Chapter 4: The Test is Over! Tridyx Takes the Field with Frightening Power!
As soon as the words left the mouth of the fire-skinned female, the quintet of soldiers that had appeared inside the crevices of the mauled buildings descended from their posts and onto the ravaged street below in one smooth move. But to the young eyes of Sailor ChibiMoon, it looked as if they had disappeared and rematerialized on the street in less than a second, almost like magic.
Apparently, from the gasps coming from the other Sailor Soldiers, they were as aghast as she was.
"What do you make of that, Mercury?" Jupiter whispered to the water soldier.
A transparent blue visor had materialized over Mercury's eyes when ChibiMoon looked over, and various figures were blipping across the screen. Sailor Mercury's unblinking eyes studied the numbers and stats closely.
"I'm not totally sure," She admitted as she began to scan all five soldiers. "I can tell that they have tremendous violent energy fields around them, and an ability to manipulate such vast quantities of power through superhuman physical strength could explain their unique skills...partially anyway."
"What do you mean?" ChibiMoon asked, still trying to take in all of Mercury's first set of info. She grumbled to herself, hating that she had inherited her mother's thick skull.
"These readings are very unstable, probably being obstructed by their enormous amounts of power," Mercury replied. "I'm not sure if their true strength lies in what I'm picking up, but it's definitely a part of it."
"Then how do you explain that teleport trick they just did?" Venus asked with trepidation.
"No, it wasn't any kind of teleport," Mercury continued as more figures flashed on his visor. "I was already scanning their energies during the move, and I could definitely detect their life forces moving along this plane of existence, whereas teleport tricks would've caused them to vanish for a brief instant. You may not be able to believe this, but what looked like instantaneous movement to our eyes could very well have been pure speed to them!"
"Faster than light speed?!" Jupiter gasped. ChibiMoon concurred - despite their overwhelming power in the palace battle and several other skirmishes, she'd never seen any example of how fast the aliens could truly move. And if the three commanders were stronger and faster than their underlings were, then they were in worse shape than they thought - ChibiMoon hated the idea of fighting proverbial ghosts.
In the meantime, the five troopers were busy doing their own analysis of the Sailor Soldiers, though theirs was a lot more on the sarcastic side.
"Funny thing..." The soldier in the middle said loud enough for the Sailor Soldiers to hear it. "I thought the reports said that there were nine Sailor Soldiers instead of five. Where are the other four schoolgirls?"
"I can tell you where!" One of his compatriots - a tall, purple-haired male - brashly spat. "They're hiding like the scared little children they are! At least the little princess is willing to put up a fight before we send her to Hell."
That brought a chorus of laughter from the other four. Finally, the middle soldier calmed the crowd and clicked a button on his blue-tinted eyepiece, something similar to Mercury's computer as far as ChibiMoon could see.
"Well, let's find out how strong these kids really are," He said to his flanking comrades. "And how long this massacre will take us."
Several small figures blipped across the eyepiece, and the soldier seemed to scan in the direction of each Sailor Soldier before reading the respective results off to his teammates.
"Hmm...The princess is up at 891, how surprising...The blue-haired one's at 954...The red-suited girl's has a battle power of 1016...The brunette's at 1287...and the blonde's got a power level of 1176."
More laughs followed from the remaining soldiers, causing another grimace to form on ChibiUsa's face.
"That's it?!" Another raucous cackle came from another grunt. "That really disappoints me, I was hoping for some decent entertainment today. I could get better target practice with those weakling Special Forces members than these schoolgirls. The blonde over there is the only one that could prove to be of 'use'..."
The perverted remark generated more boisterous laughter among the group, and it caused Venus walked forward with an angered expression. ChibiMoon knew how explosive Venus was to comments like that one. "Hey, watch your mouth, alien trash, I'm not just some pretty girl for pervs like you to gawk at, and I've had about enough of you arrogance! As the guardian of love and on behalf of the planet Venus...I'll punish you!!"
"'Punish' us??" The first soldier was incredulous. "For the love of all that's---oh, forget the rest of this showboating before we have to endure something like that again. Kill them!"
The five soldiers charged forward at normal speed, and Mercury's computer blipped again.
"What's going on, Mercury?" Sailor ChibiMoon looked over at her.
"They're beginning to concentrate their power. It's time to fight back!" The visor vanished as Sailor Mercury gathered up her power over the water. It began forming around her like a whirlpool, and soon Mercury had an orb of pure blue water in her hands. "Mercury...Aqua Rhapsody!"
A column of magic-enhanced water flew from Mercury's hands, traveling toward their attackers at considerable speed. The soldiers were taken aback by such a show of force by their opponents, and two of them were caught in the wave while the others dodged just in time. The two victims of the Aqua Rhapsody flew backward and hit the ground hard, sending them into a temporary daze.
The three survivors of the attack flew up into the air and shot a glower in the direction of the Sailor Soldiers. They hadn't expected to be shown up so quickly by a group of opponents, let alone a bunch of schoolgirls as they saw before them. The two victims of Mercury's leadoff attack who were picking themselves off of the ground didn't look too pleased either.
"...Fire!!" The squad captain commanded.
ChibiMoon jumped back as a beam of gold energy hit the place where she was standing only a second ago. Another beam nearly clipped her arm and ChibiMoon found herself jumping and dodging all over the ground as the beams came to within inches of finding their mark. There were so many bouncing beams flying around that she couldn't even get a chance to draw out her scepter.
And after all the warning about training that Hotaru gave me...
"I'll take care of this!" Jupiter called out as she ducked several beams of energy. Almost instantly, lightning began sparking around her and the small lightning rod in her tiara. "Jupiter...Supreme Thunder!"
Bolts of lightning exploded from Jupiter's body, intercepting and deflecting the incoming beams.
"I...impossible!!" The second soldier gasped as he continued his onslaught of beams.
"Nice going, Jupiter!" Sailor Mars grinned, drawing a bead on the two ground soldiers that had been weakened by Mercury's Aqua Rhapsody attack. "Allow me..."
Rings of fire formed around Mars' body, and using Jupiter's Supreme Thunder attack as a shield, aimed toward the two prone troopers.
"Mars...Burning Mandala!"
The rings sailed through the air toward the soldiers, who weren't prepared because of the thunder. The searing rings split into two groups at Mars's command and buried themselves into the chests of the commandos, shattering their armor and scalding their chests. As the flames dissipated, the two soldiers were motionless on the floor, their wounds spewing black smoke. ChibiMoon couldn't tell if they were dead or not, but they wouldn't be causing them anymore trouble.
"Not bad..." The squad captain commented as he glanced down at Sailor Mars's handiwork. "...But let's see how you handle a little hand-to-hand combat! Attack!!"
The three remaining soldiers blasted down from the sky, their bodies slamming into the street like battering rams as the Sailors dove for cover. ChibiMoon felt her hurried jump carry her over to the left flank behind one of the buildings, landing right next to Sailor Mars. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus had taken a bit of the shockwave from the soldier's rapid descent, sending them sailing off to the right.
Then, as the squad captain and one of his men went over to continue assaulting the other three Sailor Soldiers, ChibiMoon saw the perfect opportunity with the remaining straggler who had been sent over to finish her and Mars off.
"Mars, is your eyesight in good shape at this point?" ChibiMoon asked. The Sailor Soldier of fire looked over with a bit of confusion, so ChibiMoon elaborated. "I'm going to go up and distract that guy, and when you have a shot, hit him with a Flame Sniper!"
Mars nodded with optimism and stood up, taking cover behind the building to keep out of sight from the commando. "Okay, but be careful, these guys are more experienced in martial arts combat than you are. Don't take any unnecessary chances!"
"Got it," ChibiMoon nodded as the soldier came into view. "You just be sure to stick that arrow in him and not me! Good luck!"
"So here you are!" The brash voice of the commando cut the conversation short. "So you survived those beams I targeted at you. Pretty impressive for a brat!"
"A brat?!" ChibiMoon steamed as the Pink Sugar Rod materialized in her hand. "How dare you insult me! And how dare you try to blast me and my friends into oblivion! In the name of Crystal Tokyo and for my mother who you kidnapped, I'll punish you!"
"What a baby..." The soldier chuckled as he extended his open palm. "You know, it's very hard to miss from this range...so I hope your reflexes are up to specs!"
Another golden energy ray shot out from the soldier's gloved hand, forcing ChibiMoon to leap into the air in order to dodge it. As the beam impacted on the ground behind her and sent smoke everywhere, ChibiMoon took aim with her small scepter, concentrating her power into it.
"ChibiMoon...Sugar...Heart...Attack!!" The small princess called out.
But instead of the desired counterattack, the rod didn't respond, not sending forth a spark of energy.
Oh no, not now!!
Her failure to execute the attack caused her to forget that she was descending in mid-air, and Sailor ChibiMoon found herself crashing into the ground in front of the soldier with a dull thud before she could regain her momentum.
"Was that it?" The commando asked in disbelief as ChibiMoon tried to shake off the cobwebs. "It's no fun killing someone who doesn't know how to fight back, let alone a brat who is the same...but why not? It'll mean some extra pay for me!"
The trooper raised his hand - probably to fire down another energy beam at the prone target - but a sudden burst of fire from behind ChibiMoon sent the unsuspecting alien flying backward and into the wall of one of the crumbling buildings. Looking up, ChibiMoon had seen that the now-motionless grunt had been impaled on the wall by an arrow of fire. The princess turned back and saw the confident form of Sailor Mars standing just outside her hiding place, a bow of pure flame glowing in her hands.
"Bulls-eye, Mars!" ChibiMoon smiled as she stood up. She grumbled as she looked down at her pink scepter. It was just her luck - she thought she had gotten that attack down to the point of total control over the Sugar Heart Attack, and it had almost cost ChibiMoon her life with one brief failure.
"Relax, ChibiMoon, that power will come back to you when you'll truly need it," Mars winked. "Just believe in yourself!"
The princess smiled back before looking over at the battle between the two surviving soldiers and the other three Sailors. The skirmish was going very well in their favor - Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury were able to avoid the beam attacks while parrying whatever punches or kicks came their way.
"You know, Rei..." ChibiMoon turned to Sailor Mars. "We may have a chance of winning after all!"
However, instead of the same confident return from Mars that she had expected, the fire soldier's eyes widened and she rushed forward in the direction of Sailor ChibiMoon.
"ChibiUsa, look out!!" Before ChibiMoon could react to whatever was happening, Mars dove in front of her. Suddenly, the area in front of Mars exploded with dazzling gold light, and the black-haired priestess fell forward onto the ground clutching her face in agony.
"Oh, no!!" ChibiMoon gasped.
Looking past the form of Sailor Mars, ChibiMoon saw the bloody outline of her would-be killer standing a few yards away from the building. It was the soldier that Mars had hit with the Flame Sniper. Apparently, the arrow hadn't been enough to instantly kill him, and the trooper was walking limply with a bleeding hole in his gut where the arrow had hit.
But the damage had been done to the unfortunate commando - the beam was evidently a final desperation attack aimed at ChibiMoon, but Mars had been the one who had checked to see if the soldier was dead while ChibiMoon had been celebrating. And now, thanks to her arrogance and carelessness, Rei was hurt very badly.
"Rei, Rei!!" ChibiMoon lifted the head of Sailor Mars off of the ground. The sight of Mars's face wasn't pleasant - the beam had evidently struck her face dead-on, but because of its low power generated from its dying origin, the blast had only been enough to severely burn Rei's face instead of killing her. "Can you still hear me?!"
Rei's hands gripped ChibiMoon's shoulders, and the princess could tell by her clenched teeth that she was fighting off the painful urge to scream out in pain.
"Rei, say something, anything! Please don't die!" ChibiMoon cried out in panic, fearing that the blast would kill her friend after all.
Finally, after a few tense seconds of suffering from the beam, Sailor Mars answered ChibiMoon's pleas.
"I've been better..." She moaned. "I think I'll live, but my eyes are useless now - I can't even open them because of these injuries...but don't worry, I can still fight! "
"Rei..."ChibiMoon lightly touched one of her friend's eyes, and she had to yank her hand away to keep it from being burned. "...You have to get out of here. You'll be too much of a target for them if you remain. Please, I can't let you die out here!"
"Relax, my senses will keep me focused. They're nearly as good as my eyes were." Mars reassured her as she rose up unsteadily. "Now how are the others faring?"
ChibiMoon glanced over to the opposite end of the street just in time to see one of the grunts get sent through the wall of one of the buildings from Jupiter's Supreme Thunder attack. A brilliant Venus Crescent Beam slammed the squad captain in the gut, sending him sprawling to the ground.
"Come on, Mars, let's get moving," ChibiMoon tugged on her blinded friend's hand.
Nodding slightly, Mars followed, her skin still spewing a few wisps of smoke. ChibiMoon looked over at the three other enemy warriors, who were looking none too pleased with the performance of their commandos against the Sailor Soldiers. As her eyes landed on each commander, something coming from them made her legs feel somewhat weak all of a sudden.
What power...certainly more than these five had to offer...Hotaru, Setsuna, where are you? We'll need everything we can get against these monsters...
* * *
Infernia shook her head in revulsion as her soldiers went down one by one. The surprise water attack from the one in blue had been one thing, but she'd never expected those girls to dodge virtually every single attack that the squad had thrown at them. Now, all her opening greeting to the Sailor Soldiers had to show for itself was a perverted remark from one of the squad members and just one wounded Sailor Soldier. And this had been the squad that had dispatched five entire bases of civilians and Crystal Tokyo Special Forces.
So much for the quick victory...I can't believe those idiots...getting beaten by these weaklings. I'm beginning to wonder how those frail morons ever managed to make the cut for my elite unit.
As far as she saw, the lieutenant commanding the hapless quintet was the only one left, and he was struggling to his feet after an attack by the blonde sailor.
She heard Tridyx's scouter blip, and she saw the huge goliath cross his tree trunk arms and spit on the ground in repugnance.
"I don't believe this," He snorted as the lieutenant managed to pull himself up from the ground. "His power's almost down to zero already! How could those girls be that strong??"
"I don't think it's a question of strength," Infernia mused, drawing Tridyx's attention. "Their powers are quite peculiar, nothing like the techniques we have mastered."
"Do you suspect that they can raise their ki without having to change their shape?" Zebus suggested. "I have heard rumors that many warrior races throughout the galaxy have begun to master the rare art. Perhaps these five have perfected that uncanny ability."
"I doubt it," Infernia responded. "Besides, I've monitored their powers through my scouter to see what kind of tenacity these girls had, and none of the power levels fluctuated in the least bit! And our soldiers each had battle powers of at least two thousand!"
"Then how were these Sailor Soldiers able to dispatch of them so easily?" Zebus questioned.
"No matter," Infernia shook off the inquiry while giving a fiery glower in the direction of the three Sailor Soldiers. "After all, this was just a test of their abilities. Remember, just because they have some secret to slightly increase their attack power doesn't mean they stand a remote chance against us."
"Of course," Tridyx chuckled, his confident demeanor restored. "Thanks, captain, I was pretty worried there for a second."
"Sparkling...Wide...Pressure!!" A thunder disk coming from the brunette's hands was too quick for the weakened lieutenant to handle in his dilapidated state. The disk connected full force with the lieutenant's chest, sending massive amounts of pure voltage coursing through his armored body and throwing him into the air. With an agonized scream, the lieutenant sailed through the night sky, electricity trailing behind him in his wake, and he crash-landed in a smoking mess a few yards away from the trio of commanders.
"I'd say that they passed that test with flying colors," Zebus commented as the soldier weakly lifted his head up. Amazingly, he was still alive, albeit completely crippled. "What extraordinary powers those girls have. They can control elements and magic as easily as we control energy."
"Captain..." The lieutenant reached a burned, tattered arm up toward Infernia. A few volts were still pricking at his skin and his eyes were glazed over, his mind far outside reality. The sight disgusted the captain, who absolutely resented the fact that one of her elite soldiers had been beaten. "Please...help me...I can't get up..."
Infernia smirked as she extended her hand to the dazed and blinded soldier. "Certainly..." She licked her fangs as she tightened a grip on the lieutenant's gloved hand. "It's the least I can do...for failure."
Moments later, there came the same satisfying scream from the lieutenant's mouth that came from all of her victims. Infernia basked in the radiant heat as what was left of the lieutenant burned to a cinder in less than a minute. When the tissue had been totally incinerated, the flames slowly died out, and Infernia rescinded her exposed bare red hand. She watched with pleasure as the fire that had caught onto it from the burning corpse soaked itself into her skin like water.
Such is the fate of those who fail General Damos...
Her moment of delight concluding itself for the time being, the magma-skinned captain turned back to the Sailor Soldiers, who had gathered around the red one, the only one who had been injured during the whole exchange. Each of them were inspecting the burns on the red one's face while throwing a suspicious eye back toward her and her two escorts every so often.
So, one falls, but she still insists on fighting. Infernia noted with an arched eyebrow. She chuckled a little bit at the bright red surrounding the injured Sailor Soldier. But that's just what I'd expect from one who could control such an awesome destructive force like fire. I must remember to keep my eye on that one - anyone who could maneuver the flame is certainly a threat, blind or not.
"Captain," Tridyx interrupted her analysis. "How do you wish to proceed?"
"Well, I have no interest in the four older Sailor Soldiers, despite the red one's knack for manipulating fire," Infernia responded. "The only one I want left alive is the princess. Remember my plan for Serenity, and I can assure you...the picture will be worth more than a thousand words when the queen holds the charred skeleton of her only daughter. It will be a fitting end to---Wait a second!! Yes... now I have better plan."
"What do you mean, captain?" Tridyx curiously asked with a grin, well aware of Infernia's devilish mind and some of the diabolical concoctions that were born from it.
"Suppose, for one, that I invite their king to the show," She suggested.
"The king?" Zebus asked. "I remember reports from the battalions stating that he was injured in the ambush attack on the palace."
"Precisely," Infernia nodded. She continued slowly, immersing herself in her devious scheme. "Tell me, Zebus, how would you think Serenity would react if her beloved husband was slowly burned to ashes - letting out a symphony of agonizing cries - right in front of her helpless eyes?"
"In front of her eyes...?" Zebus repeated in awe.
"...You're a genius, captain," Tridyx echoed his sentiment. "A complete and utter genius. Only you can make your enemies suffer misery in Hell before even sending them there."
"You're too kind, Tridyx," Infernia chortled as she replaced her glove for the moment and set her eyes on the princess, who was still tending to her injured friend. "She's an exact image of her mother. I wonder if the resemblance will remain once the skin is torched off."
"Well, if you're getting the princess," Tridyx began. "Then let us handle the other Sailor Soldiers! We want to have some fun on this trip, too!"
"Yes!" The antennae lining Zebus's mouth shivered and flowed like black and white waves. "I've been so looking forward to annihilating those sentient healers, and now is the perfect time to demonstrate my race's power to them!"
"Well, there's no sense in both of you getting your hands dirty at this point," Infernia answered them. "Remember, we have to conserve our energy for the insects in the palace. Tridyx, since you asked first, you may take care of them."
"All right!!" Tridyx pumped his arm as Zebus began to grumble. "I'll make bloody shreds out of all of them in a few minutes!"
"Oh, come now, Tridyx, don't finish them off too quickly," Infernia smirked. "Try to put on a half-decent show for Zebus and I."
Tridyx pounded the chest of his black-plated armor and began flexing and stretching a bit. "Ah, it's been a month or two since we landed on this rock and these Earthlings still haven't entertained me. I hope that these Sailor Soldiers can provide my first glimpse of it before I destroy them! Trust me, captain, it's going to be a fantastic display!"
"Good, just leave the princess alive for me to deal with," Infernia reminded him. "And by the way...I think I may have the first target in mind for you, my friend."
Infernia nodded in the direction of the blue-haired Sailor Soldier. The transparent blue visor had once again materialized over her eyes and she was busily scanning her injured comrade's wounds. Infernia had noticed it earlier before the quintet had begun their assault, and from the readouts she was reporting to her friends, it bore a very strong resemblance to their technology, perhaps even on a bit of a higher level than their own machinery. What more, the blue Sailor knew exactly how to use it...and what to scan for in their enemies. It had been those readouts of her visor that set the stage for the Sailors' counterattack against the squad. Infernia pointed the object out to Tridyx.
"It's a piece of machinery more advanced than our scouters that can read and analyze our every movement down to the molecule...that kind of technological advantage in their hands is dangerous, wouldn't you say?"
"As well as the mind that uses it," Tridyx concurred. "No problem, captain. She's mine!"
Tridyx zipped forward and landed several feet away from the group. The Sailors, obviously startled by Tridyx's blinding speed, stumbled backward in defensive stances while the blue-haired Sailor helped her injured comrade back and acted as a human shield while the red Sailor was still trying to fight off the sting of the burns.
"How touching," Tridyx scoffed at their unity. "Never leaving a comrade to die, no matter how maimed she is. Even with those gifts of hers, only the eternal darkness of Hell awaits beyond the lonely blackness she's experiencing now."
* * *
ChibiMoon grimaced at the monster looming over them, more so toward his cocky sadistic attitude than his formidable appearance. His black armor only enhanced his monstrous form, and his coal-black eyes were casting an intimidating look toward the whole group. This guy wasn't going to be messing around like the five alien grunts did - he meant business.
"Well, if you girls are through with the warm-up exercises, I think it's time for the main event to begin."
"Just who are you guys, anyway?" Jupiter was the first to respond. "And why have you done this to us?"
The behemoth shook his head at the question. "Who we are isn't as important as the one we're working for, fools. You see, I've been looking at your technology, and aside from a few interesting tidbits to share with the development teams, it's all very much laughable. You haven't even gotten around to space travel yet!"
"What's your point?" Venus retaliated. "Just because we're not out chasing stars doesn't mean we haven't come a long way!"
"My point is that none of you know about the darker sides of this galaxy. While you're enjoying this personal paradise of peace here, wars, destruction, and revolution have swept over the universe, engulfing everybody who was too weak to stand up to it. The strongest beings want to survive, and that's why they need people like myself and my associates - the fighters and lowlifes necessary to do their dirty work."
"...You're mercenaries?" Mercury hypothesized.
"Very perceptive," Tridyx nodded in her direction. "Yes, my comrades and I are members of the most feared mercenary alliance in the universe; we've been recruiting for over ten centuries. However, thanks to the marvels of genetic engineering and the sciences, our leader has managed to extend his natural life periods almost to the point of infinity. We swoop down, consume and conquer a planet, and leave its fate in the hands of our employers. It's for a high price, of course, but with our efficiency, it's well worth it for them!"
"Mercenaries with an immortal leader...?" ChibiMoon repeated as it sank in. "If that's true, then you and your pals are disgraces to this universe! Anybody who chooses killing innocents for money is nothing more than a demon!"
"True, but we'll be very rich demons when this is overwith. Our boss is paying us the largest sum in our alliance's history to clean up this little hovel, and from the efforts put forth by your pathetic comrades, I'd say that the bargain was a steal!"
"Who was it?" Mars called out into her blackened world. "Who hired you to destroy this planet? Tell us!"
"I'm sorry, but I'm not privy to that information," The bald mammoth answered in a sarcastic tone.
"You're lying!" ChibiMoon retorted in frustration.
"So what if I am?" He responded nonchalantly. "Are you going to force it out of me, eh, little princess?"
The titan stomped forward, and the five Sailor Soldiers drew back in caution. ChibiMoon could feel the energy around them beginning to stir - the armored commander was starting to gather his strength.
"Well, it looks like you want to do this the hard way. Good, that's what I wanted - it wouldn't be any fun killing you if you just surrendered! In that case, allow me to present to you the radical power you've ever witnessed!"
ChibiMoon watched and sensed as the behemoth began to draw in insane quantities of energy; it was enough to cause the ground beneath them to tremble and crack and the buildings near them to crumble to pieces. A black energy field formed around the confident warrior's body, emitting volatile rays of blue and black thunder that gave off enough heat to singe ChibiMoon's skin even from the several dozen-yard distance. Within a minute, the earthquake had become so bad that ChibiMoon found herself using all of her energy to keep her body from falling to the ground. And all the while, the bald titan was smiling in enjoyment as his body became charged with power, every limb glowing black with raw energy.
"I've had enough of this!" Jupiter shouted as the power build-up seemed to reach its peak. "Jupiter Supreme Thunder!"
Another barrage of lightning bolts - seemingly more powerful than the first - flew from Jupiter's body and struck dead-on against the energized field, and every last spark bounced right off with no apparent effect.
"I hope that wasn't your best shot, little lightning bug!" The mammoth laughed as more sparks of electricity crackled around the gauntlets on his wrists. "I'll deal with you in due time, but for now, I already have an idea of who I'm sending to Hell first!"
The monster's gaze shifted over to the far left...in the direction of Sailor Mercury.
"Die!" With one word, the mammoth zoomed forward, black energy engulfing and streaming off of his body like a comet. Before ChibiMoon could move, he was in front of Sailor Mercury preparing to strike. Fortunately, the water soldier still had her wits, and she managed to back-flip out of the way of a lightning-fast roundhouse kick. After dodging a few more punches by what had to be less than an inch, Mercury bounded backward into the air, trying to get out of danger as soon as possible.
"Hold on, Ami!" ChibiMoon called out, hoping that Mercury would be able to hear her. "Chibimoon Sugar..."
"Sparkling Wide..."
"Venus Crescent Beam..."
"Not so fast!" The warrior took one moment from his assault on Mercury to deliver a quick barrage of gold energy beams to the remaining four Sailor Soldiers before they could finish powering their attacks. They were forced to stop in mid-move in order to keep from being fried by the demon's beams.
Sailor ChibiMoon flew backward from the shock wave of one energy ray and landed hard on the ground near the others. But she managed to look up and see that the monster hadn't wasted time in continuing his relentless assault against Sailor Mercury.
* * *
"Hang on, guys, I might have a plan," Sailor Mercury ruminated to herself as she dodged yet another killer left hook from the barbarian attacking her. Her defense was holding for the time being, but from the arrogant grin stuck on the monster's face, he was just toying with her; he hadn't showed her the fullest extent of his power yet.
But I'm not going to give him the chance to!
Though Mercury knew that hand-to-hand fighting certainly wasn't the way to win against such a brutal expert of it, a clever move would at least buy the others some time to recover and get some kind of combination attack against their opponent.
He can't fight what he can't see!
Another roundhouse managed to graze her left arm, and the energy behind the kick seriously stung her skin even though it had mostly missed. Before the warrior could attempt a follow-up, Mercury used her Sailor Soldier form's power to increase her speed and mobility and utilized the added strength to help her back-flip out to a safer distance.
"Now's my chance!" She said to herself and she gathered her power. "Mercury... Shabon Spray!"
Magical bubbles formed around Mercury's palms and as she released them into the air, they quickly formed a blue misty fog that clouded the whole area around her and her opponent. The barbarian should've been well blinded by the mist, and - with any luck - vulnerable to a follow-up from her. She sighed for the temporary relief and reached her senses out into the watery mist to locate the behemoth's position.
"What the...?!" Mercury gasped in shock as she realized that she couldn't detect the warrior even through the mist! Not even a fraction of his awesome power registered in her mind. "That incredible faster-than-light speed of his must've--"
"Don't you know what happens when a little girl goes too far out into the water all alone?" An ominous snicker coming from directly behind Sailor Mercury made her blood freeze almost instantaneously. Before she could get out of there, she felt a tons of bricks in the form of the barbarian's fist slam into her back. After a wrenching scream of pain, Mercury's hold on the mist was broken, and the bubbles dispersed. She felt the goliath wrap his giant hand around her neck and turn her around to face him. She tried to shut out the pain radiating from her lower back as the warrior smirked at the helpless Sailor Mercury. "They sink to the bottom."
With a quick twist of his hand, Sailor Mercury's world instantly went black.
* * *
"AMI!!!" ChibiMoon screamed in horror as the savage mercenary tossed her body over in the direction of the group. She'd seen what had happened: the Shabon Spray tactic had been useless to stun the warrior. In fact, it had just helped him to use his speed to sneak around behind Ami and deliver the fatal neck-snap.
The body of Sailor Mercury hit the ground with a dull thud her eyes never to open again. ChibiMoon rushed over to it - almost carelessly - and checked the body of her lifelong friend. Indeed, her neck was broken completely thanks to that monster, and no breath was coming from her body.
"Ami..." ChibiMoon stood back up, not believing what had just happened. But in her shock, she couldn't take her eyes off of Sailor Mercury. "No..."
The others had gathered around the body of their friend, each as saddened as she was. Ami had always been the quiet one of the group, but she certainly was one of the most caring and one of the quickest to offer advice when one of them was feeling depressed, most of the time succeeding in lifting her friends' spirits in the lowest times. She'd also put her life on the line very often considering her defensive form of fighting, but this time, she hadn't managed to cheat Death.
"This can't be..." Mars whispered in the direction of the lifeless water soldier. ChibiMoon could see a tear forming out of her closed eye, and she couldn't blame her - besides her mother, Rei had been the closest one to Ami during the entire friendship of the group. As the others were absorbing the sight of Ami's dead body, Mars dropped down next to it, pressing her hand tightly against her shoulder, but obviously not feeling anything on her cold skin. "Ami...why...Why did you have to take him on by yourself?? You knew we were down...you were buying us some time to recover with your own life...you're always like that......"
Suddenly, before ChibiMoon could offer her own words of consolation, Mars sprang up from the ground and engulfed her own body in the fires that she could control and manipulate, and she propelled herself like a torpedo toward the smug warrior floating near them.
"Rei?!" ChibiMoon had never seen Sailor Mars perform a technique like that before, and if Rei's eyes were open, ChibiMoon knew that the same blazing stream of fire would by enveloping her pupils. "What in the world are you doing?! You'll be--"
"Don't say it, ChibiMoon!!" Sailor Mars cried back as the pure red flames carried her body toward the waiting savage. "Ami's gone, Serenity's gone, everybody's suffering all because of these parasites! Holding back has done nothing but rob me of my sight and gotten one of our closest friends killed!! I'm tired of planning and conserving my strength. This technique...it's the product of ALL of my energy, and this scum's going to feel my true power!"
Sailor Mars sped forward through the night sky, illuminating the black shadows with her fire while the warrior took a defense stance of his own. Despite the cocky grin on the behemoth's face, Mars was showing no signs of slowing down.
"REI! Get back here!!" ChibiMoon rushed forward in panic, desperate to talk some sense into Sailor Mars.
"Don't take this chance!!" Jupiter called out from behind her. "It's suicide!"
"No way..." Venus was solemn and seemingly mortified as she watched Rei clash with the monster, throwing kicks and punches at lightning fast speed while dodging the counterattacks. "...I've never seen her like this before. All of her energy is going into each punch and each kick; she won't last for long at this rate! We have to do something!!"
The gold antenna extended from Jupiter's tiara as crackling electricity formed around her body. She squinted in the darkness of night and scowled in frustration. "They're moving too fast, I can't get a clear shot!"
ChibiMoon hurriedly fumbled her rod in her hands, trying without much success to aim a good beam at the barbarian battling with Sailor Mars.
Rei...this rage...it isn't you...please don't die!!
* * *
Rei tossed another heavy right hand at the enemy commander, which he dodged easily like all the others. The world before her was total chaotic darkness, but her senses served as an even better set of eyes - she could detect energy build-up with every blow and direct some of her own power into her defenses.
"You're not bad, kid," The commander called out with a laugh. "Even without your sight, you've put up a more interesting brawl than the other weakling that I took care of a few minutes ago!"
"That 'weakling' was one of my best friends!" She retorted as another roundhouse from her met only with air. "I'll never forgive you for killing her!"
"Spare me your futile grudges, pathetic girl!" A sudden jab came out of nowhere and Rei felt the fire field around her buckle as the fist connected with her mid-section. A follow-up blow slammed into the left side of her head and sent Mars sailing back toward the ground.
I don't believe this! Even at maximum power, I can't even touch him!!
Rei managed to use her energy to cushion her fall to the hard earth, and she sprang back up into the air at full speed. Adjusting her senses, Rei could feel the titanic force speeding toward her like a missile, and from the rambunctious laughing coming from straight ahead, Rei knew that her senses weren't off. The monster was coming at her, and if she didn't act in the next few seconds, she would lying on the ground next to Ami.
Maybe the Shabon Spray didn't work, but...
Mars smirked at her ingenuity, and a slip bearing sacred writings appeared in her hand at her own command. The limited holy energy that the priestess possessed
"Evil spirit in a demon's body..." She muttered to herself as the power began to flow into the slip. "Begone!"
With a swift movement of her hand, the slip soared forward into the air, and for a brief instant, Sailor Mars felt the energy of the titanic monster freeze at the sacred magic struck him.
"W-what the...?!" His startled yelp was all that Rei needed to hear. She sprung upward and speared the commander through his stomach with her two fists, and she followed up with a dropkick to the demon's chin.
"Mars...Fire Soul!" A ball of flame sprouted on her joined fingertips and spiraled toward the alien, and Mars felt the ball impacting him on his midsection and sending him tumbling down toward the ground.
The curse is wearing off! He's more resistant to it than I expected...I have to do this now!!
Sailor Mars propelled herself downward, intent on destroying the fiend that took Ami's life, but as she began to charge all of her remaining energy in her hands for one powerful attack, her senses rang when she felt some kind of power build-up emanating from her opponent.
What is he---
Before she realized what he was doing, she felt the full force of a small explosion that crashed against her in mid-flight. The blast sent Mars sailing backward, and when she regained her momentum, she bit her lip, trying to hold back an agonizing scream from the burns all over her exposed flesh and singed soldier suit.
But Sailor Mars's mind was still together, and she could feel the titan was still off-balance and recovering from her recent flurry of offense - the explosion he had generated was apparently a desperation move.
But how did he do it...?
Then, it clicked in Rei's mind how he had generated such a forceful blast underneath the binding hold of her curse. She couldn't give him a chance to do it again, and if he did cause some kind of detonation in her worsened condition...
But what would it matter? I'm no good to fight after this next attack...so I'm going to make sure this one will count!
* * *
"What's happening?!" ChibiMoon's small voice rang out as she saw the flame surrounding Sailor Mars's body intensify once again as she streaked toward the ground in pursuit of her opponent. Rei's curse and a quick barrage of attacks had been the first successful offensive against the alien since the fighting had started.
"That Fire Soul attack was what triggered that small explosion!" Jupiter determined. "All that negative energy build-up was small enough for him to resist, but Mars didn't even see it coming!"
"Rei, look out!!" ChibiMoon cried out as she noticed the enemy commander charged an even vaster quantity of the black negative thunder energy around his body as the injured Mars sped toward him with reckless abandonment. "He's going to--"
"I know," Rei's voice echoed inside ChibiMoon's head, giving the princess quite a scare. "Yes, ChibiUsa, I know. But my body is useless with these burns; there's no way I can achieve anywhere near my usual level of strength if I power down now."
"What are you saying??"
"I'm saying that it's time for me to fulfill my duty as a priestess and guardian of this planet and use up most of remaining power to trigger a blast big enough to make him nothing more than ashes," The voice echoed again. "Good-bye, ChibiUsa! Take care of things while I'm gone! And thank you...for everything."
"No, stop it!!" ChibiMoon's voice cracked as Rei's telepathic link broke off. "Get out of there, Rei, please!"
"She's not going to...?!" Sailor Venus gasped as she sensed Mars's power beginning to skyrocket. "My gosh, no!! Rei, don't do it!!"
"Mars...Fire..."
"What's this?! How could such a frail being attain such high power? Three thousand...four thousand...five thousand?! These guys CAN manipulate their power readings!!" The bewildered look on the face of the bald-headed terror was the most fear, the only fear that ChibiMoon had seen in him for the whole fight. It was then that she knew that Rei was serious about her bold move.
"Rei, stop!!" ChibiMoon felt a few tears of panic leaking out of her eyes, but she didn't care in the least bit. "DOOOON'T!!!"
"SOUL!!!" As soon as the fire discharged from Sailor Mars's body, the area around the two combatants erupted in a horrific explosion of searing heat and flame that blew balls of fire out in all directions and temporarily deafened all of the combatants within range of the blast.
ChibiMoon - who had been thrown to the ground by the concussion wave caused by the blast - picked herself up off of the ground and squinted through the smoke. She saw nothing but rubble and debris of the building that Sailor Mars and the enemy warrior were about to crash into. The impact of the explosion was so great that the entire structure had been leveled.
But no signs of life, no movement came from the rubble. It was a dead heap...along with Rei as well as the savage that had driven her to commit such an act.
"Rei..." She whispered to herself as felt her stomach begin to cave in. Two were gone, two of her best friends were no more. She wanted to scream out in rage and hatred toward the cruel monsters, but the lump in her throat prevented any further words from coming out.
Jupiter - who was in about as utter dismay as ChibiMoon and Venus were - walked over to the wreckage and picked up one small object that her keen eyes had spotted: Rei's scroll, the one she'd used on the enemy commander. The sacred power surrounding it had protected it from the blast...but unfortunately, the same could not be said about Rei Hino. ChibiMoon saw tears beginning to leak out of Makoto's eyes - tears of sadness and rage.
Suddenly, when it seemed like the silence would never end, Sailor ChibiMoon gasped as the voice she never thought she'd hear again startled her.
"...My, my, what a scare," The ominous voice chuckled. ChibiMoon's gaze shot skyward and she felt her heart plummet when she saw the smirking form of the demonic commander floating high up in the night sky, looking no worse for wear from Rei's explosive sacrifice. "I must say, I underestimated that little ball of fire. She was much stronger than I gave her credit for - I honestly thought my death was upon me. It's such a shame that such a noble sacrifice was all for nothing!"
"Well, what did you expect?" The female called up to him from her position. "She could control fire after all, Tridyx. But you got pretty careless there, my friend - had that attack occurred two seconds sooner, you'd be in Hell with her right now."
"What?!?" Sailor Venus was exasperated as the cold eyes of the warrior known as Tridyx came to rest on the remaining three Sailor Soldiers. "T-that's not possible, how could he have gotten through something like that without a scratch?! Now Rei's dead...and it was all for nothing!!"
"Stupid girl!" Tridyx spat down at the trio. "This entire fight was all for nothing from the moment we arrived! Only the Reaper will be your companion once I finish all of you off! It wasn't a smart move making me mad like that - getting stunned by worthless brats like you is degrading to someone of my caliber, so I think it's time to end your pitiful lives once and for all!"
Before ChibiMoon could snap out of her stupor, Tridyx launched an energy blast toward her and Sailor Venus, one that was much larger and faster than the ones that the soldiers had thrown at them earlier.
"Look out!" Jupiter cried from the wreckage.
"World...Shaking!!"
Out of the blue, a gold orb of energy streaked across the black sky and slammed into the side of the energy bolt, canceling the attack with a powerful explosion that lit up the sky once again. When the smoke cleared, ChibiMoon looked in the direction of the blast and her eyes rested on a sight that finally brought a smile out of her.
Several yards off, the trio of Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Saturn were standing tall, all of them ready to fight.
"Someone's pitiful life will be ending today, demon," Uranus said. "And it's going to be yours!"
As soon as the words left the mouth of the fire-skinned female, the quintet of soldiers that had appeared inside the crevices of the mauled buildings descended from their posts and onto the ravaged street below in one smooth move. But to the young eyes of Sailor ChibiMoon, it looked as if they had disappeared and rematerialized on the street in less than a second, almost like magic.
Apparently, from the gasps coming from the other Sailor Soldiers, they were as aghast as she was.
"What do you make of that, Mercury?" Jupiter whispered to the water soldier.
A transparent blue visor had materialized over Mercury's eyes when ChibiMoon looked over, and various figures were blipping across the screen. Sailor Mercury's unblinking eyes studied the numbers and stats closely.
"I'm not totally sure," She admitted as she began to scan all five soldiers. "I can tell that they have tremendous violent energy fields around them, and an ability to manipulate such vast quantities of power through superhuman physical strength could explain their unique skills...partially anyway."
"What do you mean?" ChibiMoon asked, still trying to take in all of Mercury's first set of info. She grumbled to herself, hating that she had inherited her mother's thick skull.
"These readings are very unstable, probably being obstructed by their enormous amounts of power," Mercury replied. "I'm not sure if their true strength lies in what I'm picking up, but it's definitely a part of it."
"Then how do you explain that teleport trick they just did?" Venus asked with trepidation.
"No, it wasn't any kind of teleport," Mercury continued as more figures flashed on his visor. "I was already scanning their energies during the move, and I could definitely detect their life forces moving along this plane of existence, whereas teleport tricks would've caused them to vanish for a brief instant. You may not be able to believe this, but what looked like instantaneous movement to our eyes could very well have been pure speed to them!"
"Faster than light speed?!" Jupiter gasped. ChibiMoon concurred - despite their overwhelming power in the palace battle and several other skirmishes, she'd never seen any example of how fast the aliens could truly move. And if the three commanders were stronger and faster than their underlings were, then they were in worse shape than they thought - ChibiMoon hated the idea of fighting proverbial ghosts.
In the meantime, the five troopers were busy doing their own analysis of the Sailor Soldiers, though theirs was a lot more on the sarcastic side.
"Funny thing..." The soldier in the middle said loud enough for the Sailor Soldiers to hear it. "I thought the reports said that there were nine Sailor Soldiers instead of five. Where are the other four schoolgirls?"
"I can tell you where!" One of his compatriots - a tall, purple-haired male - brashly spat. "They're hiding like the scared little children they are! At least the little princess is willing to put up a fight before we send her to Hell."
That brought a chorus of laughter from the other four. Finally, the middle soldier calmed the crowd and clicked a button on his blue-tinted eyepiece, something similar to Mercury's computer as far as ChibiMoon could see.
"Well, let's find out how strong these kids really are," He said to his flanking comrades. "And how long this massacre will take us."
Several small figures blipped across the eyepiece, and the soldier seemed to scan in the direction of each Sailor Soldier before reading the respective results off to his teammates.
"Hmm...The princess is up at 891, how surprising...The blue-haired one's at 954...The red-suited girl's has a battle power of 1016...The brunette's at 1287...and the blonde's got a power level of 1176."
More laughs followed from the remaining soldiers, causing another grimace to form on ChibiUsa's face.
"That's it?!" Another raucous cackle came from another grunt. "That really disappoints me, I was hoping for some decent entertainment today. I could get better target practice with those weakling Special Forces members than these schoolgirls. The blonde over there is the only one that could prove to be of 'use'..."
The perverted remark generated more boisterous laughter among the group, and it caused Venus walked forward with an angered expression. ChibiMoon knew how explosive Venus was to comments like that one. "Hey, watch your mouth, alien trash, I'm not just some pretty girl for pervs like you to gawk at, and I've had about enough of you arrogance! As the guardian of love and on behalf of the planet Venus...I'll punish you!!"
"'Punish' us??" The first soldier was incredulous. "For the love of all that's---oh, forget the rest of this showboating before we have to endure something like that again. Kill them!"
The five soldiers charged forward at normal speed, and Mercury's computer blipped again.
"What's going on, Mercury?" Sailor ChibiMoon looked over at her.
"They're beginning to concentrate their power. It's time to fight back!" The visor vanished as Sailor Mercury gathered up her power over the water. It began forming around her like a whirlpool, and soon Mercury had an orb of pure blue water in her hands. "Mercury...Aqua Rhapsody!"
A column of magic-enhanced water flew from Mercury's hands, traveling toward their attackers at considerable speed. The soldiers were taken aback by such a show of force by their opponents, and two of them were caught in the wave while the others dodged just in time. The two victims of the Aqua Rhapsody flew backward and hit the ground hard, sending them into a temporary daze.
The three survivors of the attack flew up into the air and shot a glower in the direction of the Sailor Soldiers. They hadn't expected to be shown up so quickly by a group of opponents, let alone a bunch of schoolgirls as they saw before them. The two victims of Mercury's leadoff attack who were picking themselves off of the ground didn't look too pleased either.
"...Fire!!" The squad captain commanded.
ChibiMoon jumped back as a beam of gold energy hit the place where she was standing only a second ago. Another beam nearly clipped her arm and ChibiMoon found herself jumping and dodging all over the ground as the beams came to within inches of finding their mark. There were so many bouncing beams flying around that she couldn't even get a chance to draw out her scepter.
And after all the warning about training that Hotaru gave me...
"I'll take care of this!" Jupiter called out as she ducked several beams of energy. Almost instantly, lightning began sparking around her and the small lightning rod in her tiara. "Jupiter...Supreme Thunder!"
Bolts of lightning exploded from Jupiter's body, intercepting and deflecting the incoming beams.
"I...impossible!!" The second soldier gasped as he continued his onslaught of beams.
"Nice going, Jupiter!" Sailor Mars grinned, drawing a bead on the two ground soldiers that had been weakened by Mercury's Aqua Rhapsody attack. "Allow me..."
Rings of fire formed around Mars' body, and using Jupiter's Supreme Thunder attack as a shield, aimed toward the two prone troopers.
"Mars...Burning Mandala!"
The rings sailed through the air toward the soldiers, who weren't prepared because of the thunder. The searing rings split into two groups at Mars's command and buried themselves into the chests of the commandos, shattering their armor and scalding their chests. As the flames dissipated, the two soldiers were motionless on the floor, their wounds spewing black smoke. ChibiMoon couldn't tell if they were dead or not, but they wouldn't be causing them anymore trouble.
"Not bad..." The squad captain commented as he glanced down at Sailor Mars's handiwork. "...But let's see how you handle a little hand-to-hand combat! Attack!!"
The three remaining soldiers blasted down from the sky, their bodies slamming into the street like battering rams as the Sailors dove for cover. ChibiMoon felt her hurried jump carry her over to the left flank behind one of the buildings, landing right next to Sailor Mars. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus had taken a bit of the shockwave from the soldier's rapid descent, sending them sailing off to the right.
Then, as the squad captain and one of his men went over to continue assaulting the other three Sailor Soldiers, ChibiMoon saw the perfect opportunity with the remaining straggler who had been sent over to finish her and Mars off.
"Mars, is your eyesight in good shape at this point?" ChibiMoon asked. The Sailor Soldier of fire looked over with a bit of confusion, so ChibiMoon elaborated. "I'm going to go up and distract that guy, and when you have a shot, hit him with a Flame Sniper!"
Mars nodded with optimism and stood up, taking cover behind the building to keep out of sight from the commando. "Okay, but be careful, these guys are more experienced in martial arts combat than you are. Don't take any unnecessary chances!"
"Got it," ChibiMoon nodded as the soldier came into view. "You just be sure to stick that arrow in him and not me! Good luck!"
"So here you are!" The brash voice of the commando cut the conversation short. "So you survived those beams I targeted at you. Pretty impressive for a brat!"
"A brat?!" ChibiMoon steamed as the Pink Sugar Rod materialized in her hand. "How dare you insult me! And how dare you try to blast me and my friends into oblivion! In the name of Crystal Tokyo and for my mother who you kidnapped, I'll punish you!"
"What a baby..." The soldier chuckled as he extended his open palm. "You know, it's very hard to miss from this range...so I hope your reflexes are up to specs!"
Another golden energy ray shot out from the soldier's gloved hand, forcing ChibiMoon to leap into the air in order to dodge it. As the beam impacted on the ground behind her and sent smoke everywhere, ChibiMoon took aim with her small scepter, concentrating her power into it.
"ChibiMoon...Sugar...Heart...Attack!!" The small princess called out.
But instead of the desired counterattack, the rod didn't respond, not sending forth a spark of energy.
Oh no, not now!!
Her failure to execute the attack caused her to forget that she was descending in mid-air, and Sailor ChibiMoon found herself crashing into the ground in front of the soldier with a dull thud before she could regain her momentum.
"Was that it?" The commando asked in disbelief as ChibiMoon tried to shake off the cobwebs. "It's no fun killing someone who doesn't know how to fight back, let alone a brat who is the same...but why not? It'll mean some extra pay for me!"
The trooper raised his hand - probably to fire down another energy beam at the prone target - but a sudden burst of fire from behind ChibiMoon sent the unsuspecting alien flying backward and into the wall of one of the crumbling buildings. Looking up, ChibiMoon had seen that the now-motionless grunt had been impaled on the wall by an arrow of fire. The princess turned back and saw the confident form of Sailor Mars standing just outside her hiding place, a bow of pure flame glowing in her hands.
"Bulls-eye, Mars!" ChibiMoon smiled as she stood up. She grumbled as she looked down at her pink scepter. It was just her luck - she thought she had gotten that attack down to the point of total control over the Sugar Heart Attack, and it had almost cost ChibiMoon her life with one brief failure.
"Relax, ChibiMoon, that power will come back to you when you'll truly need it," Mars winked. "Just believe in yourself!"
The princess smiled back before looking over at the battle between the two surviving soldiers and the other three Sailors. The skirmish was going very well in their favor - Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury were able to avoid the beam attacks while parrying whatever punches or kicks came their way.
"You know, Rei..." ChibiMoon turned to Sailor Mars. "We may have a chance of winning after all!"
However, instead of the same confident return from Mars that she had expected, the fire soldier's eyes widened and she rushed forward in the direction of Sailor ChibiMoon.
"ChibiUsa, look out!!" Before ChibiMoon could react to whatever was happening, Mars dove in front of her. Suddenly, the area in front of Mars exploded with dazzling gold light, and the black-haired priestess fell forward onto the ground clutching her face in agony.
"Oh, no!!" ChibiMoon gasped.
Looking past the form of Sailor Mars, ChibiMoon saw the bloody outline of her would-be killer standing a few yards away from the building. It was the soldier that Mars had hit with the Flame Sniper. Apparently, the arrow hadn't been enough to instantly kill him, and the trooper was walking limply with a bleeding hole in his gut where the arrow had hit.
But the damage had been done to the unfortunate commando - the beam was evidently a final desperation attack aimed at ChibiMoon, but Mars had been the one who had checked to see if the soldier was dead while ChibiMoon had been celebrating. And now, thanks to her arrogance and carelessness, Rei was hurt very badly.
"Rei, Rei!!" ChibiMoon lifted the head of Sailor Mars off of the ground. The sight of Mars's face wasn't pleasant - the beam had evidently struck her face dead-on, but because of its low power generated from its dying origin, the blast had only been enough to severely burn Rei's face instead of killing her. "Can you still hear me?!"
Rei's hands gripped ChibiMoon's shoulders, and the princess could tell by her clenched teeth that she was fighting off the painful urge to scream out in pain.
"Rei, say something, anything! Please don't die!" ChibiMoon cried out in panic, fearing that the blast would kill her friend after all.
Finally, after a few tense seconds of suffering from the beam, Sailor Mars answered ChibiMoon's pleas.
"I've been better..." She moaned. "I think I'll live, but my eyes are useless now - I can't even open them because of these injuries...but don't worry, I can still fight! "
"Rei..."ChibiMoon lightly touched one of her friend's eyes, and she had to yank her hand away to keep it from being burned. "...You have to get out of here. You'll be too much of a target for them if you remain. Please, I can't let you die out here!"
"Relax, my senses will keep me focused. They're nearly as good as my eyes were." Mars reassured her as she rose up unsteadily. "Now how are the others faring?"
ChibiMoon glanced over to the opposite end of the street just in time to see one of the grunts get sent through the wall of one of the buildings from Jupiter's Supreme Thunder attack. A brilliant Venus Crescent Beam slammed the squad captain in the gut, sending him sprawling to the ground.
"Come on, Mars, let's get moving," ChibiMoon tugged on her blinded friend's hand.
Nodding slightly, Mars followed, her skin still spewing a few wisps of smoke. ChibiMoon looked over at the three other enemy warriors, who were looking none too pleased with the performance of their commandos against the Sailor Soldiers. As her eyes landed on each commander, something coming from them made her legs feel somewhat weak all of a sudden.
What power...certainly more than these five had to offer...Hotaru, Setsuna, where are you? We'll need everything we can get against these monsters...
* * *
Infernia shook her head in revulsion as her soldiers went down one by one. The surprise water attack from the one in blue had been one thing, but she'd never expected those girls to dodge virtually every single attack that the squad had thrown at them. Now, all her opening greeting to the Sailor Soldiers had to show for itself was a perverted remark from one of the squad members and just one wounded Sailor Soldier. And this had been the squad that had dispatched five entire bases of civilians and Crystal Tokyo Special Forces.
So much for the quick victory...I can't believe those idiots...getting beaten by these weaklings. I'm beginning to wonder how those frail morons ever managed to make the cut for my elite unit.
As far as she saw, the lieutenant commanding the hapless quintet was the only one left, and he was struggling to his feet after an attack by the blonde sailor.
She heard Tridyx's scouter blip, and she saw the huge goliath cross his tree trunk arms and spit on the ground in repugnance.
"I don't believe this," He snorted as the lieutenant managed to pull himself up from the ground. "His power's almost down to zero already! How could those girls be that strong??"
"I don't think it's a question of strength," Infernia mused, drawing Tridyx's attention. "Their powers are quite peculiar, nothing like the techniques we have mastered."
"Do you suspect that they can raise their ki without having to change their shape?" Zebus suggested. "I have heard rumors that many warrior races throughout the galaxy have begun to master the rare art. Perhaps these five have perfected that uncanny ability."
"I doubt it," Infernia responded. "Besides, I've monitored their powers through my scouter to see what kind of tenacity these girls had, and none of the power levels fluctuated in the least bit! And our soldiers each had battle powers of at least two thousand!"
"Then how were these Sailor Soldiers able to dispatch of them so easily?" Zebus questioned.
"No matter," Infernia shook off the inquiry while giving a fiery glower in the direction of the three Sailor Soldiers. "After all, this was just a test of their abilities. Remember, just because they have some secret to slightly increase their attack power doesn't mean they stand a remote chance against us."
"Of course," Tridyx chuckled, his confident demeanor restored. "Thanks, captain, I was pretty worried there for a second."
"Sparkling...Wide...Pressure!!" A thunder disk coming from the brunette's hands was too quick for the weakened lieutenant to handle in his dilapidated state. The disk connected full force with the lieutenant's chest, sending massive amounts of pure voltage coursing through his armored body and throwing him into the air. With an agonized scream, the lieutenant sailed through the night sky, electricity trailing behind him in his wake, and he crash-landed in a smoking mess a few yards away from the trio of commanders.
"I'd say that they passed that test with flying colors," Zebus commented as the soldier weakly lifted his head up. Amazingly, he was still alive, albeit completely crippled. "What extraordinary powers those girls have. They can control elements and magic as easily as we control energy."
"Captain..." The lieutenant reached a burned, tattered arm up toward Infernia. A few volts were still pricking at his skin and his eyes were glazed over, his mind far outside reality. The sight disgusted the captain, who absolutely resented the fact that one of her elite soldiers had been beaten. "Please...help me...I can't get up..."
Infernia smirked as she extended her hand to the dazed and blinded soldier. "Certainly..." She licked her fangs as she tightened a grip on the lieutenant's gloved hand. "It's the least I can do...for failure."
Moments later, there came the same satisfying scream from the lieutenant's mouth that came from all of her victims. Infernia basked in the radiant heat as what was left of the lieutenant burned to a cinder in less than a minute. When the tissue had been totally incinerated, the flames slowly died out, and Infernia rescinded her exposed bare red hand. She watched with pleasure as the fire that had caught onto it from the burning corpse soaked itself into her skin like water.
Such is the fate of those who fail General Damos...
Her moment of delight concluding itself for the time being, the magma-skinned captain turned back to the Sailor Soldiers, who had gathered around the red one, the only one who had been injured during the whole exchange. Each of them were inspecting the burns on the red one's face while throwing a suspicious eye back toward her and her two escorts every so often.
So, one falls, but she still insists on fighting. Infernia noted with an arched eyebrow. She chuckled a little bit at the bright red surrounding the injured Sailor Soldier. But that's just what I'd expect from one who could control such an awesome destructive force like fire. I must remember to keep my eye on that one - anyone who could maneuver the flame is certainly a threat, blind or not.
"Captain," Tridyx interrupted her analysis. "How do you wish to proceed?"
"Well, I have no interest in the four older Sailor Soldiers, despite the red one's knack for manipulating fire," Infernia responded. "The only one I want left alive is the princess. Remember my plan for Serenity, and I can assure you...the picture will be worth more than a thousand words when the queen holds the charred skeleton of her only daughter. It will be a fitting end to---Wait a second!! Yes... now I have better plan."
"What do you mean, captain?" Tridyx curiously asked with a grin, well aware of Infernia's devilish mind and some of the diabolical concoctions that were born from it.
"Suppose, for one, that I invite their king to the show," She suggested.
"The king?" Zebus asked. "I remember reports from the battalions stating that he was injured in the ambush attack on the palace."
"Precisely," Infernia nodded. She continued slowly, immersing herself in her devious scheme. "Tell me, Zebus, how would you think Serenity would react if her beloved husband was slowly burned to ashes - letting out a symphony of agonizing cries - right in front of her helpless eyes?"
"In front of her eyes...?" Zebus repeated in awe.
"...You're a genius, captain," Tridyx echoed his sentiment. "A complete and utter genius. Only you can make your enemies suffer misery in Hell before even sending them there."
"You're too kind, Tridyx," Infernia chortled as she replaced her glove for the moment and set her eyes on the princess, who was still tending to her injured friend. "She's an exact image of her mother. I wonder if the resemblance will remain once the skin is torched off."
"Well, if you're getting the princess," Tridyx began. "Then let us handle the other Sailor Soldiers! We want to have some fun on this trip, too!"
"Yes!" The antennae lining Zebus's mouth shivered and flowed like black and white waves. "I've been so looking forward to annihilating those sentient healers, and now is the perfect time to demonstrate my race's power to them!"
"Well, there's no sense in both of you getting your hands dirty at this point," Infernia answered them. "Remember, we have to conserve our energy for the insects in the palace. Tridyx, since you asked first, you may take care of them."
"All right!!" Tridyx pumped his arm as Zebus began to grumble. "I'll make bloody shreds out of all of them in a few minutes!"
"Oh, come now, Tridyx, don't finish them off too quickly," Infernia smirked. "Try to put on a half-decent show for Zebus and I."
Tridyx pounded the chest of his black-plated armor and began flexing and stretching a bit. "Ah, it's been a month or two since we landed on this rock and these Earthlings still haven't entertained me. I hope that these Sailor Soldiers can provide my first glimpse of it before I destroy them! Trust me, captain, it's going to be a fantastic display!"
"Good, just leave the princess alive for me to deal with," Infernia reminded him. "And by the way...I think I may have the first target in mind for you, my friend."
Infernia nodded in the direction of the blue-haired Sailor Soldier. The transparent blue visor had once again materialized over her eyes and she was busily scanning her injured comrade's wounds. Infernia had noticed it earlier before the quintet had begun their assault, and from the readouts she was reporting to her friends, it bore a very strong resemblance to their technology, perhaps even on a bit of a higher level than their own machinery. What more, the blue Sailor knew exactly how to use it...and what to scan for in their enemies. It had been those readouts of her visor that set the stage for the Sailors' counterattack against the squad. Infernia pointed the object out to Tridyx.
"It's a piece of machinery more advanced than our scouters that can read and analyze our every movement down to the molecule...that kind of technological advantage in their hands is dangerous, wouldn't you say?"
"As well as the mind that uses it," Tridyx concurred. "No problem, captain. She's mine!"
Tridyx zipped forward and landed several feet away from the group. The Sailors, obviously startled by Tridyx's blinding speed, stumbled backward in defensive stances while the blue-haired Sailor helped her injured comrade back and acted as a human shield while the red Sailor was still trying to fight off the sting of the burns.
"How touching," Tridyx scoffed at their unity. "Never leaving a comrade to die, no matter how maimed she is. Even with those gifts of hers, only the eternal darkness of Hell awaits beyond the lonely blackness she's experiencing now."
* * *
ChibiMoon grimaced at the monster looming over them, more so toward his cocky sadistic attitude than his formidable appearance. His black armor only enhanced his monstrous form, and his coal-black eyes were casting an intimidating look toward the whole group. This guy wasn't going to be messing around like the five alien grunts did - he meant business.
"Well, if you girls are through with the warm-up exercises, I think it's time for the main event to begin."
"Just who are you guys, anyway?" Jupiter was the first to respond. "And why have you done this to us?"
The behemoth shook his head at the question. "Who we are isn't as important as the one we're working for, fools. You see, I've been looking at your technology, and aside from a few interesting tidbits to share with the development teams, it's all very much laughable. You haven't even gotten around to space travel yet!"
"What's your point?" Venus retaliated. "Just because we're not out chasing stars doesn't mean we haven't come a long way!"
"My point is that none of you know about the darker sides of this galaxy. While you're enjoying this personal paradise of peace here, wars, destruction, and revolution have swept over the universe, engulfing everybody who was too weak to stand up to it. The strongest beings want to survive, and that's why they need people like myself and my associates - the fighters and lowlifes necessary to do their dirty work."
"...You're mercenaries?" Mercury hypothesized.
"Very perceptive," Tridyx nodded in her direction. "Yes, my comrades and I are members of the most feared mercenary alliance in the universe; we've been recruiting for over ten centuries. However, thanks to the marvels of genetic engineering and the sciences, our leader has managed to extend his natural life periods almost to the point of infinity. We swoop down, consume and conquer a planet, and leave its fate in the hands of our employers. It's for a high price, of course, but with our efficiency, it's well worth it for them!"
"Mercenaries with an immortal leader...?" ChibiMoon repeated as it sank in. "If that's true, then you and your pals are disgraces to this universe! Anybody who chooses killing innocents for money is nothing more than a demon!"
"True, but we'll be very rich demons when this is overwith. Our boss is paying us the largest sum in our alliance's history to clean up this little hovel, and from the efforts put forth by your pathetic comrades, I'd say that the bargain was a steal!"
"Who was it?" Mars called out into her blackened world. "Who hired you to destroy this planet? Tell us!"
"I'm sorry, but I'm not privy to that information," The bald mammoth answered in a sarcastic tone.
"You're lying!" ChibiMoon retorted in frustration.
"So what if I am?" He responded nonchalantly. "Are you going to force it out of me, eh, little princess?"
The titan stomped forward, and the five Sailor Soldiers drew back in caution. ChibiMoon could feel the energy around them beginning to stir - the armored commander was starting to gather his strength.
"Well, it looks like you want to do this the hard way. Good, that's what I wanted - it wouldn't be any fun killing you if you just surrendered! In that case, allow me to present to you the radical power you've ever witnessed!"
ChibiMoon watched and sensed as the behemoth began to draw in insane quantities of energy; it was enough to cause the ground beneath them to tremble and crack and the buildings near them to crumble to pieces. A black energy field formed around the confident warrior's body, emitting volatile rays of blue and black thunder that gave off enough heat to singe ChibiMoon's skin even from the several dozen-yard distance. Within a minute, the earthquake had become so bad that ChibiMoon found herself using all of her energy to keep her body from falling to the ground. And all the while, the bald titan was smiling in enjoyment as his body became charged with power, every limb glowing black with raw energy.
"I've had enough of this!" Jupiter shouted as the power build-up seemed to reach its peak. "Jupiter Supreme Thunder!"
Another barrage of lightning bolts - seemingly more powerful than the first - flew from Jupiter's body and struck dead-on against the energized field, and every last spark bounced right off with no apparent effect.
"I hope that wasn't your best shot, little lightning bug!" The mammoth laughed as more sparks of electricity crackled around the gauntlets on his wrists. "I'll deal with you in due time, but for now, I already have an idea of who I'm sending to Hell first!"
The monster's gaze shifted over to the far left...in the direction of Sailor Mercury.
"Die!" With one word, the mammoth zoomed forward, black energy engulfing and streaming off of his body like a comet. Before ChibiMoon could move, he was in front of Sailor Mercury preparing to strike. Fortunately, the water soldier still had her wits, and she managed to back-flip out of the way of a lightning-fast roundhouse kick. After dodging a few more punches by what had to be less than an inch, Mercury bounded backward into the air, trying to get out of danger as soon as possible.
"Hold on, Ami!" ChibiMoon called out, hoping that Mercury would be able to hear her. "Chibimoon Sugar..."
"Sparkling Wide..."
"Venus Crescent Beam..."
"Not so fast!" The warrior took one moment from his assault on Mercury to deliver a quick barrage of gold energy beams to the remaining four Sailor Soldiers before they could finish powering their attacks. They were forced to stop in mid-move in order to keep from being fried by the demon's beams.
Sailor ChibiMoon flew backward from the shock wave of one energy ray and landed hard on the ground near the others. But she managed to look up and see that the monster hadn't wasted time in continuing his relentless assault against Sailor Mercury.
* * *
"Hang on, guys, I might have a plan," Sailor Mercury ruminated to herself as she dodged yet another killer left hook from the barbarian attacking her. Her defense was holding for the time being, but from the arrogant grin stuck on the monster's face, he was just toying with her; he hadn't showed her the fullest extent of his power yet.
But I'm not going to give him the chance to!
Though Mercury knew that hand-to-hand fighting certainly wasn't the way to win against such a brutal expert of it, a clever move would at least buy the others some time to recover and get some kind of combination attack against their opponent.
He can't fight what he can't see!
Another roundhouse managed to graze her left arm, and the energy behind the kick seriously stung her skin even though it had mostly missed. Before the warrior could attempt a follow-up, Mercury used her Sailor Soldier form's power to increase her speed and mobility and utilized the added strength to help her back-flip out to a safer distance.
"Now's my chance!" She said to herself and she gathered her power. "Mercury... Shabon Spray!"
Magical bubbles formed around Mercury's palms and as she released them into the air, they quickly formed a blue misty fog that clouded the whole area around her and her opponent. The barbarian should've been well blinded by the mist, and - with any luck - vulnerable to a follow-up from her. She sighed for the temporary relief and reached her senses out into the watery mist to locate the behemoth's position.
"What the...?!" Mercury gasped in shock as she realized that she couldn't detect the warrior even through the mist! Not even a fraction of his awesome power registered in her mind. "That incredible faster-than-light speed of his must've--"
"Don't you know what happens when a little girl goes too far out into the water all alone?" An ominous snicker coming from directly behind Sailor Mercury made her blood freeze almost instantaneously. Before she could get out of there, she felt a tons of bricks in the form of the barbarian's fist slam into her back. After a wrenching scream of pain, Mercury's hold on the mist was broken, and the bubbles dispersed. She felt the goliath wrap his giant hand around her neck and turn her around to face him. She tried to shut out the pain radiating from her lower back as the warrior smirked at the helpless Sailor Mercury. "They sink to the bottom."
With a quick twist of his hand, Sailor Mercury's world instantly went black.
* * *
"AMI!!!" ChibiMoon screamed in horror as the savage mercenary tossed her body over in the direction of the group. She'd seen what had happened: the Shabon Spray tactic had been useless to stun the warrior. In fact, it had just helped him to use his speed to sneak around behind Ami and deliver the fatal neck-snap.
The body of Sailor Mercury hit the ground with a dull thud her eyes never to open again. ChibiMoon rushed over to it - almost carelessly - and checked the body of her lifelong friend. Indeed, her neck was broken completely thanks to that monster, and no breath was coming from her body.
"Ami..." ChibiMoon stood back up, not believing what had just happened. But in her shock, she couldn't take her eyes off of Sailor Mercury. "No..."
The others had gathered around the body of their friend, each as saddened as she was. Ami had always been the quiet one of the group, but she certainly was one of the most caring and one of the quickest to offer advice when one of them was feeling depressed, most of the time succeeding in lifting her friends' spirits in the lowest times. She'd also put her life on the line very often considering her defensive form of fighting, but this time, she hadn't managed to cheat Death.
"This can't be..." Mars whispered in the direction of the lifeless water soldier. ChibiMoon could see a tear forming out of her closed eye, and she couldn't blame her - besides her mother, Rei had been the closest one to Ami during the entire friendship of the group. As the others were absorbing the sight of Ami's dead body, Mars dropped down next to it, pressing her hand tightly against her shoulder, but obviously not feeling anything on her cold skin. "Ami...why...Why did you have to take him on by yourself?? You knew we were down...you were buying us some time to recover with your own life...you're always like that......"
Suddenly, before ChibiMoon could offer her own words of consolation, Mars sprang up from the ground and engulfed her own body in the fires that she could control and manipulate, and she propelled herself like a torpedo toward the smug warrior floating near them.
"Rei?!" ChibiMoon had never seen Sailor Mars perform a technique like that before, and if Rei's eyes were open, ChibiMoon knew that the same blazing stream of fire would by enveloping her pupils. "What in the world are you doing?! You'll be--"
"Don't say it, ChibiMoon!!" Sailor Mars cried back as the pure red flames carried her body toward the waiting savage. "Ami's gone, Serenity's gone, everybody's suffering all because of these parasites! Holding back has done nothing but rob me of my sight and gotten one of our closest friends killed!! I'm tired of planning and conserving my strength. This technique...it's the product of ALL of my energy, and this scum's going to feel my true power!"
Sailor Mars sped forward through the night sky, illuminating the black shadows with her fire while the warrior took a defense stance of his own. Despite the cocky grin on the behemoth's face, Mars was showing no signs of slowing down.
"REI! Get back here!!" ChibiMoon rushed forward in panic, desperate to talk some sense into Sailor Mars.
"Don't take this chance!!" Jupiter called out from behind her. "It's suicide!"
"No way..." Venus was solemn and seemingly mortified as she watched Rei clash with the monster, throwing kicks and punches at lightning fast speed while dodging the counterattacks. "...I've never seen her like this before. All of her energy is going into each punch and each kick; she won't last for long at this rate! We have to do something!!"
The gold antenna extended from Jupiter's tiara as crackling electricity formed around her body. She squinted in the darkness of night and scowled in frustration. "They're moving too fast, I can't get a clear shot!"
ChibiMoon hurriedly fumbled her rod in her hands, trying without much success to aim a good beam at the barbarian battling with Sailor Mars.
Rei...this rage...it isn't you...please don't die!!
* * *
Rei tossed another heavy right hand at the enemy commander, which he dodged easily like all the others. The world before her was total chaotic darkness, but her senses served as an even better set of eyes - she could detect energy build-up with every blow and direct some of her own power into her defenses.
"You're not bad, kid," The commander called out with a laugh. "Even without your sight, you've put up a more interesting brawl than the other weakling that I took care of a few minutes ago!"
"That 'weakling' was one of my best friends!" She retorted as another roundhouse from her met only with air. "I'll never forgive you for killing her!"
"Spare me your futile grudges, pathetic girl!" A sudden jab came out of nowhere and Rei felt the fire field around her buckle as the fist connected with her mid-section. A follow-up blow slammed into the left side of her head and sent Mars sailing back toward the ground.
I don't believe this! Even at maximum power, I can't even touch him!!
Rei managed to use her energy to cushion her fall to the hard earth, and she sprang back up into the air at full speed. Adjusting her senses, Rei could feel the titanic force speeding toward her like a missile, and from the rambunctious laughing coming from straight ahead, Rei knew that her senses weren't off. The monster was coming at her, and if she didn't act in the next few seconds, she would lying on the ground next to Ami.
Maybe the Shabon Spray didn't work, but...
Mars smirked at her ingenuity, and a slip bearing sacred writings appeared in her hand at her own command. The limited holy energy that the priestess possessed
"Evil spirit in a demon's body..." She muttered to herself as the power began to flow into the slip. "Begone!"
With a swift movement of her hand, the slip soared forward into the air, and for a brief instant, Sailor Mars felt the energy of the titanic monster freeze at the sacred magic struck him.
"W-what the...?!" His startled yelp was all that Rei needed to hear. She sprung upward and speared the commander through his stomach with her two fists, and she followed up with a dropkick to the demon's chin.
"Mars...Fire Soul!" A ball of flame sprouted on her joined fingertips and spiraled toward the alien, and Mars felt the ball impacting him on his midsection and sending him tumbling down toward the ground.
The curse is wearing off! He's more resistant to it than I expected...I have to do this now!!
Sailor Mars propelled herself downward, intent on destroying the fiend that took Ami's life, but as she began to charge all of her remaining energy in her hands for one powerful attack, her senses rang when she felt some kind of power build-up emanating from her opponent.
What is he---
Before she realized what he was doing, she felt the full force of a small explosion that crashed against her in mid-flight. The blast sent Mars sailing backward, and when she regained her momentum, she bit her lip, trying to hold back an agonizing scream from the burns all over her exposed flesh and singed soldier suit.
But Sailor Mars's mind was still together, and she could feel the titan was still off-balance and recovering from her recent flurry of offense - the explosion he had generated was apparently a desperation move.
But how did he do it...?
Then, it clicked in Rei's mind how he had generated such a forceful blast underneath the binding hold of her curse. She couldn't give him a chance to do it again, and if he did cause some kind of detonation in her worsened condition...
But what would it matter? I'm no good to fight after this next attack...so I'm going to make sure this one will count!
* * *
"What's happening?!" ChibiMoon's small voice rang out as she saw the flame surrounding Sailor Mars's body intensify once again as she streaked toward the ground in pursuit of her opponent. Rei's curse and a quick barrage of attacks had been the first successful offensive against the alien since the fighting had started.
"That Fire Soul attack was what triggered that small explosion!" Jupiter determined. "All that negative energy build-up was small enough for him to resist, but Mars didn't even see it coming!"
"Rei, look out!!" ChibiMoon cried out as she noticed the enemy commander charged an even vaster quantity of the black negative thunder energy around his body as the injured Mars sped toward him with reckless abandonment. "He's going to--"
"I know," Rei's voice echoed inside ChibiMoon's head, giving the princess quite a scare. "Yes, ChibiUsa, I know. But my body is useless with these burns; there's no way I can achieve anywhere near my usual level of strength if I power down now."
"What are you saying??"
"I'm saying that it's time for me to fulfill my duty as a priestess and guardian of this planet and use up most of remaining power to trigger a blast big enough to make him nothing more than ashes," The voice echoed again. "Good-bye, ChibiUsa! Take care of things while I'm gone! And thank you...for everything."
"No, stop it!!" ChibiMoon's voice cracked as Rei's telepathic link broke off. "Get out of there, Rei, please!"
"She's not going to...?!" Sailor Venus gasped as she sensed Mars's power beginning to skyrocket. "My gosh, no!! Rei, don't do it!!"
"Mars...Fire..."
"What's this?! How could such a frail being attain such high power? Three thousand...four thousand...five thousand?! These guys CAN manipulate their power readings!!" The bewildered look on the face of the bald-headed terror was the most fear, the only fear that ChibiMoon had seen in him for the whole fight. It was then that she knew that Rei was serious about her bold move.
"Rei, stop!!" ChibiMoon felt a few tears of panic leaking out of her eyes, but she didn't care in the least bit. "DOOOON'T!!!"
"SOUL!!!" As soon as the fire discharged from Sailor Mars's body, the area around the two combatants erupted in a horrific explosion of searing heat and flame that blew balls of fire out in all directions and temporarily deafened all of the combatants within range of the blast.
ChibiMoon - who had been thrown to the ground by the concussion wave caused by the blast - picked herself up off of the ground and squinted through the smoke. She saw nothing but rubble and debris of the building that Sailor Mars and the enemy warrior were about to crash into. The impact of the explosion was so great that the entire structure had been leveled.
But no signs of life, no movement came from the rubble. It was a dead heap...along with Rei as well as the savage that had driven her to commit such an act.
"Rei..." She whispered to herself as felt her stomach begin to cave in. Two were gone, two of her best friends were no more. She wanted to scream out in rage and hatred toward the cruel monsters, but the lump in her throat prevented any further words from coming out.
Jupiter - who was in about as utter dismay as ChibiMoon and Venus were - walked over to the wreckage and picked up one small object that her keen eyes had spotted: Rei's scroll, the one she'd used on the enemy commander. The sacred power surrounding it had protected it from the blast...but unfortunately, the same could not be said about Rei Hino. ChibiMoon saw tears beginning to leak out of Makoto's eyes - tears of sadness and rage.
Suddenly, when it seemed like the silence would never end, Sailor ChibiMoon gasped as the voice she never thought she'd hear again startled her.
"...My, my, what a scare," The ominous voice chuckled. ChibiMoon's gaze shot skyward and she felt her heart plummet when she saw the smirking form of the demonic commander floating high up in the night sky, looking no worse for wear from Rei's explosive sacrifice. "I must say, I underestimated that little ball of fire. She was much stronger than I gave her credit for - I honestly thought my death was upon me. It's such a shame that such a noble sacrifice was all for nothing!"
"Well, what did you expect?" The female called up to him from her position. "She could control fire after all, Tridyx. But you got pretty careless there, my friend - had that attack occurred two seconds sooner, you'd be in Hell with her right now."
"What?!?" Sailor Venus was exasperated as the cold eyes of the warrior known as Tridyx came to rest on the remaining three Sailor Soldiers. "T-that's not possible, how could he have gotten through something like that without a scratch?! Now Rei's dead...and it was all for nothing!!"
"Stupid girl!" Tridyx spat down at the trio. "This entire fight was all for nothing from the moment we arrived! Only the Reaper will be your companion once I finish all of you off! It wasn't a smart move making me mad like that - getting stunned by worthless brats like you is degrading to someone of my caliber, so I think it's time to end your pitiful lives once and for all!"
Before ChibiMoon could snap out of her stupor, Tridyx launched an energy blast toward her and Sailor Venus, one that was much larger and faster than the ones that the soldiers had thrown at them earlier.
"Look out!" Jupiter cried from the wreckage.
"World...Shaking!!"
Out of the blue, a gold orb of energy streaked across the black sky and slammed into the side of the energy bolt, canceling the attack with a powerful explosion that lit up the sky once again. When the smoke cleared, ChibiMoon looked in the direction of the blast and her eyes rested on a sight that finally brought a smile out of her.
Several yards off, the trio of Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Saturn were standing tall, all of them ready to fight.
"Someone's pitiful life will be ending today, demon," Uranus said. "And it's going to be yours!"
