our power to them," Sailor Pluto said. She was the only one able to put it into words. "We will die so they can live. The Prince and Princess will avenge our deaths in this life and the past. They will fight for us, through us. Through them, we will get our revenge."
Zoisite noticed the small Senshi was beginning to struggle. She made no sound, but he could see it in her face. Jadeite followed his gaze, and stepped forward. "There is no time to waste."
The Four Generals gave a quick kiss farewell to the Inner Senshi, and unsheathed their swords and raised them to the sky.
"To Endymion," they said together, as if giving a toast. Suddenly the four of them burst into light, and the light ran through their swords, magnified, then shot through the Silence Wall and into the Prince. Endymion glowed slightly, then the glow faded, as the four Generals collapsed limply to the ground.
The Inner Senshi didn't even blink as they joined the Outers in a circle. Saturn moved the wall to only surround Sailor Moon and Endymion.
"NANI?!"
Metallia had no idea what they were doing. For the first time in her existence, the queen of darkness began to feel something very foreign to her.
Fear.
"To Serenity," the eight of them whispered, holding their henshin pens to the sky. Their bodies glowed their signature color for a moment, then the light shot straight up in a fierce beam, and blended together in a column of white light. The light shot into Sailor Moon's still body. She glowed white for a moment, then it faded, and her Senshi crumbled to the ground.
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Thunder woke Prince Endymion. As he crawled from unconsciousness, he became aware of a slowly warming body in his arms. His eyes shot open, and he jerked from the ground into an upright position.
"Usako!" he whispered urgently, shaking her shoulders very gently.
Her face contorted as the pain hit her. But just as it came, it faded away. Endymion watched amazed as her injuries slowly disappeared before his eyes.
"Oh, Mamoru," she breathed. "My Mamo-chan." She ran a palm down his cheek.
"We're alive," Endymion informed her, helping her to sit up. Both ignored the raging Metallia above them.
"Hai," Serenity whispered. "Demo…" She gestured to the fallen bodies of their protectors.
"You will make their sacrifice worthwhile, Serenity!" Endymion said, a smile gracing his handsome features, as he took both her hands in his. "And I am going to help you."
He unsheathed his sword.
They didn't notice that when Metallia fired blast after blast at him, the sheer power inside them reflected the blasts back at her.
Endymion held his sword out to her, unaware of exactly how much that sword meant to Sailor Moon.
She reached out to touch it, and as her slender finger brushed the blade, she burst into light. When it faded, Sailor Moon was gone, and Princess Serenity stood there instead.
The Dark Kingdom rumbled beneath their feet. Metallia's trembling was causing an earthquake.
"You don't remember anything about after you died?" Serenity inquired softly, looking at the sword.
"Ie," he answered, but softer, he said, "But whatever you did, I can handle it."
Serenity looked up, hot tears pooling in her eyes. "I killed myself with your sword, Endymion. This very blade."
Endymion blocked the gruesome image from suffocating him. He chose to see the positive, the triumph in her death. "Hai, and so you denied Beryl the victory over you. Now, it is your turn to overcome, my love."
Serenity closed her eyes. Her white dress danced in the wind of her own energy. She summoned the Silver Crystal, and called on its full power. That power, combined with the power of her Senshi, inside of her had to get out somehow so it didn't kill her. White, feathered wings pushed from her back painlessly.
She was aglow with power.
"Now, my love, remember back to the Silver Millennium. The night of the attack was the night before our wedding. The Inner Senshi and the Shitennou died that day. Then us. Then your mother. Now, in this life, the Senshi and the Generals are all dead, and we are the only things standing between Metallia and the innocent people of Earth."
Serenity opened her eyes, allowing one brightly shining tear from the eye that had previously been swollen shut. She turned to Metallia, and craned her neck to see the evil one's eyes.
They were filled with anger, wariness, and utter hatred. Metallia was responsible for death of the Senshi and the Shitennou in the past; she'd been the one to brainwash the generals. There wasn't one speck of good in those eyes. Serenity looked closer. Inside the monster of Metallia, somewhere, was Beryl, the single most evil woman Sailor Moon had ever met. The bane of her existence, and her prince's too. Beryl was the reason her Senshi were deathly still on the ground, the reason her kingdom had fallen. There was no good in her either. Serenity found absolutely no reason to spare either of them.
"Come Endymion. We must avenge the Universe."
Serenity withdrew the Crescent Moon Wand. The Silver Crystal now sat in the center of the yellow crescent, pulsing in sync with her birthmark.
The earth trembled beneath their feet, then shot up until they were eye level with Metallia.
Metallia tried to appear arrogant. "SO, CHILD, YOU FINALLY DECIDE TO FIGHT ME?"
Without a word, Serenity gently touched Endymion's elbow. Instantly, he gripped his sword in his hand, raised it high above his head, and then hurled through the air. It landed with deadly accuracy in Metallia's weak point—her forehead.
"AAAAAAAARRRGGGGGHHHHHH!"
As Metallia clawed at her own face, trying to remove the sword, Endymion dropped to his knees, and raised his hands expectantly. Serenity knelt behind him, her arms resting on his shoulders, her hands tight around the Moon Wand. He wrapped his own hands around her tiny ones, careful of the bandages. A tear fell from his eyes as the blood of his princess soaked through the bandages and stained his hands. He gripped her fingers tightly, steadying her, pouring his strength into her.
Serenity spoke softly, but Metallia could hear her clearly. Her voice echoed around the desert around them.
"You cannot be forgiven for what you have done, Metallia. Neither can you, Beryl. Now, in the name of the people of the past, present, and future, my Senshi, my Shitennou, and my Prince, and in the name of the Crown of the White Moon, I, Princess Serenity, avenge all the lives you ruined!"
With this, power surged from her hands, through the Moon Wand, magnified as it passed through Endymion's hands, and then the Silver Crystal.
The concentrated beam shot through the air and into Metallia's now exposed forehead. She roared as the pure power continued to shoot through her weak spot until Serenity had nothing left.
Metallia's howl of defeat echoed across her barren land, and she slowly shrunk back to normal size, then she exploded into dust. Wind blew the dust away.
However, neither the Prince nor the Princess was conscious to see the final victory. They'd fallen forward from the raised land they were on, and plummeted, wrapped in each other's arms, to the ground below.
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When Serenity opened her eyes, she crawled to her feet, and on the black ground before her, was her own body, still wrapped up in Endymion's strong arms, stiff with death.
"Well done, my darling daughter."
Serenity turned slowly, and smiled into her mother's eyes. "Did we succeed?" she asked.
"Yes, Serenity. The Silver Millennium has been avenged, thanks to you. The Universe is safe again."
Serenity looked down at her own body and that of her Prince, then swept her eyes over her fallen comrades.
"They sacrificed everything for me. All of them."
Queen Serenity took her daughter's hands in her own. The injury on them was gone.
"Yes, just as I did. Serenity, you are the hope of the Universe. Never forget who you are, and always be proud of your crown. And," she gestured to the sprawled individuals on the barren ground, "always stand by your friends. Always protect them, just as they protect you. Love them more than you love yourself. And you must always love yourself."
The Princess absorbed this advice from her mother, and permanently saved it in her memory.
"Aishiteru, Mother. But what happens now?"
The Queen gave a final smile as she began to fade away. "That, my dear, is entirely up to you."
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Sailor Moon forced her good eye open. The other was again swollen shut. She had no energy to fuel her muscles, no power left. It took all her raw will power just to keep that one eye open.
She sensed the constant presence of the Silver Crystal within her. It seemed to ask a question of her.
"I choose them. I choose for them to live," she whispered, her voice hoarse. She looked at Mamoru's face, peaceful with what appeared to be a tranquil sleep. "I wish that my friends and my love could have the chance to live normally again. Minna, aishiteru." Then, her bright blue eye closed, and her breathing stilled.
But the white power of the Silver Crystal slowly rose from her body, and filled the darkness around them with light. The mass of power and energy slowly left her body and dissolved into that of her friends, and then, they all disappeared.
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Pluto leaned heavily on her staff, as she walked slowly back to the Time Gate.
"Who goes there?" came a familiar voice.
"It's me again, your majesty," Pluto said fondly. "I'm back. Thanks for watching the gate."
"It was nothing, Setsuna. There was no trouble here, so I guess everything went well? And how many times have I told you not to call me that?"
Sailor Pluto resumed her place at the gate, Garnet Staff at her side. She opened it so her companion could go home.
"Yes, all went well. You continue to amaze me then, just as you do now. And, you've told me plenty of times, your grace. I just refuse." Pluto replied with a smile.
"Well, I'll get you yet." The elegant woman said mischievously. "Take care, Setsuna."
"Arigatou, Neo-Queen Serenity."
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Life continued as usual on earth. Almost.
Haruka and Michiru continued their lives, their memories of the past several days erased. They picked up their lives as if Beryl had never been.
Hotaru's memories were completely wiped clean. It was not yet her time to awaken.
The Shitennou began new lives with new names. Their memories of the past were erased, and new ones were given to them for the time being. They lived in Darien's building, and were freshmen in college, in several of his classes. They would pass each other in the hall, lock eyes, feel a little de ja vu, then move on.
Rei continued running the temple with her grandfather, all her memories of being a Senshi in the past and present, gone.
Ami continued to wow her teachers with her intellect, but she sensed that something was missing from her life.
Minako's memories of being both Sailor V and Sailor Venus were erased. She began anew, a normal school girl, as Setsuna said, who enjoyed volleyball and shopping.
Makoto's memories were also gone. She lived alone in a tidy apartment, fixed her own gourmet meals, and her fellow students continued to be wary of her.
Mamoru re-entered his life utterly depressed and apathetic, aware that he had lost something precious, but his memories were gone, so he had no idea what it was.
Usagi never returned home. Her family expected her to come home from school, just as normal, and when she was a little late, they didn't think a thing about it. Until they got the call, that is.
That day, Mamoru was drawn to the park for some reason, and stumbled upon a near-dead, beautiful, young woman with two vicious head injuries, a horrible black eye, bloodied wrists, and a damaged knee. Strangely, her school uniform was completely intact, not dirty or damaged at all. But he didn't linger on that fact.
"Oh, Kami-sama!" he whispered, yanking the cell phone from his pocket with one hand and reaching for her wrist carefully with another. When he touched her, an unmistakable warmth flowed from her into him. He sucked in a breath, trying to calm his beating heart. A very faint pulse tapped against his fingers. He breathed a prayer of thanks for that.
"Hai, 911?! I'm in the city park of Tokyo, near the east side of the lake, across from the east gate. I just found a young woman who appears to have been mugged or something! She's losing a lot of blood, and she's got a serious head wound, a definite concussion, and possibly a cracked kneecap! Just get here quick! I'm a pre-med student… yes, I can monitor for her until you get here, but for Kami's sake, hurry!"
She began to stir. He took her hand as gently as possible and whispered into her ear. "It's going to be okay, miss. I'm here, and the ambulance is on its way."
Her eyes fluttered open. They were strikingly blue and bright, despite her condition.
"Ma… Mamoru?" she choked out, dazed.
He blinked, surprised. "Do I know you, miss?"
He didn't receive an answer; she'd slid back into darkness.
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Whoa! Obviously, as you guys can guess, I've chosen to continue this through Ail and Ann. Yeah. The goal of the story is for Mamoru and Usagi to get together. They haven't been able to really, so far, so I couldn't end it! Well, this is going to be pretty different from the Ail and Ann series we all know, but I think you all will like it! This chapter was pretty short, but hopefully powerful.
I love reviews. I giggle when I get them. They make me happy.
Until our next meeting.
-rosa lunae