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Chapter 11
Clark stood in determination looking at the giant crystal tower that he and Keiko had been so quickly shot back from earlier.
Keiko shook her head and sat down. After hours of trying to get past the force field, she looked defeated.
"There's no way..." she said, burying her head in her hands.
Clark looked down at her. "There has to be a way." He said.
She was still holding the quickly dulling star seed of Usagi. Keiko looked at it forlornly, cursing the existence of her bracelets, and questioning her purpose. Clark put his hand on her shoulder.
"You know, I don't know much about this, but I have a hunch that her star seed may help bypass the force field. After all, she can't reject her own star seed." He supposed.
Keiko looked at him. If Clark had known her from her battle during the Sailor Wars, he would've seen the hardness return to her eyes, from witnessing and causing more deaths than one should have. She shook her head, as if in doubt.
"She said that if her crystal goes, her star seed goes. They are connected. I don't think you can have one without the other." Clark continued.
"She's dying. Her soul is dying." Keiko murmured. "Yet she is still so powerful. I can't help but wonder if her star seed is somehow being replaced; if she is being rewritten. Once that happens..."
Clark grabbed the star seed out of Keiko's hands.
"You may want to sit and let everything end, but I'm not willing to lose the one and only sister I never knew I had." He said in frustration, and ran again toward the force field.
The force again surprised him, but it didn't hurt him. This time he was prepared for it and he stood pushing back against it. He didn't know if he'd make it through but he was damn well going to try.
Keiko was left looking on. There was nothing she could do. The first thing she thought of was "how." How could she have taken so many star seeds before yet still be traumatized by taking one that was absolutely necessary? She looked up at Clark. He was struggling.
"I have to help him." She thought, "no matter how little hope I have."
With that she raised her bracelets to shoot energy at the force field. It began to give way, and Clark's hand with the star seed began to go through. Little by little, he began to bypass the force field and enter its confines, until finally they both were standing on opposite sides to each other. He gave a little nod and headed toward to opening in the crystal tower. She saw a blur and then he was gone. She was all alone.
No, not alone. There were footsteps in the distance. They came closer, until Mamoru entered with haste, holding a black box. He looked at her, but her eyes said it all. He nodded as if to confirm her hidden statement. He asked about Clark, and Keiko told him that Clark was inside the tower, trying to save Usagi.
"I have to get inside." He said.
"How will you do that? I can't get inside. Clark only made it in because he has her star seed." Keiko inquired.
"I will. Usako is still in there somewhere and she will let me through."
"I have to do something! I can't get through, and everyone inside the caves is frozen."
"Chaos is inside those caves, Keiko. It's your duty to take care of it. Go and help the inner senshi. I know you can."
"The cave closed after they entered."
Mamoru's face turned to one of warmth and comfort.
"I have confidence that you can find a way to open it again. You are the strongest Sailor Senshi in the galaxy, ne?" He asked jokingly.
She smiled and turned away. "I learned the difference of that long ago. But thank you Mamoru-san, for believing in me."
He nodded. "I have to go now. Usagi's life may depend on it."
She nodded back and both headed in their respective directions.
Clark was running through corridors upon corridors of infinite hallways. It was a nasty maze, and every time he tried to use his x-ray vision to look through the walls and find a way, it made him even more disoriented. He knew Usagi was above him, but other than that, he hadn't the slightest clue of where to go.
Suddenly, a slight flash went through the entire hallway Clark was in, and he couldn't help but wonder if it had anything to do with the force field. He hoped Keiko was alright out there.
He heard a soft noise and quickly turned around. He noted that the hallway he was in had changed behind him, as if the rooms and corridors were moving. In the back of his mind he could remember watching a movie about the fourth dimension with Chloe, called "The Cube." He wished he had paid more attention to it right about now. Then maybe he wouldn't be living it. Well, not for long anyway. Since both directions now led to new places, he picked the door behind him and walked through it.
Inside, the hallways finally came to an end, but he was in a garden, with waterfalls and springs and beautiful pale plants. He walked up to a rather large fountain and suddenly he was standing in the middle of a large body of water, stretching for miles. The garden had simply vanished. With a splash he fell into the water. He began to tread water and decided he would head North of where he was. After swimming for about a kilometer the sea, lake, whatever it was came to an abrupt end, to which he was faced with a sign.
"Mare Serenitatis." He read aloud. "Where have I heard that before?"
He dragged himself out of the water and looked around. He looked up. The sky....didn't exist. All that showed were a vast amount of stars and comets. In front of him a giant palace came into view. A gold crescent moon glittered at the top of its highest tower. Clark walked up the pathway to the doors. Faded images of people began to appear. He ignored them until one looking like a young version of Usagi appeared. She was giggling and laughing.
"Daddy's going on a trip tomorrow." She said to her friends.
She then became solid and looked curiously at him, reaching out to him. He reached out to grasp her hand and she faded into a wisp of white smoke, billowing over the heavens, her laughter echoing throughout the dead kingdom.
"What is this?" He thought.
The image faded away and the room came back into view. It was just a room, a white room, with one door, and that door was closing.
"Crap!" Clark exclaimed, and made a mad dash to the door, just getting there in time before it closed.
Now he was in a really weird space, with nothing but blackness around.
"Where the hell am I now?" he wondered.
He heard someone scream, "Seiya!" and turned to see who bore the foreign name. Three girls dressed in black leather stood – no – knelt together on the floor. They looked drained and weak. One of them was looking up.
A blast of light came right at him and hit him backwards. He recognized it. It was the same energy Keiko used to attack.
"Keiko?" he asked.
A figure in gold spoke.
"Who are you, and how do you know my true name? Speak now." The golden figure demanded.
Clark stood up and glared in shock at the golden ensemble on the woman. He looked around and several more darkened shadows came to life, four of which very closely resembled Rei, Ami, Mako, and Mina, and who were fighting – Usagi?
"Usagi?" he asked.
She looked at him confusedly.
"Have we met?" she asked lightly.
Out of nowhere, the whole scene fast forwarded and slowed. The golden woman now shot a light at Usagi, whom it hit and she fell.
"God, what is this?" He yelled, to no one in particular.
The figures suddenly drifted out of existence, and he was left in another white room, which had no closing doors at all. The background again faded to black and Clark looked up, only to see a girl holding a glaive whisper and drop it. The world began to spiral to death.
By now, Clark realized that this was all an illusion. He just had to find the door.
He walked up to the forlorn soldier. Without saying a word, she pointed up.
"Of course! It's in the ceiling!" Clark said, and when he turned to thank the girl she had disappeared.
A young girl was in her place. The small pink haired girl sat crying next to a man. He heard her mumble something unintelligible, and he supposed it was the man's name. A hand grasped his shoulder and turned him around. Four girls with strange hair done up in braids looked at him. They parted to let one woman come through: one woman who looked the same as Usagi.
"You're not supposed to be here." She said, and began to choke him.
Clark fought back, and again, all of the images around him disappeared. He was now in a normal room with crystal around, and using his x-ray vision again, he realized he was a level up from where he had been.
He finally released himself from the chokehold and noticed that it was in fact Usagi that had held him there. She began to run and before he could catch her she vanished.
"Damnit!" he yelled. "Every time I get close to helping her, she disappears."
Keiko walked through the maze of the caves. She figured Chaos must have been extremely overconfident or at least wanted revenge, because she hadn't needed to do anything for the cave to let her in. Of course, the inners were a lot farther ahead than she was, but she would just have to try and find them.
Carmen stood waiting for Ami, Rei, Mako and Mina to arrive. She knew that they were coming; she could feel their strength nearing. Chloe sat, unconscious in a corner, helpless as a newborn.
Suddenly voices broke the silence. She greeted them with a shot of pure energy, sending them flying backwards before they even made it into the area.
"You're gonna pay for that!" Rei yelled, pissed.
White energy began to grow around her and a gigantic fireball appeared in front of her, engulfing her in it. It took the shape of a phoenix around Rei, allowing her to fly, and Rei repeatedly shot balls upon balls of fire Carmen's way.
Carmen tried to counter but failed, and it knocked her back, demolishing the wall behind her.
When Rei landed, the phoenix disappeared.
"Wow, I guess Jor-el really did help us didn't he?" Rei beamed.
Mako took the opening. Since Carmen was down, they needed to hit her with everything they had.
White energy lined Mako and immediately a sand storm began, knocking Carmen around, while blinding her and scratching her.
Ami and Mina ran to Chloe, trying to shake her awake, but it was no use. Whatever Carmen had given her worked well.
The sandstorm was still blowing, but somehow Carmen regained her strength. She threw bands of purple energy at Mako and Rei, encasing them. The sand storm stopped. She then drew the bands back into her and shot Rei and Mako's weaker attacks back at them.
This time Ami stood up and due to Jor-el's energy she froze the entire area in ice, making sure to spare her friends, slowing down Carmen at least for a minute.
Chloe began to come to, and about the same time, Keiko arrived.
Carmen broke out of the ice shell and before she could do anything Mina caused a mini supernova to occur.
It slowed Carmen a lot.
"Even – huff – with – huff – Jor-el's power, you can't kill me. Don't you realize that?" Carmen breathed.
Suddenly she began to scream, clutching her chest.
"Please, don't kill me! Please don't kill me! We had a deal!" Carmen begged.
"You've served your use." A voice said.
A black energy separated from Carmen, causing her agony. She fell forward with a thump. The black energy dissipated, moving to another area of the caves.
Chloe ran over to Carmen.
"Don't...heal...me." Carmen said. "I don't deserve...to be...healed. I'm...a...failure."
Chloe ran her hand through Carmen's hair. "No you're not." She said. "You just need to realize that there are people who care about you. I never meant to take your place – never. I was...lonely too."
Carmen smiled for the first time since they had seen her. "You're kind Chloe. You shouldn't be. Not to someone like me."
"I'm not usually." Chloe said, her spunk kicking in. "But you can live and have another chance."
"No. I'm ...ready to die. I had a...chance...and I wasted it. Just...don't waste...your life...as I've wasted mine. And Chlo?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't bring me back."
Chloe looked conflicted for a minute. Carmen looked at her with hope.
"No. I promise."
Carmen smiled her last smile, and died in Chloe's arms.
And it gets good! LoL. The grand fight continues next chapter!
