Chapter 2: Time is a Terrible Thing to Waste
Gohan's fiery statement seemed to jar the group, perhaps a few of them not expecting the young Saiyan hybrid to take such a fierce stance on the crisis, but he didn't care, not in the least bit. As much as he wanted to stay, basking in the peace, Gohan just couldn't turn down Serenity's offer - he wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he did, especially after saving Earth from evil on more than one occasion. After a few moments of silence, the one to step forward first was Tenshinhan, who had a proud, approving smirk.
"Brave words," he nodded. "I've heard some like them before...from the mouth of your father."
Everyone proudly beamed at that remark, especially Gohan, who didn't even realize until now of how much like his father he had become over the past battles.
"But the kid's right," Tenshinhan continued, turning his attention toward the rest of the crowd. "No matter what era or what form the Earth may be in, evil can't be allowed to consume it and its people. And if it means my life, I'm going to protect that kingdom!"
A large grin spread over Chaozu's face as he leapt up onto his best friend's shoulder. "Well, if you're going, Ten, than I'm going, too!"
Krillin and Yamcha stepped forward as well, each looking eager and enthusiastic about Serenity's request as well.
"Count us in, too!" Krillin announced. "We didn't just save this planet from the Saiyans and Garlic Junior just to let it be destroyed by these freaks!"
"Exactly!" Yamcha agreed. "Besides, we can't leave those lovely princesses--"
An icy glare from Bulma stopped the cocky fighter dead in his tracks. In fact, if looks could've killed, Yamcha would've been six feet under the ground, bits and pieces of his body parts packed in very small boxes. Seeing that he'd stuck his foot in his mouth yet again, Yamcha backed down, his face turning bright red and random babble spluttering out of his mouth as he struggled to correct himself.
"Er, I uh, mean uh, I mean the kingdom!!" He stammered. Finally, as Bulma's soul-piercing glower died off, he managed to compose himself and speak seriously. "Yeah, how could we live with ourselves if we let that kingdom be destroyed? And after a distress call like that..."
"Indeed," Piccolo's steel voice agreed. All enthusiasm vanished as everyone turned to face the Namek warrior, who still had his usual stone mask gaze infused on his face, seemingly not affected by the forlorn plea from Serenity.
Gohan walked over to his mentor. Not even he could read past the rigid mask of Piccolo's emotions, but he knew what the others were thinking. They didn't know Piccolo like he did, and they were all disputing in their minds as to whether the Namek even cared about the future of their planet, let alone whether or not he would go forward in time with them to save the endangered kingdom. It would be up to him to clear the air.
"Mister Piccolo...?" He looked at his old master with an inquiring but hopeful look.
For a moment, he didn't do anything, but then Piccolo looked down at Gohan and gave him a response.
"I know what you're thinking, kid," he began. "And granted, this kingdom and its inhabitants have nothing to do with us, and the fact that you're rushing off to help them is a bit rash."
That didn't sound good. Gohan's eyes began widen, the thought of his respected teacher ignoring a request for help crushing even the young Saiyan's respect for Piccolo.
"But on the other hand," he continued, stopping Gohan's assumptions and turning the child's wide-eyed look of shock into a pleasant smile as he knew what was coming. "I don't need any reason to kill anybody who is destroying my home planet. I've already witnessed one of my home worlds being obliterated and its entire people slaughtered. Anybody else who would dream of causing this world to suffer the same fate...I will send them to hell personally!"
It wasn't quite the response Gohan was looking for, but it had to do if Piccolo was to join them in their rescue mission. Gohan knew that - despite his honor and love for battle - Piccolo certainly wasn't in the habit of helping the innocent - at least not strangers.
Perhaps I can teach him something for once while we're fighting...Gohan made sure to keep that in mind.
"Well, now that everybody's squared away on who's going to help Serenity," Krillin interrupted, trying to cut off the serious air cast over the crowd by Piccolo. "We'd better get to the Kami's sanctuary. Serenity told us that he knows some way about traveling through time."
"Good call, Krillin," Yamcha nodded. "But should we bring the probe and replay the message for him? He'll want to know what's going on with this kingdom."
"I don't think that will be necessary," Piccolo shook his head. "If anything, Kami will be the one telling us more about NeoQueen Serenity and her history."
"How do you know that, Piccolo?" A puzzled Gohan asked.
"I know the old one better than anybody," Piccolo answered. "As guardian of this planet, I'm sure that communication beyond our time era isn't out of his grasp. I'm sure he's already expecting us with questions about this distress call. I suggest we hurry before it's too late."
"Agreed," Tenshinhan concurred. He looked over at his small confidant, who was looking equally as focused as he was. "Come on, Chaozu, let's go!"
Chaozu nodded, and both he and Tenshinhan powered up and took to the sky, vanishing over the horizon in a trail of bright light.
"The rest of you go ahead," Krillin said as he began flying off. "I'm going to Karin's tower and see if I can grab some senzu beans. If this trip's going to be this dangerous, we may need all that we can get."
As Krillin took off into the sky on route to Karin's tower, Bulma took Yamcha aside, pulling him close with sad, worried eyes.
"You just can't stay away from a fight for a minute, can you?"
Yamcha smiled warmly, trying to sooth her doubts. "Don't worry, Bulma, I promise you that I'll come back alive in one piece to you, you have my word."
The tactic seemed to work as Bulma returned the gesture. "You'd better," she said. Suddenly, her hand clutched Yamcha's throat, forcing him to gasp for air. "And you'd also better watch how you act around those princesses...or else!!"
Yamcha gave her a large goofy grin of innocence as her tight grip loosened. "I will. And tell Puar where I've gone and tell her not to worry about me,"
"Okay, even though I know she will. Good luck, Yamcha," she hugged him tightly for a minute before allowing him to take off to Kami's sanctuary.
Seeing Bulma shed one tear of uneasiness and anxiety as she watched Yamcha streak off through the sky reminded Gohan of one more important matter to take care of. He looked over and saw his mother standing near the probe, oddly silent and distant during the whole message and everyone's planning.
"Mom..." he quietly murmured, trying to be as gentle as possible. Chichi turned her eyes toward him as he spoke. "This journey is--"
"Go, Gohan," she suddenly interrupted.
Gohan knew his face had a bewildered look because his mother continued. "My little Gohan, after everything you've been through, I know that even if I try to stop you, you'll just run off anyway. Tenshinhan is right, you're becoming more like that father of yours everyday, helping an entire race that you don't even know against overwhelming odds..." She trailed off, tears beginning to leak out of her eyes.
"Mom..."
"Gohan, my child, I understand that it may be too late for to change from what your father has taught you. I know that I can't keep you held back forever while the others fight...but promise me...that once this is all over, you'll get right back on top of your schoolwork! Do you promise me, Gohan??"
Gohan nodded brightly, hugging his mother. "I promise!"
"How touching," A cold sarcastic voice from nearby shattered the moment, and Gohan froze as he recognized it. "I'm disappointed in you, brat. You, a child with Saiyan blood, submitting to a frail emotion like love! You sicken me."
Gohan's teeth and fists clenched and he turned to see an all-too-familiar face leaning casually against the oak tree, an icy glare from his heartless eyes nearly piercing Gohan's heart.
"What do you want, Vegeta?!" Gohan growled, taking up a fighting stance.
"Calm down, brat," the smug prince scoffed. "I have no interest in killing you at the moment. In fact, I'm more interested in that distress call that you and your friends just received!"
Gohan gasped, suddenly fearing how an opportunistic killer like Vegeta would take advantage of Serenity and her people in their weakened state.
"I-It's...none of your business...!" Gohan stammered.
"Ha, ha, I believe it is every bit of my business, brat," he laughed with his usual sinister tone. "You see, as I plan to become immortal and control this universe someday, I can't have any resistance to my power. These aliens can't be around to oppose me, and if I can raise my strength enough by killing them in the future, I can easily hunt them down and wipe them out in this time. And as much as you're repulsed by it, you'll be helping me accomplish this task!"
"Why, you...!" Gohan stepped forward in the direction of the cocky Saiyan until Piccolo's large green-scaled hand touched his shoulder. Gohan stopped his advance and looked up to see that Piccolo's stone gaze was bearing into Vegeta, their energies beginning to clash like lightning during the stare down.
"Mister Piccolo?" Gohan said.
"Relax, Gohan," the Namek replied, not taking his eyes off of Vegeta for one second. "His enemies are our enemies. If he wants to be rid of these aliens, he has to fight with us. Besides, we don't know how powerful or how large the alien force is, but if it's strong enough to decimate Serenity's soldiers, then we may need all the help we can get."
"But what about the queen?" Gohan reminded him. "If their army's weak, what's to stop him from killing her and conquering the kingdom for himself?!"
"He won't, trust me," Piccolo smirked. "If he stays in that era for the rest of time, then he'll never get to settle the score with Goku."
"Huh," Vegeta spat in disgust. "You Namek trash are more perceptive than you appear. Just stay out of my way when I begin blasting that alien scum to pieces, or I may 'accidentally' kill you, too. Things have changed quite a bit since Namek, in case you haven't realized it. Now where's the place that we should be meeting so we can figure out how to get to the future?"
"Follow me," Piccolo said flatly. Turning around, he sprang up into the air and burst into flight with Vegeta taking off and following close behind.
"Good-bye, mom! Take care, Bulma!" He gave each a tender smile as he launched himself into the air.
He took one last look at his concerned mother before speeding off in pursuit of Piccolo and Vegeta.
Don't worry, mom, I'll be back soon. And I'll make you proud of me, I swear!
* * *
"World...Shaking!!"
The golden orb of light ripped through the rocky terrain like a hot knife through butter, slamming the final armored commando square in the chest. The powerful energy surge propelled the unfortunate grunt back into the thick mountain wall with an ear-ringing crash that sent mounds of dirt and rock hurtling into the air. When the dust settled, a heap of rubble and debris had buried the enemy soldier. Though he might've been barely alive underneath the rocks, he would no longer pose any threat.
Sailor Uranus brushed some blood away from a small cut in her forehead, courtesy of one of the soldier's energy beams. As far as she could tell, all of the enemies were dead, a welcome victory in such bleak times. Ever since the abduction of the queen, Uranus had become more infuriated than she had ever been, and it had increased her fighting spirit over twenty fold. It was partially because of the sheer hopelessness of the current situation, but it was also due to the fact that she blamed herself for the queen's kidnapping, as had her comrades. Even her greatest efforts couldn't hold back the onslaught of attackers that had crashed through the palace defenses. It made Uranus's blood boil as she recalled parts of the battle. Her attacks barely affected the soldiers, who were laughing at their every effort to protect their queen.
She'd been in the courtyards trying - without much success - to fend off several groups of enemies when she received word that the queen had been taken. The mere words had been enough to enrage Uranus to the point of explosion. The fact that the enemies had retreated shortly after the abduction didn't help matters either - she hadn't gotten the chance to make the attackers pay the price for their actions.
But I'll make up for the loss...and pay them back one hundred times over!
Fortunately, a little alien hunting in the Golgorand Highlands outside the city had let Uranus vent some of her frustration temporarily - that was the third squad of troopers that they had beaten in the last hour. The only painstaking note to it all was the rising fatigue that was beginning to overwhelm even her body. The various cuts and bruises on her body were starting to ache as the adrenaline of battle wore off. There had been ten commandos in the last patrol, bringing the total body count for the day up to thirty-four. However, even with the element of surprise seemingly in their favor during all three encounters, the armored assassins had seemed to know exactly where they were and when they were going to attack, something that Uranus couldn't even fathom.
Thanks to that, the soldiers in every contingent had put up a good fight, each group stronger than the last. Their skill in basic martial arts as well as their energy attacks had left more than one mark on Uranus's body during the fighting. Some of her skin that had been burnt by the beams were still spewing small wisps of smoke.
Which reminds me...
She dropped down from the plateau onto a lower level of the mountain, where she saw that her two companions had felled their own share of soldiers. She staggered over to the one with sea-green hair, who was looking a tad on the exhausted side.
"Are you okay?" Uranus asked with obvious worry.
"Yeah, just a bit worn out," Sailor Neptune lifted her head to face Uranus. The water soldier's normally gorgeous face was caked in dirt and some trails of blood. Of course it didn't matter to Uranus how bad of shape Neptune was in - she always seemed beautiful to her. As long as Neptune was alive, Uranus could fight without too much worry. Before she could clean some of the blood off of Neptune's face, she found her beloved comrade doing the same to her. Uranus smiled warmly in appreciation. Michiru was always good at lifting her spirits, even during the darkest times.
"They were tougher than I anticipated," Neptune commented, looking over at two corpses of the patrol members. "I've had to use some of my strongest attacks so many times against these guys. It's no wonder that our forces couldn't hold them back at the palace..."
"Please, don't remind me about that," the tan-haired Sailor Soldier grimaced, not even wanting to think about how powerless she was against such a force. Suddenly, a pain in her ribs began acting up again. "But one thing's for sure, we can't keep this up forever..."
"Indeed," she agreed. "I'm starting to wonder if I should've considered the medic's advice about resting up for a few days after the ambush on the palace."
"Why, Michiru-mama, I feel a bit insulted," the smaller Sailor Soldier with short black hair giggled as she stood up from resting on a rock. "Do you doubt what advantage my power has over even the best medical technology?"
Uranus saw Neptune smile back at Sailor Saturn. "No, of course not, Hotaru. But you can't expend too much of your energy with those healing powers of yours. You've already used too much of it as it is and it has cost you in the fighting."
Looking over at the child, Uranus saw that Neptune was right, if not understating it. The small soldier's body was covered in an even more cuts and injuries then her own body, and Uranus could tell that she was painfully resisting the urge to lean on her glaive for support. The taller soldier was afraid that such circumstances would occur - though Saturn had some decent battle experience behind her, these enemies were beyond the levels of herself and Neptune, the experienced warriors of the group. And with her wavering physical condition...
"It will be necessary should an emergency arise," Saturn argued her point. "And after this recent string of battles, it would seem that such emergencies could arise at any moment."
"Very well," Uranus conceded, knowing it would be pointless to argue. "But only in an emergency. For now, we'll press onward with what remaining energy we have left. We still may be able to find the location of the queen if we keep searching around here a little more."
"Speaking of that..." Neptune smirked teasingly at her. "Didn't we all agree that we would 'convince' one of those soldiers to tell us what we needed to know?"
Uranus gasped in embarrassment, not believing that she had forgotten their plan. "Ah...well..." she stammered, a rare occurrence for her. This was the first time in a long time that she had botched up a battle plan, and she could already feel her face turning red because of it.
Fortunately, Sailor Saturn was more forgiving and generous enough to save her comrade from further humiliation. "Relax, Haruka-papa, we can't be perfect all the time. Besides, I don't think there's any shortage of enemies around here as far as I can see. We'll just have to find some more."
Sailor Saturn - still full of cheerful energy despite her injuries - dropped down onto the crooked path of the mountain and went ahead as Uranus and Neptune had to hurry to catch up with the child.
"...It got to you too, I see," Michiru suddenly said to Haruka as both of them descended down onto the worn dirt path.
"What do you mean?" Sailor Uranus asked in a bit of surprise.
"I think you know what I mean," Neptune continued. "Forgetting something as important as that interrogation plan isn't like you. You usually don't choose to obliterate every enemy if there's a chance that one might prove useful, especially if it involves the queen's life."
Uranus remained silent for a moment and lowered her head. "...I guess you're right about that. I don't know what happened in the fights today. Something just got to me, like the deepest rage that I've ever felt in my life was driving me to kill every one of those armored freaks without a care for future plans...It must be what happened with the queen..."
Neptune gently put her hand on her beloved companion's shoulder. "I understand, I felt compelled to annihilate these monsters in the same way as you did. But we can't always have the edge in a war, and if the queen is still alive somewhere, we'll redeem the loss at the palace by bringing her home. It's just going to take a lot more than brute strength to do it."
Uranus smiled, trying to use Neptune's words to calm her frustrations. "The only questions left are what these aliens want with her and where they are holding her."
Neptune returned the gesture, relieved that Uranus's aggravations had been temporarily extinguished. "Well, that's what we're going to try and find out, aren't we?"
Uranus nodded, and both of them began running along the path, trying to catch up to Sailor Saturn.
The Golgorand Highlands weren't much to look at, and they were even less to explore. There wasn't anything of value buried beneath the craggy surface, and the dangerous cavernous terrain prohibited the construction of any buildings. They'd been lucky enough to find a path worn into the mountain by the enemies who were hiding there - the natural route was anything from thin ledges stretching across the steep slopes to no walkways at all. The strong cold mountain breezes didn't help much either - Uranus could barely resist the urge to shiver and cover her exposed limbs. It was times like this that she wished that practicality had gone into the Sailor Soldier fuku designs.
But, as her good instincts had been correct upon, the mountains had been serving one purpose - harboring several groups of enemy soldiers, who had apparently been using the caves and alcoves for supply storage and for rest areas. Though Uranus had taken great pleasure in obliterating some of their supple caches, her second hunch about the highland area hadn't come to fruition yet - the queen was not here, despite the large amount of sentries and the obvious likeliness of a hiding place.
Still plenty of mountain to cover. I just hope the others can make it...
Even though both of them had denied it, Uranus could tell that Neptune and Saturn were in pretty bad shape. The last encounter - the largest assault of the day - had left their faces looking weary and their bodies beaten and battered. And with neither of them fully recovered from the ambush on the palace, they were more prone to death if one of those powerful energy blasts struck them. And if anything were to happen to Michiru and Hotaru...the closest ones that she could call family......
Uranus derailed the thought as quickly as possible, not wanting her imagination running amuck in a combat zone with such powerful opponents possibly lurking everywhere. But just the thought of protecting Michiru and Hotaru along with the queen increased her fighting spirit even more, fueling her drained body with even more power.
Suddenly, as the trio began crossing over another rocky hill, a sudden surge of energy coming from the direction of the city jarred her acute senses. Uranus turned back in the direction of the capital, eyeing the night sky with suspicion. Something was out there; though it was pretty far off, Uranus could sense that it was an incredible amount of power.
"Do you feel that...?" Neptune said, evidently noticing the massive energy as well. Her voice sounded like it contained a certain degree of shock, and Uranus couldn't blame her - the power that was inside the capital was enormous, greater than she had ever felt before. Trying hard to fight through the huge waves of energy being emitted from the source, she managed to surmise where the titanic entities were headed - full speed right toward the palace.
"Looks like they're going to try and finish us once and for all," Uranus concluded, trying to fight off a shiver that she hoped was coming from the brisk mountain winds and not from the energy waves. "If the palace falls..."
"...Then we will fall as well," Saturn woefully finished. "Do you think we can defeat such powerful adversaries, Haruka-papa?"
Uranus lowered her head, but suddenly, as a feeling of hopelessness began to creep up on her, she quickly shut it out, adrenaline beginning to pump through her body. She was tired of losing battles and being forced back by these demons. This time, with all of their strength put together, they would overcome their enemy, no matter how great the odds.
"Well, Hotaru..." She looked at the child with a smile. "We're going to have to try! We can't just give up our home without a fight! They might be stronger they we are, but with the courage of the queen still inside of our bodies, I know we can defeat them! Let's go!"
Neptune and Saturn both nodded with determination and all three Sailor Soldiers turned to begin a long sprint back to the city. Depending on the enemy encounters on the way back, it could've taken anywhere from a few to several hours to make it back to the palace. And with the tremendous speed at which the powers were moving, they would surely reach the palace and begin a battle long before they even got close. The inner soldiers would have to hold the grounds until they arrived to reinforce them.
If they've healed better than we did, then they should be able to hold them off for a little while at least...but the princess...
If Uranus knew anything about the kingdom's cheerful heiress, it was that she was going to be right alongside Sailor Mercury, Mars, and all the others to destroy the invading force, even if her power wasn't as great as that of her comrades. And with her mother in enemy clutches, she'd be more determined than ever to fight back. And if she took after the queen's recklessness...
Then she's putting herself at even more risk than the others...we must hurry...
* * *
Chaos...wave after glorious wave of it. It's so beautiful...
Infernia smiled approvingly at the burning graveyard of buildings as she and her comrades flew overhead. The handy work of the soldiers under her command deserved a lot of commendation - they had turned what used to be a thriving city of prosperity into a crumbling, deserted wasteland. The smoldering corpses of those pathetic Crystal Tokyo soldiers were just icing on the cake.
"Stop here for a moment," she ordered to her soldier escorts and the other two commanders with her. All of them acknowledged her command and descended with her toward the ruined street, touching down in front a particularly violent blaze that was engulfing one of the taller buildings. As fire shot out of the building windows relentlessly, Infernia took a moment to indulge her gold and red eyes on the scene, basking in the radiant warmth of fire, her life force. She licked her fangs as she heard a few dying screams escape through the cracks of the collapsing wreckage.
"Opinion, Zebus?" She nonchalantly asked as a torched body fell from one of the upper floor with a horrified shriek.
One of the other burly commanders with her - a tall, lanky insect humanoid with green flesh and two large, purple, orb-shaped eyes underneath his sky blue body armor - stepped forward. Because of the antenna-like projectiles lining his seemingly vertical mouth, the voice came out as wavy and high-pitched.
"From the civilian clothes on the corpses near the building," he answered with a hint of delight. "I would gather that it used to hide surviving innocents from our soldiers."
"Heh, how pathetic," the bald, muscular, black-armored titan next to Zebus scoffed in his gruff
voice. "Running and hiding like the scared little rats they are. As if they could hide from our scouters."
Zebus laughed a bit, the sounds coming out in an irritating whine. "I only wish I could've been here to kill at least one of those weaklings myself. It would've been an amusing show, eh Tridyx?"
"I don't think you'll have to worry about that, Zebus," Tridyx grinned with malice as his scouter blipped. He motioned toward a collection of bodies that were scattered in front of the structure's ruined gates. "That one in the black combat suit is still alive. Shall we go have some fun with him?"
"That won't be necessary," Infernia stepped past her bloodthirsty companions. "I think I'll give him as a gift to that fire. Such decimation of human trash should be total."
"As you wish, captain," Tridyx nodded with a smirk.
She sauntered ahead onto the grounds of the building toward the dazed human, the fire from the structure making her blood-red skin dance with a palette of magma colors. It felt so soothing to her, bathing herself in the blazing inferno. Were it not for her scouter and ruby-colored armor, she would have instantly gone into the blaze, soaking her pores in the firestorm. It would've been so relaxing for her, a being molded out of the searing heat of a planet core, lava flowing through her veins.
But business before pleasure. I might just let this worthless human taste what it feels like.
The wounded Crystal Tokyo soldier was facedown on the ground. She casually pulled off one of her white gloves and used her other gloved hand to pull the soldier's face up by his thick brown hair. From his young face, Infernia had to guess that he was no more than eighteen or nineteen years old.
"You're tough for young trash," Infernia snickered as the young trooper groaned in agony. "But your survival was all for nothing. You lived only to die by my hand."
The youth's eyes were glazed over, but he managed to focus on her for a few seconds and croak out a response. "You..." he mumbled as he coughed up a gob of blood. "...The palace...you attacked it...why...who are you...?"
Not a bad memory for pond scum. She mused as the teenage soldier began coughing up more blood. Indeed, she had been one of the commanders during the palace ambush operation; it had been so nice to see such a masterpiece of military force and such total victory against such a helpless opponent.
In all actuality, the Crystal Tokyo defenses were next to pathetic in hand to hand combat. Their soldiers were complete weaklings, not even worth mentioning in the casualty reports, though it was quite amusing to watch them futilely struggle against their elite soldiers.
The only warriors that had caught Infernia's attention were the ones called the Sailor Soldiers. Their powers were greater and much more tenacious than their Special Forces, and they seemed to thrive off of each other's encouragement and friendship, a unique style that even Infernia had never seen before, almost as if they reached a new level of determination when in a group. Of course such emotion was no match for their superior strength, but it was a wise move for the general to send herself and a powerful squad of soldiers to eliminate them and capture the palace before they could become a potential threat. It would be interesting to see how they would fare without their queen to aid them.
The capture of the queen - part of their orders while waging war on the planet - had gone off successfully, as well it should have with her battalion participating in the palace strike. Though she had been trying her best to assist the effort from deep inside her palace, the queen had surrendered without incident to save the lives of a few measly Tokyo soldiers that were about to be killed. The noble yet foolish act had spared the soldiers...at temporarily until the queen was secured. Afterwards, the commandos had killed the Tokyo soldiers anyway, leaving the queen pale and shocked at their cold relentlessness. Infernia wished that she could've been there to witness such a horrified look from a peaceful, benevolent ruler such as Serenity. She'd been disgusted when she'd heard of Serenity's pleas for peace during the early stages of the fighting, and sacrificing her freedom for the lives of a few pitiful humans only lowered her abysmal opinion of the queen.
Her only ounce of admiration for Serenity had come when she had helped create a gigantic force field that had completely surrounded the city, locking their forces out for a short time. The energy - which seemed to be generated at different parts of the city border - that had powered the force field had been astounding, a power that even Infernia had never detected before, and it had nearly killed her after she and one of her combat units had gotten too close. Whatever it had been, it wasn't ki energy, and for a short while, Infernia didn't think that they could break through it. Fortunately, the general had proved them wrong; his massive strength along with the combined efforts of her entire battalion was finally able to shatter the dome shaped field like the glass of a snow globe. Since then, the force field had not been reactivated, but it was always something for newly arriving forces to watch out for.
Infernia scoffed at the dying soldier as a gob of blood from his mouth splashed against her boot. Then, remembering his inquiry, she gave him an evil grin, exposing her sharp fangs.
"Who are we, and why did we attack your queen and her palace? The answer is quite simple, my young friend. You see, I am a mercenary of noble descent among my sparse race, far superior to human trash such as yourself. As for your other inquiry, we are merely purging this planet of you humans for the money. Our employer will decide what the fate of this miserable rock of a planet and your precious queen will be."
As Infernia laughed at the soldier's helplessness, his teeth and fists suddenly clenched and he took a hasty, futile swing at her face. Easily seeing the attack coming, Infernia nonchalantly reached out and snagged the youth's black-gloved fist just inches from her jaw.
"You dare to lash out at me?" She spat with disgust as she tightened her grip on the soldier's fist, cracking a few of the bones in his hand. As he began to cry out in pain, Infernia began to power up. "Stupid boy, burn for your sin!"
She threw his broken hand aside and clamped her bare hand onto the youth's face, concentrating the heat in her body into the young soldier. Infernia watched with delight at what followed. The boy's skin began to give off smoke, and then, fire began to crackle on his face and spread down his neck to his upper body. The flames burned right through the tattered black uniform, revealing charred black flesh oozing bubbling crimson blood. All the while the blaze was consuming his organs, the soldier was screaming at the top of his lungs, making music to her ears.
As she looked down at her victim, she saw that the fire had spread to the youth's lower body, and the screaming began to die off, ceasing altogether seconds later. Either the soldier had already died, or his vocal chords had been totally incinerated.
"Blast, I thought he had last for a few more minutes than that," she grumbled disappointedly. "These humans are even frailer than I've been informed."
Lifting the smoldering corpse off of the ground, she threw it into the burning building, giving the life-consuming flames something more to feast on. As the body began dissolving into charred bone in the searing heat, Infernia strode back to her group, a proud smirk on her face as she replaced the glove on her bare hand.
"You certainly have a way with people," Zebus remarked. "I could almost taste fear emanating from him."
"I was merely burning the day's trash," she grinned as she gazed off to the west. The palace - and total victory - was awaiting them there. "Come, we still have much work to do. The general ordered this palace to be captured, and I intend to give him the palace and then some."
"You don't mean the Sailor Soldiers?" Tridyx ventured.
"Exactly," she nodded. She clicked the gold-tinted scouter on his eye. The readout revealed several larger powers concentrated in the palace vicinity, much larger than the worthless Crystal Tokyo soldiers. "How convenient. I knew that they'd be protecting their last line of defense. Now we can eliminate our greatest threat and secure the palace all in one fell swoop. Two birds with one stone."
"If you can call them a threat," Zebus chuckled. "Even though they had some bright spots in the beginning of this war, they seem to have lost their edge with the capture of their queen."
"Even so, they are said to be the strongest on the planet next to the queen." Infernia said with a laugh. "So, let's go make fools out of them."
Infernia brushed her gold hair out of her face and took to the air, flying at maximum speed toward the queen's palace Zebus, Tridyx, and her five soldiers following close behind. She allowed herself one more smirk as a devilish thought occurred to her. She was going to see the helpless look of horror on Serenity's face after all - her daughter, princess of the realm, was said to have been seen fighting at the last battle. And if Infernia knew of the tenacity and stubbornness of the Crystal Tokyo forces, she would be there fighting for all she was worth when they arrived. When Infernia got a hold of her, she would burn like the worthless young soldier did, and when she presented the charred remains to Serenity, it would truly be a sight to behold.
One last pale look of pure terror, sadness, and helplessness...it'll be priceless, exquisite...I would only wish that I could keep it frozen forever in time...
* * *
Gohan landed softly in the garden area of Kami's sanctuary, tugging at his purple gi and white scarf to straighten out a few wrinkles. He'd made the quick stop at his house to grab the clothes, wanting to don comfortable battling clothes during what could've been long battle. Besides, dressing in attire like Piccolo's would only serve to make him feel even stronger than before. He'd considered suiting up in the battle armor that he'd gotten from Frieza's ship on Namek, but he didn't think he could've felt like an ally toward strangers while dressed up like Vegeta. He'd feel more like those planet pirates that the Saiyans were instead of a young savior of Earth.
Smelling the fresh air surrounding the shrine, Gohan quickly took note of the newly planted flowers and trees dotting the lookout. Mister Popo had done a spectacular job of restoring the sanctuary to its former beauty since the battle with Garlic Junior, which had left it in shambles. The colorful flowers and fluttering butterflies reminded Gohan of their home on Mount Paozu.
He walked to over to the shrine in the middle of the lookout, where Tenshinhan, Yamcha, Chaozu, Piccolo, and Vegeta were waiting patiently outside for the arrival of the guardian of the Earth. Most of the warriors were giving murderous glances in the direction of the Saiyan prince, obviously resenting the fact that Vegeta had invited himself along on a critical journey. However, conflict was averted thanks to Piccolo's watchful eyes, which were giving an 'I'll-explain-later' glance to the other three.
"So, where is this guardian?" Vegeta snorted, his short fuse nearly running out as he drew more glares from the other warriors.
"You'd do good to learn a little patience, Saiyan," Gohan heard a firm voice from the shadows of the shrine entrance, and sure enough, Kami emerged, dressed in his usual robes and bearing his T-shaped wooden staff. The entire group - except for Piccolo and Vegeta of course - greeted the guardian with a polite bow. "I don't know why you have chosen to accompany these fighters on their mission, but heaven help you if you betray us!"
Vegeta scowled, not for one moment taking the Namek sage's words to mind, and crossed his arms, impatiently waiting for the next phase of the mission.
"Kami, you knew we were coming all along?" Chaozu asked in surprise.
"Yes, Chaozu, I have," Kami nodded. "I had no doubts in my mind that all of you would be rushing to assist NeoQueen Serenity and her people, some of you to protect the kingdom, the rest just to seek out a fight. I take that you are thoroughly surprised by the message you received?"
"To say the least," Yamcha agreed. "But you seem to know more about the kingdom than we do. You couldn't possibly answers a few questions we might have, could you?"
"Indeed I can I tell you much about the future kingdom thanks to a friend from that era. Come inside and I shall explain it all to you," Kami motioned for them to follow him into the shrine.
"A friend in that era...?" Gohan mumbled to himself, making sure to add that one to his own personal question list. Shaking it off, he began to follow the others in Kami's shrine. Suddenly, somebody else came flying onto the shrine grounds. Gohan turned to see Krillin landing in front of him with a leather pouch in one hand and a folded orange gi in his other hand. Gohan was a bit surprised that Krillin was in his own orange karate gi again instead of the normal clothes that he'd been wearing earlier.
"Hey, Krillin!" Gohan smiled. "How did you manage to get back to Master Roshi's so quickly to change?"
"I didn't," Krillin replied. "It was a little gift from Karin for our journey ahead. It's more lightweight and durable than our normal fighting gis. He even gave me a set for Yamcha, too. I got a full bag of senzu beans to take with us on the trip!"
"I have a feeling we'll need them for ourselves if things don't go right..." Gohan said with concern.
"What do you mean, little buddy?"
"Well, Vegeta's shown up, and he's going with us on our journey!"
Krillin nearly fell over in shock, his fear of Vegeta evidently as great as ever. "Vegeta?!? No
way...but why should he want to help us destroy these aliens??"
"He must've heard us talking about the probe from a hiding place somewhere. He followed us to the location and heard the entire message. He said he wants to eliminate the aliens so they can't pose any threat when he controls the galaxy."
"Typical cold-blooded Vegeta..." Krillin growled.
"Come on inside," Gohan motioned Krillin to follow him into the shrine. "Kami's got all the answers we're looking for about this kingdom."
"Good thing," Krillin chuckled. "Because I've got a million questions."
* * *
Over the course of the next half-hour, Kami told them much about the background of NeoQueen Serenity, mostly about the state of her kingdom and the future Earth, but he even delved into the backgrounds of her closest friends, female warriors called the Sailor Soldiers. Gohan listened closely as Kami explained that each warrior drew power from a respective planet of the solar system. The Saiyan hybrid was a bit more than surprised when Kami told them of his friendship with Sailor Pluto, the guardian of time and one of the originators of the plan to bring them forward in time to help the war. The guardian also told them of their contributions to protecting Earth from evil before the cataclysm.
"These Sailor Soldiers," Tenshinhan began. "Are they the princesses of the planets that Serenity spoke of?"
"Yes, they are," Kami answered. "While I have known that Setsuna Meioh, or Sailor Pluto, had abilities to manipulate time for generations, most of the other soldiers I have little knowledge of, except for Serenity of course."
"Serenity was a Sailor Soldier once?" Chaozu asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Yes, during the era before the cataclysm." Came the reply. "She drew her power from the moon, earning the name of Sailor Moon."
"The moon...?" Vegeta said skeptically. "That thing was a worthless lump of rock. How could any power come from such a useless dirt heap?"
"Let me explain," Kami said. "Long ago, before my reign as guardian, a small kingdom of prosperity existed on the moon, of which Serenity was the princess. Unfortunately, an evil force known as the Dark Kingdom arrived and obliterated the kingdom with frightening power, but not before Serenity's mother managed to send her daughter, the Sailor Soldiers, and several others to Earth to begin a new life. However, the Dark Kingdom reemerged to attempt a conquest of Earth, and the Soldiers were summoned out of peaceful life one by one to combat not only the evil kingdom, but several other invading demonic forces. In this way, Serenity and her friends were able to safeguard Earth long before the saving it from the cataclysm that lead to the near destruction the planet and the founding of Crystal Tokyo, the city from which she rules over the planet."
"They must be pretty strong to beat a regime as powerful as the Dark Kingdom," Yamcha commented. "What kind of power do they draw from the planet?"
"Different elemental powers, of which they have mastered over the course of time. However, this is only half of their true potential."
"What's the other half, Kami?" Krillin inquired. "Can they raise their battle power like we can?"
"To be honest, even I don't understand it," Kami explained. "You see, since the beginning, when these young girls were living on the kingdom of the moon, they developed close bonds with each other, almost like the most loving family. In a battle, their love and friendship for each other greatly increases their fighting spirit and energy, making their attacks more powerful, especially if one of them is injured."
"Increasing their fighting power through love and spirit...?" Piccolo couldn't believe such a story, and Gohan wasn't surprised with a warrior like him, who had always relied on cunning and sheer focus to increase his strength during a battle. "...Unbelieveable..."
"...But these Sailor Soldiers aren't poweful enough to defeat these aliens?" Gohan guessed out loud.
Kami was hesitant before responding. "They are all very determined and willing to give their lives for those they love, a unique form of nobleness. But with such large numbers of aliens and their forces dwindling to an abyssmal number...then I fear that even such gracious warriors may not..."
Everybody was silent as Kami trailed off momentarily. "...But it is best not to fear such consequences. I know from my personal experiences with Setsuna that these Sailor Soldiers are no ordinary group, and they are strong enough to hold out until you arrive to assist them."
"Do you think they'll even trust us?" Krillin said, bringing a good point to mind. "If they possess similar techniques as we do, they might think that we're with the aliens."
"I doubt that," Kami shook his head with confidence. "I have a feeling that your actions on the battlefield will speak louder than any words or suspicions that they might have. Besides, Setsuna will be there to explain all to them about the queen's desparation plan. Now come, we haven't much more time to waste."
Reaching into his robes, Kami extracted a small ruby crystal that shimmered softly, giving off a pretty red shine. "Setsuna gave me this when she was here a short while ago. She regretted not being here to bring you forward into the future personally, but another enemy attack was about to take place back in her era, and she had to return there immediately. Instead, I will use my holy power to activate this crystal, which will form a time gate connecting this era to Serenity's. Once there, seek out the pure ki powers of the Sailor Soldiers, they will explain the rest to you."
Closing his eyes and concentrating his power, a golden aura began to envelop Kami's body, brightening the entire chamber and causing the crystal to blossom, just like the crystal on the probe. As Gohan squinted through the bright glare, he saw that the sides of the crystal had completely separated and were forming a turbulent pool of crimson energy that began sparking bolts of similarly colored light.
Kami soon powered down; the activation process was a success, and the gate to their planet's future loomed before them.
"It is done," The guardian declared. "It is all up to you from here."
"What are we waiting for?" Yamcha grinned boldly. "Let's go get those freaks!!"
In all his jubilant fighting spirit, Yamcha leaped up from his chair and dashed into the portal.
"I don't know about this..." Krillin said as he nervously inched toward the warp hole.
"Get moving, you fool!" Vegeta harshly shoved Krillin into the haze and quietly muttered 'human
trash coward' before dissolving into the misty gate himself.
The other members of the group soon followed, vanishing into the crimson haze without a trace, until only Gohan and Piccolo remained.
Gohan looked up and saw the guardian and his mentor sternly staring each other down. The young Saiyan didn't say a word, remembering how brashly Piccolo snapped at him the last time he inquired about his relationship with the planet's guardian,
"Are you sure you're fighting for the right cause?" Kami broke the silence first.
"...I don't need any cause or excuse to kill the murderers of my planet," Piccolo coldly replied as he turned away from Kami. "Just use those senses of yours when I'm crushing the bones of those aliens under my foot. Then you can decide for yourself whether I'm fighting for the right cause."
Without any further word, Piccolo vanished into the portal. Before Gohan stepped through the gate, he waved one last farewell to Kami.
"Good luck, Gohan, son of Son Goku," Kami acknowledged with a smile. "Remember the power that comes from your father and his race's fierce strength and pride. Use them along with what you know from Piccolo to save our planet!"
"I'll do my best, Kami!" Gohan brightly nodded. Taking one gigantic leap of faith, he flew into the portal, feeling his vision blur out and turn completely crimson. His body felt like it was being torn from all sides, probably the result of the portal; he wasn't much of an experienced time traveler, now that he thought of it.
It won't be long now. He mused as he began wondering how long the time travel - not to mention the sudden quasiness he was getting in his stomach - would last. He just hoped that the nausea wasn't coming from the bad feeling he was getting about the upcoming battle that had summoned Sailor Pluto away.
Hold on, Serenity, we're on our way!!
Gohan's fiery statement seemed to jar the group, perhaps a few of them not expecting the young Saiyan hybrid to take such a fierce stance on the crisis, but he didn't care, not in the least bit. As much as he wanted to stay, basking in the peace, Gohan just couldn't turn down Serenity's offer - he wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he did, especially after saving Earth from evil on more than one occasion. After a few moments of silence, the one to step forward first was Tenshinhan, who had a proud, approving smirk.
"Brave words," he nodded. "I've heard some like them before...from the mouth of your father."
Everyone proudly beamed at that remark, especially Gohan, who didn't even realize until now of how much like his father he had become over the past battles.
"But the kid's right," Tenshinhan continued, turning his attention toward the rest of the crowd. "No matter what era or what form the Earth may be in, evil can't be allowed to consume it and its people. And if it means my life, I'm going to protect that kingdom!"
A large grin spread over Chaozu's face as he leapt up onto his best friend's shoulder. "Well, if you're going, Ten, than I'm going, too!"
Krillin and Yamcha stepped forward as well, each looking eager and enthusiastic about Serenity's request as well.
"Count us in, too!" Krillin announced. "We didn't just save this planet from the Saiyans and Garlic Junior just to let it be destroyed by these freaks!"
"Exactly!" Yamcha agreed. "Besides, we can't leave those lovely princesses--"
An icy glare from Bulma stopped the cocky fighter dead in his tracks. In fact, if looks could've killed, Yamcha would've been six feet under the ground, bits and pieces of his body parts packed in very small boxes. Seeing that he'd stuck his foot in his mouth yet again, Yamcha backed down, his face turning bright red and random babble spluttering out of his mouth as he struggled to correct himself.
"Er, I uh, mean uh, I mean the kingdom!!" He stammered. Finally, as Bulma's soul-piercing glower died off, he managed to compose himself and speak seriously. "Yeah, how could we live with ourselves if we let that kingdom be destroyed? And after a distress call like that..."
"Indeed," Piccolo's steel voice agreed. All enthusiasm vanished as everyone turned to face the Namek warrior, who still had his usual stone mask gaze infused on his face, seemingly not affected by the forlorn plea from Serenity.
Gohan walked over to his mentor. Not even he could read past the rigid mask of Piccolo's emotions, but he knew what the others were thinking. They didn't know Piccolo like he did, and they were all disputing in their minds as to whether the Namek even cared about the future of their planet, let alone whether or not he would go forward in time with them to save the endangered kingdom. It would be up to him to clear the air.
"Mister Piccolo...?" He looked at his old master with an inquiring but hopeful look.
For a moment, he didn't do anything, but then Piccolo looked down at Gohan and gave him a response.
"I know what you're thinking, kid," he began. "And granted, this kingdom and its inhabitants have nothing to do with us, and the fact that you're rushing off to help them is a bit rash."
That didn't sound good. Gohan's eyes began widen, the thought of his respected teacher ignoring a request for help crushing even the young Saiyan's respect for Piccolo.
"But on the other hand," he continued, stopping Gohan's assumptions and turning the child's wide-eyed look of shock into a pleasant smile as he knew what was coming. "I don't need any reason to kill anybody who is destroying my home planet. I've already witnessed one of my home worlds being obliterated and its entire people slaughtered. Anybody else who would dream of causing this world to suffer the same fate...I will send them to hell personally!"
It wasn't quite the response Gohan was looking for, but it had to do if Piccolo was to join them in their rescue mission. Gohan knew that - despite his honor and love for battle - Piccolo certainly wasn't in the habit of helping the innocent - at least not strangers.
Perhaps I can teach him something for once while we're fighting...Gohan made sure to keep that in mind.
"Well, now that everybody's squared away on who's going to help Serenity," Krillin interrupted, trying to cut off the serious air cast over the crowd by Piccolo. "We'd better get to the Kami's sanctuary. Serenity told us that he knows some way about traveling through time."
"Good call, Krillin," Yamcha nodded. "But should we bring the probe and replay the message for him? He'll want to know what's going on with this kingdom."
"I don't think that will be necessary," Piccolo shook his head. "If anything, Kami will be the one telling us more about NeoQueen Serenity and her history."
"How do you know that, Piccolo?" A puzzled Gohan asked.
"I know the old one better than anybody," Piccolo answered. "As guardian of this planet, I'm sure that communication beyond our time era isn't out of his grasp. I'm sure he's already expecting us with questions about this distress call. I suggest we hurry before it's too late."
"Agreed," Tenshinhan concurred. He looked over at his small confidant, who was looking equally as focused as he was. "Come on, Chaozu, let's go!"
Chaozu nodded, and both he and Tenshinhan powered up and took to the sky, vanishing over the horizon in a trail of bright light.
"The rest of you go ahead," Krillin said as he began flying off. "I'm going to Karin's tower and see if I can grab some senzu beans. If this trip's going to be this dangerous, we may need all that we can get."
As Krillin took off into the sky on route to Karin's tower, Bulma took Yamcha aside, pulling him close with sad, worried eyes.
"You just can't stay away from a fight for a minute, can you?"
Yamcha smiled warmly, trying to sooth her doubts. "Don't worry, Bulma, I promise you that I'll come back alive in one piece to you, you have my word."
The tactic seemed to work as Bulma returned the gesture. "You'd better," she said. Suddenly, her hand clutched Yamcha's throat, forcing him to gasp for air. "And you'd also better watch how you act around those princesses...or else!!"
Yamcha gave her a large goofy grin of innocence as her tight grip loosened. "I will. And tell Puar where I've gone and tell her not to worry about me,"
"Okay, even though I know she will. Good luck, Yamcha," she hugged him tightly for a minute before allowing him to take off to Kami's sanctuary.
Seeing Bulma shed one tear of uneasiness and anxiety as she watched Yamcha streak off through the sky reminded Gohan of one more important matter to take care of. He looked over and saw his mother standing near the probe, oddly silent and distant during the whole message and everyone's planning.
"Mom..." he quietly murmured, trying to be as gentle as possible. Chichi turned her eyes toward him as he spoke. "This journey is--"
"Go, Gohan," she suddenly interrupted.
Gohan knew his face had a bewildered look because his mother continued. "My little Gohan, after everything you've been through, I know that even if I try to stop you, you'll just run off anyway. Tenshinhan is right, you're becoming more like that father of yours everyday, helping an entire race that you don't even know against overwhelming odds..." She trailed off, tears beginning to leak out of her eyes.
"Mom..."
"Gohan, my child, I understand that it may be too late for to change from what your father has taught you. I know that I can't keep you held back forever while the others fight...but promise me...that once this is all over, you'll get right back on top of your schoolwork! Do you promise me, Gohan??"
Gohan nodded brightly, hugging his mother. "I promise!"
"How touching," A cold sarcastic voice from nearby shattered the moment, and Gohan froze as he recognized it. "I'm disappointed in you, brat. You, a child with Saiyan blood, submitting to a frail emotion like love! You sicken me."
Gohan's teeth and fists clenched and he turned to see an all-too-familiar face leaning casually against the oak tree, an icy glare from his heartless eyes nearly piercing Gohan's heart.
"What do you want, Vegeta?!" Gohan growled, taking up a fighting stance.
"Calm down, brat," the smug prince scoffed. "I have no interest in killing you at the moment. In fact, I'm more interested in that distress call that you and your friends just received!"
Gohan gasped, suddenly fearing how an opportunistic killer like Vegeta would take advantage of Serenity and her people in their weakened state.
"I-It's...none of your business...!" Gohan stammered.
"Ha, ha, I believe it is every bit of my business, brat," he laughed with his usual sinister tone. "You see, as I plan to become immortal and control this universe someday, I can't have any resistance to my power. These aliens can't be around to oppose me, and if I can raise my strength enough by killing them in the future, I can easily hunt them down and wipe them out in this time. And as much as you're repulsed by it, you'll be helping me accomplish this task!"
"Why, you...!" Gohan stepped forward in the direction of the cocky Saiyan until Piccolo's large green-scaled hand touched his shoulder. Gohan stopped his advance and looked up to see that Piccolo's stone gaze was bearing into Vegeta, their energies beginning to clash like lightning during the stare down.
"Mister Piccolo?" Gohan said.
"Relax, Gohan," the Namek replied, not taking his eyes off of Vegeta for one second. "His enemies are our enemies. If he wants to be rid of these aliens, he has to fight with us. Besides, we don't know how powerful or how large the alien force is, but if it's strong enough to decimate Serenity's soldiers, then we may need all the help we can get."
"But what about the queen?" Gohan reminded him. "If their army's weak, what's to stop him from killing her and conquering the kingdom for himself?!"
"He won't, trust me," Piccolo smirked. "If he stays in that era for the rest of time, then he'll never get to settle the score with Goku."
"Huh," Vegeta spat in disgust. "You Namek trash are more perceptive than you appear. Just stay out of my way when I begin blasting that alien scum to pieces, or I may 'accidentally' kill you, too. Things have changed quite a bit since Namek, in case you haven't realized it. Now where's the place that we should be meeting so we can figure out how to get to the future?"
"Follow me," Piccolo said flatly. Turning around, he sprang up into the air and burst into flight with Vegeta taking off and following close behind.
"Good-bye, mom! Take care, Bulma!" He gave each a tender smile as he launched himself into the air.
He took one last look at his concerned mother before speeding off in pursuit of Piccolo and Vegeta.
Don't worry, mom, I'll be back soon. And I'll make you proud of me, I swear!
* * *
"World...Shaking!!"
The golden orb of light ripped through the rocky terrain like a hot knife through butter, slamming the final armored commando square in the chest. The powerful energy surge propelled the unfortunate grunt back into the thick mountain wall with an ear-ringing crash that sent mounds of dirt and rock hurtling into the air. When the dust settled, a heap of rubble and debris had buried the enemy soldier. Though he might've been barely alive underneath the rocks, he would no longer pose any threat.
Sailor Uranus brushed some blood away from a small cut in her forehead, courtesy of one of the soldier's energy beams. As far as she could tell, all of the enemies were dead, a welcome victory in such bleak times. Ever since the abduction of the queen, Uranus had become more infuriated than she had ever been, and it had increased her fighting spirit over twenty fold. It was partially because of the sheer hopelessness of the current situation, but it was also due to the fact that she blamed herself for the queen's kidnapping, as had her comrades. Even her greatest efforts couldn't hold back the onslaught of attackers that had crashed through the palace defenses. It made Uranus's blood boil as she recalled parts of the battle. Her attacks barely affected the soldiers, who were laughing at their every effort to protect their queen.
She'd been in the courtyards trying - without much success - to fend off several groups of enemies when she received word that the queen had been taken. The mere words had been enough to enrage Uranus to the point of explosion. The fact that the enemies had retreated shortly after the abduction didn't help matters either - she hadn't gotten the chance to make the attackers pay the price for their actions.
But I'll make up for the loss...and pay them back one hundred times over!
Fortunately, a little alien hunting in the Golgorand Highlands outside the city had let Uranus vent some of her frustration temporarily - that was the third squad of troopers that they had beaten in the last hour. The only painstaking note to it all was the rising fatigue that was beginning to overwhelm even her body. The various cuts and bruises on her body were starting to ache as the adrenaline of battle wore off. There had been ten commandos in the last patrol, bringing the total body count for the day up to thirty-four. However, even with the element of surprise seemingly in their favor during all three encounters, the armored assassins had seemed to know exactly where they were and when they were going to attack, something that Uranus couldn't even fathom.
Thanks to that, the soldiers in every contingent had put up a good fight, each group stronger than the last. Their skill in basic martial arts as well as their energy attacks had left more than one mark on Uranus's body during the fighting. Some of her skin that had been burnt by the beams were still spewing small wisps of smoke.
Which reminds me...
She dropped down from the plateau onto a lower level of the mountain, where she saw that her two companions had felled their own share of soldiers. She staggered over to the one with sea-green hair, who was looking a tad on the exhausted side.
"Are you okay?" Uranus asked with obvious worry.
"Yeah, just a bit worn out," Sailor Neptune lifted her head to face Uranus. The water soldier's normally gorgeous face was caked in dirt and some trails of blood. Of course it didn't matter to Uranus how bad of shape Neptune was in - she always seemed beautiful to her. As long as Neptune was alive, Uranus could fight without too much worry. Before she could clean some of the blood off of Neptune's face, she found her beloved comrade doing the same to her. Uranus smiled warmly in appreciation. Michiru was always good at lifting her spirits, even during the darkest times.
"They were tougher than I anticipated," Neptune commented, looking over at two corpses of the patrol members. "I've had to use some of my strongest attacks so many times against these guys. It's no wonder that our forces couldn't hold them back at the palace..."
"Please, don't remind me about that," the tan-haired Sailor Soldier grimaced, not even wanting to think about how powerless she was against such a force. Suddenly, a pain in her ribs began acting up again. "But one thing's for sure, we can't keep this up forever..."
"Indeed," she agreed. "I'm starting to wonder if I should've considered the medic's advice about resting up for a few days after the ambush on the palace."
"Why, Michiru-mama, I feel a bit insulted," the smaller Sailor Soldier with short black hair giggled as she stood up from resting on a rock. "Do you doubt what advantage my power has over even the best medical technology?"
Uranus saw Neptune smile back at Sailor Saturn. "No, of course not, Hotaru. But you can't expend too much of your energy with those healing powers of yours. You've already used too much of it as it is and it has cost you in the fighting."
Looking over at the child, Uranus saw that Neptune was right, if not understating it. The small soldier's body was covered in an even more cuts and injuries then her own body, and Uranus could tell that she was painfully resisting the urge to lean on her glaive for support. The taller soldier was afraid that such circumstances would occur - though Saturn had some decent battle experience behind her, these enemies were beyond the levels of herself and Neptune, the experienced warriors of the group. And with her wavering physical condition...
"It will be necessary should an emergency arise," Saturn argued her point. "And after this recent string of battles, it would seem that such emergencies could arise at any moment."
"Very well," Uranus conceded, knowing it would be pointless to argue. "But only in an emergency. For now, we'll press onward with what remaining energy we have left. We still may be able to find the location of the queen if we keep searching around here a little more."
"Speaking of that..." Neptune smirked teasingly at her. "Didn't we all agree that we would 'convince' one of those soldiers to tell us what we needed to know?"
Uranus gasped in embarrassment, not believing that she had forgotten their plan. "Ah...well..." she stammered, a rare occurrence for her. This was the first time in a long time that she had botched up a battle plan, and she could already feel her face turning red because of it.
Fortunately, Sailor Saturn was more forgiving and generous enough to save her comrade from further humiliation. "Relax, Haruka-papa, we can't be perfect all the time. Besides, I don't think there's any shortage of enemies around here as far as I can see. We'll just have to find some more."
Sailor Saturn - still full of cheerful energy despite her injuries - dropped down onto the crooked path of the mountain and went ahead as Uranus and Neptune had to hurry to catch up with the child.
"...It got to you too, I see," Michiru suddenly said to Haruka as both of them descended down onto the worn dirt path.
"What do you mean?" Sailor Uranus asked in a bit of surprise.
"I think you know what I mean," Neptune continued. "Forgetting something as important as that interrogation plan isn't like you. You usually don't choose to obliterate every enemy if there's a chance that one might prove useful, especially if it involves the queen's life."
Uranus remained silent for a moment and lowered her head. "...I guess you're right about that. I don't know what happened in the fights today. Something just got to me, like the deepest rage that I've ever felt in my life was driving me to kill every one of those armored freaks without a care for future plans...It must be what happened with the queen..."
Neptune gently put her hand on her beloved companion's shoulder. "I understand, I felt compelled to annihilate these monsters in the same way as you did. But we can't always have the edge in a war, and if the queen is still alive somewhere, we'll redeem the loss at the palace by bringing her home. It's just going to take a lot more than brute strength to do it."
Uranus smiled, trying to use Neptune's words to calm her frustrations. "The only questions left are what these aliens want with her and where they are holding her."
Neptune returned the gesture, relieved that Uranus's aggravations had been temporarily extinguished. "Well, that's what we're going to try and find out, aren't we?"
Uranus nodded, and both of them began running along the path, trying to catch up to Sailor Saturn.
The Golgorand Highlands weren't much to look at, and they were even less to explore. There wasn't anything of value buried beneath the craggy surface, and the dangerous cavernous terrain prohibited the construction of any buildings. They'd been lucky enough to find a path worn into the mountain by the enemies who were hiding there - the natural route was anything from thin ledges stretching across the steep slopes to no walkways at all. The strong cold mountain breezes didn't help much either - Uranus could barely resist the urge to shiver and cover her exposed limbs. It was times like this that she wished that practicality had gone into the Sailor Soldier fuku designs.
But, as her good instincts had been correct upon, the mountains had been serving one purpose - harboring several groups of enemy soldiers, who had apparently been using the caves and alcoves for supply storage and for rest areas. Though Uranus had taken great pleasure in obliterating some of their supple caches, her second hunch about the highland area hadn't come to fruition yet - the queen was not here, despite the large amount of sentries and the obvious likeliness of a hiding place.
Still plenty of mountain to cover. I just hope the others can make it...
Even though both of them had denied it, Uranus could tell that Neptune and Saturn were in pretty bad shape. The last encounter - the largest assault of the day - had left their faces looking weary and their bodies beaten and battered. And with neither of them fully recovered from the ambush on the palace, they were more prone to death if one of those powerful energy blasts struck them. And if anything were to happen to Michiru and Hotaru...the closest ones that she could call family......
Uranus derailed the thought as quickly as possible, not wanting her imagination running amuck in a combat zone with such powerful opponents possibly lurking everywhere. But just the thought of protecting Michiru and Hotaru along with the queen increased her fighting spirit even more, fueling her drained body with even more power.
Suddenly, as the trio began crossing over another rocky hill, a sudden surge of energy coming from the direction of the city jarred her acute senses. Uranus turned back in the direction of the capital, eyeing the night sky with suspicion. Something was out there; though it was pretty far off, Uranus could sense that it was an incredible amount of power.
"Do you feel that...?" Neptune said, evidently noticing the massive energy as well. Her voice sounded like it contained a certain degree of shock, and Uranus couldn't blame her - the power that was inside the capital was enormous, greater than she had ever felt before. Trying hard to fight through the huge waves of energy being emitted from the source, she managed to surmise where the titanic entities were headed - full speed right toward the palace.
"Looks like they're going to try and finish us once and for all," Uranus concluded, trying to fight off a shiver that she hoped was coming from the brisk mountain winds and not from the energy waves. "If the palace falls..."
"...Then we will fall as well," Saturn woefully finished. "Do you think we can defeat such powerful adversaries, Haruka-papa?"
Uranus lowered her head, but suddenly, as a feeling of hopelessness began to creep up on her, she quickly shut it out, adrenaline beginning to pump through her body. She was tired of losing battles and being forced back by these demons. This time, with all of their strength put together, they would overcome their enemy, no matter how great the odds.
"Well, Hotaru..." She looked at the child with a smile. "We're going to have to try! We can't just give up our home without a fight! They might be stronger they we are, but with the courage of the queen still inside of our bodies, I know we can defeat them! Let's go!"
Neptune and Saturn both nodded with determination and all three Sailor Soldiers turned to begin a long sprint back to the city. Depending on the enemy encounters on the way back, it could've taken anywhere from a few to several hours to make it back to the palace. And with the tremendous speed at which the powers were moving, they would surely reach the palace and begin a battle long before they even got close. The inner soldiers would have to hold the grounds until they arrived to reinforce them.
If they've healed better than we did, then they should be able to hold them off for a little while at least...but the princess...
If Uranus knew anything about the kingdom's cheerful heiress, it was that she was going to be right alongside Sailor Mercury, Mars, and all the others to destroy the invading force, even if her power wasn't as great as that of her comrades. And with her mother in enemy clutches, she'd be more determined than ever to fight back. And if she took after the queen's recklessness...
Then she's putting herself at even more risk than the others...we must hurry...
* * *
Chaos...wave after glorious wave of it. It's so beautiful...
Infernia smiled approvingly at the burning graveyard of buildings as she and her comrades flew overhead. The handy work of the soldiers under her command deserved a lot of commendation - they had turned what used to be a thriving city of prosperity into a crumbling, deserted wasteland. The smoldering corpses of those pathetic Crystal Tokyo soldiers were just icing on the cake.
"Stop here for a moment," she ordered to her soldier escorts and the other two commanders with her. All of them acknowledged her command and descended with her toward the ruined street, touching down in front a particularly violent blaze that was engulfing one of the taller buildings. As fire shot out of the building windows relentlessly, Infernia took a moment to indulge her gold and red eyes on the scene, basking in the radiant warmth of fire, her life force. She licked her fangs as she heard a few dying screams escape through the cracks of the collapsing wreckage.
"Opinion, Zebus?" She nonchalantly asked as a torched body fell from one of the upper floor with a horrified shriek.
One of the other burly commanders with her - a tall, lanky insect humanoid with green flesh and two large, purple, orb-shaped eyes underneath his sky blue body armor - stepped forward. Because of the antenna-like projectiles lining his seemingly vertical mouth, the voice came out as wavy and high-pitched.
"From the civilian clothes on the corpses near the building," he answered with a hint of delight. "I would gather that it used to hide surviving innocents from our soldiers."
"Heh, how pathetic," the bald, muscular, black-armored titan next to Zebus scoffed in his gruff
voice. "Running and hiding like the scared little rats they are. As if they could hide from our scouters."
Zebus laughed a bit, the sounds coming out in an irritating whine. "I only wish I could've been here to kill at least one of those weaklings myself. It would've been an amusing show, eh Tridyx?"
"I don't think you'll have to worry about that, Zebus," Tridyx grinned with malice as his scouter blipped. He motioned toward a collection of bodies that were scattered in front of the structure's ruined gates. "That one in the black combat suit is still alive. Shall we go have some fun with him?"
"That won't be necessary," Infernia stepped past her bloodthirsty companions. "I think I'll give him as a gift to that fire. Such decimation of human trash should be total."
"As you wish, captain," Tridyx nodded with a smirk.
She sauntered ahead onto the grounds of the building toward the dazed human, the fire from the structure making her blood-red skin dance with a palette of magma colors. It felt so soothing to her, bathing herself in the blazing inferno. Were it not for her scouter and ruby-colored armor, she would have instantly gone into the blaze, soaking her pores in the firestorm. It would've been so relaxing for her, a being molded out of the searing heat of a planet core, lava flowing through her veins.
But business before pleasure. I might just let this worthless human taste what it feels like.
The wounded Crystal Tokyo soldier was facedown on the ground. She casually pulled off one of her white gloves and used her other gloved hand to pull the soldier's face up by his thick brown hair. From his young face, Infernia had to guess that he was no more than eighteen or nineteen years old.
"You're tough for young trash," Infernia snickered as the young trooper groaned in agony. "But your survival was all for nothing. You lived only to die by my hand."
The youth's eyes were glazed over, but he managed to focus on her for a few seconds and croak out a response. "You..." he mumbled as he coughed up a gob of blood. "...The palace...you attacked it...why...who are you...?"
Not a bad memory for pond scum. She mused as the teenage soldier began coughing up more blood. Indeed, she had been one of the commanders during the palace ambush operation; it had been so nice to see such a masterpiece of military force and such total victory against such a helpless opponent.
In all actuality, the Crystal Tokyo defenses were next to pathetic in hand to hand combat. Their soldiers were complete weaklings, not even worth mentioning in the casualty reports, though it was quite amusing to watch them futilely struggle against their elite soldiers.
The only warriors that had caught Infernia's attention were the ones called the Sailor Soldiers. Their powers were greater and much more tenacious than their Special Forces, and they seemed to thrive off of each other's encouragement and friendship, a unique style that even Infernia had never seen before, almost as if they reached a new level of determination when in a group. Of course such emotion was no match for their superior strength, but it was a wise move for the general to send herself and a powerful squad of soldiers to eliminate them and capture the palace before they could become a potential threat. It would be interesting to see how they would fare without their queen to aid them.
The capture of the queen - part of their orders while waging war on the planet - had gone off successfully, as well it should have with her battalion participating in the palace strike. Though she had been trying her best to assist the effort from deep inside her palace, the queen had surrendered without incident to save the lives of a few measly Tokyo soldiers that were about to be killed. The noble yet foolish act had spared the soldiers...at temporarily until the queen was secured. Afterwards, the commandos had killed the Tokyo soldiers anyway, leaving the queen pale and shocked at their cold relentlessness. Infernia wished that she could've been there to witness such a horrified look from a peaceful, benevolent ruler such as Serenity. She'd been disgusted when she'd heard of Serenity's pleas for peace during the early stages of the fighting, and sacrificing her freedom for the lives of a few pitiful humans only lowered her abysmal opinion of the queen.
Her only ounce of admiration for Serenity had come when she had helped create a gigantic force field that had completely surrounded the city, locking their forces out for a short time. The energy - which seemed to be generated at different parts of the city border - that had powered the force field had been astounding, a power that even Infernia had never detected before, and it had nearly killed her after she and one of her combat units had gotten too close. Whatever it had been, it wasn't ki energy, and for a short while, Infernia didn't think that they could break through it. Fortunately, the general had proved them wrong; his massive strength along with the combined efforts of her entire battalion was finally able to shatter the dome shaped field like the glass of a snow globe. Since then, the force field had not been reactivated, but it was always something for newly arriving forces to watch out for.
Infernia scoffed at the dying soldier as a gob of blood from his mouth splashed against her boot. Then, remembering his inquiry, she gave him an evil grin, exposing her sharp fangs.
"Who are we, and why did we attack your queen and her palace? The answer is quite simple, my young friend. You see, I am a mercenary of noble descent among my sparse race, far superior to human trash such as yourself. As for your other inquiry, we are merely purging this planet of you humans for the money. Our employer will decide what the fate of this miserable rock of a planet and your precious queen will be."
As Infernia laughed at the soldier's helplessness, his teeth and fists suddenly clenched and he took a hasty, futile swing at her face. Easily seeing the attack coming, Infernia nonchalantly reached out and snagged the youth's black-gloved fist just inches from her jaw.
"You dare to lash out at me?" She spat with disgust as she tightened her grip on the soldier's fist, cracking a few of the bones in his hand. As he began to cry out in pain, Infernia began to power up. "Stupid boy, burn for your sin!"
She threw his broken hand aside and clamped her bare hand onto the youth's face, concentrating the heat in her body into the young soldier. Infernia watched with delight at what followed. The boy's skin began to give off smoke, and then, fire began to crackle on his face and spread down his neck to his upper body. The flames burned right through the tattered black uniform, revealing charred black flesh oozing bubbling crimson blood. All the while the blaze was consuming his organs, the soldier was screaming at the top of his lungs, making music to her ears.
As she looked down at her victim, she saw that the fire had spread to the youth's lower body, and the screaming began to die off, ceasing altogether seconds later. Either the soldier had already died, or his vocal chords had been totally incinerated.
"Blast, I thought he had last for a few more minutes than that," she grumbled disappointedly. "These humans are even frailer than I've been informed."
Lifting the smoldering corpse off of the ground, she threw it into the burning building, giving the life-consuming flames something more to feast on. As the body began dissolving into charred bone in the searing heat, Infernia strode back to her group, a proud smirk on her face as she replaced the glove on her bare hand.
"You certainly have a way with people," Zebus remarked. "I could almost taste fear emanating from him."
"I was merely burning the day's trash," she grinned as she gazed off to the west. The palace - and total victory - was awaiting them there. "Come, we still have much work to do. The general ordered this palace to be captured, and I intend to give him the palace and then some."
"You don't mean the Sailor Soldiers?" Tridyx ventured.
"Exactly," she nodded. She clicked the gold-tinted scouter on his eye. The readout revealed several larger powers concentrated in the palace vicinity, much larger than the worthless Crystal Tokyo soldiers. "How convenient. I knew that they'd be protecting their last line of defense. Now we can eliminate our greatest threat and secure the palace all in one fell swoop. Two birds with one stone."
"If you can call them a threat," Zebus chuckled. "Even though they had some bright spots in the beginning of this war, they seem to have lost their edge with the capture of their queen."
"Even so, they are said to be the strongest on the planet next to the queen." Infernia said with a laugh. "So, let's go make fools out of them."
Infernia brushed her gold hair out of her face and took to the air, flying at maximum speed toward the queen's palace Zebus, Tridyx, and her five soldiers following close behind. She allowed herself one more smirk as a devilish thought occurred to her. She was going to see the helpless look of horror on Serenity's face after all - her daughter, princess of the realm, was said to have been seen fighting at the last battle. And if Infernia knew of the tenacity and stubbornness of the Crystal Tokyo forces, she would be there fighting for all she was worth when they arrived. When Infernia got a hold of her, she would burn like the worthless young soldier did, and when she presented the charred remains to Serenity, it would truly be a sight to behold.
One last pale look of pure terror, sadness, and helplessness...it'll be priceless, exquisite...I would only wish that I could keep it frozen forever in time...
* * *
Gohan landed softly in the garden area of Kami's sanctuary, tugging at his purple gi and white scarf to straighten out a few wrinkles. He'd made the quick stop at his house to grab the clothes, wanting to don comfortable battling clothes during what could've been long battle. Besides, dressing in attire like Piccolo's would only serve to make him feel even stronger than before. He'd considered suiting up in the battle armor that he'd gotten from Frieza's ship on Namek, but he didn't think he could've felt like an ally toward strangers while dressed up like Vegeta. He'd feel more like those planet pirates that the Saiyans were instead of a young savior of Earth.
Smelling the fresh air surrounding the shrine, Gohan quickly took note of the newly planted flowers and trees dotting the lookout. Mister Popo had done a spectacular job of restoring the sanctuary to its former beauty since the battle with Garlic Junior, which had left it in shambles. The colorful flowers and fluttering butterflies reminded Gohan of their home on Mount Paozu.
He walked to over to the shrine in the middle of the lookout, where Tenshinhan, Yamcha, Chaozu, Piccolo, and Vegeta were waiting patiently outside for the arrival of the guardian of the Earth. Most of the warriors were giving murderous glances in the direction of the Saiyan prince, obviously resenting the fact that Vegeta had invited himself along on a critical journey. However, conflict was averted thanks to Piccolo's watchful eyes, which were giving an 'I'll-explain-later' glance to the other three.
"So, where is this guardian?" Vegeta snorted, his short fuse nearly running out as he drew more glares from the other warriors.
"You'd do good to learn a little patience, Saiyan," Gohan heard a firm voice from the shadows of the shrine entrance, and sure enough, Kami emerged, dressed in his usual robes and bearing his T-shaped wooden staff. The entire group - except for Piccolo and Vegeta of course - greeted the guardian with a polite bow. "I don't know why you have chosen to accompany these fighters on their mission, but heaven help you if you betray us!"
Vegeta scowled, not for one moment taking the Namek sage's words to mind, and crossed his arms, impatiently waiting for the next phase of the mission.
"Kami, you knew we were coming all along?" Chaozu asked in surprise.
"Yes, Chaozu, I have," Kami nodded. "I had no doubts in my mind that all of you would be rushing to assist NeoQueen Serenity and her people, some of you to protect the kingdom, the rest just to seek out a fight. I take that you are thoroughly surprised by the message you received?"
"To say the least," Yamcha agreed. "But you seem to know more about the kingdom than we do. You couldn't possibly answers a few questions we might have, could you?"
"Indeed I can I tell you much about the future kingdom thanks to a friend from that era. Come inside and I shall explain it all to you," Kami motioned for them to follow him into the shrine.
"A friend in that era...?" Gohan mumbled to himself, making sure to add that one to his own personal question list. Shaking it off, he began to follow the others in Kami's shrine. Suddenly, somebody else came flying onto the shrine grounds. Gohan turned to see Krillin landing in front of him with a leather pouch in one hand and a folded orange gi in his other hand. Gohan was a bit surprised that Krillin was in his own orange karate gi again instead of the normal clothes that he'd been wearing earlier.
"Hey, Krillin!" Gohan smiled. "How did you manage to get back to Master Roshi's so quickly to change?"
"I didn't," Krillin replied. "It was a little gift from Karin for our journey ahead. It's more lightweight and durable than our normal fighting gis. He even gave me a set for Yamcha, too. I got a full bag of senzu beans to take with us on the trip!"
"I have a feeling we'll need them for ourselves if things don't go right..." Gohan said with concern.
"What do you mean, little buddy?"
"Well, Vegeta's shown up, and he's going with us on our journey!"
Krillin nearly fell over in shock, his fear of Vegeta evidently as great as ever. "Vegeta?!? No
way...but why should he want to help us destroy these aliens??"
"He must've heard us talking about the probe from a hiding place somewhere. He followed us to the location and heard the entire message. He said he wants to eliminate the aliens so they can't pose any threat when he controls the galaxy."
"Typical cold-blooded Vegeta..." Krillin growled.
"Come on inside," Gohan motioned Krillin to follow him into the shrine. "Kami's got all the answers we're looking for about this kingdom."
"Good thing," Krillin chuckled. "Because I've got a million questions."
* * *
Over the course of the next half-hour, Kami told them much about the background of NeoQueen Serenity, mostly about the state of her kingdom and the future Earth, but he even delved into the backgrounds of her closest friends, female warriors called the Sailor Soldiers. Gohan listened closely as Kami explained that each warrior drew power from a respective planet of the solar system. The Saiyan hybrid was a bit more than surprised when Kami told them of his friendship with Sailor Pluto, the guardian of time and one of the originators of the plan to bring them forward in time to help the war. The guardian also told them of their contributions to protecting Earth from evil before the cataclysm.
"These Sailor Soldiers," Tenshinhan began. "Are they the princesses of the planets that Serenity spoke of?"
"Yes, they are," Kami answered. "While I have known that Setsuna Meioh, or Sailor Pluto, had abilities to manipulate time for generations, most of the other soldiers I have little knowledge of, except for Serenity of course."
"Serenity was a Sailor Soldier once?" Chaozu asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Yes, during the era before the cataclysm." Came the reply. "She drew her power from the moon, earning the name of Sailor Moon."
"The moon...?" Vegeta said skeptically. "That thing was a worthless lump of rock. How could any power come from such a useless dirt heap?"
"Let me explain," Kami said. "Long ago, before my reign as guardian, a small kingdom of prosperity existed on the moon, of which Serenity was the princess. Unfortunately, an evil force known as the Dark Kingdom arrived and obliterated the kingdom with frightening power, but not before Serenity's mother managed to send her daughter, the Sailor Soldiers, and several others to Earth to begin a new life. However, the Dark Kingdom reemerged to attempt a conquest of Earth, and the Soldiers were summoned out of peaceful life one by one to combat not only the evil kingdom, but several other invading demonic forces. In this way, Serenity and her friends were able to safeguard Earth long before the saving it from the cataclysm that lead to the near destruction the planet and the founding of Crystal Tokyo, the city from which she rules over the planet."
"They must be pretty strong to beat a regime as powerful as the Dark Kingdom," Yamcha commented. "What kind of power do they draw from the planet?"
"Different elemental powers, of which they have mastered over the course of time. However, this is only half of their true potential."
"What's the other half, Kami?" Krillin inquired. "Can they raise their battle power like we can?"
"To be honest, even I don't understand it," Kami explained. "You see, since the beginning, when these young girls were living on the kingdom of the moon, they developed close bonds with each other, almost like the most loving family. In a battle, their love and friendship for each other greatly increases their fighting spirit and energy, making their attacks more powerful, especially if one of them is injured."
"Increasing their fighting power through love and spirit...?" Piccolo couldn't believe such a story, and Gohan wasn't surprised with a warrior like him, who had always relied on cunning and sheer focus to increase his strength during a battle. "...Unbelieveable..."
"...But these Sailor Soldiers aren't poweful enough to defeat these aliens?" Gohan guessed out loud.
Kami was hesitant before responding. "They are all very determined and willing to give their lives for those they love, a unique form of nobleness. But with such large numbers of aliens and their forces dwindling to an abyssmal number...then I fear that even such gracious warriors may not..."
Everybody was silent as Kami trailed off momentarily. "...But it is best not to fear such consequences. I know from my personal experiences with Setsuna that these Sailor Soldiers are no ordinary group, and they are strong enough to hold out until you arrive to assist them."
"Do you think they'll even trust us?" Krillin said, bringing a good point to mind. "If they possess similar techniques as we do, they might think that we're with the aliens."
"I doubt that," Kami shook his head with confidence. "I have a feeling that your actions on the battlefield will speak louder than any words or suspicions that they might have. Besides, Setsuna will be there to explain all to them about the queen's desparation plan. Now come, we haven't much more time to waste."
Reaching into his robes, Kami extracted a small ruby crystal that shimmered softly, giving off a pretty red shine. "Setsuna gave me this when she was here a short while ago. She regretted not being here to bring you forward into the future personally, but another enemy attack was about to take place back in her era, and she had to return there immediately. Instead, I will use my holy power to activate this crystal, which will form a time gate connecting this era to Serenity's. Once there, seek out the pure ki powers of the Sailor Soldiers, they will explain the rest to you."
Closing his eyes and concentrating his power, a golden aura began to envelop Kami's body, brightening the entire chamber and causing the crystal to blossom, just like the crystal on the probe. As Gohan squinted through the bright glare, he saw that the sides of the crystal had completely separated and were forming a turbulent pool of crimson energy that began sparking bolts of similarly colored light.
Kami soon powered down; the activation process was a success, and the gate to their planet's future loomed before them.
"It is done," The guardian declared. "It is all up to you from here."
"What are we waiting for?" Yamcha grinned boldly. "Let's go get those freaks!!"
In all his jubilant fighting spirit, Yamcha leaped up from his chair and dashed into the portal.
"I don't know about this..." Krillin said as he nervously inched toward the warp hole.
"Get moving, you fool!" Vegeta harshly shoved Krillin into the haze and quietly muttered 'human
trash coward' before dissolving into the misty gate himself.
The other members of the group soon followed, vanishing into the crimson haze without a trace, until only Gohan and Piccolo remained.
Gohan looked up and saw the guardian and his mentor sternly staring each other down. The young Saiyan didn't say a word, remembering how brashly Piccolo snapped at him the last time he inquired about his relationship with the planet's guardian,
"Are you sure you're fighting for the right cause?" Kami broke the silence first.
"...I don't need any cause or excuse to kill the murderers of my planet," Piccolo coldly replied as he turned away from Kami. "Just use those senses of yours when I'm crushing the bones of those aliens under my foot. Then you can decide for yourself whether I'm fighting for the right cause."
Without any further word, Piccolo vanished into the portal. Before Gohan stepped through the gate, he waved one last farewell to Kami.
"Good luck, Gohan, son of Son Goku," Kami acknowledged with a smile. "Remember the power that comes from your father and his race's fierce strength and pride. Use them along with what you know from Piccolo to save our planet!"
"I'll do my best, Kami!" Gohan brightly nodded. Taking one gigantic leap of faith, he flew into the portal, feeling his vision blur out and turn completely crimson. His body felt like it was being torn from all sides, probably the result of the portal; he wasn't much of an experienced time traveler, now that he thought of it.
It won't be long now. He mused as he began wondering how long the time travel - not to mention the sudden quasiness he was getting in his stomach - would last. He just hoped that the nausea wasn't coming from the bad feeling he was getting about the upcoming battle that had summoned Sailor Pluto away.
Hold on, Serenity, we're on our way!!
