Chapter 10: In the Wake
Where...
She still couldn't think coherantly even though a substantial amount of time had passed since she arrived. The blurred and eratic void of shuddering darkness surrounding her resonated softly from some distant commotion. Every now and again, a gentle, almost musical ringing roused whatever conscious thought she still possessed.
Souls...passing over...to the next life...
Frustration welled up inside of her as she struggled even to merely ponder her current locale. Without a physical body, her essence could not contain even the slightest musings of her mind, and her thoughts kept floating free of her own consciousness and vanishing just as quickly into the limbo around her. The resulting imbalance of mental equilibrium had reduced her to a permenant state of confusion, attempting futilely to discern something, anything before the very thought disappeared into the chaotic mass around her.
Not...much...longer...
This particular part of the road was certainly one of the bumps. As often as she'd been through this transition period, she could never seem to adjust to the dissociation from spirit and physical form.
Then...again... Another thought emerged, and she was able to concentrate on it for a bit longer. That was a good sign - the limbo's stranglehold on her was weakening. Maybe...this wasn't meant to be...adjusted to...since all creatures...should only come through here...once...
She had the distinction of being one of the few who had made the trek more than once. She had decided long ago that it had been a running joke by whatever powers who controlled the fates of mortal creatures - why reward such a long and dreary existence of guardianship and vigilance with more of the same, denying her the chance to leave the living world time and again? She had been called back before even reaching the judgement seat more than once by her duties, stolen away from the eternal fate that had awaited her there.
However, she had also remained certain that such extensions of life were given for her own benefits.
If I were...dead...then Small Lady...Hotaru...
Her mind suddenly fell upon the teary-eyed, sorrowful face of Small Lady, the last sight that she had beheld before her soul had left that plane of existence along with her body and her remaining comrades. Never had she seen so much pain in those large red eyes; even when her mother had been captured by the enemy, she had tried to hold back as much of her emotion as she could, not wanting to appear weak and helpless in front of all of them. It had been just as she explained to Hotaru - her young mind had finally broken under the weight of her own emotion.
Her experiences with the princess and Hotaru had done something that the fates must have designed for her. She was always caught up in their boundless energy and cheerful spirits; they cared very much for each other and all of their group, and after a lonely vigilance over the Gates of Time - a task that had made her forget any kind of emotion with its duration - they had been the ones who had reminded her most of how warm it felt to smile, laugh, or even cry. And as much as her emotions were buried within her during her battles, she had soon come to realize long ago that she owed the two children her very humanity. Haruka and Michiru may have been her best friends, but Small Lady and Hotaru she considered closer to her own heart, the closest that she'd ever have to children of her own.
But...how I've...failed them...
Sending Hotaru down to heal Haruka without even ensuring that the danger had passed, letting Small Lady attack and subsequently enrage the monster Tridyx, both of them had nearly been killed because of her mistakes. Small Lady definitely would've been dead had it not been for her sacrifice.
But even though the princess had lived because of her, she still felt empty and regretful. Small Lady could've still very well have been finished off mere moments after her own demise but only on top of watching her mentor painfully perish in front her, and in a much more painful fashion. Not only that, but Hotaru's brazed body couldn't have held out for much longer a time without medical attention, and she was certain that the girl had witnessed Tridyx's energy blast tear her apart as well. She wondered if it was the last sight that she had seen before her own death.
One last sacrifice... she mulled over her last words as the black matter around her began to brighten into a grayer shade. Her transition was almost over, and the next step of the journey could begin. Forgive me...my children...for all you have endured on my account...death can't match the grief I've given both of your tender spirits...
With her spirit finally passing on into the next world, it didn't matter anymore. If Small Lady and Hotaru were to be finished off by the aliens, then at least she'd be able to see them again and apologize to them herself for everything she'd done, all of the anguish she'd given to both of them in her final moments.
But that energy source, was it my imagination?
Ah, a complete thought. That part was relieving to her aching mind, but the question still nagged at her. What had been the sudden burst of energy she had felt before the last of her strength faded? She doubted very much if Small Lady had detected it; her sensory abilities weren't anywhere close to hers.
It was there one instant and nearly extinguished the next...
Not much of her memory was clear thanks to the ebbing of her thoughts in the empty void, but she could still vaguely remember sensing some sort of mental shielding appearing around the energy source less than a second after it registered to her. Something had been trying to hide itself from notice on the war-torn street; somehow it knew that beings around the area could pinpoint it easily if it left itself exposed for too long.
"What could it have been..." Sailor Pluto finally managed to hear her own silvery voice as the grayer shades finally erupted in a sudden flash of dazzling white light. Seconds later, the light had dissolved into shapes of different colors, sizes, and patterns. Much of the area around her was a bright pinkish sky, as if the setting sun was illuminating the entire atmosphere.
She knew better than that however, especially after gaping around at the drifting yellow clouds that dominated much of the air. This place had no sun, no source of natural light to give the sky its flaring pink shade. Some force that even she had no knowledge of had devised this intermediary place to better fit the physical senses and expectations of incoming mortal creatures. It was only after one decided to relinquish hold on their mortal shape that they were fully able to comprehend and reap the benefits of the afterlife. To physical senses, these evolved souls appeared as puffy, curling balls of white that emitted quick, high-pitched giggles. They danced about in the air like feathers on the wind, seemingly as carefree and jittery as schoolchildren.
Sailor Pluto, however, certainly wasn't ready to leave the form that she had held for so long a time. She had come to cherish her body over the centuries as something that couldn't be replaced by some transluscent puffball, even if it was supposedly on a higher plane of existence. In addition to that, the absence of a physical body brought back dreadful reminders of the transition trip, where her conscious thoughts managed to escape her essence without a solid form to contain them. She couldn't bear to go through all eternity with a sensation of instant amnesia.
Hearing her own voice had been soothing to her, and she realized that she could lift a white-gloved hand again, could move her slender fingers around to point or to make a fist. Looking down, she was relieved to see her Sailor Soldier uniform completely intact, and her skin bore no signs of the injuries sustained during her final battle.
"One good thing about dying..." she muttered softly to herself. "No such thing as physical harm when your body is practically a metaphor..."
With her mind clear and as sharp as before her death, Sailor Pluto finally began to formulate memories of what exactly she had sensed in her last seconds of life.
"Yes..." she spoke aloud. "There was something hiding out there...no...could it have been...??"
The Z Warriors! Had one of them managed to get there just before her death? Optimistic and wishful as it may have been, the energy had been nothing that Sailor Pluto had ever sensed before - wild and tense, yet somehow beaming with a gentle radiance, a determination that she had seen echoed within the powers of the Inner Soldiers. And with all of them dead...that seemed to be the most logical option.
To test a possible theory, Sailor Pluto waited for several minutes, gaping around at the twisting stone pathway that vanished into the distance in either direction. It was the only solid structure within the pink space, and it was carved and decorated as if it were the curling and looping form of a godlike serpent. Ten minutes passed, then twelve, and she managed to hold her hopes and patience past fifteen minutes.
It was soon obvious that no other arrivals would be showing up anytime soon. She couldn't be certain about any alien deaths - her past travels to this realm had revealed that different species materialized in different sections of the road to avoid possible overcrowding at any particular time. Stronger and tenacious forms were dropped far off into the distance from where she was, while more frail and delicate creatures usually were formulated a good way ahead, closer to the judgement seat for accomodation's sake. Considering the brute tenacity of their enemies, they'd be dropped off many miles away from where she was standing.
As twenty minutes passed with continued silence, Sailor Pluto grew elated. It was evident that the aliens' agenda had been to kill all of the Sailor Soldiers, or else the monstrous Tridyx wouldn't have released tidal waves of energy onto Small Lady and Hotaru. And if that plan had failed somehow, only one option remained in her mind.
"They're okay..." she smiled to herself, emotions of monumental relief welling up in her chest. "Kami...your fighters came through after all, they've done it! If only you were here right now, I could--"
She calmed herself, not letting her joyous outburst completely overtake her. Much still laid ahead for her: the judgment seat still awaited, and this time, she would not be summoned back. With the queen in enemy hands, no resurrection would be coming, and once heaven or hell claimed Sailor Pluto, even the Silver Crystal's power had to yield to the forces controlling this world.
"But still..." she allowed herself another smile, one of satisfaction. "Kami gave me his word. Small Lady and the others are in good hands, and perhaps Earth shall continue to endure yet."
Another thought occurred to her - she wouldn't be the only one this jubilant about the circumstances. Spirits high, Sailor Pluto dashed forward up the snaking path. The line to the judgement seat wouldn't be too far away, and she knew of four recent arrivals who were probably nervous wrecks at this point, wondering frantically about the fates of their friends.
I only hope that they're more understanding than Haruka about this plan. She pondered as her legs carried her faster up a steep hill. If not, then heaven may not be so enjoyable after all.
* * *
The scenery was the same all around for miles. The pinkish 'atmosphere' - which was stretching it a bit considering they certainly didn't need air to breathe anymore - all around them was dotted and in some cases overrun with yellow-tinted clouds that occasionally floated within arm's length on the long winding road. Mercury had advised against touching the thick gases, but Jupiter had unenthusiactically reminded her that they were already dead - there was no sense in fearing anything anymore. Mercury had been unusually quiet since then.
One thing that the four deceased Sailor Soldiers had agreed upon after meeting in the new realm was not to fall off of the road that they were walking on. Several hundred yards below them was a vast blanket of yellow clouds that was far too thick for even Mercury's visor to scan through. But despite their present condition of deceased, they'd decided unanimously to watch their steps while traveling along the narrow road - even though they had some power to float from their battles with the mercenary aliens, none of them wanted to take the chance of falling below the cloud bank. Mars had especially gotten some awful feelings about what was beneath it.
The road itself seemed to be the only viable structure anywhere for miles in the vast pink and yellow emptiness, though its serpentine shape had freaked Venus out quite a bit, and Mars had empathize with her - the idea of walking on what could've been a monstrous snake was spine-chilling even though they all were dead.
The patterns etched into the stone had closely matched reptilian scales, complete with stony spikes on both sides of the road. And while this road had to have been used by all sorts of dead souls since the beginning of time, it wasn't worn or broken whatsoever - in fact, it looked as new as the day it had been carved. It stretched long and far in both directions with various twists, turns, and loops, almost like a demented-looking roller coaster at certain points.
After walking along the snake road for a short time, the four Sailor Soldiers had reached their destination: a long line of deceased souls - most of which were of human origin to their dismay - that led up to the eventual seat of judgement. The line ran for quite a ways, several miles from what Mercury's visor indicated. It eventually ended at an immense building in the distance. The structure was comparable in size to some of the lesser wings of the palace, and it was designed after an ancient oriental-style castle, its walls a pure white color and its curved, shingled roof making it look all the more intimidating. However, for the relatively fast time they made on travelling to get to the long line, things had certainly hit a dead stop at that point - nobody had moved for the past forty minutes, and Jupiter was beginning to get restless at the holdup.
"How much longer are we going to wait?" She was pacing back and forth relentlessly, her posture tense and anxious. "Well, why the hell aren't we moving?! Who's holding up the line up there!!"
"Jupiter, calm down," Mercury gently said as she glanced at some of the auspiciously decorated bystanders waiting ahead of them. A few of the nonhumans were giving them nasty glares while some of the humans didn't seem to notice, most of them too caught up in depression to notice the new arrivals.
"Calm down?! How do you expect me to calm down after what just happened!" Jupiter still wasn't done. "I just got blasted to pieces by a dirty alien son-of-a-bitch, we don't know what they're doing to ChibiUsa or the others back there, and what are we doing?? We're stuck here waiting, doing absolutely nothing! It's not fair..."
"Jupiter!!" Venus grabbed her friend by the shoulders, shaking her a bit. "Stop this...it's not helping anything. Whether or not we were able to make a difference back there doesn't matter anymore - we're dead, gone from Earth...there's nothing we can do now. There's no sense in thinking about it now."
Mars felt the air leave her lungs, depression overcoming her. Despite having regained her sight and body after her death, they WERE gone...for good this time. They'd given every ounce of energy they could against the alien mercenaries in another of a never-ending series of wars that they'd all endured throughout their long lifetimes, and they'd finally met their match, just like any other nameless dying soldier on the battefield. That idea struck even more gloom into Sailor Mars; she suddenly felt completely worthless to herself - so many battles, so many victories and defeats, and in the end, they were nothing more than four more corpses on the ruined Crystal Tokyo streets, inconsequential to their world in one sudden instant.
"Venus..." Jupiter's voice was calmer, less volatile. Venus released her grip on her, and Jupiter dropped down to the ground, slumping her shoulders. "Sorry...sorry, guys...I just feel so useless. They were still toying with us out there, no matter what we did to retaliate. I'm so tired of us being the weak ones, the ones on the defensive end. We never got the chance to even fight back against those bastards...and now we'll never get another chance to fight again."
"I know how you feel..." Venus turned away from their group. "How could I let him control my own power so easily...we might've been able to beat him if I hadn't messed it up...at the very least, we could be alive right now. I'm so sorry that I helped that freak kill us, Jupiter."
"Don't worry, Venus. I'm beginning to think that our efforts were in vain from the start anyhow," Jupiter added as she wrapped her arms around her knees. "So many attempts, pushing myself so hard just to get a scratch on that bastard...And then putting Saturn in that bad position of choosing our lives over ChibiMoon's...she must feel terrible about having to see us die without being able to do anything."
"Hey..." Mercury walked past Mars and forced a small smile toward her teammates. "None of us knew what to expect from the enemy, as it always seems to be. We were outclassed, and they were the better fighters. We all knew back even during the Old Era that death was a possibility every time we faced a youma or a daimon or a lemures, we just never acknowledged it with as many victories that we achieved. But losing even now doesn't make any of us weak. If we were weak, we wouldn't have stood to the end fighting for our queen and our kingdom. It was just our time to finally die."
"Always the rational thinker, Mercury..." Venus didn't seemed convinced. "But it doesn't make losing seem easier, especially with our friends still back there fighting to stay alive."
"I know, Venus," Mercury sighed. "I was the first one to experience that, you know."
Mars silently recalled the last moments of her life. She'd been blinded, but her immense rage toward the powerful giant Tridyx had somehow triggered new heights of energy from within her soul. She'd almost been afraid of the amounts of power flowing from her, but even that wasn't enough to slow Tridyx down. The suicide attack had seemed like the perfect solution...a brief few seconds of searing pain and her life in exchange for ridding the universe of the barbaric monster and giving her friends a better chance of living. She'd been utterly crushed inside after enduring the trial and appearing in the afterlife, only to have Jupiter and Venus arrive mere minutes later and report that Tridyx was still alive and stronger than ever. She still felt ready to vomit in self-disgust at her weakness. She could still hear that maniacal cackle ringing through her head, mocking her sacrifice for all it was worth.
She clenched her fists, biting her lip as anger and frustration swelled up suddenly within her.
"So weak..." she muttered softly. "How could I be so weak...tossed aside like garbage."
"Mars?" Mercury said softly from behind her. Sailor Mars turned around, calming herself as she looked at her friend. "Jupiter told me that you underwent that power surge and sacrificed yourself after I was killed...you called me your best friend, and you swore revenge against that alien monster for my sake, even though it cost you your life."
"It was true," Mars smiled as Mercury's gloomy face seemed only to get worse with guilt. "You and I have been through a lot...seeing you dead just did something to me that even I can't explain. I just wanted to tear him apart for what he did to you. And don't apologize for driving me into the suicide attack. Killing that bastard by any means necessary was the least I could do for him killing someone as close to me as you are."
"Thank you," Mercury shyly said, finally looking a bit more cheerful as she squeezed Mars's shoulder. "It means a lot to me, Rei, I thought you should know."
"Don't mention it," Sailor Mars nodded to her. "But I wonder...how do you think the others are faring right now? It's been quite a while since Jupiter and Venus were...sent here. Nobody else has been killed for some time."
"I'd rather not guess at it," Mercury replied uneasily. "But if the Outers did come to help ChibiMoon, they can hold their own for a while, I'm sure. But I do wish we had some way of knowing what was going on over there."
"I believe I can fill you in on some of the details," A familiar voice spoke from a few feet away. Mars whirled around, gasping at who had just appeared. She could've teleported here in physical body, Mars didn't think that was out of the reach of the woman's mysterious powers, but the sparkling gold halo hovering above her head made her as dead as the rest of them. "Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, I am pleased to see that you can see some bright side to this whole affair."
"Sailor Pluto!!" Venus exclaimed.
"It's good to see you, my friends," she gently spoke as she approached the group. "I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get to you before you were called to your judgement, but at least a few things have gone in our favor today."
"It seems that way," Jupiter agreed as she stood up. "But I didn't see you at the battle before Venus and I were killed. Did some of those alien soldiers manage to kill you?"
"No, I was there and I faced the wrath of the alien Tridyx shortly after the two of you died," Sailor Pluto said with a crestfallen tone. "That's how I came to be here. Even my power wasn't enough to stop the rogue...and in my own sacrifice, I gave my life to ensure Small Lady's safety."
"ChibiMoon's still alive?!" Venus was excited at the news, eager to pry Sailor Pluto for the details. "What in the world was happening back there? Have the others made any progress against those monsters??"
Sailor Pluto was quiet for a moment, and Sailor Mars caught a peculiar look in her eyes. She definitely had something to tell them, but something about what she saw in the time soldier's eyes gave her the impression that she wouldn't be just telling them about the recent happenings on the battlefield.
"Well...you could say that progress may be made," she began. "But before I go any further, I have to tell you something, something the queen and I have been keeping from you for a little while..."
* * *
Vegeta dropped down next to them wordlessly, his body still coated with white energy, and Gohan could easily tell that he'd seen some action. Spots on his otherwise white body armor were blackened and smoking, probably from ki blasts, and his lower neck had been slightly singed as well.
"What happened?" Gohan asked the question out of instinct, but he suddenly regretted it as the Saiyan shot an icy glare in his direction. "N...never mind..."
"Where did they go?" Vegeta simply said as he powered down. A small sneer crossed his face suddenly, much to Gohan's surprise. "Don't tell me you actually got them to trust us to follow them to their nest? You and your Namek friend must be better negotiators than I thought."
"What's your deal with those princesses, Vegeta?" Gohan asked. "You seemed to be really interested in confronting them back there."
"I don't have to explain my intentions to you, son of Kakarotto," he sharply replied. "But I will say this: don't be too shocked if that tan-haired sword-wielder gives you the cold shoulder from now on. She knows who you and I really are, and she has some old grudges against our kind."
"Wait a second..." He replied. "Did you tell them that we were Saiyans?"
Vegeta turned and began walking ahead, sensing the active battle powers to guide him in the direction of his associates. "She'll hate us more than you would imagine," he called back one more time before dashing forward and out of sight.
"What was that about, Gohan?" Chaozu asked, confused more than ever from the blank stare he was giving to the Saiyan hybrid.
"After you guys took off to fight the alien commanders," Gohan explained as both Z Warriors lifted themselves into the air, preparing to fly in order to make up for their lagging. "He offered to keep Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune - those were the two Sailor Soldiers we were talking to in the street - out of the battle with the aliens."
"Offered? Vegeta never offers anything unless it gets him something in return."
"That's what I thought," Gohan and Chaozu soared forward in the direction of the pure kis given off by the four surviving Sailor Soldiers. Where they went, the palace would surely be. "But I wonder why it would be such a big deal for the Sailor Soldiers to know that he and I are Saiyans. I mean, the Saiyans have been dead for centuries at this point, how would they even know about them?"
"I think you'll find out soon enough, if not from Vegeta then from the Sailor Soldiers themselves."
They zipped through stacks of collapsed rubble - the remnants of what had to have been grand crystal structures before the aliens destroyed them - and they eventually came to the edge of the actual city. Beyond the last street of ruined buildings, the landscape melded from pavement and asphalt into a roughly spherical meadow that spanned several city blocks long and even more wide.
At the foot of the grassy plain was a white, gem-encrusted barrier that extended around the entire perimeter and stood at a substantial height. Taller, separate white spires spaced out along the wall had attached searchlights that were sweeping the area several hundred feet away from the ring, keeping a sharp lookout for enemy intruders, no doubt.
Beyond the wall, the vast plain itself was bustling with activity. Though Gohan couldn't discern much from the air, he could see some trails of smoke rising from the ground, though it seemed to be coming from controlled fires rather than from some battle-ignited blaze. Smaller figures dotted the area - huge groups were settled into some regions and others moved about at a frantic pace. Makeshift shelters and tents had been erected on the grounds, and Gohan spotted a few forms moving about around them. It seemed as if some of the survivors of the city attack had clustered toward the plain and behind the barrier for safety, and much of what probably was just green pastures was currently occupied by them and their settlements. But even with the huge numbers packed onto the meadow, the city areas that he had seen had probably been able to support scores more, giving him a bad feeling about how much damage the aliens had managed to cause already.
In the middle of the plain sat an incredibly huge and regal-looking complex that seemed to loom over the crushed city. Tall towers of crystal-like material stretched many stories high around one grand crystalline spire that rose well above the rest. They gleamed brightly as the moon and stars shined softly on them. From what Gohan could tell, the crystal matter that composed the towers had more to it than he had initially assumed after observing the devastated city buildings - the material wasn't transparent as crystal was. Some of the battle damage inflicted on the structure - which included cracked, partially melted, or disintegrated sections of some of the taller towers - also probably would've shattered normal crystal. Attached to the bottom and around the towers was several circular levels encased in the crystalline substance which probably served as the main levels of the illustrious complex. The front of the main level was preceded by a grand set of crystal steps that was at least several yards wide. Those steps connected the main entrance to an intricately carved path of marble and various gemstones that cut through the grassy fields all the way the edge of the defensive wall.
"NeoQueen Serenity's palace, I assume," Gohan said as they touched down next to the other members of the group. Vegeta had managed to catch up with the others, and was now standing several yards away from them, deep in thought.
They noticed that Sailor Uranus had relinquished Sailor Pluto's body, and it was now on the shoulders of Sailor Neptune, who looked to be struggling a bit to hold the taller woman's corpse. Then, Gohan spotted a tall, middle-aged man dressed in a jet black uniform standing at the entrance to the ornate yet sturdy-looking defensive barrier. Two younger looking men dressed in similar garb were flanking him from both sides. The middle man seemed a bit more decorated than his comrades, a few multi-colored bars attached to his upper right chest and metal armor pieces protuding from the shoulders of his actual attire.
"Captain Benson," Saturn said as she saw the man heading out toward the group with his escorts. She was leaning a bit on her glaive as ChibiUsa dropped down next to her wordlessly, still looking equally exhausted from the day's events. She kept her eyes averted from the group, resting he face against her knees.
"Your troops?" Piccolo inquired as he stood a short distance away, eyeing the black-clad men carefully. His narrowed gaze was deep and penetrating, causing the two escorts to draw back slightly, their slightly shaking hands falling on their sword hilts.
"Yes, all of the black uniformed men you'll be seeing are members of the Crystal Tokyo Special Forces, our elite soldiers that have been helping us to combat the alien menace. But...unfortunately, they haven't experienced this type of combat before, and as a result, their numbers are..."
"I see..." Piccolo said. "It's no surprise, swords can't match up to energy techniques very easily."
"Anyhow," Uranus continued as Sailor Saturn didn't speak again. "The man in the the middle is Royce Benson, our captain of the palace guards and one of our best soldiers. He normally commands the home forces inside the palace, but with the army dwindling, he's taken over general command of the entire remaining Special Forces. I'll head out and explain what's been happening today, he'll trust my words and the seven of you in turn."
"Is he even in command of the four of you?" Tenshinhan asked as his three eyes focused on Sailor Uranus. She seemed to cringe slightly as she glanced up at the fighter's twitching third eye.
"Not exactly," Sailor Uranus replied as she turned. "Sailor Neptune, Sailor Saturn, and Sailor ChibiMoon would normally act as independents in a battle involving the Crystal Tokyo Special Forces. But as for me, I am one of the head commanders of the army during lulls such as these. But I normally leave troop commands to him during an actual battle while I join the Sailor Soldiers. I prefer fighting alongside my own family than dealing with mass army battle tactics."
Family...? Gohan wondered. Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune had seemed unusually close for fighting partners, but he couldn't help but imagine how they were related as family.
"I'll return in a moment," she said as she headed off to meet the soldiers. All of them exchanged salutes as they met. What further dialogue occurred from there, Gohan couldn't hear from where he was standing.
* * *
Sailor Uranus took more time than all of them expected to deliver whatever report she needed to the guard captain. As the seconds stretched into minutes, the group gradually began to splinter into smaller pairings, a lot of them dropping onto the grass and muttering amongst themselves. Gohan, Krillin, and Piccolo were silently observing the conversation between the guard captain and Sailor Uranus, the Namek's mind firmly fixated on progressing in their mission. His eyes had narrowed and the scowl on his face was growing larger by the minute despite a few kind words from his pupil every now and then. It was clear that he didn't want to be kept waiting for too much longer.
As Yamcha exchanged a few friendly nods with the Sailor Soldiers, all of whom were seated patiently on a small hill, he wandered over toward Tenshinhan and Chaozu, who were carefully studying the elaborate structure before them.
"Not much of a defense," Yamcha quietly noted to them as a searchlight passed over their heads. "Just a large wall to keep out enemies who could easily fly right over it? These guys don't have any idea what they're dealing with."
"Perhaps," the bald muscular fighter replied. "But I can feel some kind of power surrounding this area, a kind that's unfamiliar to me."
"Funny," Yamcha's gaze narrowed as he glanced around. "I can't feel anything."
"My senses are a bit more fine-tuned than yours, Yamcha."
The scar-faced Z Warrior snuffed at the comment. "Cute. Then how come you don't have a sense of humor like most other normal people?"
"He's right though, Yamcha," Chaozu agreed. "I began to notice it, too, right after we arrived at the gates. There's definitely some kind of aura surrounding this place, and even I can't describe it."
"If you guys are playing mind games with me, then cut it out," Yamcha grumbled. "Seriously, I don't feel anything except our own kis!"
"Calm down, friend," Tenshinhan was trying to concentrate on the unknown force, his facial muscles tensing as he continued to analyze it. "It's...a pure force, much like the Sailor Soldiers' own kis. But as to where and what exactly it is, I can't say."
"If we started sensing it when we got here, it could be coming from inside the palace," Chaozu suggested. "What do you guys think?"
"I think the two of you are just being paranoid after today's fight," Yamcha said with confidence. "I may not have as 'fine-tuned' senses as both of you, but I think I'd be able to notice something like that if I could locate the Sailor Soldiers from so far away."
"But the feeling is so faint," Chaozu debated with him. "What could it be?"
"Well, what about the others? Maybe Gohan, Krillin, or Piccolo managed to find this mystery energy that doesn't exist." Stubborn as always, Yamcha refused to give in. "Come on, you guys--"
"It's doubtless that Piccolo's already noticed it," Tenshinhan cut off the sarcastic remark. "His mental powers are even greater than ours. As for Gohan and Krillin, we'll just have to wait and see. Something this small could easily escape his notice despite their awareness."
"Let's just keep this to ourselves for now," Chaozu said as he peered around at the waiting group. Nobody seemed to notice their low-toned conversation. "We'll deal with it later when we're all together."
"Got it," Tenshinhan nodded. "Let's disperse before we draw any attention to our discovery. No sense in alarming the others yet."
"H..hey...!" Before Yamcha could interject, Chaozu and Tenshinshan sidled off in their own directions, continuing to observe the site as if nothing had happened. "What the hell...you guys are too much. Next thing I know, you'll be telling me that there're ghosts in the attic..."
* * *
He's like a statue...what's he thinking about over there?
During the rather lengthy wait, Gohan had taken some time to observe Vegeta's rigid posture and far away gaze. After not seeing so much as a flinch out of him in several minutes, Gohan contemplated asking the Saiyan prince what the problem was, but remembering the snap he'd received after inquiring about the fleeing alien soldiers, he quickly changed his mind. From what the hybrid could sense, tense energy was seething within the Saiyan prince. He'd felt such festering buildups within Vegeta before, right before his battles with Gohan's father and Frieza. Whatever had happened between him and the aliens had to have been serious for him to be acting so solemn.
Maybe the aliens managed to escape him and he won't admit it.
"What's taking so long?" Krillin muttered as he adjusted the body on his shoulders. "Did Sailor Pluto keep everybody in the dark about our arrival?"
"Seems so," Gohan replied as he spotted the guard captain shaking his head toward Sailor Uranus. "Somehow, I don't think that this is going to be easy."
"Relax, Gohan, we've got witnesses, remember?" Krillin said. "Once Uranus explains to the guard captain, we'll be set to go. By the way, what's that you have in your hands?"
Gohan showed Krillin the garnet-tipped staff that he'd kept hold of. "I picked it up from the battlefield after you guys took off. I don't think it's any ordinary staff from the power I can sense from within it. Could it have belonged to one of the aliens?"
"That's actually Sailor Pluto's time staff," Neptune answered. "I'm surprised that I didn't see you with it when you arrived. It's a source of her power, both in battle and in controlling time. Don't get too excited over retrieving though, Gohan, she's the only one who can make use of it."
"The only one...?" Gohan suddenly began wondering. "But...we were brought here by a portal that was created by her power. If she's dead..."
"No, don't tell me...are we stuck here??" Krillin finished, suddenly becoming nearly frantic.
"A portal?" Sailor Saturn said as she listened carefully, ignoring the frightened monk. "How did she create this portal? Was she there when she materialized it?"
"No, unfortunately," Tenshinhan replied as he adjusted the corpse in his arms. "She had taken off from our time to return here and assist you in battle before we could reach her. The ruby crystal that she left to our Earth guardian was what created the portal. He energized it with his holy power to cause the transformation."
"We got here in one piece, but something went wrong somewhere," Yamcha continued. "We were dumped on an out-of-the-way corner of the city, too far to reach the aliens at a good flying speed without their grunts jumping on top of us."
"I've heard of such relics of hers before," Saturn continued. "She hardly made them unless an emergency came up. But they react differently, they're not bound to Setsuna-mama's life or death. The only way that the portal that you arrived in should close is by Setsuna-mama's word alone. Even in death, the portal should still work if she hadn't yet given it the command to close."
"It would make sense," Neptune added. "Sailor Pluto might've considered her own demise into her plan, and the portal would allow you to return to your time in the event of her death."
"Good..." Gohan muttered to himself. "That's what I wanted to know..."
The plan would work then. If that portal could still be used, then all he had to do was inform the Sailor Soliders about the Dragonballs and convince his own friends that it was a task worth undertaking. If they could get Bulma's Dragon Radar, they could easily find all seven balls in no time at all.
"Gohan?" Krillin asked aloud. "What are you talking about?"
Gohan tensed up, realizing that his excitement had caused him to speak a bit too loud. And as much as Krillin would understand and agree with the plan, it would be best to take things a step at a time: if the Sailor Soldiers were indeed as exhausted physically and emotionally from the day's events as they seemed, then now wouldn't be the best time for planning the next move.
"Err..." he kept his voice low so as not to draw any attention. "I'll explain later, Krillin, promise."
As utterly lost as the monk appeared, he nodded anyhow, trusting his friend's judgement.
"Either way, it's good that you recovered it instead of leaving it with the dead. I'll hold onto it for now," Sailor Saturn offered. Gohan readily passed the iron staff to her, and as she reached for it, her hand connected with his in the process. He looked up at her, and he saw the same look of sadness in her eyes that he'd noticed before at the battle site; she seemed to be holding back a few tears as she clutched the staff tightly. "Thank you for retrieving it, Gohan."
"Yeah...no problem," he offered a small smile that gave no consolation to Sailor Saturn as she quickly turned away, blinking rapidly to dissipate any tears.
Sailor Pluto meant a lot to her. Gohan mused, frowning at the distraught girl as she moved away. He glanced back at Piccolo, who was watching silently and with no apparent emotional reaction to Sailor Saturn.
"Empathy can be strong, Gohan," he mumbled down to the boy. "If you know what I mean."
Gohan stared after the preoccupied Saturn, seeing a small piece of himself within the girl after Nappa had killed Piccolo all that time ago.
"I wonder if she's planning to make a book out of this day alone with the way she's carrying on," Krillin asked with an annoyed tone as he glanced after Sailor Uranus, who was still in serious conversation with the trio of soldiers. "I mean, come on, how much longer is this going to take?"
"Give them some patience, Krillin, this can't be easy for any of them," Tenshinhan replied. "Those troops look a bit more than surprised to see four of their warriors dead and seven unknowns taking their places, after all."
"Five, actually, Tenshinhan," Sailor Neptune corrected him.
"Five...?" Krillin recounted the corpses. "But we only picked up four, did we miss one of them?"
"No," ChibiMoon, who'd been a motionless shadow on the grass for the last several minutes, croaked in reply, uncurling her knees and lifting her face up. She cleared her throat, taking a few seconds to regain herself. "Sailor Mars was the last one, and she blew herself up trying to kill that barbarian Tridyx."
"I see..." Gohan dropped the subject entirely after hearing the words and seeing the princess's face. There was no point in bringing up the death aspect more than necessary. He casually strolled over to her and dropped down beside her, admiring the looming structure beyond the wall. "This is an incredible palace...I never imagined that it would be anything like this!"
ChibiMoon forced a small laugh, her sadness somewhat abating momentarily. "You get used to it after living in it for so long, though the exciting parts of it never get old. Once we get inside, I'll be more than happy to show you around if you'd like."
Gohan smiled and nodded gratefully. "Thanks! I'd love to learn about this place. Let me guess, you guys must live in that big tower in the middle, right?"
ChibiMoon nodded. "That's the royalty's tower. All of our own rooms are in that area, and the smaller towers are reserved for the palace officials and their work. The guest suites are in the western tower, too, though they've probably stocked them with whatever survivors aren't out on this field. I'll gladly show you around the rest of the palace later on."
"I can't wait!" he smiled back at her, glad to have raised her spirits at least. One thing that struck him by surprise was a tiny brush against his hand. Glancing down, he saw ChibiMoon's white-gloved hand slightly on top of his fingertips, inching their way a bit further on. But when he looked up at the princess again, he noticed that she had turned her head away from him, a peaceful smile spreading across her face as she stared out into the distance.
The moment was broken as Piccolo's brash voice called the Saiyan hybrid over to him. He threw ChibiMoon a last quick smile before leaping up and dashing over to his mentor.
Dad was right about one thing. he thought as he glanced back at the smiling ChibiMoon. Girls are very strange.
* * *
"She offered to show you around?" Piccolo asked with a widened eye and an amused tone.
"Yeah, after things were settled down here," Gohan replied. "Is something wrong, Mister Piccolo?"
Piccolo shook his head quickly and moved on.
"It's not a bad idea, especially since it'll probably be our base of operations for a while," Piccolo remarked as he motioned for Gohan to follow him. They walked over to the seated Sailor Neptune. "Tell me, how much of the ground here has the enemy taken?"
"You're standing on the only ground they haven't managed to capture or totally destroy yet," Neptune replied as she stood up, lifting Sailor Pluto's body onto her shoulders. "Their whole campaign so far has been one gigantic rampage. Killing and destruction have been their only goals so far, and it has taken its toll: we're down to only several hundred of our soldiers at this point, and with five of the Sailor Soldiers gone..."
"Relax, Sailor Neptune," Tenshinhan spoke up from where he was holding the brunette's body. "We've got more than enough power within our group to put up a resistance. We just have to tell the queen that we're here, and then we can get some plans together."
"That could be a bit more difficult than you think," Neptune anxiously said. "You see...barely a day before this horrific battle, the enemy launched a surprise raid on our palace from all sides. They caught us completely off-guard, and much of our remaining fighting forces were killed or wounded in the process."
"Don't tell us that they...?" Chaozu said with an alarmed voice.
"They didn't kill her, but..." Neptune mournfully replied, anger suddenly increasing in her voice. "They took her hostage and ran away, the cowards! We had no way to track her, and Uranus, Saturn, and myself were busy searching for her in the outskirts of the city when the three alien commanders made their attack on the palace."
That wasn't good news. With Sailor Pluto dead, Gohan had been hoping that testimony from Serenity herself would calm suspicious intentions from Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune and provide a symbol of unity between their group and the Crystal Tokyo Special Forces. With her out of the picture, it would be an arduous task earning the trust of Sailor Uranus especially. If the mistrust were to continue beyond this point, Gohan wasn't even sure if they'd agree to letting them go back and retrieve the Dragonballs from their time era.
"This surprise raid..." Piccolo seemed more thoughful than inquisitive. "Were your deceased comrades involved in the defenses?"
"Of course, all of us were," Neptune answered. "If it weren't for our efforts, I don't think our Special Forces soldiers could've withstood the onslaught. It was probably their own sense of sadistic timing that they followed up the kidnapping with three of their best commanders launching their own attack..."
"I see..."
"Is something wrong, Piccolo?" she asked.
"No...no, nothing's wrong." He quickly answered.
"Since the queen has a pure ki similar to others of your group," Tenshinhan thoerized. "Then I don't think she's anywhere in the areas we've been through. Your kis were really distinguishable from the rest of the enemy soldiers, we would've been able to pick her up in our senses if she was close by."
"Kis?" Neptune asked curiously. "What do you mean 'kis?'"
"It's what allowed us to track you here in the first place," Yamcha spoke up. "Every warrior, no matter how small or weak, emits a certain amount of fighting energy, called ki in our era. The kis of you and your friends are unique because they're not simply aggressive charging and bursts of energy - your powers may enhance your ki to give it a special purity."
"And your senses can detect this ki?" Saturn asked.
"We're a bit of an exception," Krillin continued. "We've trained long enough in the right techniques to sense an opponent's true ki as well as being able to hide our own--"
"Not any average grunt can do that though," Vegeta offered, cutting Krillin off harshly. "The colored machines that they wear on their faces? They're called scouters, and they can detect even the smallest amounts of ki if necessary. If you don't know how to hide your ki completely, you'll be spotted no matter how well you physically conceal yourself."
"So that's how they managed to find the queen even in the hiding spot we picked for her..." Saturn muttered to herself.
"And how do you know so much about the aliens' technology, Saiyan?" Neptune snapped at Vegeta, causing the rest of the group a bit of a surprise - they didn't expect Vegeta to reveal his origin to the Sailor Soldiers.
Vegeta laughed as he dropped down onto the grass. "This technology is nothing new to this time period, princess. In fact, this kind of machinery was in use even back during our own era. Congratulations - you're being beaten by outdated, twenty-century old technology."
Neptune didn't offer anything more than a seething glare at the Saiyan; she didn't seem willing to get into an argument at this point. The Saiyan reference did confirm a few things with Gohan however.
So they do have resentment toward Saiyans... he mused as he watched Neptune glare back at Vegeta. But why...
He added the question to his already-long list that he had for the Sailor Soldiers after things had settled down. But further talk would have to wait: Sailor Uranus was coming over with the uniformed man.
"Z Warriors, I'd like to introduce you to the captain of the guards in our palace, Royce Benson," she motioned to the middle-aged man next to her. Captain Benson's face looked solemn as he inspected the new arrivals, but Gohan could sense a feeling of valor within him: he'd probably seen more battles than even Piccolo and Tenshinhan in his lifetime.
"This is quite an interesting bunch that Sailor Pluto has set us up with..." he said at last. "Gentlemen, first of all, allow me to express my gratitude for assisting our surviving princesses in the preceding conflict and for helping to drive out the alien commanders. Secondly, may I have your names?"
Introductions followed, at least for six of them anyhow. Vegeta was too busy staring off into the distance horizon and not paying attention to the guard captain at all, so Piccolo had been compelled to provide the information about him, though he wisely didn't mention the fact that he was a Saiyan, let alone a Saiyan prince.
"A pleasure, gentlemen," Benson replied cordially, almost like a diplomat. "Now, Sailor Uranus has explained everything that happened out here tonight, including what you have told her personally about yourselves."
"Oh, boy, I wonder what fantastic lies she's conjured up about us..." Gohan heard Vegeta mutter under his breath.
Whether Benson overheard the Saiyan's snide remarks or not, Sailor Uranus certainly did as she shot a venomous glare in Vegeta's direction. Gohan saw Neptune quickly shaking her head toward her partner to calm her suddenly aggravated nerves.
"I'll be holding a briefing session with the remainder of my soldiers to inform them of the latest developments as soon as we've laid the deceased to rest, so there's no need to worry about fearing resentment from the army," Benson continued. "Much of their morale has been depleted with the latest raids and the capture of the queen, so they more than likely won't have much will to reject or debate any newcoming allies."
"That's a relief," Yamcha commented as Benson continued.
"But before we move into the palace grounds, we have one other matter to deal with," the captain said. With one brisk turn, he whistled over to two other soldiers who were standing quietly near the gate. Both of them rushed over at their leader's command, and Gohan noticed several large burlap sacks in their hands. "And while this method is crude, it will be adequate to keep their deaths from being revealed."
"You're going to cover it all up?" Yamcha asked as the soldiers dropped the sacks to the ground and motioned wordlessly for the bodies to be laid down. "What would be the point behind that? If they're princesses around here, don't you think it'll be a matter of time before someone finds out that they've been killed?"
"You don't seem to understand," Benson answered. "Against any invading force, the Sailor Soldiers were our salvation. When they went out to battle the alien commanders that you defeated, the people and soldiers within the castle walls had all the faith in the world that they would return alive and victorious."
"Can you imagine what would happen if the Crystal Tokyo survivors spotted the Sailor Soldiers not only dead, but being carried into the palace by a bunch of strange warriors?" Sailor Uranus finished. "Anarchy and chaos would erupt in that meadow, and whatever sense of order on these grounds that exists now would be gone in a heartbeat. Until we can think of a better plan, we've got to keep their deaths a secret."
"I see your point..." Yamcha lowered the blonde's corpse so that the two soldiers could carefully pick her up.
Tenshinhan, Krillin, and Sailor Neptune followed suit, helping the soldiers pack the corpses into the coarse burlap bags. Food labels were sewn into the material, giving the soldiers the perfect guise to conceal the bodies.
"As long as we don't run into any starving children in there, I think we'll be okay," Krillin said half-heartedly as two more soldiers dashed out from the gate entrance to assist their fellow comrades in hefting the bulky bags inside.
"If you'll follow me, we'll get indoors, and we can arrange some accomodating living quarters for all of you in the meantime."
The captain motioned with his black-gloved hand for all of them to follow through the gate. As they passed through on a stone path, they hit a swamp of bustling activity taking place on the fields past the ring. Many soldiers dressed similarly to Captain Benson were passing by, talking with various groups of ragged Crystal Tokyo refugees and keeping them calm. Hastily erected shelters covered the grounds around the palace, ranging from burlap tents to makeshift shacks constructed out of gathered debris. Gohan spotted a few huge bonfires across the fields where several dozen or so citizens were gathered, trying to keep warm against the cold night as they discussed the current happenings around the war-ravaged city. The remainder of the survivors were either attempting to root some information out of the passing soldiers or huddled together in their shelters, the fear of being blasted to ashes by their savage attackers too great to bear despite being within protected grounds. Most of the citizens that Gohan saw were worn, their clothes tattered and their faces dirty, in some cases scarred or bleeding.
"They must've hit this place quick and hard..." Tenshinhan noted as their contingent passed through the area. "I don't think any of these people got here without running into some troubles."
Gohan concurred - many people were attempting to convince the soldiers to help their wounded. The medics were rushing around feverishly, their first aid supplies running much too short to deal with the heavy amount of injuries civilians. Some of the troopers seemed on the verge of exhaustion, collapsing on the grass just to grab a sip of water out of their bottles.
"Most of them don't even look past their twenties," Krillin remarked.
"A lot of reserves had to be called up after the initial onslaught," Neptune explained to them. Saturn was close behind her, looking extremely shy against the exposure of the civilians scattered around the meadow. She stuck close to Neptune, glancing around nervously. "They've grown up much more quickly than they expected, and no end seems in sight for them..."
"I can see what you mean about them not offering much resistance to our presence," Piccolo said to the guard captain. "Are all of your forces located here?"
"No, there are still some field scouting units and raiding parties out in the city attempting to delay the enemy's activities," Benson responded as he called one of the nearby medics over to him. "But much of our younger soldiers have been stationed here to assist with the civilians and to become better trained before being sent into combat."
The soldier saluted the captain as he arrived.
"Status?" Benson asked.
"We've packed most of the palace living areas with as many civilians as possible," the boyish voice of the medic responded. "The watch has been doubled on the south side of the wall after enemy raiders tried to snipe at us from the area with energy discharges, and our scavenging units managed to make it within the gates with a healthy shipment of medical supplies, two men lost in the process."
"What is the health of the king?"
"He has not regained consciousness, but his condition has not worsened either," the medic replied as Gohan felt ChibiMoon cringe next to him. Fortunately, that situation could be remedied without much difficulty - they still had plenty of senzus left, and the recovery of their king would certainly at least boost morale for the disheveled people.
"I see," Benson continued. "Which living quarters are still available?"
"Only the suites in the royalty areas," the medic answered as he took a sip from a water canteen. "Shall I assign civilians to those sections as well, sir?"
"No, that won't be necessary," Benson replied as he glanced back at the Z Warriors. "We have some new guests that will be joining us for a time, and I want the rooms prepared for them."
"Excuse me, sir?" The medic looked back and finally seemed to notice the new faces of the Z Warriors for the first time, intrigued by their unusual appearances. "I've never seen these types before, sir, did they come from the Outer Sanctum?"
"From outside the region actually," Benson lied. "But that is unimportant right now. Report to the officers inside and tell them to make the suites ready for these gentlemen."
"Sailor Uranus?" the soldier noticed the tan-haired woman languishing behind the Z Warriors along with her counterparts, and a look of confusion and surprise came across his face. "But where are the others? Has the alien assault been staved off?"
The soldier's inquisitive nature could've blown the smokescreen easily, but thankfully, the captain immediately dissuaded any further questions.
"Never mind about them for now, soldier, they've got things under control out there," Benson quickly stifled the young medic. He quickly glanced around to his left and right - nobody else had noticed the group with all of the chaos occurring in the courtyard. "Make certain that the guards at the north gate let no one outside the ring, and deliver the order to have the suites prepared for these seven guests. That will be all."
The medic seemed suspicious at the captain's explanation, but saluted without further hesitation. "Yes, sir, right away..."
"Close call..." said Yamcha and the black-suited soldier hurried off. "But if that guy suspected as much, how long will it be before anyone else does?"
"He's a curious type, I remember him," Benson sighed anxiously. "And that possibility does seem dangerously likely if no sign of the Inner Soldiers are found on the battle site. But come, before anyone else delays us."
* * *
The rest of the trek was quick and swift to avoid attracting onlookers. The gem-encrusted road led the group into a wall of sentries who were patrolling outside the elegantly-carved gates of the palace itself. The captain's presence assured a quick pass through the sword-wielding soldiers, and Benson led the Sailor Soldiers and Z Warriors through the jeweled gates, stopping at the foot of a set of wide crystalline steps.
"Welcome to Crystal Tokyo Palace, gentlemen," he said. "It may seem imposing at first, but give it some time and you'll know the hallways like the back of your hand. But as much as I would like to escort you the rest of the way, I have some affairs of state to take care of. I'll allow the Sailor Soldiers to direct you to the royalty suites. Until we meet again, gentlemen, I bid you all farewell."
As the middle-aged guard captain spun around and headed off in the opposite direction, Sailor Uranus nearly dashed off after him out of instinct. He wasn't getting away so easily without giving her some answers as to his sudden hospitality to the foreigners.
"Michiru, could you show them inside?" She whispered quickly to her beloved as the outsiders glanced around in amazement at the ornate decorations and banners adorning the main entrance. "I have to have a word with the captain."
"Try not to be too long," Neptune murmured back to her. "We have to lay the others to rest first, and we can't dishonor them by getting so caught up with these fighters."
"I'll be brief, don't worry." Kissing her on the cheek once, she darted off after the captain, catching up with him a short distance away, in front of the trainee barracks. She had a lot to say to him, especially since the report at the gates of the defense wall hadn't exactly gone in her favor despite her persistance.
I tried, tried to tell him about their suspicious nature, and he batted it away as if it were nothing...
"I figured I'd be hearing from you again shortly after my departure," he said as she approached him from behind. "And I have little patience left for paranoia, Sailor Uranus."
"Not that you can officially shut my mouth, even with the elevated status of general commander," Uranus snapped back at him. "I just can't believe you chose to ignore everything I told you about them. Do you honestly think you have any idea what we're dealing with? I saw their power, Captain Benson, and letting those beings within our walls is an invitation to death!"
"That's enough," Benson cut Uranus off as he turned around to face her. "I heard every word of your conspiracy theory when you informed me of the situation, and while your fears are not unfounded, I have been far more prepared for the coming of these warriors than you."
That comment left Sailor Uranus speechless for the moment, and Benson was quick to follow it up.
"Yes, the queen briefed me on the plan to bring those fighters forward in time," the captain admitted to her. "I personally hand-picked Lieutenant Seth Victor and Sergeant Trevor Fields of Gamma Battalion to send back the temporal probe that eventually delivered news of our crisis to the Z Warriors."
"You knew..." Sailor Uranus was fuming inside, her anger now being more directed toward Serenity herself - how could she trust the guard captain with this sensitive plan but not one of her most loyal soldiers, one of her closest friends? "...And you went along with this plan, knowing full well the disaster it could bring?"
The captain was hesitant to answer at first, massaging his forehead with one hand and looking worn down to his wit's end.
"Haruka...what do you hear right now from behind those doors?" He motioned to the small rectangular building before him, its windows shrouded from the inside by beige-colored shades. "Nothing. It's because every soldier from the Gamma Battalion is dead. Every last one, including the two soldiers who were sent to program the probe. The only reason I'm coming to this building to to order the removal of the bodybags we've had to stack up in there!"
He calmed himself a bit, clearing his throat.
"The morgues within the palace are nearly filled to the brim, and we've been forced to convert the empty barracks into corpse storehouses...in this case, for the trainees of Gamma Battalion, all of which died in the palace ambush."
Sailor Uranus felt her stomach knotting in sick depression at the realization - her own activities with the Sailor Soldiers had kept her away from the casualty lists for some time. Five thousand soldiers had comprised all of Gamma Battalion, and to know that even the youngest of cadets had gone down fighting on the front lines, far from living a full and enriching life, was a disparaging thought.
Damn alien bastards...
"Sailor Uranus, I can admire your pride as a warrior. Heaven knows I possess a great deal of that throughout all of my experiences. But we've got nothing left. Have you not seen the chaos out in the meadows and within the crumbling city? Didn't you witness the Inner Soldiers dying in a flash at the hands of the alien menace? We've been defeated, and by all rights of nature, the human race should be passing away by now. These beings...they could be our last chance out of oblivion."
"You would trust our future to strangers from a different world than ours, captain?" she argued. "As desparate as times are, how can you or even Serenity imagine that merely seven creatures of power are our only salvation against an endless army of killers? Has the faith of you and the army wavered in us that much as to replace us with outsiders?"
"Replace?" Benson said with a degree of disgust, revolted that Sailor Uranus even suggested the idea. "No...as much as it seems that way, you and your compatriots always have been and always will be our leaders and our greatest champions. But as a soldier and loyalist to NeoQueen Serenity, I must follow the best interests of our kingdom and the orders of my lady. Serenity has faith in the goodness of these individuals to aid us in this conflict, and her intuition with the Silver Crystal is difficult to surpass. Why can't you place some trust within these fighters, especially after they saved your lives out there?"
Sailor Uranus breathed deeply in contemplation, her mind racing in several different directions. Her cautious side had not allowed a smidge of trust for the new arrivals since they had killed Tridyx and driven away his allies. Many different reasons had been presented in her mind as to which side of the fence the Z Warriors stood on.
But one thing still remained clear to her, ending her internal disputes.
"Any alliance with Saiyan blood," she replied firmly. "Is an alliance of disaster. Remember that when our deaths are delivered to us by their hands because of your naive planning."
"If they deliver us all to death quickly," Benson said. "Then it will be much more preferable than slowly rotting away from this alien plague. Your comrades would've agreed---"
"We'll see about that," she snapped. "The only task left to us in regards to the Inners and Sailor Pluto is to lay them to rest. In the meantime, I'll act together with these foreigners. But I'm only following the queen's orders and accepting their presence into our midst. Don't expect me to roll out the red carpet like you just did for them."
The captain ignored the jab and replied.
"The preparations for burial will begin at once. The highest remaining officers of the army shall be informed of the current situation and of the new arrivals. After we lay the princesses to rest, we shall decide what to do about the health of the king and of counterattacking the enemy. I suggest that all of you rest after the day's events."
Sailor Uranus nodded in approval, the word 'rest' suddenly reminding her how exhausted she was mentally and physically.
"And Haruka," Benson said one more time before the Outer Soldier departed. "The boy Saiyan may have been a dreadful twist for you, but the research prior to sending the probe back revealed a lot of positive feedback for the last remaining member of his race. Perhaps your judgment of the Saiyans isn't totally correct."
"But it's not just the boy, it's---" she stopped herself, a sudden revelation clicking in her head. She stood frozen, wide-eyed for a moment as she remembered back to how Vegeta interacted with his associates, always ostricizing himself from the group, always putting up the emotional wall to protect his intentions from those around him, acting so much like an uninvited guest.
And the captain doesn't regard him along with Son Gohan as a Saiyan, and something like that is impossible to miss if the research was so thorough...
"Is something wrong, Sailor Uranus?" Benson asked with an arched eyebrow. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Err...nothing, the fatigue is just getting to me," she lied hastily. "I'm going to find the others for now."
"Very well, Sailor Uranus," Benson nodded and turned back toward the empty soldier barracks. "Carry on with what you need to do. We'll discuss the matter further once the soldiers have been briefed."
Sailor Uranus saluted the captain and began a spirited walk back toward the palace entrance, her mind buzzing with this new detail.
"The only person who acts like the uninvited guest..." she mused to herself. "IS the uninvited guest. It could explain why Setsuna didn't mention his presence among the group either...perhaps these Z Warriors aren't just his subordaintes after all..."
One other thought subsequently followed. If the Saiyan prince was in her era even against the wishes of his own partners, then he had to have a completely different agenda than the others, and that made Vegeta even more dangerous to her and her people.
She had to get into contact with one of the other Z Warriors, someone who could tell her more about the Saiyan and what his motives could've been. The boy Saiyan and the smaller fighters hadn't seemed to be much on Vegeta's level, nor had the three-eyed man or the lanky hotshot with the roving eyes outside the defense wall.
"Piccolo..." she considered the green warrior for a moment, he being the only other one that she had direct contact with besides Son Gohan. He had been calm, precise, focused on things back out on the street, much like Vegeta except for the arrogance. "Perhaps great minds think alike?"
She kept it in the back of her head for the moment. After things were settled, she'd approach Piccolo for a small chat...
* * *
Gohan had been amazed at the exterior of the palace. Close up, he'd beheld marvelously colored banners lining the semi-transparent marble-type construction material, each of them portraying brilliant patterns, symbols, and figures of Crystal Tokyo. Vibrant blue fire crackling within steel brazers cast a soft glow on the images, adding even more life to them.
But as spectacular as the area outside the gates had been, the main hall inside had been ten times more incredible. Gohan found himself standing in a grand chamber stretching at least twenty-five yards long and twice that distance high. Great pillars of crystal and gems towered over the group, some of them damaged and cracked from energy blasts. The nearly crystal-clear floor was damaged in similar fashion, small corpse-shaped craters dotting the chamber along with multiple smears of dried blood.
Must've been from that ambush that Sailor Neptune was talking about...
Even in its disarray, the cathedral-like main hall still possessed its beauty. Several other torch-like brazers were scattered against the crystal walls and the pillars, lighting up the hall as well as an afternoon sun could. Echoing softly through the chamber were no more than a dozen low voices belonging to a Crystal Tokyo civilian team of engineers who were busily surveying the damage done to the area and attempting whatever repairs they could. They were so enraptured in their work that the presence of even the Sailor Soldiers went unnoticed to them.
"It's amazing what they can accomplish if you give them free reign," Sailor Neptune remarked with a pleased look. "This place was about ten times worse less than a day ago."
"The attack force must've been quite sizeable," Piccolo commented as he examined the bloodstains on the floor. "How many enemies?"
"It was too hard to tell exact numbers," ChibiMoon answered him. "Nor did we actually have any time to count - we were too busy trying to stay alive."
"This area wasn't the only place that they struck," Saturn added. "They hit the rear courtyard and the royalty towers as well, swarming in from every entrance. At times, it seemed like there was no end to them, and it still surprises me that they didn't lay waste to this palace when they had the chance. With their power and numbers, they could've done so effortlessly..."
"Sadicism, I'd say," Tenshinhan suggested, folding his arms. "That's the only logical reason I can think of."
"I wouldn't put it past these monsters..." Saturn spoke in a far-away voice, rubbing her eyes slowly. She looked positively exhausted despite the healing effects of the senzu bean. Gohan glanced at her drained face, and he realized that senzus didn't heal mental or emotional injuries, and the young princess seemed to be harboring many of those.
Whatever was wrong, Sailor Neptune and Sailor ChibiMoon seemed to notice it as well.
"Hotaru..." she rested a hand on Saturn's arm, turning to the others. "You've seen enough for one day...you'd better relax for a little while."
"You too, Sailor Neptune," the small princess added with concern. "You look like you're ready to pass out..."
"You guys can go ahead if you want to," Krillin said as he noticed the tired Saturn. "We can find our way around here by ourselves for a little while."
"I don't think that would be such a good idea considering what Uranus and Captain Benson were telling us about outside," Piccolo said. "We're still strangers to this land, and complications could arise if we show ourselves to the civilians in the palace."
"Yeah, Krillin, weren't you listening?" Gohan laughed at him, punching him in the arm.
"Well...it's not that I wasn't listening...err...I..."
"I think your mind was on Sailor Neptune, Krillin, am I right?" Chaozu snickered toward him lowly. "Along with Yamcha's. I saw the two of you staring back outside."
"HEY!!!" he burst out, covering his mouth in embarassment.
"I'm here, I'm here, what's going on!" Yamcha - who'd been quiet for the last five minutes, suddenly snapped to attention, his eyes wide open.
All eyes suddenly turned to the two Kamesennin students, who were speechless and looking bright red in the face. Chaozu and Gohan chuckled under their breath as Tenshinhan hid his face in his hand.
"Enough games, already," Piccolo grumbled. "Sailor Neptune, the guard captain was saying something about the king being in poor health?"
"It's true, he was injured during the ambush, and he hasn't regain consciousness since that fight concluded," she nodded.
"He hasn't?" The Namek looked concerned. "Take me and Gohan to him, Sailor Neptune, and we'll give him a senzu seed. If he's back in good health, at least it can help restore a bit of confidence and order around here."
"Okay, our quarters are past the medical wing anyhow," Neptune agreed, though a degree of reluctance was showing in her voice. "ChibiMoon, could you take the rest of the warriors to the royalty suites? We'll meet up with the rest of you later."
"Sure!" she was more than happy to oblige. "Come on, guys, follow me!"
The small girl motioned for the group to follow her off to the west.
"Here're the senzus, Gohan, try not to lose them!" Krillin dropped the bag into the Saiyan hybrid's hand. He got closer to Gohan's ear, murmuring softly. "And by the way, I wasn't looking that way at Sailor Neptune. Of course, you knew that didn't you, Gohan? You know how highly I respect the opposite se--"
"Did you say something, Krillin?" Neptune's voice surprised the monk, and he turned see the Sailor Soldier standing only a few feet away, a wry smile on her face.
"I, err, mean, I only was talking about," he stammered nervously, suddenly turning to catch up with the others who were already following the princess off to the west. "I mean, I'm going now, bye!!"
Sailor Neptune chuckled to herself, leaving Gohan to wonder if she actually had heard the muffled commentary from Chaozu earlier. She glanced over at Gohan, who was trying his hardest not to laugh at Krillin's embarassment.
"Wait a second..." she threw her gaze back over to the departing Z Warriors, noticing only four of them. "What happened to your Saiyan comrade?"
Looking around the vast hallway, Gohan was surprised that he hadn't notice the Saiyan prince slipping out of their sight. There was no sign of him anywhere in the chamber.
"I wouldn't worry too much, Sailor Neptune," Piccolo said calmly. "He's bold and stubborn, but he's not foolish enough to attack an entire army on his own or do something that would bring the six of us against him. He'll be lurking around here somewhere, I guarantee it."
"Attacking the enemy is not what I'm worried about..." she replied. "His guise is nearly identical to the aliens' armor, and if one of our troops comes across him and attempts to attack him..."
"Michiru-mama," Sailor Saturn tugged at the arm of Sailor Neptune. "Let's go and heal the king for now. Worry about Vegeta when he gives us real reason to worry."
"You're right," Gohan agreed with her. "Lead the way, you guys."
* * *
Stupid fools...I could've announced my exodus, and they wouldn't have cared. They were too busy gawking at the dazzling architecture...
Vegeta snuffed in disgust. The group was hardly there to gaze at artistic construction, nor were they there to perform charity for the people of the disheveled kingdom. Well, maybe the first six were, but he had his own plan. From his perch on the domed roof covering the main floors of the palace, he glanced around at his surroundings. Despite its fanciful design, the palace was formidable and tenacious - many structures would give immediately with the impact of even weak ki attacks while the crystalline walls had suffered generous but salvageable damage.
But its position leaves much to be desired - up on a large hill with barely any defense mechanisms against hordes of aerial soldiers. How comforting...
Even still, it would suffice as a place of protection and for planning a strategy against the alien armies. From the mess that they had created on Earth, it was safer to eliminate them now with his own hands than to risk compromising a piece of whatever future empire he was destined to rule over.
I wonder where I am now... Vegeta marvelled in the thought, leaning back on the roof and staring out into the starry night sky. He had no doubt that an immortal, wizened version of himself was ruling over a vast area of the galaxy elsewhere if history followed its normal course. That his future empire didn't have a grip on a pathetic hovel like Earth in the future era didn't bother him too much - too many bad memories still lingered from his experiences on the humans' planet to even consider snaring it into his grasp. Obviously, his future self had come to the same conclusion.
But to achieve that strategic goal would take quite some effort despite the forces he was allied with. The enemy opposition was larger than he had anticipated, and with warriors possessing the power and cunning of the female commander and her insect lieutenant, obtaining his objective could take some considerable work. The foul-up with the two retreating aliens already proved that much.
"Damned wastes of life..." he grumbled, remembering the embarassment back in the city. He'd had those two cowards dead to rights, and those blasted idiots had stolen the two kills away from him.
After a few initial surprise ki shots had scraped Vegeta, pure rage had taken over. How dare those fools, those common trash heaps of warriors scar him? Reciprocation had been quick and painful...not one of his attackers had been left alive and in one piece. That was an experience that Vegeta never grew tired of. No matter how weak or powerful one's opponent could be, hearing the cracking and shattering of their bone and sinew was always a satisfying taste of one's triumph.
Still, the fact that he was even hit by their low-power ki beams incited his temper, and Vegeta had finally been able to decipher why he hadn't been able to sense the approach of the grunts in time to prepare himself.
"Too much active ki in the atmosphere, just like with locating those Sailor Soldiers," he reminded himself. The fighting on the planet had to be intense and all-encompassing if that much ki had been present in the air. In that case, he had to watch his step - a sensory foul-up could leave him in the sights of a powerful foe with his guard down...
He grinned and laughed the notion off. Who was he kidding? None of the dogs that the alien leaders had unleashed onto Earth could damage him with such low fighting power; it just made things a bit more interesting - the idea of fighting with only his own natural senses rather than his mentally attuned ones would make the game a tad more difficult to win. Only a tad however - he would still emerge as the winner when the smoke cleared.
He turned his view out into the ruined city, the sounds of ki discharges and collapsing rubble echoing softly in the late night air. Fighting was still going on even this far into the night, and Vegeta was curious as to how many Crystal Tokyo soldiers and civilians were out there among the wolves...and as to how many had already been mauled.
Frieza would've loved this type of carnage, a slow and painful death for his victims...
But it wasn't him who was responsible for this chaos - Frieza was long dead, killed by Kakarotto's low-class hands...and nobody within his hierarchy of manipulative servants could hold an empire together for so long. Zarbon, Ginyu, and Dodoria were his most loyal, and all of them were in death with Frieza...unless...
He shook off the sudden thought, his musings interrupted by a sudden eye-catch on the ground - Sailor Uranus was stalking past him, muttering to herself about something.
"The fearless leader," he smirked softly, his tone mocking her. "Hotheaded little thing, aren't you? It's a shame that the ridiculous outfit doesn't go with her aggressiveness, or perhaps she could be somewhat intimidating."
He laughed aloud at that thought, drawing attention from the skulking princess. As her gaze darted skyward, he floated down onto the ground from his perch.
"What are you doing out here? You were supposed to follow the others inside!" she barked at him. "Do you want our troops to mistake you for an enemy soldier?!"
"Glad to see you too, scout," he greeted her with an exaggerated bow and a twisted grin.
"What did you call me??" her eyes widened in revulsion, and Vegeta could tell that her hatred for him was increasing by the second. Her posture became nearly defensive, as if she expected him to attack.
As if I would waste my time and energy...besides, it's much more fun to toy with her.
"Come on, Sailor Uranus, look at yourself!" He stood upright, folding his arms and almost scolding her with his voice. "If I didn't know any better and you didn't have the sword, I'd take you and the rest of your companions as girl scouts, little schoolchildren."
She seemed to calm herself despite his arrogance. She stepped closer to him, her face inches away from his.
"Listen, vermin," she glowered. "I don't want any trouble right now. And despite your group's generous 'acts of service,' don't expect me to treat any of you - especially you - like a hero. You've still got a lot to prove to us, Vegeta."
"That's putting it mildly," Vegeta agreed. "I suppose you're wondering about my motives then, why an anti-hero such as myself is here against people I could call my brethren in combat."
"I suppose you wouldn't mind telling me?" she played along, acting a bit calmer than he expected.
"I would, but where's the fun in that?" he scoffed. "Besides, for you to understand the vision that I foresee with 'our' victory against these trash piles..."
He pumped some ki energy into his fist, causing it to shine a brilliant white. It wouldn't have been enough to kill Sailor Uranus completely if he attacked with an energized swing, but it would definitely shatter some bones.
"...You'd have to witness it first-hand. Would you like me to educate you?"
"Someday, perhaps, when this is over," she fired back, not backing down at all. "But for now, you'd better move indoors before one of our soldiers tries to stab you in the back."
"Not a bad idea," Vegeta shrugged as the energy dissipated. "I could use some relaxation at your palace's expense anyhow. Could the girl scout please direct me to my quarters?"
Her composure nearly broke with that comment, and Vegeta suddenly found the perfect way to incite Sailor Uranus no matter what circumstance.
"This way, 'your highness,'" she jabbed back, turning to walk off toward the palace. Vegeta chuckled once more and followed close behind her. He did have to give her credit for one thing as that little episode ended - when she'd turned away from him to escort him to the guest rooms, she'd kept her head cocked to the side, one eye on his every movement.
Weak and ridiculous-looking... he admired. But not stupid.
* * *
The king was a mess, all right.
Gohan peered over at the comatose figure lying on the bed on the far end of the room, his limbs bandaged and a large respirator covering nearly his entire face. The rise and fall of his chest was slow and erratic, and a good number of wires ran from stacks of machinery and hooked directly into the king's battered upper body. Half a dozen white-coated medics were quietly discussing things around the king's bed, and several more were monitoring his progress and vital signs, cataloguing them onto notepads and clipboards.
I can see why Neptune asked ChibiUsa out of all of them to escort the others to the suites... Gohan had seen his own father with injuries as bad as the king's before, and it had been more than painful to see his body as mangled as severely as it had been.
"Sailor Neptune?" One of the several doctors hovering around the sparse medical room hurried over to greet the new arrivals. He took exception to the two outsiders, lifting up his black-rimmed glasses to gaze closely at them. "Who in the world are these people? Have all of you been screened before coming in here?"
"There's no time for that, doctor," Sailor Neptune stifled the questioning medic. "What is the condition of King Endymion?"
The medic thankfully chose to reply to the Sailor Soldier instead of inquiring further about the outsiders.
"His condition has worsened within the past few hours, and we've been unable to take him off of respiration. If we don't receive any more medical supplies from the city within a few more hours, thing make take some horrible turns..."
"Respiration?" Piccolo repeated grimly, walking over and taking a look at the sleeping patient. The doctors and technicians surrounding the bed immediately dispersed, the imposing image of the Namek more than a few could handle. A few of them opened their mouths to protest, but a quick hand signal from Sailor Neptune was enough to silence them before too many words came out. Piccolo glanced back at the first doctor. "There's no way to remove the breathing mask or bring him back to consciousness?"
"Heavens, no!" he shouted. "His respiratory systems have been deteriorating since he was brought in here. Taking away the unit right now could kill him!"
"No way of swallowing a senzu seed in that state..." Piccolo shook his head, a tad crestfallen. "Sorry, Sailor Neptune, for getting your hopes up, but unless he's conscious enough to swallow one of the seeds, we can't help him."
"Wait," Sailor Saturn chimed in shyly. "I think I may be able to help."
"You have a way of getting him conscious again, Hotaru?" Gohan curiously asked her.
"More than that, Gohan," she glanced back to him. "I can do the work of those magical beans of yours. With only a few seconds, I can completely heal His Majesty."
"Healing?" Gohan gazed back at her in wonder. "You have that kind of power, too?"
"Too?" she looked at him with confusion. "Does one among your group possess that power as well?"
"No, but a friend I made a little while back was able to heal people like you can."
"But why couldn't you do it beforehand, during the initial injury?" Piccolo wondered.
"Perhaps my gift is slightly different than that of Gohan's friend," Sailor Saturn replied. "I...don't have the ability to use it limitlessly - using it after expending all of my strength in the palace ambush could very well have killed me."
"Not that it stopped you from almost trying," Neptune smiled at her.
"Oh, hush," she giggled back at her. "Your seed has given me back all the power that I lost in the ambush. Now I can easily heal the king."
"Either way, if it expends that much energy, then you'll take the senzu instead, Sailor Saturn," Piccolo beckoned to Gohan to draw out one of the brown seeds. "No sense in leaving you too weak."
"Thank you...er, uh...Mister Piccolo," she stuttered, and Gohan noticed that she spoke in similiar anxious tone each time she was addressing either one of them. Toward Sailor Neptune, however, she sounded almost completely different, confidence present in her voice. Could she really have been that awkward toward the new arrivals despite everything?
"Mister?" Piccolo was slightly taken aback by the title, and Gohan chuckled a bit, realizing that Saturn must've overheard him calling Piccolo by the exact same name. Despite it, the Namek smirked it off, motioning the small Sailor Soldier toward the bed. "Just Piccolo will do, Sailor Saturn. Formalities weren't meant for me."
"Okay...Piccolo," she shyly nodded toward him before stepping up to the bed. She passed off the huge glaive that she'd held in her hands to Sailor Neptune as she placed her hands on the unconscious monarch's exposed chest. Closing her eyes, her shoulder-length hair slowly lifted into the air, and Gohan could sense a unique form of pure energy beginning to radiate from her.
Silently, the energy built up within Sailor Saturn until the king's wounded body began to glow with a brilliant orange shade, the healing power emitting from Saturn's outstreatched fingertips.
"Is it working?" Gohan asked.
Seconds later, the energy field calmed itself, and Saturn's stored energy dissipated, her body returning to normal. She let out a deep breath, stepping back from the bed.
Before anymore words were spoken, King Endymion's freshly rejuvenated arm reached up from on the bed - the scars and bruises it once possessed were gone - and yanked the respirator from his face. He quickly sat up, taking long, deep gulps of air as his healed lungs readjusted to the natural oxygen in the room. His chest were free of all the abbrasions that had previously covered it a few moments ago, and for all intents and purposes, he was looking perfectly healthy.
"King Endymion!"
"He's alright!"
The medics were ecstatic, as was Sailor Neptune and Sailor Saturn.
"My king...you're..." Saturn suddenly dropped down, clutching at her chest and forcing out shallow breaths of air.
Gohan was quick to drop down next to her, handing her the senzu with a smile on his face.
"Good job, Hotaru!" he exclaimed. "You really must be strong inside to be able to heal all of those injuries. I think my friend Dende would be jealous after that."
Saturn gratefully accepted the senzu, giving Gohan a slight blush - she obviously wasn't used to being complimented like that. After swallowing the seed, she was on her feet again, no worse for wear.
"Off-hand," she replied to the young Saiyan hybrid as she caught her breath. "I'd rather have these seeds."
"King Endymion," Piccolo's voice came next, overpowering the other joyous sounds in the medical room. The king seemed to finally reorient himself as he turned to face the towering warrior near the bed. "Perhaps you already know who we are?"
Endymion cleared his throat, staring back at the Namek with equal resolve.
"Indeed I do," he spoke in a noble voice. "It looks like Serenity's idea was worth the effort we took to fulfill it. Allow me to introduce myself formally - I am Endymion, one of the leaders of Crystal Tokyo. And you are...if I remember from the research files correctly...Piccolo?"
Gohan glanced back at Piccolo for a response, his mind rolling with thoughts. They'd actually researched out their group so thoroughly before sending for them, even down to acquiring names? He began to wonder what any of them could've done to earn a place in the history books.
"Yes, and this is my...student in the martial arts, Son Gohan," he nodded toward the boy, whom the king acknowledged. "A lot has happened since you went into that coma, Endymion."
"Then let me get properly dressed and move to better accomodations before we begin. I have much that I want to discuss with all of you."
Where...
She still couldn't think coherantly even though a substantial amount of time had passed since she arrived. The blurred and eratic void of shuddering darkness surrounding her resonated softly from some distant commotion. Every now and again, a gentle, almost musical ringing roused whatever conscious thought she still possessed.
Souls...passing over...to the next life...
Frustration welled up inside of her as she struggled even to merely ponder her current locale. Without a physical body, her essence could not contain even the slightest musings of her mind, and her thoughts kept floating free of her own consciousness and vanishing just as quickly into the limbo around her. The resulting imbalance of mental equilibrium had reduced her to a permenant state of confusion, attempting futilely to discern something, anything before the very thought disappeared into the chaotic mass around her.
Not...much...longer...
This particular part of the road was certainly one of the bumps. As often as she'd been through this transition period, she could never seem to adjust to the dissociation from spirit and physical form.
Then...again... Another thought emerged, and she was able to concentrate on it for a bit longer. That was a good sign - the limbo's stranglehold on her was weakening. Maybe...this wasn't meant to be...adjusted to...since all creatures...should only come through here...once...
She had the distinction of being one of the few who had made the trek more than once. She had decided long ago that it had been a running joke by whatever powers who controlled the fates of mortal creatures - why reward such a long and dreary existence of guardianship and vigilance with more of the same, denying her the chance to leave the living world time and again? She had been called back before even reaching the judgement seat more than once by her duties, stolen away from the eternal fate that had awaited her there.
However, she had also remained certain that such extensions of life were given for her own benefits.
If I were...dead...then Small Lady...Hotaru...
Her mind suddenly fell upon the teary-eyed, sorrowful face of Small Lady, the last sight that she had beheld before her soul had left that plane of existence along with her body and her remaining comrades. Never had she seen so much pain in those large red eyes; even when her mother had been captured by the enemy, she had tried to hold back as much of her emotion as she could, not wanting to appear weak and helpless in front of all of them. It had been just as she explained to Hotaru - her young mind had finally broken under the weight of her own emotion.
Her experiences with the princess and Hotaru had done something that the fates must have designed for her. She was always caught up in their boundless energy and cheerful spirits; they cared very much for each other and all of their group, and after a lonely vigilance over the Gates of Time - a task that had made her forget any kind of emotion with its duration - they had been the ones who had reminded her most of how warm it felt to smile, laugh, or even cry. And as much as her emotions were buried within her during her battles, she had soon come to realize long ago that she owed the two children her very humanity. Haruka and Michiru may have been her best friends, but Small Lady and Hotaru she considered closer to her own heart, the closest that she'd ever have to children of her own.
But...how I've...failed them...
Sending Hotaru down to heal Haruka without even ensuring that the danger had passed, letting Small Lady attack and subsequently enrage the monster Tridyx, both of them had nearly been killed because of her mistakes. Small Lady definitely would've been dead had it not been for her sacrifice.
But even though the princess had lived because of her, she still felt empty and regretful. Small Lady could've still very well have been finished off mere moments after her own demise but only on top of watching her mentor painfully perish in front her, and in a much more painful fashion. Not only that, but Hotaru's brazed body couldn't have held out for much longer a time without medical attention, and she was certain that the girl had witnessed Tridyx's energy blast tear her apart as well. She wondered if it was the last sight that she had seen before her own death.
One last sacrifice... she mulled over her last words as the black matter around her began to brighten into a grayer shade. Her transition was almost over, and the next step of the journey could begin. Forgive me...my children...for all you have endured on my account...death can't match the grief I've given both of your tender spirits...
With her spirit finally passing on into the next world, it didn't matter anymore. If Small Lady and Hotaru were to be finished off by the aliens, then at least she'd be able to see them again and apologize to them herself for everything she'd done, all of the anguish she'd given to both of them in her final moments.
But that energy source, was it my imagination?
Ah, a complete thought. That part was relieving to her aching mind, but the question still nagged at her. What had been the sudden burst of energy she had felt before the last of her strength faded? She doubted very much if Small Lady had detected it; her sensory abilities weren't anywhere close to hers.
It was there one instant and nearly extinguished the next...
Not much of her memory was clear thanks to the ebbing of her thoughts in the empty void, but she could still vaguely remember sensing some sort of mental shielding appearing around the energy source less than a second after it registered to her. Something had been trying to hide itself from notice on the war-torn street; somehow it knew that beings around the area could pinpoint it easily if it left itself exposed for too long.
"What could it have been..." Sailor Pluto finally managed to hear her own silvery voice as the grayer shades finally erupted in a sudden flash of dazzling white light. Seconds later, the light had dissolved into shapes of different colors, sizes, and patterns. Much of the area around her was a bright pinkish sky, as if the setting sun was illuminating the entire atmosphere.
She knew better than that however, especially after gaping around at the drifting yellow clouds that dominated much of the air. This place had no sun, no source of natural light to give the sky its flaring pink shade. Some force that even she had no knowledge of had devised this intermediary place to better fit the physical senses and expectations of incoming mortal creatures. It was only after one decided to relinquish hold on their mortal shape that they were fully able to comprehend and reap the benefits of the afterlife. To physical senses, these evolved souls appeared as puffy, curling balls of white that emitted quick, high-pitched giggles. They danced about in the air like feathers on the wind, seemingly as carefree and jittery as schoolchildren.
Sailor Pluto, however, certainly wasn't ready to leave the form that she had held for so long a time. She had come to cherish her body over the centuries as something that couldn't be replaced by some transluscent puffball, even if it was supposedly on a higher plane of existence. In addition to that, the absence of a physical body brought back dreadful reminders of the transition trip, where her conscious thoughts managed to escape her essence without a solid form to contain them. She couldn't bear to go through all eternity with a sensation of instant amnesia.
Hearing her own voice had been soothing to her, and she realized that she could lift a white-gloved hand again, could move her slender fingers around to point or to make a fist. Looking down, she was relieved to see her Sailor Soldier uniform completely intact, and her skin bore no signs of the injuries sustained during her final battle.
"One good thing about dying..." she muttered softly to herself. "No such thing as physical harm when your body is practically a metaphor..."
With her mind clear and as sharp as before her death, Sailor Pluto finally began to formulate memories of what exactly she had sensed in her last seconds of life.
"Yes..." she spoke aloud. "There was something hiding out there...no...could it have been...??"
The Z Warriors! Had one of them managed to get there just before her death? Optimistic and wishful as it may have been, the energy had been nothing that Sailor Pluto had ever sensed before - wild and tense, yet somehow beaming with a gentle radiance, a determination that she had seen echoed within the powers of the Inner Soldiers. And with all of them dead...that seemed to be the most logical option.
To test a possible theory, Sailor Pluto waited for several minutes, gaping around at the twisting stone pathway that vanished into the distance in either direction. It was the only solid structure within the pink space, and it was carved and decorated as if it were the curling and looping form of a godlike serpent. Ten minutes passed, then twelve, and she managed to hold her hopes and patience past fifteen minutes.
It was soon obvious that no other arrivals would be showing up anytime soon. She couldn't be certain about any alien deaths - her past travels to this realm had revealed that different species materialized in different sections of the road to avoid possible overcrowding at any particular time. Stronger and tenacious forms were dropped far off into the distance from where she was, while more frail and delicate creatures usually were formulated a good way ahead, closer to the judgement seat for accomodation's sake. Considering the brute tenacity of their enemies, they'd be dropped off many miles away from where she was standing.
As twenty minutes passed with continued silence, Sailor Pluto grew elated. It was evident that the aliens' agenda had been to kill all of the Sailor Soldiers, or else the monstrous Tridyx wouldn't have released tidal waves of energy onto Small Lady and Hotaru. And if that plan had failed somehow, only one option remained in her mind.
"They're okay..." she smiled to herself, emotions of monumental relief welling up in her chest. "Kami...your fighters came through after all, they've done it! If only you were here right now, I could--"
She calmed herself, not letting her joyous outburst completely overtake her. Much still laid ahead for her: the judgment seat still awaited, and this time, she would not be summoned back. With the queen in enemy hands, no resurrection would be coming, and once heaven or hell claimed Sailor Pluto, even the Silver Crystal's power had to yield to the forces controlling this world.
"But still..." she allowed herself another smile, one of satisfaction. "Kami gave me his word. Small Lady and the others are in good hands, and perhaps Earth shall continue to endure yet."
Another thought occurred to her - she wouldn't be the only one this jubilant about the circumstances. Spirits high, Sailor Pluto dashed forward up the snaking path. The line to the judgement seat wouldn't be too far away, and she knew of four recent arrivals who were probably nervous wrecks at this point, wondering frantically about the fates of their friends.
I only hope that they're more understanding than Haruka about this plan. She pondered as her legs carried her faster up a steep hill. If not, then heaven may not be so enjoyable after all.
* * *
The scenery was the same all around for miles. The pinkish 'atmosphere' - which was stretching it a bit considering they certainly didn't need air to breathe anymore - all around them was dotted and in some cases overrun with yellow-tinted clouds that occasionally floated within arm's length on the long winding road. Mercury had advised against touching the thick gases, but Jupiter had unenthusiactically reminded her that they were already dead - there was no sense in fearing anything anymore. Mercury had been unusually quiet since then.
One thing that the four deceased Sailor Soldiers had agreed upon after meeting in the new realm was not to fall off of the road that they were walking on. Several hundred yards below them was a vast blanket of yellow clouds that was far too thick for even Mercury's visor to scan through. But despite their present condition of deceased, they'd decided unanimously to watch their steps while traveling along the narrow road - even though they had some power to float from their battles with the mercenary aliens, none of them wanted to take the chance of falling below the cloud bank. Mars had especially gotten some awful feelings about what was beneath it.
The road itself seemed to be the only viable structure anywhere for miles in the vast pink and yellow emptiness, though its serpentine shape had freaked Venus out quite a bit, and Mars had empathize with her - the idea of walking on what could've been a monstrous snake was spine-chilling even though they all were dead.
The patterns etched into the stone had closely matched reptilian scales, complete with stony spikes on both sides of the road. And while this road had to have been used by all sorts of dead souls since the beginning of time, it wasn't worn or broken whatsoever - in fact, it looked as new as the day it had been carved. It stretched long and far in both directions with various twists, turns, and loops, almost like a demented-looking roller coaster at certain points.
After walking along the snake road for a short time, the four Sailor Soldiers had reached their destination: a long line of deceased souls - most of which were of human origin to their dismay - that led up to the eventual seat of judgement. The line ran for quite a ways, several miles from what Mercury's visor indicated. It eventually ended at an immense building in the distance. The structure was comparable in size to some of the lesser wings of the palace, and it was designed after an ancient oriental-style castle, its walls a pure white color and its curved, shingled roof making it look all the more intimidating. However, for the relatively fast time they made on travelling to get to the long line, things had certainly hit a dead stop at that point - nobody had moved for the past forty minutes, and Jupiter was beginning to get restless at the holdup.
"How much longer are we going to wait?" She was pacing back and forth relentlessly, her posture tense and anxious. "Well, why the hell aren't we moving?! Who's holding up the line up there!!"
"Jupiter, calm down," Mercury gently said as she glanced at some of the auspiciously decorated bystanders waiting ahead of them. A few of the nonhumans were giving them nasty glares while some of the humans didn't seem to notice, most of them too caught up in depression to notice the new arrivals.
"Calm down?! How do you expect me to calm down after what just happened!" Jupiter still wasn't done. "I just got blasted to pieces by a dirty alien son-of-a-bitch, we don't know what they're doing to ChibiUsa or the others back there, and what are we doing?? We're stuck here waiting, doing absolutely nothing! It's not fair..."
"Jupiter!!" Venus grabbed her friend by the shoulders, shaking her a bit. "Stop this...it's not helping anything. Whether or not we were able to make a difference back there doesn't matter anymore - we're dead, gone from Earth...there's nothing we can do now. There's no sense in thinking about it now."
Mars felt the air leave her lungs, depression overcoming her. Despite having regained her sight and body after her death, they WERE gone...for good this time. They'd given every ounce of energy they could against the alien mercenaries in another of a never-ending series of wars that they'd all endured throughout their long lifetimes, and they'd finally met their match, just like any other nameless dying soldier on the battefield. That idea struck even more gloom into Sailor Mars; she suddenly felt completely worthless to herself - so many battles, so many victories and defeats, and in the end, they were nothing more than four more corpses on the ruined Crystal Tokyo streets, inconsequential to their world in one sudden instant.
"Venus..." Jupiter's voice was calmer, less volatile. Venus released her grip on her, and Jupiter dropped down to the ground, slumping her shoulders. "Sorry...sorry, guys...I just feel so useless. They were still toying with us out there, no matter what we did to retaliate. I'm so tired of us being the weak ones, the ones on the defensive end. We never got the chance to even fight back against those bastards...and now we'll never get another chance to fight again."
"I know how you feel..." Venus turned away from their group. "How could I let him control my own power so easily...we might've been able to beat him if I hadn't messed it up...at the very least, we could be alive right now. I'm so sorry that I helped that freak kill us, Jupiter."
"Don't worry, Venus. I'm beginning to think that our efforts were in vain from the start anyhow," Jupiter added as she wrapped her arms around her knees. "So many attempts, pushing myself so hard just to get a scratch on that bastard...And then putting Saturn in that bad position of choosing our lives over ChibiMoon's...she must feel terrible about having to see us die without being able to do anything."
"Hey..." Mercury walked past Mars and forced a small smile toward her teammates. "None of us knew what to expect from the enemy, as it always seems to be. We were outclassed, and they were the better fighters. We all knew back even during the Old Era that death was a possibility every time we faced a youma or a daimon or a lemures, we just never acknowledged it with as many victories that we achieved. But losing even now doesn't make any of us weak. If we were weak, we wouldn't have stood to the end fighting for our queen and our kingdom. It was just our time to finally die."
"Always the rational thinker, Mercury..." Venus didn't seemed convinced. "But it doesn't make losing seem easier, especially with our friends still back there fighting to stay alive."
"I know, Venus," Mercury sighed. "I was the first one to experience that, you know."
Mars silently recalled the last moments of her life. She'd been blinded, but her immense rage toward the powerful giant Tridyx had somehow triggered new heights of energy from within her soul. She'd almost been afraid of the amounts of power flowing from her, but even that wasn't enough to slow Tridyx down. The suicide attack had seemed like the perfect solution...a brief few seconds of searing pain and her life in exchange for ridding the universe of the barbaric monster and giving her friends a better chance of living. She'd been utterly crushed inside after enduring the trial and appearing in the afterlife, only to have Jupiter and Venus arrive mere minutes later and report that Tridyx was still alive and stronger than ever. She still felt ready to vomit in self-disgust at her weakness. She could still hear that maniacal cackle ringing through her head, mocking her sacrifice for all it was worth.
She clenched her fists, biting her lip as anger and frustration swelled up suddenly within her.
"So weak..." she muttered softly. "How could I be so weak...tossed aside like garbage."
"Mars?" Mercury said softly from behind her. Sailor Mars turned around, calming herself as she looked at her friend. "Jupiter told me that you underwent that power surge and sacrificed yourself after I was killed...you called me your best friend, and you swore revenge against that alien monster for my sake, even though it cost you your life."
"It was true," Mars smiled as Mercury's gloomy face seemed only to get worse with guilt. "You and I have been through a lot...seeing you dead just did something to me that even I can't explain. I just wanted to tear him apart for what he did to you. And don't apologize for driving me into the suicide attack. Killing that bastard by any means necessary was the least I could do for him killing someone as close to me as you are."
"Thank you," Mercury shyly said, finally looking a bit more cheerful as she squeezed Mars's shoulder. "It means a lot to me, Rei, I thought you should know."
"Don't mention it," Sailor Mars nodded to her. "But I wonder...how do you think the others are faring right now? It's been quite a while since Jupiter and Venus were...sent here. Nobody else has been killed for some time."
"I'd rather not guess at it," Mercury replied uneasily. "But if the Outers did come to help ChibiMoon, they can hold their own for a while, I'm sure. But I do wish we had some way of knowing what was going on over there."
"I believe I can fill you in on some of the details," A familiar voice spoke from a few feet away. Mars whirled around, gasping at who had just appeared. She could've teleported here in physical body, Mars didn't think that was out of the reach of the woman's mysterious powers, but the sparkling gold halo hovering above her head made her as dead as the rest of them. "Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, I am pleased to see that you can see some bright side to this whole affair."
"Sailor Pluto!!" Venus exclaimed.
"It's good to see you, my friends," she gently spoke as she approached the group. "I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get to you before you were called to your judgement, but at least a few things have gone in our favor today."
"It seems that way," Jupiter agreed as she stood up. "But I didn't see you at the battle before Venus and I were killed. Did some of those alien soldiers manage to kill you?"
"No, I was there and I faced the wrath of the alien Tridyx shortly after the two of you died," Sailor Pluto said with a crestfallen tone. "That's how I came to be here. Even my power wasn't enough to stop the rogue...and in my own sacrifice, I gave my life to ensure Small Lady's safety."
"ChibiMoon's still alive?!" Venus was excited at the news, eager to pry Sailor Pluto for the details. "What in the world was happening back there? Have the others made any progress against those monsters??"
Sailor Pluto was quiet for a moment, and Sailor Mars caught a peculiar look in her eyes. She definitely had something to tell them, but something about what she saw in the time soldier's eyes gave her the impression that she wouldn't be just telling them about the recent happenings on the battlefield.
"Well...you could say that progress may be made," she began. "But before I go any further, I have to tell you something, something the queen and I have been keeping from you for a little while..."
* * *
Vegeta dropped down next to them wordlessly, his body still coated with white energy, and Gohan could easily tell that he'd seen some action. Spots on his otherwise white body armor were blackened and smoking, probably from ki blasts, and his lower neck had been slightly singed as well.
"What happened?" Gohan asked the question out of instinct, but he suddenly regretted it as the Saiyan shot an icy glare in his direction. "N...never mind..."
"Where did they go?" Vegeta simply said as he powered down. A small sneer crossed his face suddenly, much to Gohan's surprise. "Don't tell me you actually got them to trust us to follow them to their nest? You and your Namek friend must be better negotiators than I thought."
"What's your deal with those princesses, Vegeta?" Gohan asked. "You seemed to be really interested in confronting them back there."
"I don't have to explain my intentions to you, son of Kakarotto," he sharply replied. "But I will say this: don't be too shocked if that tan-haired sword-wielder gives you the cold shoulder from now on. She knows who you and I really are, and she has some old grudges against our kind."
"Wait a second..." He replied. "Did you tell them that we were Saiyans?"
Vegeta turned and began walking ahead, sensing the active battle powers to guide him in the direction of his associates. "She'll hate us more than you would imagine," he called back one more time before dashing forward and out of sight.
"What was that about, Gohan?" Chaozu asked, confused more than ever from the blank stare he was giving to the Saiyan hybrid.
"After you guys took off to fight the alien commanders," Gohan explained as both Z Warriors lifted themselves into the air, preparing to fly in order to make up for their lagging. "He offered to keep Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune - those were the two Sailor Soldiers we were talking to in the street - out of the battle with the aliens."
"Offered? Vegeta never offers anything unless it gets him something in return."
"That's what I thought," Gohan and Chaozu soared forward in the direction of the pure kis given off by the four surviving Sailor Soldiers. Where they went, the palace would surely be. "But I wonder why it would be such a big deal for the Sailor Soldiers to know that he and I are Saiyans. I mean, the Saiyans have been dead for centuries at this point, how would they even know about them?"
"I think you'll find out soon enough, if not from Vegeta then from the Sailor Soldiers themselves."
They zipped through stacks of collapsed rubble - the remnants of what had to have been grand crystal structures before the aliens destroyed them - and they eventually came to the edge of the actual city. Beyond the last street of ruined buildings, the landscape melded from pavement and asphalt into a roughly spherical meadow that spanned several city blocks long and even more wide.
At the foot of the grassy plain was a white, gem-encrusted barrier that extended around the entire perimeter and stood at a substantial height. Taller, separate white spires spaced out along the wall had attached searchlights that were sweeping the area several hundred feet away from the ring, keeping a sharp lookout for enemy intruders, no doubt.
Beyond the wall, the vast plain itself was bustling with activity. Though Gohan couldn't discern much from the air, he could see some trails of smoke rising from the ground, though it seemed to be coming from controlled fires rather than from some battle-ignited blaze. Smaller figures dotted the area - huge groups were settled into some regions and others moved about at a frantic pace. Makeshift shelters and tents had been erected on the grounds, and Gohan spotted a few forms moving about around them. It seemed as if some of the survivors of the city attack had clustered toward the plain and behind the barrier for safety, and much of what probably was just green pastures was currently occupied by them and their settlements. But even with the huge numbers packed onto the meadow, the city areas that he had seen had probably been able to support scores more, giving him a bad feeling about how much damage the aliens had managed to cause already.
In the middle of the plain sat an incredibly huge and regal-looking complex that seemed to loom over the crushed city. Tall towers of crystal-like material stretched many stories high around one grand crystalline spire that rose well above the rest. They gleamed brightly as the moon and stars shined softly on them. From what Gohan could tell, the crystal matter that composed the towers had more to it than he had initially assumed after observing the devastated city buildings - the material wasn't transparent as crystal was. Some of the battle damage inflicted on the structure - which included cracked, partially melted, or disintegrated sections of some of the taller towers - also probably would've shattered normal crystal. Attached to the bottom and around the towers was several circular levels encased in the crystalline substance which probably served as the main levels of the illustrious complex. The front of the main level was preceded by a grand set of crystal steps that was at least several yards wide. Those steps connected the main entrance to an intricately carved path of marble and various gemstones that cut through the grassy fields all the way the edge of the defensive wall.
"NeoQueen Serenity's palace, I assume," Gohan said as they touched down next to the other members of the group. Vegeta had managed to catch up with the others, and was now standing several yards away from them, deep in thought.
They noticed that Sailor Uranus had relinquished Sailor Pluto's body, and it was now on the shoulders of Sailor Neptune, who looked to be struggling a bit to hold the taller woman's corpse. Then, Gohan spotted a tall, middle-aged man dressed in a jet black uniform standing at the entrance to the ornate yet sturdy-looking defensive barrier. Two younger looking men dressed in similar garb were flanking him from both sides. The middle man seemed a bit more decorated than his comrades, a few multi-colored bars attached to his upper right chest and metal armor pieces protuding from the shoulders of his actual attire.
"Captain Benson," Saturn said as she saw the man heading out toward the group with his escorts. She was leaning a bit on her glaive as ChibiUsa dropped down next to her wordlessly, still looking equally exhausted from the day's events. She kept her eyes averted from the group, resting he face against her knees.
"Your troops?" Piccolo inquired as he stood a short distance away, eyeing the black-clad men carefully. His narrowed gaze was deep and penetrating, causing the two escorts to draw back slightly, their slightly shaking hands falling on their sword hilts.
"Yes, all of the black uniformed men you'll be seeing are members of the Crystal Tokyo Special Forces, our elite soldiers that have been helping us to combat the alien menace. But...unfortunately, they haven't experienced this type of combat before, and as a result, their numbers are..."
"I see..." Piccolo said. "It's no surprise, swords can't match up to energy techniques very easily."
"Anyhow," Uranus continued as Sailor Saturn didn't speak again. "The man in the the middle is Royce Benson, our captain of the palace guards and one of our best soldiers. He normally commands the home forces inside the palace, but with the army dwindling, he's taken over general command of the entire remaining Special Forces. I'll head out and explain what's been happening today, he'll trust my words and the seven of you in turn."
"Is he even in command of the four of you?" Tenshinhan asked as his three eyes focused on Sailor Uranus. She seemed to cringe slightly as she glanced up at the fighter's twitching third eye.
"Not exactly," Sailor Uranus replied as she turned. "Sailor Neptune, Sailor Saturn, and Sailor ChibiMoon would normally act as independents in a battle involving the Crystal Tokyo Special Forces. But as for me, I am one of the head commanders of the army during lulls such as these. But I normally leave troop commands to him during an actual battle while I join the Sailor Soldiers. I prefer fighting alongside my own family than dealing with mass army battle tactics."
Family...? Gohan wondered. Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune had seemed unusually close for fighting partners, but he couldn't help but imagine how they were related as family.
"I'll return in a moment," she said as she headed off to meet the soldiers. All of them exchanged salutes as they met. What further dialogue occurred from there, Gohan couldn't hear from where he was standing.
* * *
Sailor Uranus took more time than all of them expected to deliver whatever report she needed to the guard captain. As the seconds stretched into minutes, the group gradually began to splinter into smaller pairings, a lot of them dropping onto the grass and muttering amongst themselves. Gohan, Krillin, and Piccolo were silently observing the conversation between the guard captain and Sailor Uranus, the Namek's mind firmly fixated on progressing in their mission. His eyes had narrowed and the scowl on his face was growing larger by the minute despite a few kind words from his pupil every now and then. It was clear that he didn't want to be kept waiting for too much longer.
As Yamcha exchanged a few friendly nods with the Sailor Soldiers, all of whom were seated patiently on a small hill, he wandered over toward Tenshinhan and Chaozu, who were carefully studying the elaborate structure before them.
"Not much of a defense," Yamcha quietly noted to them as a searchlight passed over their heads. "Just a large wall to keep out enemies who could easily fly right over it? These guys don't have any idea what they're dealing with."
"Perhaps," the bald muscular fighter replied. "But I can feel some kind of power surrounding this area, a kind that's unfamiliar to me."
"Funny," Yamcha's gaze narrowed as he glanced around. "I can't feel anything."
"My senses are a bit more fine-tuned than yours, Yamcha."
The scar-faced Z Warrior snuffed at the comment. "Cute. Then how come you don't have a sense of humor like most other normal people?"
"He's right though, Yamcha," Chaozu agreed. "I began to notice it, too, right after we arrived at the gates. There's definitely some kind of aura surrounding this place, and even I can't describe it."
"If you guys are playing mind games with me, then cut it out," Yamcha grumbled. "Seriously, I don't feel anything except our own kis!"
"Calm down, friend," Tenshinhan was trying to concentrate on the unknown force, his facial muscles tensing as he continued to analyze it. "It's...a pure force, much like the Sailor Soldiers' own kis. But as to where and what exactly it is, I can't say."
"If we started sensing it when we got here, it could be coming from inside the palace," Chaozu suggested. "What do you guys think?"
"I think the two of you are just being paranoid after today's fight," Yamcha said with confidence. "I may not have as 'fine-tuned' senses as both of you, but I think I'd be able to notice something like that if I could locate the Sailor Soldiers from so far away."
"But the feeling is so faint," Chaozu debated with him. "What could it be?"
"Well, what about the others? Maybe Gohan, Krillin, or Piccolo managed to find this mystery energy that doesn't exist." Stubborn as always, Yamcha refused to give in. "Come on, you guys--"
"It's doubtless that Piccolo's already noticed it," Tenshinhan cut off the sarcastic remark. "His mental powers are even greater than ours. As for Gohan and Krillin, we'll just have to wait and see. Something this small could easily escape his notice despite their awareness."
"Let's just keep this to ourselves for now," Chaozu said as he peered around at the waiting group. Nobody seemed to notice their low-toned conversation. "We'll deal with it later when we're all together."
"Got it," Tenshinhan nodded. "Let's disperse before we draw any attention to our discovery. No sense in alarming the others yet."
"H..hey...!" Before Yamcha could interject, Chaozu and Tenshinshan sidled off in their own directions, continuing to observe the site as if nothing had happened. "What the hell...you guys are too much. Next thing I know, you'll be telling me that there're ghosts in the attic..."
* * *
He's like a statue...what's he thinking about over there?
During the rather lengthy wait, Gohan had taken some time to observe Vegeta's rigid posture and far away gaze. After not seeing so much as a flinch out of him in several minutes, Gohan contemplated asking the Saiyan prince what the problem was, but remembering the snap he'd received after inquiring about the fleeing alien soldiers, he quickly changed his mind. From what the hybrid could sense, tense energy was seething within the Saiyan prince. He'd felt such festering buildups within Vegeta before, right before his battles with Gohan's father and Frieza. Whatever had happened between him and the aliens had to have been serious for him to be acting so solemn.
Maybe the aliens managed to escape him and he won't admit it.
"What's taking so long?" Krillin muttered as he adjusted the body on his shoulders. "Did Sailor Pluto keep everybody in the dark about our arrival?"
"Seems so," Gohan replied as he spotted the guard captain shaking his head toward Sailor Uranus. "Somehow, I don't think that this is going to be easy."
"Relax, Gohan, we've got witnesses, remember?" Krillin said. "Once Uranus explains to the guard captain, we'll be set to go. By the way, what's that you have in your hands?"
Gohan showed Krillin the garnet-tipped staff that he'd kept hold of. "I picked it up from the battlefield after you guys took off. I don't think it's any ordinary staff from the power I can sense from within it. Could it have belonged to one of the aliens?"
"That's actually Sailor Pluto's time staff," Neptune answered. "I'm surprised that I didn't see you with it when you arrived. It's a source of her power, both in battle and in controlling time. Don't get too excited over retrieving though, Gohan, she's the only one who can make use of it."
"The only one...?" Gohan suddenly began wondering. "But...we were brought here by a portal that was created by her power. If she's dead..."
"No, don't tell me...are we stuck here??" Krillin finished, suddenly becoming nearly frantic.
"A portal?" Sailor Saturn said as she listened carefully, ignoring the frightened monk. "How did she create this portal? Was she there when she materialized it?"
"No, unfortunately," Tenshinhan replied as he adjusted the corpse in his arms. "She had taken off from our time to return here and assist you in battle before we could reach her. The ruby crystal that she left to our Earth guardian was what created the portal. He energized it with his holy power to cause the transformation."
"We got here in one piece, but something went wrong somewhere," Yamcha continued. "We were dumped on an out-of-the-way corner of the city, too far to reach the aliens at a good flying speed without their grunts jumping on top of us."
"I've heard of such relics of hers before," Saturn continued. "She hardly made them unless an emergency came up. But they react differently, they're not bound to Setsuna-mama's life or death. The only way that the portal that you arrived in should close is by Setsuna-mama's word alone. Even in death, the portal should still work if she hadn't yet given it the command to close."
"It would make sense," Neptune added. "Sailor Pluto might've considered her own demise into her plan, and the portal would allow you to return to your time in the event of her death."
"Good..." Gohan muttered to himself. "That's what I wanted to know..."
The plan would work then. If that portal could still be used, then all he had to do was inform the Sailor Soliders about the Dragonballs and convince his own friends that it was a task worth undertaking. If they could get Bulma's Dragon Radar, they could easily find all seven balls in no time at all.
"Gohan?" Krillin asked aloud. "What are you talking about?"
Gohan tensed up, realizing that his excitement had caused him to speak a bit too loud. And as much as Krillin would understand and agree with the plan, it would be best to take things a step at a time: if the Sailor Soldiers were indeed as exhausted physically and emotionally from the day's events as they seemed, then now wouldn't be the best time for planning the next move.
"Err..." he kept his voice low so as not to draw any attention. "I'll explain later, Krillin, promise."
As utterly lost as the monk appeared, he nodded anyhow, trusting his friend's judgement.
"Either way, it's good that you recovered it instead of leaving it with the dead. I'll hold onto it for now," Sailor Saturn offered. Gohan readily passed the iron staff to her, and as she reached for it, her hand connected with his in the process. He looked up at her, and he saw the same look of sadness in her eyes that he'd noticed before at the battle site; she seemed to be holding back a few tears as she clutched the staff tightly. "Thank you for retrieving it, Gohan."
"Yeah...no problem," he offered a small smile that gave no consolation to Sailor Saturn as she quickly turned away, blinking rapidly to dissipate any tears.
Sailor Pluto meant a lot to her. Gohan mused, frowning at the distraught girl as she moved away. He glanced back at Piccolo, who was watching silently and with no apparent emotional reaction to Sailor Saturn.
"Empathy can be strong, Gohan," he mumbled down to the boy. "If you know what I mean."
Gohan stared after the preoccupied Saturn, seeing a small piece of himself within the girl after Nappa had killed Piccolo all that time ago.
"I wonder if she's planning to make a book out of this day alone with the way she's carrying on," Krillin asked with an annoyed tone as he glanced after Sailor Uranus, who was still in serious conversation with the trio of soldiers. "I mean, come on, how much longer is this going to take?"
"Give them some patience, Krillin, this can't be easy for any of them," Tenshinhan replied. "Those troops look a bit more than surprised to see four of their warriors dead and seven unknowns taking their places, after all."
"Five, actually, Tenshinhan," Sailor Neptune corrected him.
"Five...?" Krillin recounted the corpses. "But we only picked up four, did we miss one of them?"
"No," ChibiMoon, who'd been a motionless shadow on the grass for the last several minutes, croaked in reply, uncurling her knees and lifting her face up. She cleared her throat, taking a few seconds to regain herself. "Sailor Mars was the last one, and she blew herself up trying to kill that barbarian Tridyx."
"I see..." Gohan dropped the subject entirely after hearing the words and seeing the princess's face. There was no point in bringing up the death aspect more than necessary. He casually strolled over to her and dropped down beside her, admiring the looming structure beyond the wall. "This is an incredible palace...I never imagined that it would be anything like this!"
ChibiMoon forced a small laugh, her sadness somewhat abating momentarily. "You get used to it after living in it for so long, though the exciting parts of it never get old. Once we get inside, I'll be more than happy to show you around if you'd like."
Gohan smiled and nodded gratefully. "Thanks! I'd love to learn about this place. Let me guess, you guys must live in that big tower in the middle, right?"
ChibiMoon nodded. "That's the royalty's tower. All of our own rooms are in that area, and the smaller towers are reserved for the palace officials and their work. The guest suites are in the western tower, too, though they've probably stocked them with whatever survivors aren't out on this field. I'll gladly show you around the rest of the palace later on."
"I can't wait!" he smiled back at her, glad to have raised her spirits at least. One thing that struck him by surprise was a tiny brush against his hand. Glancing down, he saw ChibiMoon's white-gloved hand slightly on top of his fingertips, inching their way a bit further on. But when he looked up at the princess again, he noticed that she had turned her head away from him, a peaceful smile spreading across her face as she stared out into the distance.
The moment was broken as Piccolo's brash voice called the Saiyan hybrid over to him. He threw ChibiMoon a last quick smile before leaping up and dashing over to his mentor.
Dad was right about one thing. he thought as he glanced back at the smiling ChibiMoon. Girls are very strange.
* * *
"She offered to show you around?" Piccolo asked with a widened eye and an amused tone.
"Yeah, after things were settled down here," Gohan replied. "Is something wrong, Mister Piccolo?"
Piccolo shook his head quickly and moved on.
"It's not a bad idea, especially since it'll probably be our base of operations for a while," Piccolo remarked as he motioned for Gohan to follow him. They walked over to the seated Sailor Neptune. "Tell me, how much of the ground here has the enemy taken?"
"You're standing on the only ground they haven't managed to capture or totally destroy yet," Neptune replied as she stood up, lifting Sailor Pluto's body onto her shoulders. "Their whole campaign so far has been one gigantic rampage. Killing and destruction have been their only goals so far, and it has taken its toll: we're down to only several hundred of our soldiers at this point, and with five of the Sailor Soldiers gone..."
"Relax, Sailor Neptune," Tenshinhan spoke up from where he was holding the brunette's body. "We've got more than enough power within our group to put up a resistance. We just have to tell the queen that we're here, and then we can get some plans together."
"That could be a bit more difficult than you think," Neptune anxiously said. "You see...barely a day before this horrific battle, the enemy launched a surprise raid on our palace from all sides. They caught us completely off-guard, and much of our remaining fighting forces were killed or wounded in the process."
"Don't tell us that they...?" Chaozu said with an alarmed voice.
"They didn't kill her, but..." Neptune mournfully replied, anger suddenly increasing in her voice. "They took her hostage and ran away, the cowards! We had no way to track her, and Uranus, Saturn, and myself were busy searching for her in the outskirts of the city when the three alien commanders made their attack on the palace."
That wasn't good news. With Sailor Pluto dead, Gohan had been hoping that testimony from Serenity herself would calm suspicious intentions from Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune and provide a symbol of unity between their group and the Crystal Tokyo Special Forces. With her out of the picture, it would be an arduous task earning the trust of Sailor Uranus especially. If the mistrust were to continue beyond this point, Gohan wasn't even sure if they'd agree to letting them go back and retrieve the Dragonballs from their time era.
"This surprise raid..." Piccolo seemed more thoughful than inquisitive. "Were your deceased comrades involved in the defenses?"
"Of course, all of us were," Neptune answered. "If it weren't for our efforts, I don't think our Special Forces soldiers could've withstood the onslaught. It was probably their own sense of sadistic timing that they followed up the kidnapping with three of their best commanders launching their own attack..."
"I see..."
"Is something wrong, Piccolo?" she asked.
"No...no, nothing's wrong." He quickly answered.
"Since the queen has a pure ki similar to others of your group," Tenshinhan thoerized. "Then I don't think she's anywhere in the areas we've been through. Your kis were really distinguishable from the rest of the enemy soldiers, we would've been able to pick her up in our senses if she was close by."
"Kis?" Neptune asked curiously. "What do you mean 'kis?'"
"It's what allowed us to track you here in the first place," Yamcha spoke up. "Every warrior, no matter how small or weak, emits a certain amount of fighting energy, called ki in our era. The kis of you and your friends are unique because they're not simply aggressive charging and bursts of energy - your powers may enhance your ki to give it a special purity."
"And your senses can detect this ki?" Saturn asked.
"We're a bit of an exception," Krillin continued. "We've trained long enough in the right techniques to sense an opponent's true ki as well as being able to hide our own--"
"Not any average grunt can do that though," Vegeta offered, cutting Krillin off harshly. "The colored machines that they wear on their faces? They're called scouters, and they can detect even the smallest amounts of ki if necessary. If you don't know how to hide your ki completely, you'll be spotted no matter how well you physically conceal yourself."
"So that's how they managed to find the queen even in the hiding spot we picked for her..." Saturn muttered to herself.
"And how do you know so much about the aliens' technology, Saiyan?" Neptune snapped at Vegeta, causing the rest of the group a bit of a surprise - they didn't expect Vegeta to reveal his origin to the Sailor Soldiers.
Vegeta laughed as he dropped down onto the grass. "This technology is nothing new to this time period, princess. In fact, this kind of machinery was in use even back during our own era. Congratulations - you're being beaten by outdated, twenty-century old technology."
Neptune didn't offer anything more than a seething glare at the Saiyan; she didn't seem willing to get into an argument at this point. The Saiyan reference did confirm a few things with Gohan however.
So they do have resentment toward Saiyans... he mused as he watched Neptune glare back at Vegeta. But why...
He added the question to his already-long list that he had for the Sailor Soldiers after things had settled down. But further talk would have to wait: Sailor Uranus was coming over with the uniformed man.
"Z Warriors, I'd like to introduce you to the captain of the guards in our palace, Royce Benson," she motioned to the middle-aged man next to her. Captain Benson's face looked solemn as he inspected the new arrivals, but Gohan could sense a feeling of valor within him: he'd probably seen more battles than even Piccolo and Tenshinhan in his lifetime.
"This is quite an interesting bunch that Sailor Pluto has set us up with..." he said at last. "Gentlemen, first of all, allow me to express my gratitude for assisting our surviving princesses in the preceding conflict and for helping to drive out the alien commanders. Secondly, may I have your names?"
Introductions followed, at least for six of them anyhow. Vegeta was too busy staring off into the distance horizon and not paying attention to the guard captain at all, so Piccolo had been compelled to provide the information about him, though he wisely didn't mention the fact that he was a Saiyan, let alone a Saiyan prince.
"A pleasure, gentlemen," Benson replied cordially, almost like a diplomat. "Now, Sailor Uranus has explained everything that happened out here tonight, including what you have told her personally about yourselves."
"Oh, boy, I wonder what fantastic lies she's conjured up about us..." Gohan heard Vegeta mutter under his breath.
Whether Benson overheard the Saiyan's snide remarks or not, Sailor Uranus certainly did as she shot a venomous glare in Vegeta's direction. Gohan saw Neptune quickly shaking her head toward her partner to calm her suddenly aggravated nerves.
"I'll be holding a briefing session with the remainder of my soldiers to inform them of the latest developments as soon as we've laid the deceased to rest, so there's no need to worry about fearing resentment from the army," Benson continued. "Much of their morale has been depleted with the latest raids and the capture of the queen, so they more than likely won't have much will to reject or debate any newcoming allies."
"That's a relief," Yamcha commented as Benson continued.
"But before we move into the palace grounds, we have one other matter to deal with," the captain said. With one brisk turn, he whistled over to two other soldiers who were standing quietly near the gate. Both of them rushed over at their leader's command, and Gohan noticed several large burlap sacks in their hands. "And while this method is crude, it will be adequate to keep their deaths from being revealed."
"You're going to cover it all up?" Yamcha asked as the soldiers dropped the sacks to the ground and motioned wordlessly for the bodies to be laid down. "What would be the point behind that? If they're princesses around here, don't you think it'll be a matter of time before someone finds out that they've been killed?"
"You don't seem to understand," Benson answered. "Against any invading force, the Sailor Soldiers were our salvation. When they went out to battle the alien commanders that you defeated, the people and soldiers within the castle walls had all the faith in the world that they would return alive and victorious."
"Can you imagine what would happen if the Crystal Tokyo survivors spotted the Sailor Soldiers not only dead, but being carried into the palace by a bunch of strange warriors?" Sailor Uranus finished. "Anarchy and chaos would erupt in that meadow, and whatever sense of order on these grounds that exists now would be gone in a heartbeat. Until we can think of a better plan, we've got to keep their deaths a secret."
"I see your point..." Yamcha lowered the blonde's corpse so that the two soldiers could carefully pick her up.
Tenshinhan, Krillin, and Sailor Neptune followed suit, helping the soldiers pack the corpses into the coarse burlap bags. Food labels were sewn into the material, giving the soldiers the perfect guise to conceal the bodies.
"As long as we don't run into any starving children in there, I think we'll be okay," Krillin said half-heartedly as two more soldiers dashed out from the gate entrance to assist their fellow comrades in hefting the bulky bags inside.
"If you'll follow me, we'll get indoors, and we can arrange some accomodating living quarters for all of you in the meantime."
The captain motioned with his black-gloved hand for all of them to follow through the gate. As they passed through on a stone path, they hit a swamp of bustling activity taking place on the fields past the ring. Many soldiers dressed similarly to Captain Benson were passing by, talking with various groups of ragged Crystal Tokyo refugees and keeping them calm. Hastily erected shelters covered the grounds around the palace, ranging from burlap tents to makeshift shacks constructed out of gathered debris. Gohan spotted a few huge bonfires across the fields where several dozen or so citizens were gathered, trying to keep warm against the cold night as they discussed the current happenings around the war-ravaged city. The remainder of the survivors were either attempting to root some information out of the passing soldiers or huddled together in their shelters, the fear of being blasted to ashes by their savage attackers too great to bear despite being within protected grounds. Most of the citizens that Gohan saw were worn, their clothes tattered and their faces dirty, in some cases scarred or bleeding.
"They must've hit this place quick and hard..." Tenshinhan noted as their contingent passed through the area. "I don't think any of these people got here without running into some troubles."
Gohan concurred - many people were attempting to convince the soldiers to help their wounded. The medics were rushing around feverishly, their first aid supplies running much too short to deal with the heavy amount of injuries civilians. Some of the troopers seemed on the verge of exhaustion, collapsing on the grass just to grab a sip of water out of their bottles.
"Most of them don't even look past their twenties," Krillin remarked.
"A lot of reserves had to be called up after the initial onslaught," Neptune explained to them. Saturn was close behind her, looking extremely shy against the exposure of the civilians scattered around the meadow. She stuck close to Neptune, glancing around nervously. "They've grown up much more quickly than they expected, and no end seems in sight for them..."
"I can see what you mean about them not offering much resistance to our presence," Piccolo said to the guard captain. "Are all of your forces located here?"
"No, there are still some field scouting units and raiding parties out in the city attempting to delay the enemy's activities," Benson responded as he called one of the nearby medics over to him. "But much of our younger soldiers have been stationed here to assist with the civilians and to become better trained before being sent into combat."
The soldier saluted the captain as he arrived.
"Status?" Benson asked.
"We've packed most of the palace living areas with as many civilians as possible," the boyish voice of the medic responded. "The watch has been doubled on the south side of the wall after enemy raiders tried to snipe at us from the area with energy discharges, and our scavenging units managed to make it within the gates with a healthy shipment of medical supplies, two men lost in the process."
"What is the health of the king?"
"He has not regained consciousness, but his condition has not worsened either," the medic replied as Gohan felt ChibiMoon cringe next to him. Fortunately, that situation could be remedied without much difficulty - they still had plenty of senzus left, and the recovery of their king would certainly at least boost morale for the disheveled people.
"I see," Benson continued. "Which living quarters are still available?"
"Only the suites in the royalty areas," the medic answered as he took a sip from a water canteen. "Shall I assign civilians to those sections as well, sir?"
"No, that won't be necessary," Benson replied as he glanced back at the Z Warriors. "We have some new guests that will be joining us for a time, and I want the rooms prepared for them."
"Excuse me, sir?" The medic looked back and finally seemed to notice the new faces of the Z Warriors for the first time, intrigued by their unusual appearances. "I've never seen these types before, sir, did they come from the Outer Sanctum?"
"From outside the region actually," Benson lied. "But that is unimportant right now. Report to the officers inside and tell them to make the suites ready for these gentlemen."
"Sailor Uranus?" the soldier noticed the tan-haired woman languishing behind the Z Warriors along with her counterparts, and a look of confusion and surprise came across his face. "But where are the others? Has the alien assault been staved off?"
The soldier's inquisitive nature could've blown the smokescreen easily, but thankfully, the captain immediately dissuaded any further questions.
"Never mind about them for now, soldier, they've got things under control out there," Benson quickly stifled the young medic. He quickly glanced around to his left and right - nobody else had noticed the group with all of the chaos occurring in the courtyard. "Make certain that the guards at the north gate let no one outside the ring, and deliver the order to have the suites prepared for these seven guests. That will be all."
The medic seemed suspicious at the captain's explanation, but saluted without further hesitation. "Yes, sir, right away..."
"Close call..." said Yamcha and the black-suited soldier hurried off. "But if that guy suspected as much, how long will it be before anyone else does?"
"He's a curious type, I remember him," Benson sighed anxiously. "And that possibility does seem dangerously likely if no sign of the Inner Soldiers are found on the battle site. But come, before anyone else delays us."
* * *
The rest of the trek was quick and swift to avoid attracting onlookers. The gem-encrusted road led the group into a wall of sentries who were patrolling outside the elegantly-carved gates of the palace itself. The captain's presence assured a quick pass through the sword-wielding soldiers, and Benson led the Sailor Soldiers and Z Warriors through the jeweled gates, stopping at the foot of a set of wide crystalline steps.
"Welcome to Crystal Tokyo Palace, gentlemen," he said. "It may seem imposing at first, but give it some time and you'll know the hallways like the back of your hand. But as much as I would like to escort you the rest of the way, I have some affairs of state to take care of. I'll allow the Sailor Soldiers to direct you to the royalty suites. Until we meet again, gentlemen, I bid you all farewell."
As the middle-aged guard captain spun around and headed off in the opposite direction, Sailor Uranus nearly dashed off after him out of instinct. He wasn't getting away so easily without giving her some answers as to his sudden hospitality to the foreigners.
"Michiru, could you show them inside?" She whispered quickly to her beloved as the outsiders glanced around in amazement at the ornate decorations and banners adorning the main entrance. "I have to have a word with the captain."
"Try not to be too long," Neptune murmured back to her. "We have to lay the others to rest first, and we can't dishonor them by getting so caught up with these fighters."
"I'll be brief, don't worry." Kissing her on the cheek once, she darted off after the captain, catching up with him a short distance away, in front of the trainee barracks. She had a lot to say to him, especially since the report at the gates of the defense wall hadn't exactly gone in her favor despite her persistance.
I tried, tried to tell him about their suspicious nature, and he batted it away as if it were nothing...
"I figured I'd be hearing from you again shortly after my departure," he said as she approached him from behind. "And I have little patience left for paranoia, Sailor Uranus."
"Not that you can officially shut my mouth, even with the elevated status of general commander," Uranus snapped back at him. "I just can't believe you chose to ignore everything I told you about them. Do you honestly think you have any idea what we're dealing with? I saw their power, Captain Benson, and letting those beings within our walls is an invitation to death!"
"That's enough," Benson cut Uranus off as he turned around to face her. "I heard every word of your conspiracy theory when you informed me of the situation, and while your fears are not unfounded, I have been far more prepared for the coming of these warriors than you."
That comment left Sailor Uranus speechless for the moment, and Benson was quick to follow it up.
"Yes, the queen briefed me on the plan to bring those fighters forward in time," the captain admitted to her. "I personally hand-picked Lieutenant Seth Victor and Sergeant Trevor Fields of Gamma Battalion to send back the temporal probe that eventually delivered news of our crisis to the Z Warriors."
"You knew..." Sailor Uranus was fuming inside, her anger now being more directed toward Serenity herself - how could she trust the guard captain with this sensitive plan but not one of her most loyal soldiers, one of her closest friends? "...And you went along with this plan, knowing full well the disaster it could bring?"
The captain was hesitant to answer at first, massaging his forehead with one hand and looking worn down to his wit's end.
"Haruka...what do you hear right now from behind those doors?" He motioned to the small rectangular building before him, its windows shrouded from the inside by beige-colored shades. "Nothing. It's because every soldier from the Gamma Battalion is dead. Every last one, including the two soldiers who were sent to program the probe. The only reason I'm coming to this building to to order the removal of the bodybags we've had to stack up in there!"
He calmed himself a bit, clearing his throat.
"The morgues within the palace are nearly filled to the brim, and we've been forced to convert the empty barracks into corpse storehouses...in this case, for the trainees of Gamma Battalion, all of which died in the palace ambush."
Sailor Uranus felt her stomach knotting in sick depression at the realization - her own activities with the Sailor Soldiers had kept her away from the casualty lists for some time. Five thousand soldiers had comprised all of Gamma Battalion, and to know that even the youngest of cadets had gone down fighting on the front lines, far from living a full and enriching life, was a disparaging thought.
Damn alien bastards...
"Sailor Uranus, I can admire your pride as a warrior. Heaven knows I possess a great deal of that throughout all of my experiences. But we've got nothing left. Have you not seen the chaos out in the meadows and within the crumbling city? Didn't you witness the Inner Soldiers dying in a flash at the hands of the alien menace? We've been defeated, and by all rights of nature, the human race should be passing away by now. These beings...they could be our last chance out of oblivion."
"You would trust our future to strangers from a different world than ours, captain?" she argued. "As desparate as times are, how can you or even Serenity imagine that merely seven creatures of power are our only salvation against an endless army of killers? Has the faith of you and the army wavered in us that much as to replace us with outsiders?"
"Replace?" Benson said with a degree of disgust, revolted that Sailor Uranus even suggested the idea. "No...as much as it seems that way, you and your compatriots always have been and always will be our leaders and our greatest champions. But as a soldier and loyalist to NeoQueen Serenity, I must follow the best interests of our kingdom and the orders of my lady. Serenity has faith in the goodness of these individuals to aid us in this conflict, and her intuition with the Silver Crystal is difficult to surpass. Why can't you place some trust within these fighters, especially after they saved your lives out there?"
Sailor Uranus breathed deeply in contemplation, her mind racing in several different directions. Her cautious side had not allowed a smidge of trust for the new arrivals since they had killed Tridyx and driven away his allies. Many different reasons had been presented in her mind as to which side of the fence the Z Warriors stood on.
But one thing still remained clear to her, ending her internal disputes.
"Any alliance with Saiyan blood," she replied firmly. "Is an alliance of disaster. Remember that when our deaths are delivered to us by their hands because of your naive planning."
"If they deliver us all to death quickly," Benson said. "Then it will be much more preferable than slowly rotting away from this alien plague. Your comrades would've agreed---"
"We'll see about that," she snapped. "The only task left to us in regards to the Inners and Sailor Pluto is to lay them to rest. In the meantime, I'll act together with these foreigners. But I'm only following the queen's orders and accepting their presence into our midst. Don't expect me to roll out the red carpet like you just did for them."
The captain ignored the jab and replied.
"The preparations for burial will begin at once. The highest remaining officers of the army shall be informed of the current situation and of the new arrivals. After we lay the princesses to rest, we shall decide what to do about the health of the king and of counterattacking the enemy. I suggest that all of you rest after the day's events."
Sailor Uranus nodded in approval, the word 'rest' suddenly reminding her how exhausted she was mentally and physically.
"And Haruka," Benson said one more time before the Outer Soldier departed. "The boy Saiyan may have been a dreadful twist for you, but the research prior to sending the probe back revealed a lot of positive feedback for the last remaining member of his race. Perhaps your judgment of the Saiyans isn't totally correct."
"But it's not just the boy, it's---" she stopped herself, a sudden revelation clicking in her head. She stood frozen, wide-eyed for a moment as she remembered back to how Vegeta interacted with his associates, always ostricizing himself from the group, always putting up the emotional wall to protect his intentions from those around him, acting so much like an uninvited guest.
And the captain doesn't regard him along with Son Gohan as a Saiyan, and something like that is impossible to miss if the research was so thorough...
"Is something wrong, Sailor Uranus?" Benson asked with an arched eyebrow. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Err...nothing, the fatigue is just getting to me," she lied hastily. "I'm going to find the others for now."
"Very well, Sailor Uranus," Benson nodded and turned back toward the empty soldier barracks. "Carry on with what you need to do. We'll discuss the matter further once the soldiers have been briefed."
Sailor Uranus saluted the captain and began a spirited walk back toward the palace entrance, her mind buzzing with this new detail.
"The only person who acts like the uninvited guest..." she mused to herself. "IS the uninvited guest. It could explain why Setsuna didn't mention his presence among the group either...perhaps these Z Warriors aren't just his subordaintes after all..."
One other thought subsequently followed. If the Saiyan prince was in her era even against the wishes of his own partners, then he had to have a completely different agenda than the others, and that made Vegeta even more dangerous to her and her people.
She had to get into contact with one of the other Z Warriors, someone who could tell her more about the Saiyan and what his motives could've been. The boy Saiyan and the smaller fighters hadn't seemed to be much on Vegeta's level, nor had the three-eyed man or the lanky hotshot with the roving eyes outside the defense wall.
"Piccolo..." she considered the green warrior for a moment, he being the only other one that she had direct contact with besides Son Gohan. He had been calm, precise, focused on things back out on the street, much like Vegeta except for the arrogance. "Perhaps great minds think alike?"
She kept it in the back of her head for the moment. After things were settled, she'd approach Piccolo for a small chat...
* * *
Gohan had been amazed at the exterior of the palace. Close up, he'd beheld marvelously colored banners lining the semi-transparent marble-type construction material, each of them portraying brilliant patterns, symbols, and figures of Crystal Tokyo. Vibrant blue fire crackling within steel brazers cast a soft glow on the images, adding even more life to them.
But as spectacular as the area outside the gates had been, the main hall inside had been ten times more incredible. Gohan found himself standing in a grand chamber stretching at least twenty-five yards long and twice that distance high. Great pillars of crystal and gems towered over the group, some of them damaged and cracked from energy blasts. The nearly crystal-clear floor was damaged in similar fashion, small corpse-shaped craters dotting the chamber along with multiple smears of dried blood.
Must've been from that ambush that Sailor Neptune was talking about...
Even in its disarray, the cathedral-like main hall still possessed its beauty. Several other torch-like brazers were scattered against the crystal walls and the pillars, lighting up the hall as well as an afternoon sun could. Echoing softly through the chamber were no more than a dozen low voices belonging to a Crystal Tokyo civilian team of engineers who were busily surveying the damage done to the area and attempting whatever repairs they could. They were so enraptured in their work that the presence of even the Sailor Soldiers went unnoticed to them.
"It's amazing what they can accomplish if you give them free reign," Sailor Neptune remarked with a pleased look. "This place was about ten times worse less than a day ago."
"The attack force must've been quite sizeable," Piccolo commented as he examined the bloodstains on the floor. "How many enemies?"
"It was too hard to tell exact numbers," ChibiMoon answered him. "Nor did we actually have any time to count - we were too busy trying to stay alive."
"This area wasn't the only place that they struck," Saturn added. "They hit the rear courtyard and the royalty towers as well, swarming in from every entrance. At times, it seemed like there was no end to them, and it still surprises me that they didn't lay waste to this palace when they had the chance. With their power and numbers, they could've done so effortlessly..."
"Sadicism, I'd say," Tenshinhan suggested, folding his arms. "That's the only logical reason I can think of."
"I wouldn't put it past these monsters..." Saturn spoke in a far-away voice, rubbing her eyes slowly. She looked positively exhausted despite the healing effects of the senzu bean. Gohan glanced at her drained face, and he realized that senzus didn't heal mental or emotional injuries, and the young princess seemed to be harboring many of those.
Whatever was wrong, Sailor Neptune and Sailor ChibiMoon seemed to notice it as well.
"Hotaru..." she rested a hand on Saturn's arm, turning to the others. "You've seen enough for one day...you'd better relax for a little while."
"You too, Sailor Neptune," the small princess added with concern. "You look like you're ready to pass out..."
"You guys can go ahead if you want to," Krillin said as he noticed the tired Saturn. "We can find our way around here by ourselves for a little while."
"I don't think that would be such a good idea considering what Uranus and Captain Benson were telling us about outside," Piccolo said. "We're still strangers to this land, and complications could arise if we show ourselves to the civilians in the palace."
"Yeah, Krillin, weren't you listening?" Gohan laughed at him, punching him in the arm.
"Well...it's not that I wasn't listening...err...I..."
"I think your mind was on Sailor Neptune, Krillin, am I right?" Chaozu snickered toward him lowly. "Along with Yamcha's. I saw the two of you staring back outside."
"HEY!!!" he burst out, covering his mouth in embarassment.
"I'm here, I'm here, what's going on!" Yamcha - who'd been quiet for the last five minutes, suddenly snapped to attention, his eyes wide open.
All eyes suddenly turned to the two Kamesennin students, who were speechless and looking bright red in the face. Chaozu and Gohan chuckled under their breath as Tenshinhan hid his face in his hand.
"Enough games, already," Piccolo grumbled. "Sailor Neptune, the guard captain was saying something about the king being in poor health?"
"It's true, he was injured during the ambush, and he hasn't regain consciousness since that fight concluded," she nodded.
"He hasn't?" The Namek looked concerned. "Take me and Gohan to him, Sailor Neptune, and we'll give him a senzu seed. If he's back in good health, at least it can help restore a bit of confidence and order around here."
"Okay, our quarters are past the medical wing anyhow," Neptune agreed, though a degree of reluctance was showing in her voice. "ChibiMoon, could you take the rest of the warriors to the royalty suites? We'll meet up with the rest of you later."
"Sure!" she was more than happy to oblige. "Come on, guys, follow me!"
The small girl motioned for the group to follow her off to the west.
"Here're the senzus, Gohan, try not to lose them!" Krillin dropped the bag into the Saiyan hybrid's hand. He got closer to Gohan's ear, murmuring softly. "And by the way, I wasn't looking that way at Sailor Neptune. Of course, you knew that didn't you, Gohan? You know how highly I respect the opposite se--"
"Did you say something, Krillin?" Neptune's voice surprised the monk, and he turned see the Sailor Soldier standing only a few feet away, a wry smile on her face.
"I, err, mean, I only was talking about," he stammered nervously, suddenly turning to catch up with the others who were already following the princess off to the west. "I mean, I'm going now, bye!!"
Sailor Neptune chuckled to herself, leaving Gohan to wonder if she actually had heard the muffled commentary from Chaozu earlier. She glanced over at Gohan, who was trying his hardest not to laugh at Krillin's embarassment.
"Wait a second..." she threw her gaze back over to the departing Z Warriors, noticing only four of them. "What happened to your Saiyan comrade?"
Looking around the vast hallway, Gohan was surprised that he hadn't notice the Saiyan prince slipping out of their sight. There was no sign of him anywhere in the chamber.
"I wouldn't worry too much, Sailor Neptune," Piccolo said calmly. "He's bold and stubborn, but he's not foolish enough to attack an entire army on his own or do something that would bring the six of us against him. He'll be lurking around here somewhere, I guarantee it."
"Attacking the enemy is not what I'm worried about..." she replied. "His guise is nearly identical to the aliens' armor, and if one of our troops comes across him and attempts to attack him..."
"Michiru-mama," Sailor Saturn tugged at the arm of Sailor Neptune. "Let's go and heal the king for now. Worry about Vegeta when he gives us real reason to worry."
"You're right," Gohan agreed with her. "Lead the way, you guys."
* * *
Stupid fools...I could've announced my exodus, and they wouldn't have cared. They were too busy gawking at the dazzling architecture...
Vegeta snuffed in disgust. The group was hardly there to gaze at artistic construction, nor were they there to perform charity for the people of the disheveled kingdom. Well, maybe the first six were, but he had his own plan. From his perch on the domed roof covering the main floors of the palace, he glanced around at his surroundings. Despite its fanciful design, the palace was formidable and tenacious - many structures would give immediately with the impact of even weak ki attacks while the crystalline walls had suffered generous but salvageable damage.
But its position leaves much to be desired - up on a large hill with barely any defense mechanisms against hordes of aerial soldiers. How comforting...
Even still, it would suffice as a place of protection and for planning a strategy against the alien armies. From the mess that they had created on Earth, it was safer to eliminate them now with his own hands than to risk compromising a piece of whatever future empire he was destined to rule over.
I wonder where I am now... Vegeta marvelled in the thought, leaning back on the roof and staring out into the starry night sky. He had no doubt that an immortal, wizened version of himself was ruling over a vast area of the galaxy elsewhere if history followed its normal course. That his future empire didn't have a grip on a pathetic hovel like Earth in the future era didn't bother him too much - too many bad memories still lingered from his experiences on the humans' planet to even consider snaring it into his grasp. Obviously, his future self had come to the same conclusion.
But to achieve that strategic goal would take quite some effort despite the forces he was allied with. The enemy opposition was larger than he had anticipated, and with warriors possessing the power and cunning of the female commander and her insect lieutenant, obtaining his objective could take some considerable work. The foul-up with the two retreating aliens already proved that much.
"Damned wastes of life..." he grumbled, remembering the embarassment back in the city. He'd had those two cowards dead to rights, and those blasted idiots had stolen the two kills away from him.
After a few initial surprise ki shots had scraped Vegeta, pure rage had taken over. How dare those fools, those common trash heaps of warriors scar him? Reciprocation had been quick and painful...not one of his attackers had been left alive and in one piece. That was an experience that Vegeta never grew tired of. No matter how weak or powerful one's opponent could be, hearing the cracking and shattering of their bone and sinew was always a satisfying taste of one's triumph.
Still, the fact that he was even hit by their low-power ki beams incited his temper, and Vegeta had finally been able to decipher why he hadn't been able to sense the approach of the grunts in time to prepare himself.
"Too much active ki in the atmosphere, just like with locating those Sailor Soldiers," he reminded himself. The fighting on the planet had to be intense and all-encompassing if that much ki had been present in the air. In that case, he had to watch his step - a sensory foul-up could leave him in the sights of a powerful foe with his guard down...
He grinned and laughed the notion off. Who was he kidding? None of the dogs that the alien leaders had unleashed onto Earth could damage him with such low fighting power; it just made things a bit more interesting - the idea of fighting with only his own natural senses rather than his mentally attuned ones would make the game a tad more difficult to win. Only a tad however - he would still emerge as the winner when the smoke cleared.
He turned his view out into the ruined city, the sounds of ki discharges and collapsing rubble echoing softly in the late night air. Fighting was still going on even this far into the night, and Vegeta was curious as to how many Crystal Tokyo soldiers and civilians were out there among the wolves...and as to how many had already been mauled.
Frieza would've loved this type of carnage, a slow and painful death for his victims...
But it wasn't him who was responsible for this chaos - Frieza was long dead, killed by Kakarotto's low-class hands...and nobody within his hierarchy of manipulative servants could hold an empire together for so long. Zarbon, Ginyu, and Dodoria were his most loyal, and all of them were in death with Frieza...unless...
He shook off the sudden thought, his musings interrupted by a sudden eye-catch on the ground - Sailor Uranus was stalking past him, muttering to herself about something.
"The fearless leader," he smirked softly, his tone mocking her. "Hotheaded little thing, aren't you? It's a shame that the ridiculous outfit doesn't go with her aggressiveness, or perhaps she could be somewhat intimidating."
He laughed aloud at that thought, drawing attention from the skulking princess. As her gaze darted skyward, he floated down onto the ground from his perch.
"What are you doing out here? You were supposed to follow the others inside!" she barked at him. "Do you want our troops to mistake you for an enemy soldier?!"
"Glad to see you too, scout," he greeted her with an exaggerated bow and a twisted grin.
"What did you call me??" her eyes widened in revulsion, and Vegeta could tell that her hatred for him was increasing by the second. Her posture became nearly defensive, as if she expected him to attack.
As if I would waste my time and energy...besides, it's much more fun to toy with her.
"Come on, Sailor Uranus, look at yourself!" He stood upright, folding his arms and almost scolding her with his voice. "If I didn't know any better and you didn't have the sword, I'd take you and the rest of your companions as girl scouts, little schoolchildren."
She seemed to calm herself despite his arrogance. She stepped closer to him, her face inches away from his.
"Listen, vermin," she glowered. "I don't want any trouble right now. And despite your group's generous 'acts of service,' don't expect me to treat any of you - especially you - like a hero. You've still got a lot to prove to us, Vegeta."
"That's putting it mildly," Vegeta agreed. "I suppose you're wondering about my motives then, why an anti-hero such as myself is here against people I could call my brethren in combat."
"I suppose you wouldn't mind telling me?" she played along, acting a bit calmer than he expected.
"I would, but where's the fun in that?" he scoffed. "Besides, for you to understand the vision that I foresee with 'our' victory against these trash piles..."
He pumped some ki energy into his fist, causing it to shine a brilliant white. It wouldn't have been enough to kill Sailor Uranus completely if he attacked with an energized swing, but it would definitely shatter some bones.
"...You'd have to witness it first-hand. Would you like me to educate you?"
"Someday, perhaps, when this is over," she fired back, not backing down at all. "But for now, you'd better move indoors before one of our soldiers tries to stab you in the back."
"Not a bad idea," Vegeta shrugged as the energy dissipated. "I could use some relaxation at your palace's expense anyhow. Could the girl scout please direct me to my quarters?"
Her composure nearly broke with that comment, and Vegeta suddenly found the perfect way to incite Sailor Uranus no matter what circumstance.
"This way, 'your highness,'" she jabbed back, turning to walk off toward the palace. Vegeta chuckled once more and followed close behind her. He did have to give her credit for one thing as that little episode ended - when she'd turned away from him to escort him to the guest rooms, she'd kept her head cocked to the side, one eye on his every movement.
Weak and ridiculous-looking... he admired. But not stupid.
* * *
The king was a mess, all right.
Gohan peered over at the comatose figure lying on the bed on the far end of the room, his limbs bandaged and a large respirator covering nearly his entire face. The rise and fall of his chest was slow and erratic, and a good number of wires ran from stacks of machinery and hooked directly into the king's battered upper body. Half a dozen white-coated medics were quietly discussing things around the king's bed, and several more were monitoring his progress and vital signs, cataloguing them onto notepads and clipboards.
I can see why Neptune asked ChibiUsa out of all of them to escort the others to the suites... Gohan had seen his own father with injuries as bad as the king's before, and it had been more than painful to see his body as mangled as severely as it had been.
"Sailor Neptune?" One of the several doctors hovering around the sparse medical room hurried over to greet the new arrivals. He took exception to the two outsiders, lifting up his black-rimmed glasses to gaze closely at them. "Who in the world are these people? Have all of you been screened before coming in here?"
"There's no time for that, doctor," Sailor Neptune stifled the questioning medic. "What is the condition of King Endymion?"
The medic thankfully chose to reply to the Sailor Soldier instead of inquiring further about the outsiders.
"His condition has worsened within the past few hours, and we've been unable to take him off of respiration. If we don't receive any more medical supplies from the city within a few more hours, thing make take some horrible turns..."
"Respiration?" Piccolo repeated grimly, walking over and taking a look at the sleeping patient. The doctors and technicians surrounding the bed immediately dispersed, the imposing image of the Namek more than a few could handle. A few of them opened their mouths to protest, but a quick hand signal from Sailor Neptune was enough to silence them before too many words came out. Piccolo glanced back at the first doctor. "There's no way to remove the breathing mask or bring him back to consciousness?"
"Heavens, no!" he shouted. "His respiratory systems have been deteriorating since he was brought in here. Taking away the unit right now could kill him!"
"No way of swallowing a senzu seed in that state..." Piccolo shook his head, a tad crestfallen. "Sorry, Sailor Neptune, for getting your hopes up, but unless he's conscious enough to swallow one of the seeds, we can't help him."
"Wait," Sailor Saturn chimed in shyly. "I think I may be able to help."
"You have a way of getting him conscious again, Hotaru?" Gohan curiously asked her.
"More than that, Gohan," she glanced back to him. "I can do the work of those magical beans of yours. With only a few seconds, I can completely heal His Majesty."
"Healing?" Gohan gazed back at her in wonder. "You have that kind of power, too?"
"Too?" she looked at him with confusion. "Does one among your group possess that power as well?"
"No, but a friend I made a little while back was able to heal people like you can."
"But why couldn't you do it beforehand, during the initial injury?" Piccolo wondered.
"Perhaps my gift is slightly different than that of Gohan's friend," Sailor Saturn replied. "I...don't have the ability to use it limitlessly - using it after expending all of my strength in the palace ambush could very well have killed me."
"Not that it stopped you from almost trying," Neptune smiled at her.
"Oh, hush," she giggled back at her. "Your seed has given me back all the power that I lost in the ambush. Now I can easily heal the king."
"Either way, if it expends that much energy, then you'll take the senzu instead, Sailor Saturn," Piccolo beckoned to Gohan to draw out one of the brown seeds. "No sense in leaving you too weak."
"Thank you...er, uh...Mister Piccolo," she stuttered, and Gohan noticed that she spoke in similiar anxious tone each time she was addressing either one of them. Toward Sailor Neptune, however, she sounded almost completely different, confidence present in her voice. Could she really have been that awkward toward the new arrivals despite everything?
"Mister?" Piccolo was slightly taken aback by the title, and Gohan chuckled a bit, realizing that Saturn must've overheard him calling Piccolo by the exact same name. Despite it, the Namek smirked it off, motioning the small Sailor Soldier toward the bed. "Just Piccolo will do, Sailor Saturn. Formalities weren't meant for me."
"Okay...Piccolo," she shyly nodded toward him before stepping up to the bed. She passed off the huge glaive that she'd held in her hands to Sailor Neptune as she placed her hands on the unconscious monarch's exposed chest. Closing her eyes, her shoulder-length hair slowly lifted into the air, and Gohan could sense a unique form of pure energy beginning to radiate from her.
Silently, the energy built up within Sailor Saturn until the king's wounded body began to glow with a brilliant orange shade, the healing power emitting from Saturn's outstreatched fingertips.
"Is it working?" Gohan asked.
Seconds later, the energy field calmed itself, and Saturn's stored energy dissipated, her body returning to normal. She let out a deep breath, stepping back from the bed.
Before anymore words were spoken, King Endymion's freshly rejuvenated arm reached up from on the bed - the scars and bruises it once possessed were gone - and yanked the respirator from his face. He quickly sat up, taking long, deep gulps of air as his healed lungs readjusted to the natural oxygen in the room. His chest were free of all the abbrasions that had previously covered it a few moments ago, and for all intents and purposes, he was looking perfectly healthy.
"King Endymion!"
"He's alright!"
The medics were ecstatic, as was Sailor Neptune and Sailor Saturn.
"My king...you're..." Saturn suddenly dropped down, clutching at her chest and forcing out shallow breaths of air.
Gohan was quick to drop down next to her, handing her the senzu with a smile on his face.
"Good job, Hotaru!" he exclaimed. "You really must be strong inside to be able to heal all of those injuries. I think my friend Dende would be jealous after that."
Saturn gratefully accepted the senzu, giving Gohan a slight blush - she obviously wasn't used to being complimented like that. After swallowing the seed, she was on her feet again, no worse for wear.
"Off-hand," she replied to the young Saiyan hybrid as she caught her breath. "I'd rather have these seeds."
"King Endymion," Piccolo's voice came next, overpowering the other joyous sounds in the medical room. The king seemed to finally reorient himself as he turned to face the towering warrior near the bed. "Perhaps you already know who we are?"
Endymion cleared his throat, staring back at the Namek with equal resolve.
"Indeed I do," he spoke in a noble voice. "It looks like Serenity's idea was worth the effort we took to fulfill it. Allow me to introduce myself formally - I am Endymion, one of the leaders of Crystal Tokyo. And you are...if I remember from the research files correctly...Piccolo?"
Gohan glanced back at Piccolo for a response, his mind rolling with thoughts. They'd actually researched out their group so thoroughly before sending for them, even down to acquiring names? He began to wonder what any of them could've done to earn a place in the history books.
"Yes, and this is my...student in the martial arts, Son Gohan," he nodded toward the boy, whom the king acknowledged. "A lot has happened since you went into that coma, Endymion."
"Then let me get properly dressed and move to better accomodations before we begin. I have much that I want to discuss with all of you."
