AN: ::looks fearfully into a crowd of angry reviewers:: Well... ah... this chapter's out more than 2 months early compared to the last one... ::imitates Roshi-sensei nervous laugh:: Hehe.
Yeah, I know, that's no excuse, and I'm SO SORRY I kept you all waiting so long. But a big thank you to Mystical Jade who helped me out with the saga and BETAed for me. Domo arigato!!! Review responses are at the bottom.
This chap picks up right where the last left off (Cosmos took off to fight Buu but discovered she'd have to use her fists, and Krillin and Piccy bombarded Kaioushin with questions). Enjoy!
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"She is the princess of a dead race," said Krillin, disbelieving, "who has become the Sailor Cosmos, guardian of the universe, and must forever fight against evil? Sounds like one tough life."
"It is," said Kaioushin-sama with a sigh. "She isolates herself to a degree that would be torture to a common human. And with her only remaining purpose in life to destroy, she has become feared by those she protects, naming her the Shi no Tenshi. If I am right, it is this name that she usually uses herself, finding it most fitting for who she has become."
"The Shi no Tenshi?" said Krillin with surprise bordering on fear. "The Angel of Death? Are you... are you sure she's on our side then?"
"No need to fear, Krillin," assured Kaioushin. "She may destroy, but she destroys to rid the world of evil. Kind of like the purpose of the Z Senshi."
"But then... what *is* her name?" asked Krillin questioningly. "I mean, surely she had a name before 'Sailor Cosmos'."
Kaioushin frowned. "Yes, she was Serenity-hime long ago, but she seems to take offense to that name. I cannot understand why. When she was reborn, she surely had a mortal name as well, but that name has been lost to history. The sailor senshi were renowned, but their true identities were never known. The only way to discover her true name is to ask her herself, I suppose."
Krillin shuddered at the thought. "What, and have her blast my head off just for asking? Nah, I'll stay oblivious, thanks."
Piccolo was looking away to the distance. "Her ki..." he murmured turning quickly to face the Supreme Kai and Krillin. "Her ki, where is it?!"
Suddenly all three were facing the direction she had gone, trying desperately to sense the ki of the strange Sailor Cosmos. "I feel Buu's, of course," muttered Krillin with frustration, "and there seems to be something happening to him cause it keeps fluctuating. But where is she?!"
"We've got to go!" said Kaioushin suddenly. "She's probably never faced an opponent like Majin Buu before and won't know what to expect. Besides, she already healed myself and Vegeta as well as destroying Babidi, and I'm not sure how much more she can take."
"G-go to M-Majin Buu?" shuddered Krillin.
"Yes!" said Kaioushin launching into the air with Piccolo right behind him. With one last look at the unconscious bodies of Vegeta, Trunks, and Goten, Krillin reluctantly took off after them.
~o~o~o~o~
'Is this death?' thought Cosmos as she tasted the sweetness of blood in her mouth. She had tried attacking Majin Buu using her fists, but she knew she wouldn't be able to go on long. She had no energy left now. Buu was tossing her around as if she was nothing more than a rag doll, and he was becoming increasingly bored. 'How much longer will this go on?' she wondered as she hit the ground and tasted dirt once more. She didn't even have the energy to stand up this time. 'How much longer until I'll see my dear senshi again, or at least be able to watch over them?'
Her body was black and blue with numerous open wounds on her face, arms, legs, back, and chest. She could not see any more. The extreme loss of blood and energy took its toll as she succumbed to the wonderful silent darkness...
She did not feel as Buu slammed her body into a cliff. Nor as he became angered and blasted the cliff so that the rocks collapsed on top of her. Nor as he stormed off, in a fit of rage, to demolish an entire city and eat thousands of chocolate bars...
~o~o~o~o~
Krillin, for one, felt relieved when he felt Majin Buu's ki moving away from them, especially now that they were so close. But Kaioushin-sama was very concerned that this signaled the end of the battle and it's victor's departure. Increasing his speed, he sped down to the cluster of cliffs where he sensed the battle had taken place.
Circling the area and seeing no one, he quickly spotted the collapsed cliff and headed for it. "There!" he cried as he flew down and desperately began throwing rocks aside. Piccolo and Krillin joined him on either side, but the more boulders they threw aside, the more seemed to slide down and take their place.
Piccolo gave up and began blasting the boulders on the top of the pile. "No!!!" cried Kaioushin. "You'll cause another rock slide!"
"We're careful," said Krillin as he, too, gave up and started blasting boulders. After several more minutes of hopelessly tossing rocks aside, the Supreme Kai gave up and did the same.
"Are we even sure she's under this mess?" asked Krillin as the pile became slowly smaller as the boulders exploded.
"No," admitted Kaioushin, "but it's the best bet we've got. Buu's energy is lower so they're not still fighting, and I highly doubt that they unanimously agreed to end the battle and simply walked away from each other. We can't be sure without having a ki to sense, but have you got any better ideas."
"Nope," admitted Krillin as he blasted another cluster of boulders.
~o~o~o~o~
An hour or more later, they were nearing the ground level. They could no longer blast the boulders away for fear of destroying her body. The trio flew among the rocks and threw them aside, trying to find the person below it all.
At last, Krillin glimpsed a bit of silver hair. They pushed the rocks out of the way to find that by some miracle of fate, she had been spared from the worst of the rockslide. Two boulders leaned against each other, forming a triangle shape that supported the weight of the boulders above and prevented her body from crushing. Her body lay between the two great rocks- bruised and battered, but breathing... barely.
"We've got to get her to Dende!" cried Piccolo.
"Listen," ordered Kaioushin-sama, "I'm the fastest flyer. [AN: Dunno if that is true but oh well.] You two go back and get Vegeta, Trunks, and Goten and see if you can find Gohan or Goku. I'll take Cosmos to the Lookout." With a nod, the three took off in opposite directions.
~o~o~o~o~
Darkness. Wonderful silent soothing darkness. No one can hurt you in the darkness. Not when you're all alone in the darkness...
Then... Light! The bright light slicing into the dark world. The intruder, ruining the perfect solitude.
Movement. She was moving. Someone was lifting her, moving her from her wonderful silent solitude. No! So close! She was so close to remaining in darkness forever and now they were moving her from it. But she had no strength to retaliate. She slipped fully into the darkness once more...
... Then once more. The Light. The Sound. The Laughter. Something soft, instead of her firm bed from before. Cushions. Where was she? Slowly she opened her eyes.
Everything was hazy. It seemed to be a small round room somewhere. She was in a bed with many pillows. It was too soft and very uncomfortable, unlike the wonderful rocky bed of her solitude.
The room swam in front of her eyes. Laughter again. Two figures ran by. One seemed to have purple hair and the other... familiar dark hair at odd angles. Darkness was overtaking her again. Why was he familiar? But before it could claim her fully, she realized who had just ran by, she recognized his voice. "Goku..." she whispered. Then everything went black.
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AN: It's true that Cosmos is supposed to be the powerful guardian of the universe, but have you any idea how large the universe is? One person couldn't do it all, and Frieza was the strongest opponent she had previously come against (and we all know how Buu compares to Frieza...) It's possible that she could have destroyed Buu if she had been at full power and pushed to her ultimate potential, but she was weak and drained of a lot of energy. Her body has never been so drained before, and it will take awhile until she fully recovers (thus the passing in and out of consciousness). Hope that makes some sense.
And now, Review Responses!
Lady Firefly- ^_^" Yeah, the weird Lunarian stuff is based loosely on the Grey Company Elvish. I admit I was writing that part of the chapter when I was making myself memorize the pronouns... but really, besides those pronouns, the 'Lunarian' is just gibberish. And maybe I'll see if we could bring in Mirai sometime in the future... ;D
Neo-Cystal- ::cowers:: Well, I'm trying to be faithful to the saga, but... ah... there was a chibi Goku in this chap! Does that count? ^_^" Don't worry, he'll show up soon enough (as in, next time... ::wink::)
sayin_girl- Thank you very much!! And don't worry, this story isn't abandoned. I know basically what is going to happen, but I'm having some problems getting that together and down on paper, you know what I mean? Hopefully next time I can get it out sooner. ^_^"
Katlin Grace- ::is flattered:: I'm glad you liked that last chap so much, especially since it took me so long to write (it's a curse to get writer's block in the middle of a chapter!). And as for Goku... well, we all know he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, though we love him dearly. It might take him awhile to make the connection, but... ::winks, but can't say more::
Erika- Well actually Goten does look familiar... there were subtle hints last time, but she never really got a good look at him. As you shall see, it will take awhile before she stops calling Goten "Goku". ^_^'
Christine- 'Shi no Tenshi' means the 'Angel of Death'. Thanks!
Thanks also to:
shadow star
erika
CTMW
sailorball
angel
Usagi Asia Maxwell
DaughterofDeath
Anthony
Sailor Bree
Dark Topaz
MarsMoonStar
cecilia
Katrina
seishi
Mizz Dustkeeper
AnimePrincess
Domo arigato minna-chan! Next time (which should be out even sooner!) she meets the Z gang. Thank you for reading and please review. Ja!
~Calli-chan