Author's Note: Whoa, guess it's been a while. Welcome back, for those of
you who're still here. I really apologize for the overly extensive wait,
but sometimes life gets in the way of things, and more important issues
have kept me occupied for the past several months. Things have mellowed out
now, and I'll be updating a bit more frequently.
Chapter 13: Knowledge of the Masters
"Fabulous..." Sailor Neptune peered over the edge of the Sanctuary, staring with wonder at the endless expense of sky all around them. She couldn't imagine how far up in the air they were - the thick bank of clouds hovering beneath the spherical underbelly of the Sanctuary blocked out any nearby land masses. Strangely, the air quality of the Earth Guardian's lookout wasn't as thin as she would've expected for so high an altitude. Neptune was thankful for it.
Piccolo was standing a short distance away in silence, anxiously awaiting the return of the elder Earth Guardian. Kami had departed from the dimensional plane a good fifteen minutes ago to convince the Keeper of the Dead of their plan to send the deceased Sailor Soldiers of the thirtieth century to train under Lord Kaio. It had to be an unusual request even for the gods there - they would be holding the message for the Sailor Soldiers for nearly ten centuries if they performed the favor. Neptune wondered if they would even remember the message after so long a time. But the face of the Earth guardian had been kindly and understanding - he'd told her that he possessed a strong standing with the Keeper of the Dead, and he was certain that he could pull it off with a bit of convincing.
Sailor Neptune had been, needless to say, surprised when Kami had explained the relationship between he and Piccolo - knowing that her partner was the evil half of one being made her a bit skittish inside. On the other hand, it did explain a lot of Piccolo's mannerisms - the humorless façade, his rigid demeanor about every order of business, and his silent focus on becoming so powerful a warrior. However, Neptune mentally decided that Haruka, Endymion, and the others could've been better served without knowing Piccolo's origins.
The short, pudgy servant smiled warmly over at her as Neptune continued to take in the incredible surroundings. His round eyes reflected humility and a love for simple things, and judging from his amused reaction to her astonishment, he'd been living with the Earth Guardian for quite some time.
"How long has this place existed?" She wondered as a strong breeze swept over the lookout. "Incredible..."
"The view never gets old, no matter how often I look over the edge of this sanctuary," Popo told her. "As long I tend to this place, Kami grants me whatever privileges I require."
Popo had certainly done a tremendous job in that regard - the delicate, colorful flowers and healthy trees lining the gleaming tiles of the sanctuary provided a serene atmosphere to the sacred place. It possessed a feeling of welcome and rest from the trials of daily life - perhaps that was why it was placed so far out of reach from the world at large.
A sudden flash of light from the steps of the shrine attracted Neptune's attention, and seconds later, the form of Kami rematerialized on the mortal plane, looking quite confident as Piccolo and Sailor Neptune went over to meet him.
"You were able to convince him?" Piccolo inquired as the aged guardian descended the stone steps.
"I had to call in a few favors," Kami replied. "But everything's going to be taken care of. Enma's granted their permission to be trained under Lord Kaio upon their arrival; when we bring the Sailor Soldiers back in the future time period, they will hopefully be many times more powerful than they were before."
"'We,' old man?" Piccolo skeptically asked with a narrowed gaze. "I don't recall saying that we needed your help in this excursion, Kami; you'd just slow us down."
"I wasn't referring to the physical collection of the Dragonballs, Piccolo, but to their usage," Kami leaned slightly on his staff as Sailor Neptune and Piccolo listened carefully to him. "I'm surprised this hasn't occurred to you sooner - I am uncertain how effective the Dragonballs will be in the future realm without my presence."
"Your presence?" Sailor Neptune asked. "I don't understand; I was under the impression that they could act on their own, without any kind of restrictions."
"That's true to an extent, but just as a rose has its thorns, the Dragonballs themselves have their own drawbacks. I am the creator of the sacred relics, and their essences are linked to my very soul. Since my life force does not exist in your future era, it is very likely that the Dragonballs will cease to exist as well. And as guardian, I cannot abandon the watch over this planet to travel forward in time, no matter how temporary it may be. The wrath of my predecessors would fall upon me if I did so."
Sailor Neptune felt her shoulders sagging, hope escaping her. She might've known that this was too good to be true.
"However," He continued, his brow furrowing in deep contemplation. "There may just be a way that we could work around that, that is, if you are willing to loan me one of your techniques, Piccolo."
Piccolo looked as incredulous as Neptune did - he didn't seem to understand what Kami was getting at.
"You, mastering one of my techniques?" He jested. "I think you're beginning to lose your grip on reality, old man - you're a sage, not a warrior."
"The split-form technique," Kami ignored him. "Show me how you perform your split-form ability. If I can master it while the two of you are gathering the Dragonballs, I can send part of myself to the future with you."
Piccolo looked nearly ready to burst out laughing.
"Are you serious? You'd never pull it off, Kami; your body's too frail to stand up to the separation process."
"If the two of you want a chance of bringing your friends back to life, you'll show me the split-form ability, Piccolo. I understand the risks involved, and I am willing to take them."
He turned to Sailor Neptune, giving her a friendly smile.
"Setsuna is a dear friend of mine; any chance of bringing her back to this mortal plane is a welcome one."
Neptune smiled inwardly - for some reason, she was not surprised at that revelation considering Setsuna.
"If you insist, but the first sign of overstraining yourself and the deal's off," Piccolo declared. "Remember, you're putting both you and me at risk by performing this technique in your ancient state."
"You may be pleasantly surprised, Piccolo," The guardian replied. "Now, show me this power."
Neptune stepped back as Piccolo tensed his body, energizing his limbs. He clenched his teeth tightly, white energy illuminating his entire form. Speechless, Neptune watched Piccolo nearly squat down, not sure what was going to happen next.
Seconds later, Piccolo let out a powerful yell, and Neptune cried out in astonishment and horror as a second Piccolo exploded out of the first's upper back. Neon green slime splattered all over the tiled floor, the newly born Piccolo painfully extracting itself from its progenitor. It tore its lower body and legs away from the back of the first Piccolo, standing sturdily on its own. As she looked the twins over, she saw that the new Piccolo was identical to the first in every way, even bearing the same pearl white cape and turban. Both Piccolos took a moment to catch their breath as Kami nodded approvingly.
"Did you get that, old timer?" The first one said. "I hope you're a quick study, because I'm not demonstrating for you again."
The guardian nodded again.
"It was sufficient for me," He informed Piccolo. "As long as I can remember the energy patterns of such a maneuver, I should be able to replicate it easily."
"Practice as much as you want," The second Piccolo offered. "The search for the Dragonballs will take quite a while with just the two of us. When we return with the balls, you'd better have mastered it."
The second Piccolo bounded into the air, diving directly back into the first Piccolo and dissolving into his body as if he were a walking body of water. The process appeared excruciatingly painful, but Piccolo had become whole again.
"I take that you're going to find the Dragon Radar first?"
As Piccolo began to reply, a twinge pricked at Sailor Neptune's senses, and she turned back toward the shrine, observing the building pensively.
"Is something wrong, Ms. Kaioh?" Kami asked.
"I...thought I could sense something.active energies," Sailor Neptune offered, trying to fixate her mind on anything that could've been hiding within the walls. "A few of them...maybe two or three."
Piccolo glanced over at her with a bit of surprise.
"You have a sense like mine? That's strange - very few people who haven't trained in our style have such a gift."
"As I mentioned to you before, our style is different from yours, but not inferior. But I can't be certain about those energies...it's probably the effects of the time vortex; nobody else was in the area when I opened the portal."
"I will check around the shrine a bit later," Popo offered. "If I notice anything peculiar, I will have Kami contact you telepathically."
"For now, we should get moving," Piccolo suggested, motioning for Sailor Neptune to follow him to the edge of the lookout. She nervously moved to join him - she certainly didn't have a fear of heights, but she wasn't very fond of them either. She couldn't help but notice the sly smile on Piccolo's face. "Try to see if you can keep up, Sailor Neptune. Now that I know you have a sense for energy, you can find me anytime. I'll be seeing you at a place called Capsule Corporation!"
Before Neptune could utter a response, Piccolo dove off of the sanctuary, powering up and spiraling down to earth in a corkscrew flight pattern. She called after him in vain - by the time the words left her mouth, the warrior had already vanished from sight.
"Another slap in the face, eh?" She remarked to herself with slight disdain at Piccolo's arrogance; he still considered himself the superior warrior over her. But it certainly didn't mean that the stoic fighter was invincible in her eyes - she would be able to have some fun with his stone- cold demeanor and rigorous attitude, as she'd seen in the flight to the time gate.
Waving a sincere farewell to the Earth guardian, Neptune plunged over the edge of the lookout, concentrating her energy to slow her fall to the ground. It was certainly still an adrenaline rush, but at least she wouldn't be making a crater upon impact.
As she fell, she finally caught a glimpse of the old world after passing through a few cloud banks. The ground below her was lush and green, the countryside and forest areas glowing with life and the simplicity of nature. She sighed peacefully as she took in the sights - it had felt like so long since she'd been able to bear witness to the marvels of a simpler, more tranquil world.
Ten centuries... She mused to herself. Is a terribly long time...
* * *
As the conversation ended, Zebus closed out the scouter's voice recorder. The machine had picked up a good portion of the exchange between the Crystal Tokyo warriors and their new allies, and each word had captivated the Trisgamman. Zebus could admit that he had underestimated the resourcefulness of the Crystal Tokyo warriors, but the last thing he would've thought they were capable of was creating a gateway back to Earth's past. If that wasn't enough, they'd come back to retrieve objects capable of restoring life to the dead.
"Dragonballs...how fascinating..." He inattentively remarked as he stroked his cilia. He barely noticed as Jevor delivered his report from his own scouter.
"Impossible...how can this be?" Jevor gazed at the eye-piece's readout incredulously, shaking his head in disbelief. "The atmospheric contents...the dating of the surface...all of the planetary data we measured upon the fleet's arrival on Earth has completely changed! It's as if we're been deposited on a completely different world!"
"No, this is definitely Earth, though in a more primitive form than it was in our time..." Zebus stuck his head out into the corridor, letting out a breath of relief as he detected no nearby residents of the ancient- looking building. If they were lucky, they could slip out unnoticed. "But how this is possible is unimportant at the moment."
Jevor studied the crimson orb in the middle of the room, running a few scans on the celestial sphere with his scouter.
"It doesn't look like this thing is opening back up anytime soon, sir," He informed Zebus as the blue-skinned alien rejoined his two comrades in the small chamber. "Whatever kind of energy that girl empowered it with is unknown to the databanks."
"We'll deal with that problem later," Zebus informed them. "I have bigger ideas for us at the moment. Did either of you hear about those artifacts the two Crystal Tokyo warriors were mentioning?"
"Fascinating..." Barista rumbled, folding his arms over his broad chest. "Power...unique?"
"To say the least," Zebus concurred, furrowing his brow in thought. "Such powerful relics are bound to have limitless potential if they have the ability to revive the dead...can you imagine what kind of edge the three of us would have if those Dragonballs came into our possession?"
"Indeed..." Jevor nodded in agreement. "If we could acquire such artifacts, the benefits to the fleet and our forces would be unimaginable!"
Zebus glanced over with irritation at Jevor.
"Is that the limits of your imagination? We have a chance to get our hands on such mystical relics, and you would so willingly surrender them to Damos?"
Jevor cocked his head, rolling his globular eyes at Zebus with confusion.
"What are you suggesting, brother?" He asked, trepidation in his voice. "Are you...?"
"Think, Jevor," Zebus continued, a sudden fire erupting within him. "With the power concealed inside those Dragonballs, perhaps we can finally avenge our fallen race! Can you picture it, either of you? The three of us standing together, storming and wrecking the Terror under the weight of our crushing power. We hover over the broken bodies of General Damos and his prized soldiers, totally victorious!"
A euphoric glimmer sparkled in Zebus's eyes, and his vertical mouth contorted in a close approximation of a grin. Jevor and Barista were overcome with astonishment, staring at each other wordlessly.
"My god, it would be a spectacular end for the overlord of the Trisgamman genocide," Zebus went on, powerful images of his prophecy flashing through his excited mind. "And finally, true justice..."
"You speak powerful words, brother," Jevor admitted. "And you realize that even the idea of such a rebellion carries the penalty of execution."
"If we can harness the power of those Dragonballs," Zebus contested. "Death even in battle may no longer be a worry. Will either of you join me in this venture, to avenge the honor of our race?"
"Honor...Revenge..." Barista croaked. "Acceptable grounds...for rebellion..."
"Indeed," Jevor nodded. "The lives of our fallen people mean more to me than the orders of our supposed leader. But how would we go about such an arduous task? We wouldn't know where to start looking."
"We may not have to strain ourselves," Zebus answered. "Remember the end of that conversation? The two Crystal Tokyo fighters were off to find some kind of radar device, perhaps to track the location of those Dragonballs."
"We wait...until they find...?" Barista rumbled.
"Why should we make an effort when we have two associates who are going to do the job for us?" Zebus suggested. "We'll track their progress down on Earth, and when they've gathered up all of the Dragonballs...we simply step in and relieve them of their prize."
"Excellent, brother!" Jevor exclaimed. "I don't mind a small vacation from the battle zone in any event."
"Come on, we've got to get out of here first," He motioned for the two Trisgammans to follow him out into the wide corridor. "They nearly picked up our energy signals while we were spying on them."
Jevor and Barista hurried after him, understanding the risk of being seen by the caretakers of the shrine. If they were trusted allies of the two warriors, then any information leaking could've wrecked the entire plan.
The trio hurried down the polished tiled hallway, and Zebus chittered to himself as he spotted sunlight illuminating a large section of the adjacent corridor. Apparently, the owners of the sanctuary didn't rely on electrical power for lighting - the long expansive corridor before them were completely bereft of a ceiling, allowing the fresh air and bright sunlight into the building. With a quick motion of his hand, Zebus shot up through the gaping hole and exited out into the open air of planet Earth. Jevor and Barista followed, and before they could be noticed by any onlookers, they energized themselves and rocketed away from the shrine.
"Mark this place on your mapping grids," He suggested as the three Trisgammans sailed down toward the uninhabited valleys below them. They would provide excellent cover from the humans of the time period and from the watchful senses of the Namek and his princess friend. "I doubt that this time travel technology exists anywhere else in this primeval world. We'll need to re-open that portal to get back."
Jevor glanced back at the shrine with amusement - none of them had known that they'd actually been inside a floating sanctuary of sorts. They were at an incredible height from the ground.
"I don't think we have to worry about mixing up the locations. It's the only place around at this altitude."
Zebus shook his head - for all of the curiosities he'd discovered with these two Crystal Tokyo warriors, his perception of the human race remained unchanged - why place such an important temple so high off of the ground? It was practically begging to be torn to shreds by a squad of aero- soldiers.
Humans... He mused to himself. Such animals...once we take care of Damos, I'll be more than happy to step on each of them as well...
* * *
The Seat of Judgment was certainly...different, for lack of a better term, much less extravagant as most Earth legends had believed. Considering its layout, Sailor Mars almost thought she'd stepped into a well-kept, bustling office complex back in Crystal Tokyo's industrial sector. She could almost see her reflection in the polished white-tiled floor, and she was astounded as she gazed at row upon row of blue-stained, box-shaped filing cabinets lining the outer walls of the vast arena. Several attendants similar to the one who had lambasted Sailor Jupiter outside were busily shuffling through different records stored within the cabinets, unaware of the new entrants into the chamber. Mars wasn't too surprised - she couldn't even fathom how many different members of different races had passed through the grand Seat of Judgment since the beginning of time. These workers were probably too accustomed to their jobs to pay any mind to even the most illustrious of arrivals.
"My goodness..." She heard Venus remark meekly as they were led into the center of the chamber by the armored sentinel. The Sailor Soldiers stopped several dozen feet short of a plain oak desk that towered many stories above them. The desk was cluttered with various office supplies - thick, leather-bound tomes and volumes the size of cars were piled up on both sides, and an old-fashioned black corded telephone sat nearby.
"Whatever you do," Sailor Pluto cautioned them. "Don't irritate the Keeper of the Dead. Our eternity lies within his grasp, and he can drastically change it depending on our reverence and manners."
"How long has he existed?" Mercury asked lowly. She had begun to scan the area with her visor upon entry into the building, engulfed in her own eternal curiosity, but Pluto had quickly ordered her to deactivate it - it looked far too suspicious.
"I'm not certain, though I believe he was once a great warrior," Pluto replied softly. "But that was eons ago - how he has advanced to this mighty position, I can only begin to guess."
Venus swallowed roughly as she beheld the humanoid behemoth in the center of the room. He stood many times taller than any average human, possessing a fierce, almost wild look in his eye. From Sailor Mars's estimation, one of his eyes was probably as tall as a normal human's height.
"Oh, god..." Venus squeaked as she observed the figure. "I'm not ready for this..."
He was the most intimidating presence in the entire room, dressed in a well-pressed bright purple suit with a neon-shaded orange shirt underneath. A wooden helm bearing two broad, sharpened horns sat on his thick, knotted hair. As he spoke into the receiver of the phone, he produced a low, bellowing tone that shook the walls of the chamber. Mars felt her limbs shaking - Tridyx was no longer a titan, not compared to the being looming over them.
"Him...?" Mercury nervously whispered.
Sailor Pluto seemed especially calm, which made Sailor Mars roll her eyes in disbelief - did nothing surprise her at all?
"Indeed; this is the great Lord Enma, Keeper of the Dead," She answered.
Lord Enma didn't seem conscious of their entrance either - his large mouth was contorted into a scowl as he listened to whoever he was on the phone with.
"What do you mean they didn't show?! They know that they always handle the influx of new arrivals down there!!...Yes...I see...Listen, I don't care what kind of stress those two are under; they've got nothing on me at the moment. Remind Goz and Mez of that and tell them to get back to work!!"
He slammed down the receiver, sending a resounding echo throughout the arena-sized room. Even Jupiter looked a bit uncomfortable as Enma angrily swore under his breath and began flipping frenetically through a red volume in front of him.
"Umm...he looks kind of busy at the moment; maybe we should wait back in line again until he calms down. No sense getting a bad verdict on account of the judge being in a bad mood..."
The sentinel glanced back at her with mirth.
"It wouldn't do you much good. He's been in a vile disposition for days now," He turned back and glanced up at the towering desk, addressing his lord loudly and clearly. He had to - the Keeper was simply too large to address with conversational tone. "Lord Enma!! I have brought the ones you requested!!"
"Hmm...?" He absently looked up from his notes, spotting the group for the first time. Sailor Mars stood straight and faced the lord with a respectful expression as his large black eyes rested on them. Realizing who they were, he straightened his black tie; he folded his hands and rested them in the book. "Ah, yes, the Sailor Soldiers of Earth. I've been expecting you for a long time; ten centuries, in fact."
His tone of voice surprised Mars - it had gone from ranting and bellowing to cordial and polite almost instantly. Enma glanced down toward the guard, motioning back toward the entrance.
"Thank you, Michael. You may resume your patrol duties."
Michael wordlessly bowed and dutifully marched out the grand chamber. Enma refocused on the new guests.
"You're probably all wondering why you've been granted this special privilege," He began as the five Sailor Soldiers listened intently. "Indeed, it is rare that I ever bestow the forthcoming honor among any soul. But the five of you are among a special breed - not many have made such noble sacrifices to preserve life. Of course, it also saves me from going through a wealth of paperwork each time you bring the human race back from the brink of catastrophe."
Whatever helps... Mars was still anxious despite Enma's kind words - what kind of honor was he talking about? The highest seats of Heaven? Perhaps a wealth of spiritual knowledge...Mars relished at the idea, to have all the supernatural secrets of the Universe unlocked.
"Though on the other hand, you should also consider yourselves lucky that you have this opportunity," Enma reached into one of his desk's expansive drawers, pulling out a dusty volume with yellowing, crinkled pages. He opened up the withering book, blowing out a large cloud of dust. He flipped through the pages, scanning around as he went. "Let's see...ah, here we are! You five have made several passes between this realm and the living world, but this is the first I've seen of you! Four of you - Sailors Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus - have been placed within that line three times already!! And each time has been related to your extensive careers as protectors of the peace. As for you, Sailor Pluto..."
Mars noticed Pluto's tranquility wavering, her muscles tensing as if awaiting a powerful blow from Enma. She saw the gigantic keeper roll his eyes, shaking his head in exasperation.
"Forget it; I'm not even going to bother listing how many times you've been here," He grimaced at them, leaning forward on his desk. "Listen, do you have any idea how passing through both realms at will messes up our files? Just one of you being accounted for in the line but not appearing at the Seat of Judgment is enough to overload the system for days. We're trying to run a smooth operation here, Sailor Soldiers; your constant shifts between life and death must have their limits at some point despite your necessary presence on Earth. And considering what we do here, a slight setback can cause a little bit of chaos, as you're witnessing right now. Do you understand, Sailor Soldiers?"
All of them eagerly nodded in agreement but wisely said nothing to the lord. Enma leaned back casually at his desk, pulling what appeared to be a folded piece of paper out of the old manual. He opened the leaflet up, looking back at the awaiting humans.
"With that being said, I'm going to read you something that I transcribed ten centuries ago, before your times," Enma told them. "I never thought the day would come when this message would be put to use, but I believe you will understand my offer once I finish reciting it."
Mars listened carefully, feeling no strange emotions emanating from the keeper. He was relaxed and calm about whatever the message held - she was curious as to why he would be so tranquil with such an old message intended for an exclusive audience.
"'Addressed with the highest respects to the future defenders of planet Earth, the Sailor Soldiers, this message has been faithfully recorded by the Keeper of the Dead and is meant as a beacon of information for what has recently happened in your era.'"
Their eyes darted around at each other, each of them looking utterly shell-shocked. It was a message from so long ago in the past, but it concerned their time period? How was that possible?
"'First, let me assure you that your comrades are alive and well. They have been saved from their attackers and returned safely to your palace. The enemies of your people have been driven away for the moment by the recent hires acquired by one Sailor Pluto, or as I know her, Setsuna Meioh.'"
"It can't be..." Mars heard Sailor Pluto gasp as Enma continued.
"'Do not feel that your sacrifices have been in vain, for chances for victory among your people still exist, and thanks to some careful strategy mapped out by myself and two envoys, you may yet be alive to witness that victory.'"
"Alive...?! There's no chance..." Sailor Venus cried out involuntarily before hushing herself in embarrassment. Still, the other shared similar reactions - and Mars began to pay even closer attention even as Mercury and Jupiter broke out into whispering. Sailor Pluto wisely gestured for them to silence themselves.
"'In the past era, relics with the power of resurrection exist. With a bit of luck and some effort, we hope to use these treasures to bring all of you back to life in your era. But while that is happening, we also have devised a way to increase your already-high fighting potential.'"
Jupiter looked positively elated, looking around at the others.
"A chance at resurrection and a power upgrade...how good does this get?"
Enma looked a bit annoyed at the sudden chatter - and Pluto looked ready to clamp her hand over Jupiter's mouth - but he continued.
"'There is a legendary martial arts master that resides in the Dead Realm, one that trained the warriors assisting your kingdom at the moment. With his expertise and wisdom, all of you should experience substantial increases in strength, ability, and endurance under his tutelage. His name is Lord Kaio.'"
"Lord Kaio..." Mars pondered the name, her familiarity with spirits beyond their realm the best out of the current group. Even still, she was drawing a blank.
"What kind of martial arts does this guy teach?" Jupiter inquired.
"Jupiter!! Don't speak to a lord like that!" Pluto finally burst out. "Address him as Lord Enma."
"Alright, alright, sheesh..." Jupiter cleared her throat. She spoke to the towering entity with an overdramatic tone, causing Sailor Pluto to roll her eyes and cringe in embarrassment. "Great Keeper of the Dead, Lord Enma; might we inquire as to the nature of this enigmatic Lord Kaio, that, uhh...none of us...errm...have seemed to have heard of?"
Enma looked somewhat confused, arching an eyebrow in Jupiter's direction.
"In any event..." He lowly said to them, reading off the bottom part of the message. "It's addressed from an old guardian of the Earth, one who's long since passed on from the mortal plane. Errgh, I still remember him after all this time...he was nearly begging me to accept this request on his behalf, and I finally did it just to shut him up..."
Sailor Pluto laughed aloud, smiling broadly.
"Kami...you old fool..." She said to herself. "You're never going to let me live this down."
"You know this person?" Venus asked her in an overly inquisitive tone. "Is there something else you've been keeping from us, Setsuna? What's this guardian like, hmm??"
"Ahem...excuse me..." Enma cleared his throat.
"You're looking a bit flustered there, Setsuna - I think there IS something you're not telling us!" Jupiter teased her. "Come on, you can be honest with us!"
"Pardon me, Sailor Soldiers..."
Sailor Pluto looked a bit surprised, a rarity for her, which only served as reason for her friends to tease her even more.
"I...it's not what you think!" She stammered. "Kami's an old friend of mine, very old. Stop looking at me like that!! You're such children sometimes, all of you..."
"EXCUSE ME!!!" A sudden eruption from Lord Enma's throat cavity silenced all activity in the room, and the Sailor Soldiers froze where they were, all of them quivering. Seconds later, Enma cleared his throat again, straightening his tie before continuing. "That's better! I hate being interrupted by anybody."
"...I told you..." Pluto's even temper had been shattered along with everyone else's. "...Don't irritate him..."
Sailor Mars thought for an instant that they had ruined their chances, but the keeper regained his composure and placed the leaflet back into the ancient volume, leaning over his desk to address them.
"I am more than willing to allow you into Lord Kaio's training, not just because of Kami's wishes but by your own superb track records. However, the only problem is that the old training planet utilized by the master no longer exists. The poor man...he lost the planet and his life ages ago thanks to a pea-brained student of his. And while I certainly can provide you transportation to his dwelling place in Heaven, I can't guarantee that the benefits promised by Kami's initial message will be the same. Are you still willing to make this trek?"
The Sailor Soldiers all nodded toward the keeper, Mars feeling her excitement rising.
Incredible...he sounds like such a reverent figure in this world. I can hardly wait to see what I can learn from his ages of experience...he must have a lot to offer in that respect.
Enma summoned a slender worker over to his desk.
"If you insist," He shrugged nonchalantly. "Enoch, could you please escort these guests to the landing terminal? They're to be directly transported into the Upper Heaven, to the palace of Lord Kaio."
Enoch complied, bowing respectfully toward the keeper before introducing himself to the Sailor Soldiers.
"Greetings; my name is Enoch. If you'll please follow me off to the left here, I'll direct you toward the next plane leaving for Heaven."
He glanced down at a silver watch on his left wrist.
"What luck, you'll just be able to make the next flight out! Follow me!"
Sailor Mars looked toward Lord Enma to thank him for his generosity, but the Keeper was already busy on the phone again, barking at whoever was on the other end of the line.
"How could they have gotten loose?! The two of them aren't even supposed to be allowed out of the holding zones!!" He shouted. "You'd better get them back in there; if Pikkon or any of the West Galaxy fighters have to be called down there again to assist you, I'm going to have your heads!!"
"We'd better just leave..." Mercury advised. "We're pretty inconsequential to the large scheme here."
"I couldn't agree more," Sailor Venus nodded her head. "You want to lead the way, Jupiter? Or do you want to ask him some more questions?"
"Shut up, why don't you," Jupiter grumbled as she stormed ahead, walking alongside Enoch. Sailor Mars couldn't help but notice that she'd gotten a bit more skittish in the last few minutes, her energy becoming unbalanced and defensive.
"You seem excited," Mercury remarked to Mars. "Eager to get back and rejoin the fight so soon?"
Mars laughed a bit.
"I wish I could say that, but this is so tempting...do you realize where we'll be? Our destination is supposed to possess everything, the secrets to how this crazy Universe of ours works.I can't say I'm not enthusiastic about being this close to the source of the spiritual knowledge I've studied for all my life. You seemed a little jumpy yourself, soaking up all that knowledge with your visor."
"You look for the supernatural secrets of the Universe, and I'll stick to the metaphysical. No amount of training comes without a few breaks for research."
Mars rolled her eyes.
"If we get back to Earth, and our time eventually comes again, I hope you won't treat our eternal rest like a science expedition."
* * *
Jupiter hurried over to the smiling Enoch, a pressing question in her mind almost making her sound forceful and rude.
"I couldn't help but notice that you mentioned a flight. This isn't...you know...an actual airplane, right? We're getting beyond that sort of thing at this point, aren't we?"
"You're still paranoid about airplanes?" Enoch replied with concern. His knowledge of her pet peeves caught Jupiter off-guard, though he seemed very sincere and genuine about her feelings.
"Well...when I was younger..."
"You don't have to say it," Enoch patted her on the shoulder. "We know what we're meant to know about our incoming dead. You'll be happy to know that they're still up there, living out their own form of eternity."
Jupiter stopped, her breath catching in her throat. She couldn't believe that it hadn't occurred to her sooner; she wasn't the only one in her family that was now dead, but now, at least she knew they'd both made it to the better side, together.
"Sailor Jupiter?" Sailor Venus came up alongside of her, noticing her friend's trembling limbs. Jupiter didn't, couldn't answer her immediately, and Venus seemed to know why. "Come on, Makoto; one flight for all eternity."
Jupiter tried to calm herself, but elation soon overcame her - she smiled back at Venus and hurried toward the doorway Enoch was leading them to.
* * *
Saturn ducked out of the small accountings office with disappointment - the place had been stripped clean of machinery and valuables by either Crystal Tokyo looters or mercenary teams, but other than that, there'd been no signs of enemy activity anywhere inside. She hurried across the street to where ChibiMoon was anxiously waiting, tapping her foot against the pavement.
She looked somewhat relieved once she saw that Saturn was uninjured.
"Did you find anything?" She excitedly asked as Saturn stopped in front of her. The Sailor Soldier shook her head wordlessly, and the princess's shoulders sagged.
"Me either...the boutiques were ransacked, but it didn't look like any of the aliens had passed through...Darn...They've got to be around here somewhere..." She murmured.
"What about Gohan? Has he finished checking the armory?" Saturn inquired, glancing across the street at a large, ancient-looking building sitting in between a pair of retail outlets. Not long ago, the trio had decided that they should split up to check out any possible command posts in the area of the recent mercenary ambush. They'd covered three blocks so far with no luck, and with the princess and Sailor Saturn's investigations turning up nothing, it seemed like that total was about to stretch to four. No other buildings on the block could've housed a respectable command structure, and it was difficult for her mind to discern any evil energies lurking close by.
Before ChibiMoon could answer Saturn's question, a piercing noise permeated the quiet afternoon, and a screaming body flew out of the top floor of the armory, slamming head-first into the solid pavement. From the make of his shattered armor, Sailor Saturn saw that it was one of the alien thugs.
"I suppose so, then..."
The two Sailor Soldiers rushed over to the fallen corpse, seeing its brains dashed all over the road thanks to the fall.
"Just a normal regular, I would imagine," Saturn commented as she studied his armor. "He doesn't look too important..."
"You can tell from what's left of his face...?" ChibiMoon grimaced at the bloody mess.
Suddenly, a bright light exploded out of the top floor of the armor, and after a deafening explosion that nearly caused her eardrums to burst, Saturn gasped as she saw the entire floor had been disintegrated by an enormous energy blast.
A small form burst through the rubble and somersaulted down to the pavement. Saturn shook her head in agitation as she noticed the look on Gohan's dirtied face. He looked like a schoolchild.
"Well, that's four more down!" He beamed, holding up the fingers to show the kill count. "But their equipment didn't look very important or hi- tech as far as I saw."
"Incredible...!" ChibiMoon was shaking slightly, her nerves jarred slightly more than Saturn's from Gohan's fireworks show. "You're so strong, Gohan!"
"It's not that hard after you do it about twenty or thirty times," Gohan shrugged indifferently. "Did you guys find anything interesting?"
Saturn spoke clearly and distinctly, sensing ChibiMoon losing her focus in Gohan's absurd strength.
"Both of the buildings we checked were clear, and I doubt they're hiding anywhere else in this section. We'd better move on--"
"Wait..." Gohan cocked his head to his left, listening intently.
"What is it?" ChibiMoon asked.
"Something...faint..." He closed his eyes, concentrating hard as he furrowed his brow and his facial muscles tightened. Moments later, he spoke again. "That little building on the corner of the street...I could've sworn that I sensed some powers coming from there."
"Are you sure?" Saturn had her own sense about energy levels, particularly negative ones, and she couldn't feel a thing. Even at a moderate distance, she should've been able to detect an anomaly. "That place is nothing but an old book depository; it's been abandoned since even before the war."
"I think it's worth a look," Gohan suggested.
Before they could agree, a sudden bolt of ki energy sliced through the atmosphere from above, its course taking it straight toward the depository. As Saturn gasped in astonishment, the derelict building was nearly evaporated by the energy, the impact of the explosion throwing all three of them off of their feet. She glanced up, rubbing the arm she'd landed on and staring wide-eyed at the remnant of the old building - it had been completely gutted from top to bottom, chunks of concrete and crystal spilling out onto the sidewalk as several metal beams crashed noisily onto the ground.
"What in the...!!" ChibiMoon was the first to gaze skyward, spotting the Saiyan prince Vegeta hovering about a few hundred meters overhead and admiring his handiwork. He lowered his outstretched hand and gracefully dropped down to the pavement, landing on one foot.
"It took you brats long enough to notice the energy traces in there," He snorted as the Saturn, ChibiMoon, and Gohan picked themselves up off of the ground. "I've had that place in my sights for fifteen minutes - I just thought it would be amusing to watch you children play detective for a while."
Saturn scowled at the arrogant warrior, wiping some dirt away from her mouth. Vegeta certainly was different from the others - his attitude was much more chauvinistic and aggressive than his counterparts, and the energy that Saturn sensed within him was filled to the brim with hatred, pride, and a disgusted resentment for all life beneath him. Even the power beam he'd used to eviscerate the depository had made her senses quake as they'd absorbed its intensity. Saturn didn't know how to describe it...evil, for lack of a better term; his energy techniques were an extension of his desire to liquidate inferior life-forms. Though Gohan had not possessed too much similar energy in his fighting style, Saturn shuddered to think that this was the way that all Saiyans fought.
"Well, thanks for doing the job for us, in that case," Saturn attempted to maintain her dignity in front of Vegeta. "At least you contributed something to this battle..."
"Hold your tongue, child, or I may rip it out," Vegeta scowled. "And don't try to duplicate your surrogate mother's nastiness in an attempt to impress me - she's much more natural at it than you are..."
Though stung by the remark, Saturn remained silent as Gohan addressed Vegeta instead.
"That was the command post you just blasted, wasn't it?"
"Those small battle powers?" Vegeta laughed aloud. "Ignorant half- breed; that place is much too obvious for an enemy position of leadership - it was out in the open, exposed from multiple directions, and the shape of the building left much to be desired for safety."
"Well, if you're the expert," ChibiMoon asked. "Where do YOU think we should keep looking?"
Vegeta shook his head with exasperation.
"Ignorance breeds more ignorance, I see..." He sighed. "But there is hope for you yet if you've thought of taking out the mind behind the attack. So, I'll assist you for the moment."
He scratched his chin silently, and Sailor Saturn couldn't tell by his dead facial expression if he was actually thinking or attempting to mock them further.
"Well, if I was a competent military man, and I suppose I am," He began. "I'd try to construct a command post away from the prying eyes of any enemy soldiers. Even with this much power behind them, no army can be too careful, especially with the coordination they've used in this attack up to this point."
"You could be right...maybe we've been searching too much in the shallow end..." ChibiMoon wondered aloud.
"Of course I'm right, brat!" Vegeta snapped. "And since I haven't been able to spot anything in the air, I'd wager that our commanders are crawling underground like rats."
"Underground...?" ChibiMoon whined a bit. "But that means they could be anywhere! We'll have to circle back all over again..."
Vegeta growled lowly as he stared with disgust at the princess. He crouched down and propelled himself back into the air, hovering at a lower altitude than before.
"Hey!" Gohan shouted up to him. "Where are you going?!"
"Well, you can't expect me to hand all the answers to you," He laughed. "I've got plans of my own to carry out - besides, I'm sure if all of you spark some ingenuity within your heads, you can figure it out; surprise me, kid, I have high hopes for you!"
Before they could object, Vegeta rocketed away to the east, leaving the trio frustrated.
"He's such a bully...why do the bad guys always have to be the strongest ones?" ChibiMoon grumbled.
"But he is right about the command posts," Sailor Saturn reminded her. "If we haven't been able to sense or locate them up until now, it's probably secluded somewhere under this area."
"But how are we going to be to find it?" ChibiMoon groaned again. "Like I said, they could be anywhere under here!"
"If only Sailor Neptune were here...we could've used her Aqua Mirror to help us out..." Saturn mused.
"There's no sense worrying about that now - I think I've got an idea!" Gohan chimed in, cupping his hands above his head and glancing down at the paved ground. "If the ground's in our way, we can just remove it! Masenko..."
"Wait, wait!!" ChibiMoon grabbed Gohan's hands just he began gathering energy, frantically pulling him out of his attack. "You can't just go around blasting holes everywhere! The city would be even more wrecked in no time!"
Gohan smiled sheepishly as he realized her point.
"Heh...oh, yeah...forgot about that part..."
"Hmm...I suppose we could go back and get the others, and we could split up again to search around," Sailor Saturn suggested. "I can't really think of a better option..."
"Actually..." Gohan gazed thoughtfully at the princess. "I think I might have a sure-fire way of getting inside wherever they are, at least, as long as these aliens are still willing to approach things nonviolently..."
Saturn shook her head incredulously - judging by his last attempted plan, she didn't know what the small Saiyan had in mind.
"Why not, Gohan - let's hear it," She replied.
"Well, it's actually kind of complicated...princess?" He glanced over at Sailor ChibiMoon with uncertainty. "I'm going to need a tiny favor from you..."
* * *
"Gohan!!" ChibiMoon's shouted with irritation. She glared at the Saiyan with irritation as she dangled by a rope on a small crystalline beam that stuck out above the armory's entrance. Gohan could tell that she was struggling to maintain a degree of comfort and not having much success at it. She motioned to the makeshift restraint. "Was this part really necessary?! I can barely breathe in this thing!!"
"We have to make it look like a real capture!" Gohan replied. "It was either that, or I'd have to beat you unconscious to give them the idea that you were really taken out!"
ChibiMoon huffed indignantly as she seemed to silently agree with Gohan's assessment, her momentum causing her to spin around slightly on the rope. Gohan smiled reassuringly to her.
"Relax, ChibiMoon; I haven't let you down once yet, have I?"
"It's not that, Gohan," She replied. "It's just not very comforting being completely defenseless up here! I mean, what if I get fried by a stray energy beam, or what if a low-flying alien crashes into me?!"
Gohan motioned for Sailor Saturn to follow him back to their hiding place inside the vacant accounting office across the street, though the princess was shouting after them to make sure they didn't let anything unexpected happen to her.
Gohan ducked behind the doorway of the wrecked accounting office, his pulse beginning to race. He figured that his extensive textbook knowledge could've helped him become a better planner than this - despite the feasibility of his idea, there were still plenty of risks involved, especially for the princess.
Sailor Saturn looked anxious and annoyed at the same time as she joined Gohan inside the office, clutching her glaive tightly as she turned her gaze back outside.
"I can't believe we let you talk us into this, Gohan," She nervously told him as she eyed the struggling princess. "Do you know how many mission codes I'm breaking as a Sailor Soldier with my agreeing to this scheme of yours??"
Gohan tried to appear confident externally and internally, though he had decidedly better luck with the former.
"Hey, don't worry; this'll work out. We wait until an enemy unit passes by; they'll see the note attached to Sailor ChibiMoon out there, and they'll take her right back to the command post! Besides, once we get back to the others and tell them that we smashed the control area, we don't have to say how we did it."
"Oh, thank you for allaying my worries..." Saturn didn't look convinced. "What if they decide to kill her on the spot instead?! That's our princess out there, Gohan; the risk is too great! I still say we should go back and regroup with the others before we proceed with this!!"
Gohan had already decided against that option - given Sailor Uranus's fiery temper, especially concerning the safety of the princess, informing her of this idea would've more than likely gotten his head bitten off, and that was a best-case scenario. He also didn't think that the command post was anything they couldn't handle - it couldn't require too many commanders to coordinate action in the field.
"We'll be here just in case! I don't think they're too many soldiers left in the area to worry about anyway. If we run into problems, we can always bail her out, and it worse comes to worst, we revive her with the Dragonballs once Piccolo and Neptune get back."
Saturn groaned aloud.
"That's it, then? You'd look at her life so logically and coldly?" She snapped. "Gohan...that's my best friend out there; she's one of my only friends left alive. I don't think I'd be able to take it if she was killed..."
Gohan was struck speechless at the first part of the statement, and he felt obligated to assuage her fears even further.
He sidled over to her, speaking in a pleasant tone.
"I didn't mean it that way - it's just that I made a promise to you guys when I first arrived...you were still out cold by then..."
"Promise?" Saturn wondered. "What are you talking about?"
"I told Sailor ChibiMoon that as long as I lived, no more of you were going to be harmed. My mom and dad always taught me never to break a promise - and I'm going to do my best to make sure that nothing goes wrong."
Saturn didn't respond at first, but somehow, she looked more at ease as she glanced into Gohan's bright, smiling face. The Saiyan hybrid was relieved; he didn't want to come off as another Vegeta - he truly did mean to protect the princess from harm despite using her for bait in his plan. And thus far, the aliens hadn't thrown him anything he couldn't handle...
His thoughts were interrupted as he caught Saturn smiling slightly, her thoughts wandering elsewhere.
"Sailor Saturn?" He asked her. "Is everything okay?"
Saturn snapped out of it, giggling a bit.
"Sorry, I was just thinking," She replied. "It's nice and strange at the same time - throughout my entire life, I've always had some kind of guardian watching over me. Sometimes it was my friends, other times it was Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama, and Setsuna-mama, and now it's you, a total stranger..."
"Well, it's what the queen called us here for," Gohan responded. "Besides, you guys were nice enough to put us up for our time here - it's the least we could do."
"Is that all it is then?" She wondered. "Is it just a challenge for you, and repaying a debt to us and your planet?"
"Partially..." Gohan folded his arms across his chest, his memories flooding into his mind. "I've just seen a world picked apart by enemies like these aliens; it was a terrible feeling, you know, seeing so much death..."
Saturn listened intently, and Gohan started losing himself in his words.
"During an adventure on another planet...Piccolo's planet...I found a village that had been massacred without mercy. And I watched as another village was obliterated by the same fighters. They didn't even spare the children...and I was powerless to stop them both times."
"How terrible!" Saturn cried. "What happened on that planet? Why were they slaughtering Piccolo's people the way they were?"
A sudden prick at his senses drew Gohan out of his daydreaming - a few small battle powers were approaching from the west at a slow speed. Sailor Saturn had her glaive raised - she'd apparently noticed the energies with whatever senses she possessed.
"Two of them...and they're getting closer..." Gohan pressed up against the wall, motioning for Sailor Saturn to do the same. "This could be our chance...I'll tell you about Namek some other time."
"I'm eager to hear about it," She nodded, tensing her muscles. "I just hope that these ones will be as reasonable as you hope, Gohan..."
* * *
ChibiMoon had been complaining under her breath continuously for the last few minutes. How Gohan had managed to talk her into being the worm on the hook, she'd never know. Maybe she'd showed too much eagerness in wanting to find and destroy the command post that her heart ran away with her head.
Whatever the way, she found herself strung up above the armory like a piñata, gasping at times as her lungs were constricted. She called herself (not to mention Gohan and Hotaru, in a more derogatory way) variations of crazy and stupid for allowing them to do this to her, though as she watched Gohan peek out reassuringly from the accounting office from time to time, she felt herself relaxing more. If anything happened, Gohan would've been there to ensure that she would be safe and sound. He'd been her knight in shining armor so far, and she felt guilty about doubting him.
Maybe someone will fire at me, cutting me loose...then he'd swoop down and catch me...
She felt herself smiling broadly as he envisioned the scenario, and she was so enraptured in her fantasy that she didn't notice the two burly armored forms dropping down in front of her.
Gasping, she decided that the safest route was to play dead - they couldn't catch her in deception through any questioning if she wasn't conscious enough to answer them. Before the two soldiers turned their complete attention to her, she squeezed her eyes closed, hanging as limply as she could to create the illusion.
It seemed to work for the alien soldiers as she listened in to their conversation.
"Wow, good thing you caught that power reading, Byderz; you led us to a prize catch!" The gruff voice of one of the soldiers guffawed to his partner.
"The princess of Crystal Tokyo...I wonder how she got out here in the middle of nowhere on her own?" The other soldier's lighter, crisper voice rang through her ears. "Seeing her up close doesn't impress me - she looks more like a friggin doll than she does a princess."
"Look how scrawny she is!" The first one laughed. "I'll bet it would only take an insecticide mine to bring her to her knees!"
ChibiMoon felt herself clenching her teeth inside her closed mouth, struggling not to let the anger out of her.
"She's certainly not what I expected for a future ruler for a country," The second soldier's voice was a lot closer, and ChibiMoon felt a large hand yank the tattered paper off of her bound chest. Seconds passed in silence, and the soldier called back to his partner. "Heh, what horrible luck for the poor sap that landed this catch - he got called off on other orders before he could make the delivery!"
"His loss is our gain," The first soldier replied. "Hey, we've got the princess of Crystal Tokyo either way; I say we have some fun while she's up there! You up for some target practice, Byderz? I'll bet you a week's pay I can scorch a shot right through her eye!"
ChibiMoon felt her blood freezing, sweat dripping down the back of her neck as she silently hoped that Gohan and Sailor Saturn caught that last remark. However, her fears were assuaged as his partner responded to him crassly.
"Are you a complete idiot?! Think about how much Damos'll pay us if we bring in the princess for him alive! I'll bet we both get promoted to full captains after this one!"
"Relax, relax, I was joking," ChibiMoon let out a soft breath as he heard the first soldier lifting himself into the air. "Cut her down and let's take her to Sub-Commander Silvars; he'll want a look at our prize."
"Just make sure you file a report before we let Silvars know about it - slimy bastard's likely to take the credit for himself if I know him."
"Heh, yeah, I know...he's definitely not commander material..." As the first soldier drifted off, ChibiMoon felt a hot beam slicing through the dangling rope, and the muscular arms of her captor tucked her tightly against his body as he soared off into the air.
Well, this is it... She mused to herself as she peeked out at her surroundings - they were just flying leisurely at the moment, and she couldn't sneak a glance down at the ground without being noticed by the soldier. She only hoped that Gohan and Saturn could shadow the two grunts well enough to find the command post and bail her out of the mess she'd volunteered for.
Ah, Gohan...I hope you'll be the one carrying me back to the palace after you make your heroic rescue...
* * *
"It's working!" Gohan cried as the two soldiers sped off through the air. He had a good read on their battle powers, and ChibiMoon's pure ki definitely assisted in keeping them in his sights. "Come on, let's go!"
He snared Saturn and instantly energized, soaring after the soldiers at a generous speed. Saturn had gripped tightly onto her glaive, adjusting herself in Gohan's smaller arms.
"Comfortable?" He asked nonchalantly after a while - her squirming had increased significantly. It was a bit more unwieldy to carry Sailor Saturn given the larger height discrepancy between the two, and Gohan had to twist his arms every so often to ensure that she didn't slip away.
Saturn didn't answer at first, but she stammered a quick response as she tried in vain to brush her hair out of her eyes.
"Couldn't be better. I'm tracking them through my own senses."
"Try not to use too much energy, or else they'll detect us. Can you make a guess as to where they're going?" He called down.
"Well, they are approaching a bunch of dilapidated hotel complexes on the western edge of the defense perimeter...those would probably be the most ideal places to hide soldiers."
Gohan kept his senses keenly focused on the soldiers, being sure to especially lock onto Sailor ChibiMoon's pure ki in case something went wrong. Ten minutes later, the soldiers touched down in front of a particularly lofty building.
"Le Fin...why didn't I think of that?" Saturn whispered as Gohan set down a block or so away. He quickly pulled both of them behind the remains of a liquor store. He quickly took a peek around the corner - the soldiers' stances and faint conversational tone was relieving; despite their relatively close proximity, they hadn't detected them.
"What's Le Fin?" Gohan inquired as he closely eyed the soldiers.
"The city's largest hotel suite and casino - it was one of the biggest cash cows for the entertainment industry. There was one renovation that made it stand out among most of its competitors, though."
The soldiers had paused, clicking several buttons on their scouters as they lingered outside the hotel. The larger one had set ChibiMoon down on the ground next to him. Gohan could sense all of her energy, so he figured that she was doing a very respectable job of playing dead.
"What was that?"
"The casino wasn't simply the bottom levels of the hotel - it was built completely on two expansive basement levels."
"Expansive enough to hide a command post?" Gohan brightly asked.
Saturn smiled back at him with a glimmer of triumph.
"Definitely; now let's go get the princess before--"
"Hold on a minute," Gohan gripped onto Sailor Saturn's shoulder before she could move out into the open. "They've probably got the entire area inside guarded. If we show ourselves too quickly."
"True..." Saturn sounded overly annoyed at the idea of leaving the princess out in the line of fire any longer than necessary, but she was smart enough to see his logic. "If we have to sneak behind them indoors, it could get risky..."
"Relax...nothing you and I can't handle, right?"
"You're never lacking in confidence, are you?"
The first soldier scooped up the prone ChibiMoon and made a small motion to his partner. Seconds later, both aliens strolled casually indoors.
"Can you sense anything inside the lobby?" Saturn whispered to Gohan as both of them cautiously moved forward. "I can feel a lot of relaxed powers inside...all grouped together."
"Yeah...about...maybe a dozen, a bit more if we're unlucky."
"The front door's a bottleneck - it'd be suicide, even for you if we tried through there..."
Gohan had another childish smirk on his face, taking in a deep breath.
"Who said we had to use the front entrance? I'm content with going through the wall if we have to."
Saturn initially rolled her eyes at Gohan's gung-ho attitude, but she didn't seem to have any viable alternatives. She threw the Saiyan boy a glance - Gohan could tell her mind was clicking.
"I think I have an idea..."
* * *
The elevator leading up to the ground level was certainly big enough for Sub-Commander Tre'ik Silvars if he'd ridden alone, but the mindless muscle-bound duo that served as his personal bodyguards were nearly smothering him within the tight oval space. The two grunts didn't seem to mind - they were silently enduring the elevator ride even as their superior squirmed uncomfortably in the small confines.
Silvars had been in a foul mood for the entire day - the humans scavenging the area had been causing nothing but trouble for his battle group for the last few days, raiding their supply convoys and making off with a significant amount of cargo. Head Commander Bortyx would've had his head just for that alone, so Silvars had planned on making it up to the commander by staging a surprise attack on the Crystal Tokyo western garrison.
How the scenario should've played out still tantalized Silvars to no end - his troops would crush the western garrison and leave the north blockades in disarray. Bortyx - being the eternal strategist and opportunist - would send in the rest of the earthbound forces like a tidal wave to consume the confused masses of Crystal Tokyo scum, conquering the last remaining human stronghold in short order. Bortyx and, more importantly, General Damos, would laud his brilliance and resolve for leading the conquest of the humans. He'd nearly been delusional while envisioning the possible rewards the general could've presented him with - a place in the elite Horde, command of a starship, perhaps even his own planet.
Things had been going well despite the claims by the field commanders that their troops were under-prepared. Silvars had waved off the concerns without a second thought - after all, the frail humans were attacking with nothing but common swords and had no experience with ki warfare whatsoever; how tough could one garrison possible be against his men?
But reports of stonewalling near the edge of the sector by Crystal Tokyo forces had been when everything had started to go horribly wrong. Reports from fleeing units had identified several of the new Mystery Mercenaries as the leaders of the counter-offensive, and before Silvars could request reinforcements from his outlying squads, the entire company had been routed, with only five or six coming back alive out of a group of nearly forty.
The loss would've been relatively minor in the long run, but Head Commander Bortyx had been furious when he'd inquired about the unscheduled ambush. Forty soldiers had been wasted needlessly, something that Bortyx's ruthless efficiency despised above all else. In between the commander's ranting and raving, Silvars had managed to conveniently shift the blame over to his now-ex-second-in-command. The circumstances were dubious, but with Bortyx in such a rage, he'd taken out his frustrations on the accused without question, and Silvars head hadn't been the one chopped off.
The men had been giving him murderous glances since the communications with Bortyx, but Silvars spat at them within his mind. What did he care if his grunts thought him a coward? He was the commander of the west battalions; it hadn't been his fault that forty men couldn't deal with a mere handful of unknowns. Why should he have taken the fall for their weaknesses?
His mood had become elevated when two of his scouts had reported their capture of the human princess - Silvars hadn't been able to believe his luck. Damos and Bortyx would certainly forget about the small smear once he presented the girl to them.
He smirked even as the bicep of one of his guards caught him in his right eye.
Starship Commander Silvars...Horde elite Silvars...Overlord Sil--
A sudden tremor violently shook the elevator, and the sub-commander was thrown onto his back. One of his guards was also unbalanced by the powerful shock, he stumbled and fell backward onto his superior. Silvars screeched and flailed his arms as his lungs were compressed.
"Dammit...! Get off'n me, you clumsy fool!!"
The guard jumped up as another tremor caused the elevator to shudder. Silvars was thrown back against the steel wall, banging his head.
"By the Cold, what is it now!!" He cried out, though he already hypothesized that they were under attack. "Contact the lobby security!!!"
The second guard quickly tapped into the scouter, opening a link to the ground level soldiers. Silvars felt his pulse racing again - how could they have discovered their location? And where had they accumulated enough resources to launch an attack this surgical and effective?
"-attack, I repeat, we are under attack!!" A frantic voice - Silvars recognized it as the Security Chief Dy'one - spilled out of the scouter's crackling vocal circuitry. After another powerful shock, the link was shattered, and the guard's scouter only spewed obnoxious, useless static.
Silvars felt his blood boiling - the two squads of aerial defenders that were supposed to be patrolling the area outside the facility would be compost when he was through with them. He furiously jammed the buttons on his scouter, attempting to reach anyone that he could.
"My perimeter defenders!! Where the hell are they?!!" He grew more and more agitated as he received repeated responses of nothing but static.
"Excuse me, sir, but..." The first of his bodyguards stuttered uneasily as Silvars turned his reddening eyes toward him. "You sent them out as part of the attack wave...none of them came back, and reinforcements won't be here for another hour..."
Silvars felt his heart sink, his breath catching in his throat.
"Damn it all, why didn't someone inform me of that before I committed them to the offensive?!! You're all worthless!!"
The elevator controls had gone offline after the first explosion, and the two guards were looking startled and clueless.
"Now, don't just stand there, you morons!! Blast us out of here and get up there!!" He barked at them.
The two soldiers readily complied, firing a pair of ki blasts that tore through the roof of the elevator as if the metal was paper. The robust duo was quickly out through the small opening and soaring up the darkened shaft toward the ground level.
Silvars rubbed the back of his head and groggily stood up. However, before he could blast off, he felt the oval-shaped cubicle falling victim to gravity - the two imbeciles had vaporized the support cables for the elevator when they had blasted their way out.
The elevator picked up speed, throwing Silvars off his feet once more, and it was all the sub-commander could do to scream as the module plummeted to the lowest basement of the complex.
* * *
Sailor Saturn - much like the rest of the Outer Soldiers - wasn't altogether comfortable with the idea of uncertainty in a battle situation; after all, through their experiences, taking gambles almost always led to disaster. Even as she'd explained her plan to the attentive Gohan, the rational part of her mind had been berating her for even considering such suicidal nonsense.
But at the moment, it seemed that her moment of spontaneity had paid off - she'd rushed the main entrance of the complex with all the speed she could muster - the initial trio of guards conversing near the doorway hadn't seen her Silence Glaive Surprise attack until it was too late. She'd been satisfied with the results - all three had been torn to shreds by the attack; it relieved her that she was still effective in some way against the aliens.
Of course, the remaining guards had been on her like a pack of wolves - had it not been for her Silence Wall, their ki blasts and fists would've shredded her almost immediately.
Gohan had been quick to play his part, using his Masenko beam to explode a rather large section of wall adjacent to the main entrance. The beam was so powerful that it incinerated the entire west wing of the lobby, including entire crates of equipment and portable security stations. The crushing wave of attackers had been swept back by the force of the blast alone, and it had nicely fried several of the ranged gun-equipped soldiers.
With some breathing room, Gohan and Sailor Saturn had taken a bead on the left flank of the attackers, where most of them were grouped. After a combined attack of a Masenko beam and another Silence Glaive Surprise attack, the bulk of the alien guards were sprawled on the ruined floor, dead or mortally injured. Only a handful of the startled enemies remained standing.
"Almost too easy," Gohan proudly surveyed his handiwork, the fierce glow of the energy surrounding him beginning to dissipate. "Now where is--"
"Stay back!!" One of the remaining soldiers barked toward them from the back of the lobby. Sailor Saturn recognized him as one of the soldiers who'd been carrying the captive princess; she immediately raised her glaive defensively - the soldier had a stranglehold on ChibiMoon and was using her as a human shield with an energized fist at her right temple. Saturn and Gohan didn't move.
The soldier had been slightly injured in the initial attack - blood oozed from a deep wound in his side, and blood was dribbling down his left cheek. He had a crazed look in his eye, and his glowing fist trembled precariously. ChibiMoon was struggling to breathe under the strain of the soldier's large forearm, and she was looking somewhat terrified.
"I'll put a hole right through her head!! Get back!!!" He screamed as his remaining comrades rallied to him. Before Saturn and Gohan could move, the metal doors of one of the deadened elevators at the back of the lobby erupted. As the steel bits of the elevator doors skipped across the lobby floor, two larger-than-average soldiers zipped through the smoke.
"Terrific..." Gohan mumbled to himself as his eyes darted back and forth between the twin giants and ChibiMoon's captors. He was clearly thinking of rushing the mob nonetheless, but the risk was too great, especially with the soldier's weakened physical condition and shaky arm. "Now what?"
Saturn growled in frustration, her anger rising as she studied the fearful expression on the faces of the soldiers. They all appeared to recognize and revere Gohan, and the fact that he was accompanied by a Sailor Soldier had put them into a state of near panic; they'd been reduced to cowering behind a human shield, her best friend, no less, the same best friend who she'd been powerless to save the previous evening.
She felt her anger beginning to condense around her, feeding her energy - for a brief instant, she felt her Sailor Soldier form overtaking her mind, the pure rage and her potent energies coalescing into a powerful combination. These damned cowards didn't deserve to breathe Earth's air; she had to cleanse them from--
"I'll get her!!" A shout from her left broke her flow, and Gohan zipped along the wrecked left side of the lobby in the direction of the gang. Saturn stared after him with astonished and exasperation - that clueless boy was endangering the princess even more than she already was with such an action; his idiotic scheming had gotten them into this mess to begin with.
The soldiers behind ChibiMoon's captor finally resolved on a course of action; as Gohan zipped past the lumbering duo that had just crashed through the elevator, each of them took their turns at Gohan.
Saturn shifted her gaze to the one holding the princess, scowling even more as he began to back up nervously. Gohan was already downing two of his comrades as the larger ones began to close in from behind, and the glowing fist was looking even shakier.
"No..." She whispered, releasing the stored energy. She felt herself surging forward, carried by the weight of her own power toward the unsuspecting guard. "No!!"
Her glaive skewered the already ugly wound in the guard's side - he let out an agonized scream as the energy in his hand suddenly dissipated. Seeing her opportunity, Saturn yanked the glaive out of the soldier's side and drove deep into his exposed throat. Letting out a liquidy gasp, the soldier's tight hold on ChibiMoon was broken and the princess fell to the ground.
Saturn waited until the dying alien crumpled onto his knees, a waterfall of blood draining out of his throat. She stared at the thug with pure contempt, enjoying the sight of him letting out his last death spasms before becoming motionless on the floor.
"Bastard..." She murmured, yanking the glaive out of the corpse's throat. As she soaked in the sight of the bloody mess, Sailor Saturn felt the cloud of rage around her fading away, and she began to calm herself, her pulse slowing down. She bent down and undid the rope holding the princess, helping her dazed friend up to her feet. "Are you okay, ChibiMoon?"
"Fine now, thanks to the two of you..." She stuttered, holding her head - she'd banged it on the way down. "I never get used to that look in your eye when you...get that way."
Sailor Saturn faltered a bit, staring back at the corpse of the soldier that she'd so been so satisfied to watch die in front of her. She relished in his anguish and the obscene amount of blood flowing down his chest. She didn't respond to the princess - she'd already seen it happen to her before, when the darker side of her Sailor Soldier form took over.
"You guys?" Gohan's voice broke the icy silence, and it took Sailor Saturn a moment to realize that he'd finished with the security guards. Their broken, bleeding bodies were strewn about the floor, including the mammoth carcasses of the twin goliaths that had joined late. "I'm glad you're okay - that was a close call."
"Gohan!" ChibiMoon cried in elation, throwing her arms around his neck. "I knew you'd be here! I wasn't worried, not for a bit!"
Saturn scowled - of all the times to become lovesick.
Gohan wasn't sure how to react - he stared at the blushing ChibiMoon blankly for a moment before offering a warm smile.
"I'm just keeping my promise, that's all!"
"I'm sure..." Saturn was still overly annoyed - she cast a small glare over at Gohan in light of his latest instance of irrationality. And how could ChibiMoon fall all over him without as much as a 'thank you' to her?
And there's that aforementioned promise again.such a hero, and everything. And while he didn't react in an overly positive manner to ChibiMoon's smothering affection, it did remind her briefly of the aerial trip to the complex - she had to admit that despite flying at such an altitude, she'd felt completely safe with Gohan, as if nothing could go wrong.
She decided to shrug it off - there were more important things to accomplish at the moment.
"So this is where the command post is?" ChibiMoon asked. "It makes sense; I would've thought of it eventually."
Saturn ignored the quip.
"They're probably coordinating the soldiers from the basement levels. Considering the equipment they had here, who knows what's down below."
"You said the levels were deep and expansive.I don't think I could generate a Masenko wave that could completely destroy the place, at least without risking attention from any other enemy forces."
"I think it would be better if we completely went through the place first anyhow, just to make sure nobody survives. We can even gather some intelligence on enemy activity if we're lucky enough."
Gohan pounded a fist into an open palm.
"Let's fly down the shaft, they'll never--"
"Attack...attack...!!!!" A shrieking voice rang out from the empty elevator shaft. "Don't stop, you idiots, kill them all!!"
"Somebody's coming!" The three backed away from the open doorway as the ranting voice grew louder. Apparently, whoever was down there thought there was still a battle going on.
"His battle power's not very high..." Gohan mused as he readied himself.
After half a minute of waiting, a small armored figure appeared out of the blackness of the shaft. Sailor Saturn lowered her glaive - the purple squid-like alien was noticeably bruised and cut, and bits of his armor had been chipped off. From the far-away look in his eyes, she guessed that he had little or no clue as to what he was doing.
"Vic...victory...for Damos...victory...for...Sub-commander Silvars," He stumbled back against the wall, shaking his head and attempting to clear the cobwebs. Finally, he seemed to notice the trio. He straightened himself, putting forth a somewhat dignified aura. "Y...you!! How dare you assault the army of Sub-commander Silvars!! You shall pay for this outrage!! Guards!!"
His bellow resonated throughout the lofty chamber, but only silence answered him.
"What the...?" Silvars glanced feverishly around at the broken bodies. "Where are my two personal bodyguards!! I sent them up a minute ago!"
Sailor ChibiMoon leaned over and whispered to Sailor Saturn.
"I think he's referring to the big guys that Gohan beat up earlier."
Saturn shook her head at the skittish little vermin - if this was the kind of command structure that Damos's army possessed, then she would have felt embarrassed that they'd been losing against them this whole time.
Silvars's gaze eventually landed on Gohan, and he let out a horrified gasp. His maw hung open as he thrust a gloved arm in Gohan's direction.
"You...I haven't forgotten your face from the Priority Listings.you're the one who beat Captain Infernia!!"
"Me?" Gohan approached the trembling commander calmly. Saturn couldn't fault him for lack of defense - the only energies emanating from the alien were fearful ones. As the boy slowly approached him, Silvars nearly stumbled backward and fell. He was deathly afraid of the boy. "Well, now that you're here, could you tell me who's charge of this place?"
For a brief instant, Silvars appeared indignant.
"Little...urchin!! I am the commander of the forces stationed in this region. You've...you've no right to speak to me like that, the gall!!"
Gohan studied the alien officer carefully, shaking his head.
"Nah, you couldn't possibly be in charge here," he concluded nonchalantly. Silvars gaped at the remark. "I mean, your soldiers had us in a bit of a fix back there and they were much more capable than you were. The commander for those guys has to be much stronger and tougher than you are."
"Why you miserable...!!!"
Silvars looked bold enough to take a swing at Gohan, but as a small bit of dust trickled down onto both of them from the damaged ceiling, Gohan suddenly reared his head back and let out a monstrous sneeze.
"He'll be caught off--"
Saturn was about to move - Silvars could've capitalized on him if he was temporarily occupied - but the sudden jolting move had triggered the officer's wired nerves, and he'd jumped back so far that he tumbled down the open door of the elevator shaft. Saturn heard the alien's shrieking voice reverberate all the way down until she heard him slam into the ground several stories below them.
"Ouch..." ChibiMoon cringed, but she was fighting to suppress a laugh. "What a loser."
Gohan lifted his head up, sniffling a bit.
"Uggh, excuse me," He absently said, glancing around. "Hey, where'd he go?"
Saturn moved forward and patted Gohan on the shoulder.
"Relax, he's moved on to better things. He wouldn't have been worth the trouble anyway."
* * *
Silvars found himself staring up into the blackness of the elevator shift. His resistant skin and armor had saved from certain death at within the ruins of his elevator cubicle, but oh, the unrelenting pain.
Bad dream...yeah, that's it...two Sailor Soldiers and one of the Mystery Mercenaries didn't just obliterate a quarter of my remaining staff and ruin the security equipment...
In the back of his mind, he knew that wishful thinking couldn't help him - with the perimeter breached, they would be down looking for more trouble in a matter of seconds. They'd been courageous and brash enough to tear their way this far...Bortyx was going to have his head if the damage reports ever got to him. Considering the potency of the boy alone...
Silvars glanced upward, already detecting movement in the shadows from the lobby elevator entrance. They were coming, coming for him, coming for his career and life...
By now, the additional guards within the lower levels of the facility had gotten wind that something was wrong, and a small contingent was rushing toward the ruined elevator and their downed commander.
One of them - a high sergeant from his markings - bent down to inspect the injured sub-commander.
"Sir? What of the lobby security forces? We've lost all radio contact."
Silvars weakly lifted his throbbing head, feeling bones pop in the back of his stiffened neck.
"In...coming...kill...them..." He squeaked before blacking out.
* * *
"I'm reading a lot of battle powers down there..." Gohan murmured as he peered down the hollow, dark shaft. "This won't be easy."
"We haven't come this far, right?" ChibiMoon brightly reminded him. "Besides, I get the feeling we can take on anything as long as you're leading the way."
"Oh, brother..." Saturn was beginning to feel her stomach turn - ChibiMoon had been known for laying it on thick with her love interests, but this was becoming absurd.
Gohan hovered out into the pitch darkness of the vertical tunnel, motioning for Saturn and ChibiMoon to come to the shaft's edge.
"I'll take point - they'll probably be waiting for us down there," He suggested. Saturn shook her head - Gohan's eagerness to mete out justice was tireless, and his strength and endurance rivaled his resolve easily. "Think you guys can handle a fall from this height?"
"We can fly a little, don't forget," Saturn told him, holding up the blood-covered glaive. "Just give us enough room and we'll be fine."
"See you at the bottom!" He gave them one last smile before energizing and zipping downward, the white energy trail illuminating the tunnel and making him appear like a falling star.
"Isn't he wonderful..." ChibiMoon muttered dreamily to herself. Saturn took her long glaive in one hand and her partner's wrist in the other.
"We'll wait until he 'introduces' himself to the rest of our enemies, then we'll follow," She explained as ChibiMoon drew out her scepter. "This could get ugly...we don't know what exactly they'll throw at us once we get down there."
"Let's just stick together, watch our backs like always," ChibiMoon proposed. "We've lived to see this far, so we have to win!"
A brilliant explosion of red-orange energy at the bottom of the shaft nearly blinded them. As Saturn squeezed her eyes closed to ward off the effects of the awesome light, she heard the faint echoing of energy blasts being fired and fists crunching.
"Let's go!" Saturn yanked on Sailor ChibiMoon's wrist, and both went soaring down into the darkness toward their comrade, and hopefully toward victory.
* * *
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are now currently proceeding to our final destination, the New Planet of the North Kaio. If you'd please prepare for departure, we'll be arriving within a few moments," the airplane pilot's calm and friendly voice informed the remaining occupants of the craft - only the five Sailor Soldiers - as the thick, unwieldy craft dipped toward a small green planetoid.
As Pluto continued to stare outward at the prism-like void outside their transport craft, her fascination continued to grow with the realization of Heaven's makeup. No legend or mythology in Earth's history had reflected the true nature of what this place was - a metaphysical realm without the limitations of the lesser galaxies, its own self-contained system of planets that were not dependent on any source of heat or a balanced atmosphere. It was essentially the Universe, without the taxing physical demands. The more Pluto pondered the idea, the more she began to realize that such a concept truly was bliss, at least for humans.
Sailor Pluto stretched her arms and legs and stood from the velvet- cushioned chair. Peering behind her, she noticed her four comrades doing the same, though she noticed that Sailor Jupiter was wide awake, alert, and as fidgety as she was at the start of the trip. A neutral expression was on her face, which pleased Sailor Pluto - she'd been glad enough that Jupiter had faced and conquered her fear.
Jupiter caught the time guardian's gaze, smiling and standing up, stretching her back.
"My first airplane trip since I was small," She remarked. "Ironic that it's taken me here, the same place it took my parents."
"Will you attempt to locate them during our time here, if you're given a chance?" She inquired.
"Of course! I have to see what they've been up to for all these years," She excitedly told her. "But the prospect of getting stronger on the side is giving me even more energy."
"I've been thinking though," Sailor Mars had her arms folded and was comfortably sunken into her chair. "Lord Enma mentioned that this guy was a martial arts master - I doubt this will be merely a mental power upgrade like we've experienced before."
"I've been pondering that myself," Sailor Mercury, comfortably seated by the circular glass window, added after a small yawn. "I'm not exactly certain if I'm cut out for hardcore martial arts if that's what this training entails."
Jupiter and Venus both look unconcerned; being the most physically active members out of the current group, Sailor Pluto could understand their confidence.
"Can't be anything we can't handle - after all, it's not like we're going to die if we strain ourselves," Venus reminded them as she stood up. "Besides, the letter from the Guardian of the past Earth said it would take time before all those artifacts could be gathered. We'll have plenty of time to get ourselves in shape."
"I'll take much time as necessary," Jupiter vowed, cracking her neck. "If we can become as strong as Tridyx was, then no army could possibly stand in our way, even those aliens!"
"Sailor Pluto, have you ever heard of this Lord Kaio?" Sailor Mars asked. "Throughout all my years, I've never come across his name in my scrolls."
"Your studies are not lacking, Mars; even I know less about him than I did about Lord Enma," Pluto shook her head. "Though from his title, I would gather that he is a being of unfathomable energy - he's more than likely existed far longer than even Lord Enma himself."
"Then he's got to have the greatest fighting skill than any master I've ever studied under on Earth," Jupiter hypothesized. "This is going to be great! The secrets of fighting laid bare right in front of me!"
"Easy there, Jupiter..." Venus play-punched her friend in the shoulder. "Looks like we're coming down. Let's get moving - we don't want to be late!"
The five Sailor Soldiers moved toward the back of the plane as it touched down on a miniature stone runway on the south end of the planet. Sailor Pluto took a deep breath - not much was completely unknown to her, which may've explained the relentless anticipation that was building inside of her. She was looking forward to this meeting.
* * *
"Well, they're here, right on time."
"Excellent! I haven't had any students for centuries.I hope their spunk and bravado are as legendary as the stories I've heard about them."
"They'd certainly make some terrific sparring partners.please, can I have a crack at one of them?"
"No, not right away. I have to see if they're worthy of the training first; if they pass the initial tests, then maybe I'll set you loose on them. For now, you can be content to stay here and observe."
"You did promise. That's why I made the trip over here!"
"Calm down, child. You'll get your chance if my suspicions about their abilities are correct. And you know often I'm correct."
"Okay, okay...the usual method, I guess?"
"As always. It turns out the best pupils."
Adjusting his glasses and straightening his gi, he stepped outside.
* * *
The runway was remarkably close to the only visible structure within the immediate area. A grand, palatial estate stood tall nearby, its exterior a brilliant, flawless shade of white with rivers leading out from its source.
"Can you believe this..." Sailor Mars couldn't help but stare with the rest of them at the wondrous place around them. Aside from the runway and the splendid building nearby, they were completely embraced by nature on the tiny world. Thick grasslands spread for miles around them, broken off by thick forests on the horizon. Small rivers cut through the land with pure crystalline water, untouched by humanoid beings. Though no sun could be found, somehow, it was light, like the middle of the afternoon.
"It was nearing the beginning of autumn back home..." Sailor Venus took a long sniff of the fresh air as a wonderfully warm breeze swept by them. "It feels like a perfect day in spring..."
Sailor Jupiter dropped down into the grass - it nearly enveloped her, like a blanket.
"Is this Eternity?" She muttered as she gazed dreamily up into the cloudless sky. "Give me an occasional snowfall...and I'll be happy."
Sailor Pluto concurred - she hadn't nearly felt this relaxed for some time, especially by just standing around doing nothing. The environment was quite naturally perfect - a flawless mix between warmth and coolness.
Though she wished they could bask in the sights for a longer time, she already felt a twinge of power pricking at her senses, nagging her away from her daydream-come-to-life. Somebody was approaching from the extravagant palace.
"Let's go and meet him," Sailor Mercury suggested. "Maybe he can direct us to Lord Kaio."
The Sailor Soldiers gathered themselves and approached the figure. As they closed distance, Sailor Mars noticed that the humanoid was short, nearly squat. His extensive girth and a gi that engulfed his entire body gave him the appearance of a giant black-and-red rubber ball - Mars had to stifle a laugh as the comparison rang in her mind.
The creature's round face mirrored the clear blue sky above them, and tendrils resembling those of a catfish dangled from the bottoms of his plump cheeks. A thin pair of circular sunglasses encircled his beady eyes and sat below a pair of cricket-like antennae, and a small cap sat atop pointed ears and a perfectly spherical head. He bore a warm, peaceful expression on his round face, something Sailor Mars remembered from her old grandfather.
Finally, they caught up with the catfish-creature. Instead of introductions, however, the pale blue being glanced all of them over, occasionally muttering something incoherent under his breath.
The Sailor Soldiers glanced back and forth at each other wordlessly as the strange being continued his study. Finally, Sailor Jupiter offered to break the awkward silence.
"Excuse me, but could you tell us where we could find the martial arts master, Lord Kaio?"
The beady-eyed creature glanced over at her, laughing a bit.
"My, but don't you have a powerful frame! Sailor Jupiter, warrior of thunder!" He nearly cackled. "They say you're as tough as they come on Earth." His twin antennae flickered, and suddenly Jupiter's own antenna that she used to channel her thunder attacks sprang out of her tiara. Electricity crackled up and down the creature's antennae, and Jupiter's tiara responded similarly, much to her surprise. "It appears we're on the same wavelength, you and I."
He motioned to the wire-thin tentacles with a wild laugh.
"You wouldn't believe how many channels I can get with these things!"
"Don't mess with that!" Jupiter had been slightly frazzled by the zaps of thunder on her tiara, and she deactivated it of her own will and shot a glare toward the rolly-polly creature. "My powers are not a toy!"
He held up his grubby hands in mock defense.
"Please, Ms. Jupiter," He said. "Don't thunder so loudly, you might cause a storm!"
With this quip, he suddenly burst out laughing, almost uncontrollably. Jupiter became more agitated at the horrid pun, though she had no immediate response to it, much like her comrades. Mars gaped with disbelief at Mercury - not even the queen's oddball sense of humor would've permitted such a terrible line...
"Now, now, moving along, moving along..." He collected himself, going from left to right in proclaiming the names of the remaining Sailor Soldiers. "Sailor Venus, Sailor Mercury.bah, you have me confused - why does one who hails from a rock of a planet such as Mercury have the power to control water?"
Sailor Mercury backpedaled a step, stammering for a response. The blue creature simply laughed more.
"No need to sort out the details with me - after all, on that planet during a drought, things just go from one ex-stream to another! Bwaha, I'm on a roll today!"
"Wha...er...huh??" Venus was standing next to Mercury, arching her eyebrows in astonishment.
The being turned toward her next, leaning backward and forming his hands in the shape of square, a pseudo-reference to a stereotypical director.
"Ah, Sailor Venus, like Venus de Milo," He said. Venus, though still somewhat confused seemed to appreciate the compliment. "You know, a friend of mine once told me that Venus de Milo was his favorite statue from Earth."
"R...really?" She stuttered.
"Yes, he said it very disarmingly!" He broke out into another laughing fit, and Sailor Venus grew red in the face - Mars tried to restrain her from doing anything rash, reminding her about what happened when they'd acted so crassly on the bridge outside the Judgment Seat.
"Sailor Mars, the great voice of reason!" He had calmed himself, using a mock-booming voice as he observed the fire soldier. She attempted to reach into his mind and ascertain what exactly the stout creature was, but something was keeping her senses out - either he had more capable mental powers than she did, or he was at least better at keeping other people out of his mind for whatever reason. "Uh-uh, no fair peeking!"
He gave a teasing wag of his finger, and Sailor Mars jumped back, fearing that she'd damned herself for the effort.
"No need to be shocked, I get that sort of reaction a lot," His reaction suddenly grew stoic, all of the incessant humor melting away in an instant. "They say you can read fire as good as minds.is this true?"
Sailor Mars attempted to be respectful.
"Well...yes, of course, better than anybody!"
"Then, may I ask you this?" He leaned in close to her. "...Do you believe in light after death?"
Mars nearly fell over as the small blue creature skipped along to Sailor Pluto, who was looking perturbed but slightly calmer than the rest of the girls. Mars threw a glance over to the steamed Sailor Venus - who did this little prankster think he was humiliating them like that?
"I assume you're going to try pulling a pun about time on me, little man," She sternly said to him. "I'm way ahead of you."
"Ah, yes," The creature adjusted his glasses, seeming more reverent of Sailor Pluto. "The great guardian of time is never surprised - can you always see which way time flies, Ms. Pluto?"
"You seem to know enough about us, you should know about my experiences guarding the Gates of Time. I performed that task for centuries upon centuries."
"Excuse me, could you run that past me again?" He cupped one hand to his large pointed ear.
"What? You heard me loud and clear!"
"Sorry, Ms. Pluto," He shrugged casually. "You know how it is: in one era and out the other!"
"He got her, too..." Venus said with a hint of defeat as the strange blue creature fell to the ground laughing. Pluto had seemed like she wanted to respond, but she was just staring down at the small being with a mixture of bewilderment and contempt. "He's unstoppable..."
"I don't have time for this!" Jupiter roared. "Listen, we don't have time for these games!! We're looking for the Lord Kaio, the great martial arts master that's supposed to live here!! Can you tell us where he is, or not?!"
After half a minute of listening to the creature's annoying laughter, he finally kipped up to his feet with surprising ease. He stood proudly and erect, thrusting out his chest a bit and speaking with a more dignified tone.
"Look no further, Sailor Jupiter!" He bellowed. "For you have found him!"
Chapter 13: Knowledge of the Masters
"Fabulous..." Sailor Neptune peered over the edge of the Sanctuary, staring with wonder at the endless expense of sky all around them. She couldn't imagine how far up in the air they were - the thick bank of clouds hovering beneath the spherical underbelly of the Sanctuary blocked out any nearby land masses. Strangely, the air quality of the Earth Guardian's lookout wasn't as thin as she would've expected for so high an altitude. Neptune was thankful for it.
Piccolo was standing a short distance away in silence, anxiously awaiting the return of the elder Earth Guardian. Kami had departed from the dimensional plane a good fifteen minutes ago to convince the Keeper of the Dead of their plan to send the deceased Sailor Soldiers of the thirtieth century to train under Lord Kaio. It had to be an unusual request even for the gods there - they would be holding the message for the Sailor Soldiers for nearly ten centuries if they performed the favor. Neptune wondered if they would even remember the message after so long a time. But the face of the Earth guardian had been kindly and understanding - he'd told her that he possessed a strong standing with the Keeper of the Dead, and he was certain that he could pull it off with a bit of convincing.
Sailor Neptune had been, needless to say, surprised when Kami had explained the relationship between he and Piccolo - knowing that her partner was the evil half of one being made her a bit skittish inside. On the other hand, it did explain a lot of Piccolo's mannerisms - the humorless façade, his rigid demeanor about every order of business, and his silent focus on becoming so powerful a warrior. However, Neptune mentally decided that Haruka, Endymion, and the others could've been better served without knowing Piccolo's origins.
The short, pudgy servant smiled warmly over at her as Neptune continued to take in the incredible surroundings. His round eyes reflected humility and a love for simple things, and judging from his amused reaction to her astonishment, he'd been living with the Earth Guardian for quite some time.
"How long has this place existed?" She wondered as a strong breeze swept over the lookout. "Incredible..."
"The view never gets old, no matter how often I look over the edge of this sanctuary," Popo told her. "As long I tend to this place, Kami grants me whatever privileges I require."
Popo had certainly done a tremendous job in that regard - the delicate, colorful flowers and healthy trees lining the gleaming tiles of the sanctuary provided a serene atmosphere to the sacred place. It possessed a feeling of welcome and rest from the trials of daily life - perhaps that was why it was placed so far out of reach from the world at large.
A sudden flash of light from the steps of the shrine attracted Neptune's attention, and seconds later, the form of Kami rematerialized on the mortal plane, looking quite confident as Piccolo and Sailor Neptune went over to meet him.
"You were able to convince him?" Piccolo inquired as the aged guardian descended the stone steps.
"I had to call in a few favors," Kami replied. "But everything's going to be taken care of. Enma's granted their permission to be trained under Lord Kaio upon their arrival; when we bring the Sailor Soldiers back in the future time period, they will hopefully be many times more powerful than they were before."
"'We,' old man?" Piccolo skeptically asked with a narrowed gaze. "I don't recall saying that we needed your help in this excursion, Kami; you'd just slow us down."
"I wasn't referring to the physical collection of the Dragonballs, Piccolo, but to their usage," Kami leaned slightly on his staff as Sailor Neptune and Piccolo listened carefully to him. "I'm surprised this hasn't occurred to you sooner - I am uncertain how effective the Dragonballs will be in the future realm without my presence."
"Your presence?" Sailor Neptune asked. "I don't understand; I was under the impression that they could act on their own, without any kind of restrictions."
"That's true to an extent, but just as a rose has its thorns, the Dragonballs themselves have their own drawbacks. I am the creator of the sacred relics, and their essences are linked to my very soul. Since my life force does not exist in your future era, it is very likely that the Dragonballs will cease to exist as well. And as guardian, I cannot abandon the watch over this planet to travel forward in time, no matter how temporary it may be. The wrath of my predecessors would fall upon me if I did so."
Sailor Neptune felt her shoulders sagging, hope escaping her. She might've known that this was too good to be true.
"However," He continued, his brow furrowing in deep contemplation. "There may just be a way that we could work around that, that is, if you are willing to loan me one of your techniques, Piccolo."
Piccolo looked as incredulous as Neptune did - he didn't seem to understand what Kami was getting at.
"You, mastering one of my techniques?" He jested. "I think you're beginning to lose your grip on reality, old man - you're a sage, not a warrior."
"The split-form technique," Kami ignored him. "Show me how you perform your split-form ability. If I can master it while the two of you are gathering the Dragonballs, I can send part of myself to the future with you."
Piccolo looked nearly ready to burst out laughing.
"Are you serious? You'd never pull it off, Kami; your body's too frail to stand up to the separation process."
"If the two of you want a chance of bringing your friends back to life, you'll show me the split-form ability, Piccolo. I understand the risks involved, and I am willing to take them."
He turned to Sailor Neptune, giving her a friendly smile.
"Setsuna is a dear friend of mine; any chance of bringing her back to this mortal plane is a welcome one."
Neptune smiled inwardly - for some reason, she was not surprised at that revelation considering Setsuna.
"If you insist, but the first sign of overstraining yourself and the deal's off," Piccolo declared. "Remember, you're putting both you and me at risk by performing this technique in your ancient state."
"You may be pleasantly surprised, Piccolo," The guardian replied. "Now, show me this power."
Neptune stepped back as Piccolo tensed his body, energizing his limbs. He clenched his teeth tightly, white energy illuminating his entire form. Speechless, Neptune watched Piccolo nearly squat down, not sure what was going to happen next.
Seconds later, Piccolo let out a powerful yell, and Neptune cried out in astonishment and horror as a second Piccolo exploded out of the first's upper back. Neon green slime splattered all over the tiled floor, the newly born Piccolo painfully extracting itself from its progenitor. It tore its lower body and legs away from the back of the first Piccolo, standing sturdily on its own. As she looked the twins over, she saw that the new Piccolo was identical to the first in every way, even bearing the same pearl white cape and turban. Both Piccolos took a moment to catch their breath as Kami nodded approvingly.
"Did you get that, old timer?" The first one said. "I hope you're a quick study, because I'm not demonstrating for you again."
The guardian nodded again.
"It was sufficient for me," He informed Piccolo. "As long as I can remember the energy patterns of such a maneuver, I should be able to replicate it easily."
"Practice as much as you want," The second Piccolo offered. "The search for the Dragonballs will take quite a while with just the two of us. When we return with the balls, you'd better have mastered it."
The second Piccolo bounded into the air, diving directly back into the first Piccolo and dissolving into his body as if he were a walking body of water. The process appeared excruciatingly painful, but Piccolo had become whole again.
"I take that you're going to find the Dragon Radar first?"
As Piccolo began to reply, a twinge pricked at Sailor Neptune's senses, and she turned back toward the shrine, observing the building pensively.
"Is something wrong, Ms. Kaioh?" Kami asked.
"I...thought I could sense something.active energies," Sailor Neptune offered, trying to fixate her mind on anything that could've been hiding within the walls. "A few of them...maybe two or three."
Piccolo glanced over at her with a bit of surprise.
"You have a sense like mine? That's strange - very few people who haven't trained in our style have such a gift."
"As I mentioned to you before, our style is different from yours, but not inferior. But I can't be certain about those energies...it's probably the effects of the time vortex; nobody else was in the area when I opened the portal."
"I will check around the shrine a bit later," Popo offered. "If I notice anything peculiar, I will have Kami contact you telepathically."
"For now, we should get moving," Piccolo suggested, motioning for Sailor Neptune to follow him to the edge of the lookout. She nervously moved to join him - she certainly didn't have a fear of heights, but she wasn't very fond of them either. She couldn't help but notice the sly smile on Piccolo's face. "Try to see if you can keep up, Sailor Neptune. Now that I know you have a sense for energy, you can find me anytime. I'll be seeing you at a place called Capsule Corporation!"
Before Neptune could utter a response, Piccolo dove off of the sanctuary, powering up and spiraling down to earth in a corkscrew flight pattern. She called after him in vain - by the time the words left her mouth, the warrior had already vanished from sight.
"Another slap in the face, eh?" She remarked to herself with slight disdain at Piccolo's arrogance; he still considered himself the superior warrior over her. But it certainly didn't mean that the stoic fighter was invincible in her eyes - she would be able to have some fun with his stone- cold demeanor and rigorous attitude, as she'd seen in the flight to the time gate.
Waving a sincere farewell to the Earth guardian, Neptune plunged over the edge of the lookout, concentrating her energy to slow her fall to the ground. It was certainly still an adrenaline rush, but at least she wouldn't be making a crater upon impact.
As she fell, she finally caught a glimpse of the old world after passing through a few cloud banks. The ground below her was lush and green, the countryside and forest areas glowing with life and the simplicity of nature. She sighed peacefully as she took in the sights - it had felt like so long since she'd been able to bear witness to the marvels of a simpler, more tranquil world.
Ten centuries... She mused to herself. Is a terribly long time...
* * *
As the conversation ended, Zebus closed out the scouter's voice recorder. The machine had picked up a good portion of the exchange between the Crystal Tokyo warriors and their new allies, and each word had captivated the Trisgamman. Zebus could admit that he had underestimated the resourcefulness of the Crystal Tokyo warriors, but the last thing he would've thought they were capable of was creating a gateway back to Earth's past. If that wasn't enough, they'd come back to retrieve objects capable of restoring life to the dead.
"Dragonballs...how fascinating..." He inattentively remarked as he stroked his cilia. He barely noticed as Jevor delivered his report from his own scouter.
"Impossible...how can this be?" Jevor gazed at the eye-piece's readout incredulously, shaking his head in disbelief. "The atmospheric contents...the dating of the surface...all of the planetary data we measured upon the fleet's arrival on Earth has completely changed! It's as if we're been deposited on a completely different world!"
"No, this is definitely Earth, though in a more primitive form than it was in our time..." Zebus stuck his head out into the corridor, letting out a breath of relief as he detected no nearby residents of the ancient- looking building. If they were lucky, they could slip out unnoticed. "But how this is possible is unimportant at the moment."
Jevor studied the crimson orb in the middle of the room, running a few scans on the celestial sphere with his scouter.
"It doesn't look like this thing is opening back up anytime soon, sir," He informed Zebus as the blue-skinned alien rejoined his two comrades in the small chamber. "Whatever kind of energy that girl empowered it with is unknown to the databanks."
"We'll deal with that problem later," Zebus informed them. "I have bigger ideas for us at the moment. Did either of you hear about those artifacts the two Crystal Tokyo warriors were mentioning?"
"Fascinating..." Barista rumbled, folding his arms over his broad chest. "Power...unique?"
"To say the least," Zebus concurred, furrowing his brow in thought. "Such powerful relics are bound to have limitless potential if they have the ability to revive the dead...can you imagine what kind of edge the three of us would have if those Dragonballs came into our possession?"
"Indeed..." Jevor nodded in agreement. "If we could acquire such artifacts, the benefits to the fleet and our forces would be unimaginable!"
Zebus glanced over with irritation at Jevor.
"Is that the limits of your imagination? We have a chance to get our hands on such mystical relics, and you would so willingly surrender them to Damos?"
Jevor cocked his head, rolling his globular eyes at Zebus with confusion.
"What are you suggesting, brother?" He asked, trepidation in his voice. "Are you...?"
"Think, Jevor," Zebus continued, a sudden fire erupting within him. "With the power concealed inside those Dragonballs, perhaps we can finally avenge our fallen race! Can you picture it, either of you? The three of us standing together, storming and wrecking the Terror under the weight of our crushing power. We hover over the broken bodies of General Damos and his prized soldiers, totally victorious!"
A euphoric glimmer sparkled in Zebus's eyes, and his vertical mouth contorted in a close approximation of a grin. Jevor and Barista were overcome with astonishment, staring at each other wordlessly.
"My god, it would be a spectacular end for the overlord of the Trisgamman genocide," Zebus went on, powerful images of his prophecy flashing through his excited mind. "And finally, true justice..."
"You speak powerful words, brother," Jevor admitted. "And you realize that even the idea of such a rebellion carries the penalty of execution."
"If we can harness the power of those Dragonballs," Zebus contested. "Death even in battle may no longer be a worry. Will either of you join me in this venture, to avenge the honor of our race?"
"Honor...Revenge..." Barista croaked. "Acceptable grounds...for rebellion..."
"Indeed," Jevor nodded. "The lives of our fallen people mean more to me than the orders of our supposed leader. But how would we go about such an arduous task? We wouldn't know where to start looking."
"We may not have to strain ourselves," Zebus answered. "Remember the end of that conversation? The two Crystal Tokyo fighters were off to find some kind of radar device, perhaps to track the location of those Dragonballs."
"We wait...until they find...?" Barista rumbled.
"Why should we make an effort when we have two associates who are going to do the job for us?" Zebus suggested. "We'll track their progress down on Earth, and when they've gathered up all of the Dragonballs...we simply step in and relieve them of their prize."
"Excellent, brother!" Jevor exclaimed. "I don't mind a small vacation from the battle zone in any event."
"Come on, we've got to get out of here first," He motioned for the two Trisgammans to follow him out into the wide corridor. "They nearly picked up our energy signals while we were spying on them."
Jevor and Barista hurried after him, understanding the risk of being seen by the caretakers of the shrine. If they were trusted allies of the two warriors, then any information leaking could've wrecked the entire plan.
The trio hurried down the polished tiled hallway, and Zebus chittered to himself as he spotted sunlight illuminating a large section of the adjacent corridor. Apparently, the owners of the sanctuary didn't rely on electrical power for lighting - the long expansive corridor before them were completely bereft of a ceiling, allowing the fresh air and bright sunlight into the building. With a quick motion of his hand, Zebus shot up through the gaping hole and exited out into the open air of planet Earth. Jevor and Barista followed, and before they could be noticed by any onlookers, they energized themselves and rocketed away from the shrine.
"Mark this place on your mapping grids," He suggested as the three Trisgammans sailed down toward the uninhabited valleys below them. They would provide excellent cover from the humans of the time period and from the watchful senses of the Namek and his princess friend. "I doubt that this time travel technology exists anywhere else in this primeval world. We'll need to re-open that portal to get back."
Jevor glanced back at the shrine with amusement - none of them had known that they'd actually been inside a floating sanctuary of sorts. They were at an incredible height from the ground.
"I don't think we have to worry about mixing up the locations. It's the only place around at this altitude."
Zebus shook his head - for all of the curiosities he'd discovered with these two Crystal Tokyo warriors, his perception of the human race remained unchanged - why place such an important temple so high off of the ground? It was practically begging to be torn to shreds by a squad of aero- soldiers.
Humans... He mused to himself. Such animals...once we take care of Damos, I'll be more than happy to step on each of them as well...
* * *
The Seat of Judgment was certainly...different, for lack of a better term, much less extravagant as most Earth legends had believed. Considering its layout, Sailor Mars almost thought she'd stepped into a well-kept, bustling office complex back in Crystal Tokyo's industrial sector. She could almost see her reflection in the polished white-tiled floor, and she was astounded as she gazed at row upon row of blue-stained, box-shaped filing cabinets lining the outer walls of the vast arena. Several attendants similar to the one who had lambasted Sailor Jupiter outside were busily shuffling through different records stored within the cabinets, unaware of the new entrants into the chamber. Mars wasn't too surprised - she couldn't even fathom how many different members of different races had passed through the grand Seat of Judgment since the beginning of time. These workers were probably too accustomed to their jobs to pay any mind to even the most illustrious of arrivals.
"My goodness..." She heard Venus remark meekly as they were led into the center of the chamber by the armored sentinel. The Sailor Soldiers stopped several dozen feet short of a plain oak desk that towered many stories above them. The desk was cluttered with various office supplies - thick, leather-bound tomes and volumes the size of cars were piled up on both sides, and an old-fashioned black corded telephone sat nearby.
"Whatever you do," Sailor Pluto cautioned them. "Don't irritate the Keeper of the Dead. Our eternity lies within his grasp, and he can drastically change it depending on our reverence and manners."
"How long has he existed?" Mercury asked lowly. She had begun to scan the area with her visor upon entry into the building, engulfed in her own eternal curiosity, but Pluto had quickly ordered her to deactivate it - it looked far too suspicious.
"I'm not certain, though I believe he was once a great warrior," Pluto replied softly. "But that was eons ago - how he has advanced to this mighty position, I can only begin to guess."
Venus swallowed roughly as she beheld the humanoid behemoth in the center of the room. He stood many times taller than any average human, possessing a fierce, almost wild look in his eye. From Sailor Mars's estimation, one of his eyes was probably as tall as a normal human's height.
"Oh, god..." Venus squeaked as she observed the figure. "I'm not ready for this..."
He was the most intimidating presence in the entire room, dressed in a well-pressed bright purple suit with a neon-shaded orange shirt underneath. A wooden helm bearing two broad, sharpened horns sat on his thick, knotted hair. As he spoke into the receiver of the phone, he produced a low, bellowing tone that shook the walls of the chamber. Mars felt her limbs shaking - Tridyx was no longer a titan, not compared to the being looming over them.
"Him...?" Mercury nervously whispered.
Sailor Pluto seemed especially calm, which made Sailor Mars roll her eyes in disbelief - did nothing surprise her at all?
"Indeed; this is the great Lord Enma, Keeper of the Dead," She answered.
Lord Enma didn't seem conscious of their entrance either - his large mouth was contorted into a scowl as he listened to whoever he was on the phone with.
"What do you mean they didn't show?! They know that they always handle the influx of new arrivals down there!!...Yes...I see...Listen, I don't care what kind of stress those two are under; they've got nothing on me at the moment. Remind Goz and Mez of that and tell them to get back to work!!"
He slammed down the receiver, sending a resounding echo throughout the arena-sized room. Even Jupiter looked a bit uncomfortable as Enma angrily swore under his breath and began flipping frenetically through a red volume in front of him.
"Umm...he looks kind of busy at the moment; maybe we should wait back in line again until he calms down. No sense getting a bad verdict on account of the judge being in a bad mood..."
The sentinel glanced back at her with mirth.
"It wouldn't do you much good. He's been in a vile disposition for days now," He turned back and glanced up at the towering desk, addressing his lord loudly and clearly. He had to - the Keeper was simply too large to address with conversational tone. "Lord Enma!! I have brought the ones you requested!!"
"Hmm...?" He absently looked up from his notes, spotting the group for the first time. Sailor Mars stood straight and faced the lord with a respectful expression as his large black eyes rested on them. Realizing who they were, he straightened his black tie; he folded his hands and rested them in the book. "Ah, yes, the Sailor Soldiers of Earth. I've been expecting you for a long time; ten centuries, in fact."
His tone of voice surprised Mars - it had gone from ranting and bellowing to cordial and polite almost instantly. Enma glanced down toward the guard, motioning back toward the entrance.
"Thank you, Michael. You may resume your patrol duties."
Michael wordlessly bowed and dutifully marched out the grand chamber. Enma refocused on the new guests.
"You're probably all wondering why you've been granted this special privilege," He began as the five Sailor Soldiers listened intently. "Indeed, it is rare that I ever bestow the forthcoming honor among any soul. But the five of you are among a special breed - not many have made such noble sacrifices to preserve life. Of course, it also saves me from going through a wealth of paperwork each time you bring the human race back from the brink of catastrophe."
Whatever helps... Mars was still anxious despite Enma's kind words - what kind of honor was he talking about? The highest seats of Heaven? Perhaps a wealth of spiritual knowledge...Mars relished at the idea, to have all the supernatural secrets of the Universe unlocked.
"Though on the other hand, you should also consider yourselves lucky that you have this opportunity," Enma reached into one of his desk's expansive drawers, pulling out a dusty volume with yellowing, crinkled pages. He opened up the withering book, blowing out a large cloud of dust. He flipped through the pages, scanning around as he went. "Let's see...ah, here we are! You five have made several passes between this realm and the living world, but this is the first I've seen of you! Four of you - Sailors Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus - have been placed within that line three times already!! And each time has been related to your extensive careers as protectors of the peace. As for you, Sailor Pluto..."
Mars noticed Pluto's tranquility wavering, her muscles tensing as if awaiting a powerful blow from Enma. She saw the gigantic keeper roll his eyes, shaking his head in exasperation.
"Forget it; I'm not even going to bother listing how many times you've been here," He grimaced at them, leaning forward on his desk. "Listen, do you have any idea how passing through both realms at will messes up our files? Just one of you being accounted for in the line but not appearing at the Seat of Judgment is enough to overload the system for days. We're trying to run a smooth operation here, Sailor Soldiers; your constant shifts between life and death must have their limits at some point despite your necessary presence on Earth. And considering what we do here, a slight setback can cause a little bit of chaos, as you're witnessing right now. Do you understand, Sailor Soldiers?"
All of them eagerly nodded in agreement but wisely said nothing to the lord. Enma leaned back casually at his desk, pulling what appeared to be a folded piece of paper out of the old manual. He opened the leaflet up, looking back at the awaiting humans.
"With that being said, I'm going to read you something that I transcribed ten centuries ago, before your times," Enma told them. "I never thought the day would come when this message would be put to use, but I believe you will understand my offer once I finish reciting it."
Mars listened carefully, feeling no strange emotions emanating from the keeper. He was relaxed and calm about whatever the message held - she was curious as to why he would be so tranquil with such an old message intended for an exclusive audience.
"'Addressed with the highest respects to the future defenders of planet Earth, the Sailor Soldiers, this message has been faithfully recorded by the Keeper of the Dead and is meant as a beacon of information for what has recently happened in your era.'"
Their eyes darted around at each other, each of them looking utterly shell-shocked. It was a message from so long ago in the past, but it concerned their time period? How was that possible?
"'First, let me assure you that your comrades are alive and well. They have been saved from their attackers and returned safely to your palace. The enemies of your people have been driven away for the moment by the recent hires acquired by one Sailor Pluto, or as I know her, Setsuna Meioh.'"
"It can't be..." Mars heard Sailor Pluto gasp as Enma continued.
"'Do not feel that your sacrifices have been in vain, for chances for victory among your people still exist, and thanks to some careful strategy mapped out by myself and two envoys, you may yet be alive to witness that victory.'"
"Alive...?! There's no chance..." Sailor Venus cried out involuntarily before hushing herself in embarrassment. Still, the other shared similar reactions - and Mars began to pay even closer attention even as Mercury and Jupiter broke out into whispering. Sailor Pluto wisely gestured for them to silence themselves.
"'In the past era, relics with the power of resurrection exist. With a bit of luck and some effort, we hope to use these treasures to bring all of you back to life in your era. But while that is happening, we also have devised a way to increase your already-high fighting potential.'"
Jupiter looked positively elated, looking around at the others.
"A chance at resurrection and a power upgrade...how good does this get?"
Enma looked a bit annoyed at the sudden chatter - and Pluto looked ready to clamp her hand over Jupiter's mouth - but he continued.
"'There is a legendary martial arts master that resides in the Dead Realm, one that trained the warriors assisting your kingdom at the moment. With his expertise and wisdom, all of you should experience substantial increases in strength, ability, and endurance under his tutelage. His name is Lord Kaio.'"
"Lord Kaio..." Mars pondered the name, her familiarity with spirits beyond their realm the best out of the current group. Even still, she was drawing a blank.
"What kind of martial arts does this guy teach?" Jupiter inquired.
"Jupiter!! Don't speak to a lord like that!" Pluto finally burst out. "Address him as Lord Enma."
"Alright, alright, sheesh..." Jupiter cleared her throat. She spoke to the towering entity with an overdramatic tone, causing Sailor Pluto to roll her eyes and cringe in embarrassment. "Great Keeper of the Dead, Lord Enma; might we inquire as to the nature of this enigmatic Lord Kaio, that, uhh...none of us...errm...have seemed to have heard of?"
Enma looked somewhat confused, arching an eyebrow in Jupiter's direction.
"In any event..." He lowly said to them, reading off the bottom part of the message. "It's addressed from an old guardian of the Earth, one who's long since passed on from the mortal plane. Errgh, I still remember him after all this time...he was nearly begging me to accept this request on his behalf, and I finally did it just to shut him up..."
Sailor Pluto laughed aloud, smiling broadly.
"Kami...you old fool..." She said to herself. "You're never going to let me live this down."
"You know this person?" Venus asked her in an overly inquisitive tone. "Is there something else you've been keeping from us, Setsuna? What's this guardian like, hmm??"
"Ahem...excuse me..." Enma cleared his throat.
"You're looking a bit flustered there, Setsuna - I think there IS something you're not telling us!" Jupiter teased her. "Come on, you can be honest with us!"
"Pardon me, Sailor Soldiers..."
Sailor Pluto looked a bit surprised, a rarity for her, which only served as reason for her friends to tease her even more.
"I...it's not what you think!" She stammered. "Kami's an old friend of mine, very old. Stop looking at me like that!! You're such children sometimes, all of you..."
"EXCUSE ME!!!" A sudden eruption from Lord Enma's throat cavity silenced all activity in the room, and the Sailor Soldiers froze where they were, all of them quivering. Seconds later, Enma cleared his throat again, straightening his tie before continuing. "That's better! I hate being interrupted by anybody."
"...I told you..." Pluto's even temper had been shattered along with everyone else's. "...Don't irritate him..."
Sailor Mars thought for an instant that they had ruined their chances, but the keeper regained his composure and placed the leaflet back into the ancient volume, leaning over his desk to address them.
"I am more than willing to allow you into Lord Kaio's training, not just because of Kami's wishes but by your own superb track records. However, the only problem is that the old training planet utilized by the master no longer exists. The poor man...he lost the planet and his life ages ago thanks to a pea-brained student of his. And while I certainly can provide you transportation to his dwelling place in Heaven, I can't guarantee that the benefits promised by Kami's initial message will be the same. Are you still willing to make this trek?"
The Sailor Soldiers all nodded toward the keeper, Mars feeling her excitement rising.
Incredible...he sounds like such a reverent figure in this world. I can hardly wait to see what I can learn from his ages of experience...he must have a lot to offer in that respect.
Enma summoned a slender worker over to his desk.
"If you insist," He shrugged nonchalantly. "Enoch, could you please escort these guests to the landing terminal? They're to be directly transported into the Upper Heaven, to the palace of Lord Kaio."
Enoch complied, bowing respectfully toward the keeper before introducing himself to the Sailor Soldiers.
"Greetings; my name is Enoch. If you'll please follow me off to the left here, I'll direct you toward the next plane leaving for Heaven."
He glanced down at a silver watch on his left wrist.
"What luck, you'll just be able to make the next flight out! Follow me!"
Sailor Mars looked toward Lord Enma to thank him for his generosity, but the Keeper was already busy on the phone again, barking at whoever was on the other end of the line.
"How could they have gotten loose?! The two of them aren't even supposed to be allowed out of the holding zones!!" He shouted. "You'd better get them back in there; if Pikkon or any of the West Galaxy fighters have to be called down there again to assist you, I'm going to have your heads!!"
"We'd better just leave..." Mercury advised. "We're pretty inconsequential to the large scheme here."
"I couldn't agree more," Sailor Venus nodded her head. "You want to lead the way, Jupiter? Or do you want to ask him some more questions?"
"Shut up, why don't you," Jupiter grumbled as she stormed ahead, walking alongside Enoch. Sailor Mars couldn't help but notice that she'd gotten a bit more skittish in the last few minutes, her energy becoming unbalanced and defensive.
"You seem excited," Mercury remarked to Mars. "Eager to get back and rejoin the fight so soon?"
Mars laughed a bit.
"I wish I could say that, but this is so tempting...do you realize where we'll be? Our destination is supposed to possess everything, the secrets to how this crazy Universe of ours works.I can't say I'm not enthusiastic about being this close to the source of the spiritual knowledge I've studied for all my life. You seemed a little jumpy yourself, soaking up all that knowledge with your visor."
"You look for the supernatural secrets of the Universe, and I'll stick to the metaphysical. No amount of training comes without a few breaks for research."
Mars rolled her eyes.
"If we get back to Earth, and our time eventually comes again, I hope you won't treat our eternal rest like a science expedition."
* * *
Jupiter hurried over to the smiling Enoch, a pressing question in her mind almost making her sound forceful and rude.
"I couldn't help but notice that you mentioned a flight. This isn't...you know...an actual airplane, right? We're getting beyond that sort of thing at this point, aren't we?"
"You're still paranoid about airplanes?" Enoch replied with concern. His knowledge of her pet peeves caught Jupiter off-guard, though he seemed very sincere and genuine about her feelings.
"Well...when I was younger..."
"You don't have to say it," Enoch patted her on the shoulder. "We know what we're meant to know about our incoming dead. You'll be happy to know that they're still up there, living out their own form of eternity."
Jupiter stopped, her breath catching in her throat. She couldn't believe that it hadn't occurred to her sooner; she wasn't the only one in her family that was now dead, but now, at least she knew they'd both made it to the better side, together.
"Sailor Jupiter?" Sailor Venus came up alongside of her, noticing her friend's trembling limbs. Jupiter didn't, couldn't answer her immediately, and Venus seemed to know why. "Come on, Makoto; one flight for all eternity."
Jupiter tried to calm herself, but elation soon overcame her - she smiled back at Venus and hurried toward the doorway Enoch was leading them to.
* * *
Saturn ducked out of the small accountings office with disappointment - the place had been stripped clean of machinery and valuables by either Crystal Tokyo looters or mercenary teams, but other than that, there'd been no signs of enemy activity anywhere inside. She hurried across the street to where ChibiMoon was anxiously waiting, tapping her foot against the pavement.
She looked somewhat relieved once she saw that Saturn was uninjured.
"Did you find anything?" She excitedly asked as Saturn stopped in front of her. The Sailor Soldier shook her head wordlessly, and the princess's shoulders sagged.
"Me either...the boutiques were ransacked, but it didn't look like any of the aliens had passed through...Darn...They've got to be around here somewhere..." She murmured.
"What about Gohan? Has he finished checking the armory?" Saturn inquired, glancing across the street at a large, ancient-looking building sitting in between a pair of retail outlets. Not long ago, the trio had decided that they should split up to check out any possible command posts in the area of the recent mercenary ambush. They'd covered three blocks so far with no luck, and with the princess and Sailor Saturn's investigations turning up nothing, it seemed like that total was about to stretch to four. No other buildings on the block could've housed a respectable command structure, and it was difficult for her mind to discern any evil energies lurking close by.
Before ChibiMoon could answer Saturn's question, a piercing noise permeated the quiet afternoon, and a screaming body flew out of the top floor of the armory, slamming head-first into the solid pavement. From the make of his shattered armor, Sailor Saturn saw that it was one of the alien thugs.
"I suppose so, then..."
The two Sailor Soldiers rushed over to the fallen corpse, seeing its brains dashed all over the road thanks to the fall.
"Just a normal regular, I would imagine," Saturn commented as she studied his armor. "He doesn't look too important..."
"You can tell from what's left of his face...?" ChibiMoon grimaced at the bloody mess.
Suddenly, a bright light exploded out of the top floor of the armor, and after a deafening explosion that nearly caused her eardrums to burst, Saturn gasped as she saw the entire floor had been disintegrated by an enormous energy blast.
A small form burst through the rubble and somersaulted down to the pavement. Saturn shook her head in agitation as she noticed the look on Gohan's dirtied face. He looked like a schoolchild.
"Well, that's four more down!" He beamed, holding up the fingers to show the kill count. "But their equipment didn't look very important or hi- tech as far as I saw."
"Incredible...!" ChibiMoon was shaking slightly, her nerves jarred slightly more than Saturn's from Gohan's fireworks show. "You're so strong, Gohan!"
"It's not that hard after you do it about twenty or thirty times," Gohan shrugged indifferently. "Did you guys find anything interesting?"
Saturn spoke clearly and distinctly, sensing ChibiMoon losing her focus in Gohan's absurd strength.
"Both of the buildings we checked were clear, and I doubt they're hiding anywhere else in this section. We'd better move on--"
"Wait..." Gohan cocked his head to his left, listening intently.
"What is it?" ChibiMoon asked.
"Something...faint..." He closed his eyes, concentrating hard as he furrowed his brow and his facial muscles tightened. Moments later, he spoke again. "That little building on the corner of the street...I could've sworn that I sensed some powers coming from there."
"Are you sure?" Saturn had her own sense about energy levels, particularly negative ones, and she couldn't feel a thing. Even at a moderate distance, she should've been able to detect an anomaly. "That place is nothing but an old book depository; it's been abandoned since even before the war."
"I think it's worth a look," Gohan suggested.
Before they could agree, a sudden bolt of ki energy sliced through the atmosphere from above, its course taking it straight toward the depository. As Saturn gasped in astonishment, the derelict building was nearly evaporated by the energy, the impact of the explosion throwing all three of them off of their feet. She glanced up, rubbing the arm she'd landed on and staring wide-eyed at the remnant of the old building - it had been completely gutted from top to bottom, chunks of concrete and crystal spilling out onto the sidewalk as several metal beams crashed noisily onto the ground.
"What in the...!!" ChibiMoon was the first to gaze skyward, spotting the Saiyan prince Vegeta hovering about a few hundred meters overhead and admiring his handiwork. He lowered his outstretched hand and gracefully dropped down to the pavement, landing on one foot.
"It took you brats long enough to notice the energy traces in there," He snorted as the Saturn, ChibiMoon, and Gohan picked themselves up off of the ground. "I've had that place in my sights for fifteen minutes - I just thought it would be amusing to watch you children play detective for a while."
Saturn scowled at the arrogant warrior, wiping some dirt away from her mouth. Vegeta certainly was different from the others - his attitude was much more chauvinistic and aggressive than his counterparts, and the energy that Saturn sensed within him was filled to the brim with hatred, pride, and a disgusted resentment for all life beneath him. Even the power beam he'd used to eviscerate the depository had made her senses quake as they'd absorbed its intensity. Saturn didn't know how to describe it...evil, for lack of a better term; his energy techniques were an extension of his desire to liquidate inferior life-forms. Though Gohan had not possessed too much similar energy in his fighting style, Saturn shuddered to think that this was the way that all Saiyans fought.
"Well, thanks for doing the job for us, in that case," Saturn attempted to maintain her dignity in front of Vegeta. "At least you contributed something to this battle..."
"Hold your tongue, child, or I may rip it out," Vegeta scowled. "And don't try to duplicate your surrogate mother's nastiness in an attempt to impress me - she's much more natural at it than you are..."
Though stung by the remark, Saturn remained silent as Gohan addressed Vegeta instead.
"That was the command post you just blasted, wasn't it?"
"Those small battle powers?" Vegeta laughed aloud. "Ignorant half- breed; that place is much too obvious for an enemy position of leadership - it was out in the open, exposed from multiple directions, and the shape of the building left much to be desired for safety."
"Well, if you're the expert," ChibiMoon asked. "Where do YOU think we should keep looking?"
Vegeta shook his head with exasperation.
"Ignorance breeds more ignorance, I see..." He sighed. "But there is hope for you yet if you've thought of taking out the mind behind the attack. So, I'll assist you for the moment."
He scratched his chin silently, and Sailor Saturn couldn't tell by his dead facial expression if he was actually thinking or attempting to mock them further.
"Well, if I was a competent military man, and I suppose I am," He began. "I'd try to construct a command post away from the prying eyes of any enemy soldiers. Even with this much power behind them, no army can be too careful, especially with the coordination they've used in this attack up to this point."
"You could be right...maybe we've been searching too much in the shallow end..." ChibiMoon wondered aloud.
"Of course I'm right, brat!" Vegeta snapped. "And since I haven't been able to spot anything in the air, I'd wager that our commanders are crawling underground like rats."
"Underground...?" ChibiMoon whined a bit. "But that means they could be anywhere! We'll have to circle back all over again..."
Vegeta growled lowly as he stared with disgust at the princess. He crouched down and propelled himself back into the air, hovering at a lower altitude than before.
"Hey!" Gohan shouted up to him. "Where are you going?!"
"Well, you can't expect me to hand all the answers to you," He laughed. "I've got plans of my own to carry out - besides, I'm sure if all of you spark some ingenuity within your heads, you can figure it out; surprise me, kid, I have high hopes for you!"
Before they could object, Vegeta rocketed away to the east, leaving the trio frustrated.
"He's such a bully...why do the bad guys always have to be the strongest ones?" ChibiMoon grumbled.
"But he is right about the command posts," Sailor Saturn reminded her. "If we haven't been able to sense or locate them up until now, it's probably secluded somewhere under this area."
"But how are we going to be to find it?" ChibiMoon groaned again. "Like I said, they could be anywhere under here!"
"If only Sailor Neptune were here...we could've used her Aqua Mirror to help us out..." Saturn mused.
"There's no sense worrying about that now - I think I've got an idea!" Gohan chimed in, cupping his hands above his head and glancing down at the paved ground. "If the ground's in our way, we can just remove it! Masenko..."
"Wait, wait!!" ChibiMoon grabbed Gohan's hands just he began gathering energy, frantically pulling him out of his attack. "You can't just go around blasting holes everywhere! The city would be even more wrecked in no time!"
Gohan smiled sheepishly as he realized her point.
"Heh...oh, yeah...forgot about that part..."
"Hmm...I suppose we could go back and get the others, and we could split up again to search around," Sailor Saturn suggested. "I can't really think of a better option..."
"Actually..." Gohan gazed thoughtfully at the princess. "I think I might have a sure-fire way of getting inside wherever they are, at least, as long as these aliens are still willing to approach things nonviolently..."
Saturn shook her head incredulously - judging by his last attempted plan, she didn't know what the small Saiyan had in mind.
"Why not, Gohan - let's hear it," She replied.
"Well, it's actually kind of complicated...princess?" He glanced over at Sailor ChibiMoon with uncertainty. "I'm going to need a tiny favor from you..."
* * *
"Gohan!!" ChibiMoon's shouted with irritation. She glared at the Saiyan with irritation as she dangled by a rope on a small crystalline beam that stuck out above the armory's entrance. Gohan could tell that she was struggling to maintain a degree of comfort and not having much success at it. She motioned to the makeshift restraint. "Was this part really necessary?! I can barely breathe in this thing!!"
"We have to make it look like a real capture!" Gohan replied. "It was either that, or I'd have to beat you unconscious to give them the idea that you were really taken out!"
ChibiMoon huffed indignantly as she seemed to silently agree with Gohan's assessment, her momentum causing her to spin around slightly on the rope. Gohan smiled reassuringly to her.
"Relax, ChibiMoon; I haven't let you down once yet, have I?"
"It's not that, Gohan," She replied. "It's just not very comforting being completely defenseless up here! I mean, what if I get fried by a stray energy beam, or what if a low-flying alien crashes into me?!"
Gohan motioned for Sailor Saturn to follow him back to their hiding place inside the vacant accounting office across the street, though the princess was shouting after them to make sure they didn't let anything unexpected happen to her.
Gohan ducked behind the doorway of the wrecked accounting office, his pulse beginning to race. He figured that his extensive textbook knowledge could've helped him become a better planner than this - despite the feasibility of his idea, there were still plenty of risks involved, especially for the princess.
Sailor Saturn looked anxious and annoyed at the same time as she joined Gohan inside the office, clutching her glaive tightly as she turned her gaze back outside.
"I can't believe we let you talk us into this, Gohan," She nervously told him as she eyed the struggling princess. "Do you know how many mission codes I'm breaking as a Sailor Soldier with my agreeing to this scheme of yours??"
Gohan tried to appear confident externally and internally, though he had decidedly better luck with the former.
"Hey, don't worry; this'll work out. We wait until an enemy unit passes by; they'll see the note attached to Sailor ChibiMoon out there, and they'll take her right back to the command post! Besides, once we get back to the others and tell them that we smashed the control area, we don't have to say how we did it."
"Oh, thank you for allaying my worries..." Saturn didn't look convinced. "What if they decide to kill her on the spot instead?! That's our princess out there, Gohan; the risk is too great! I still say we should go back and regroup with the others before we proceed with this!!"
Gohan had already decided against that option - given Sailor Uranus's fiery temper, especially concerning the safety of the princess, informing her of this idea would've more than likely gotten his head bitten off, and that was a best-case scenario. He also didn't think that the command post was anything they couldn't handle - it couldn't require too many commanders to coordinate action in the field.
"We'll be here just in case! I don't think they're too many soldiers left in the area to worry about anyway. If we run into problems, we can always bail her out, and it worse comes to worst, we revive her with the Dragonballs once Piccolo and Neptune get back."
Saturn groaned aloud.
"That's it, then? You'd look at her life so logically and coldly?" She snapped. "Gohan...that's my best friend out there; she's one of my only friends left alive. I don't think I'd be able to take it if she was killed..."
Gohan was struck speechless at the first part of the statement, and he felt obligated to assuage her fears even further.
He sidled over to her, speaking in a pleasant tone.
"I didn't mean it that way - it's just that I made a promise to you guys when I first arrived...you were still out cold by then..."
"Promise?" Saturn wondered. "What are you talking about?"
"I told Sailor ChibiMoon that as long as I lived, no more of you were going to be harmed. My mom and dad always taught me never to break a promise - and I'm going to do my best to make sure that nothing goes wrong."
Saturn didn't respond at first, but somehow, she looked more at ease as she glanced into Gohan's bright, smiling face. The Saiyan hybrid was relieved; he didn't want to come off as another Vegeta - he truly did mean to protect the princess from harm despite using her for bait in his plan. And thus far, the aliens hadn't thrown him anything he couldn't handle...
His thoughts were interrupted as he caught Saturn smiling slightly, her thoughts wandering elsewhere.
"Sailor Saturn?" He asked her. "Is everything okay?"
Saturn snapped out of it, giggling a bit.
"Sorry, I was just thinking," She replied. "It's nice and strange at the same time - throughout my entire life, I've always had some kind of guardian watching over me. Sometimes it was my friends, other times it was Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama, and Setsuna-mama, and now it's you, a total stranger..."
"Well, it's what the queen called us here for," Gohan responded. "Besides, you guys were nice enough to put us up for our time here - it's the least we could do."
"Is that all it is then?" She wondered. "Is it just a challenge for you, and repaying a debt to us and your planet?"
"Partially..." Gohan folded his arms across his chest, his memories flooding into his mind. "I've just seen a world picked apart by enemies like these aliens; it was a terrible feeling, you know, seeing so much death..."
Saturn listened intently, and Gohan started losing himself in his words.
"During an adventure on another planet...Piccolo's planet...I found a village that had been massacred without mercy. And I watched as another village was obliterated by the same fighters. They didn't even spare the children...and I was powerless to stop them both times."
"How terrible!" Saturn cried. "What happened on that planet? Why were they slaughtering Piccolo's people the way they were?"
A sudden prick at his senses drew Gohan out of his daydreaming - a few small battle powers were approaching from the west at a slow speed. Sailor Saturn had her glaive raised - she'd apparently noticed the energies with whatever senses she possessed.
"Two of them...and they're getting closer..." Gohan pressed up against the wall, motioning for Sailor Saturn to do the same. "This could be our chance...I'll tell you about Namek some other time."
"I'm eager to hear about it," She nodded, tensing her muscles. "I just hope that these ones will be as reasonable as you hope, Gohan..."
* * *
ChibiMoon had been complaining under her breath continuously for the last few minutes. How Gohan had managed to talk her into being the worm on the hook, she'd never know. Maybe she'd showed too much eagerness in wanting to find and destroy the command post that her heart ran away with her head.
Whatever the way, she found herself strung up above the armory like a piñata, gasping at times as her lungs were constricted. She called herself (not to mention Gohan and Hotaru, in a more derogatory way) variations of crazy and stupid for allowing them to do this to her, though as she watched Gohan peek out reassuringly from the accounting office from time to time, she felt herself relaxing more. If anything happened, Gohan would've been there to ensure that she would be safe and sound. He'd been her knight in shining armor so far, and she felt guilty about doubting him.
Maybe someone will fire at me, cutting me loose...then he'd swoop down and catch me...
She felt herself smiling broadly as he envisioned the scenario, and she was so enraptured in her fantasy that she didn't notice the two burly armored forms dropping down in front of her.
Gasping, she decided that the safest route was to play dead - they couldn't catch her in deception through any questioning if she wasn't conscious enough to answer them. Before the two soldiers turned their complete attention to her, she squeezed her eyes closed, hanging as limply as she could to create the illusion.
It seemed to work for the alien soldiers as she listened in to their conversation.
"Wow, good thing you caught that power reading, Byderz; you led us to a prize catch!" The gruff voice of one of the soldiers guffawed to his partner.
"The princess of Crystal Tokyo...I wonder how she got out here in the middle of nowhere on her own?" The other soldier's lighter, crisper voice rang through her ears. "Seeing her up close doesn't impress me - she looks more like a friggin doll than she does a princess."
"Look how scrawny she is!" The first one laughed. "I'll bet it would only take an insecticide mine to bring her to her knees!"
ChibiMoon felt herself clenching her teeth inside her closed mouth, struggling not to let the anger out of her.
"She's certainly not what I expected for a future ruler for a country," The second soldier's voice was a lot closer, and ChibiMoon felt a large hand yank the tattered paper off of her bound chest. Seconds passed in silence, and the soldier called back to his partner. "Heh, what horrible luck for the poor sap that landed this catch - he got called off on other orders before he could make the delivery!"
"His loss is our gain," The first soldier replied. "Hey, we've got the princess of Crystal Tokyo either way; I say we have some fun while she's up there! You up for some target practice, Byderz? I'll bet you a week's pay I can scorch a shot right through her eye!"
ChibiMoon felt her blood freezing, sweat dripping down the back of her neck as she silently hoped that Gohan and Sailor Saturn caught that last remark. However, her fears were assuaged as his partner responded to him crassly.
"Are you a complete idiot?! Think about how much Damos'll pay us if we bring in the princess for him alive! I'll bet we both get promoted to full captains after this one!"
"Relax, relax, I was joking," ChibiMoon let out a soft breath as he heard the first soldier lifting himself into the air. "Cut her down and let's take her to Sub-Commander Silvars; he'll want a look at our prize."
"Just make sure you file a report before we let Silvars know about it - slimy bastard's likely to take the credit for himself if I know him."
"Heh, yeah, I know...he's definitely not commander material..." As the first soldier drifted off, ChibiMoon felt a hot beam slicing through the dangling rope, and the muscular arms of her captor tucked her tightly against his body as he soared off into the air.
Well, this is it... She mused to herself as she peeked out at her surroundings - they were just flying leisurely at the moment, and she couldn't sneak a glance down at the ground without being noticed by the soldier. She only hoped that Gohan and Saturn could shadow the two grunts well enough to find the command post and bail her out of the mess she'd volunteered for.
Ah, Gohan...I hope you'll be the one carrying me back to the palace after you make your heroic rescue...
* * *
"It's working!" Gohan cried as the two soldiers sped off through the air. He had a good read on their battle powers, and ChibiMoon's pure ki definitely assisted in keeping them in his sights. "Come on, let's go!"
He snared Saturn and instantly energized, soaring after the soldiers at a generous speed. Saturn had gripped tightly onto her glaive, adjusting herself in Gohan's smaller arms.
"Comfortable?" He asked nonchalantly after a while - her squirming had increased significantly. It was a bit more unwieldy to carry Sailor Saturn given the larger height discrepancy between the two, and Gohan had to twist his arms every so often to ensure that she didn't slip away.
Saturn didn't answer at first, but she stammered a quick response as she tried in vain to brush her hair out of her eyes.
"Couldn't be better. I'm tracking them through my own senses."
"Try not to use too much energy, or else they'll detect us. Can you make a guess as to where they're going?" He called down.
"Well, they are approaching a bunch of dilapidated hotel complexes on the western edge of the defense perimeter...those would probably be the most ideal places to hide soldiers."
Gohan kept his senses keenly focused on the soldiers, being sure to especially lock onto Sailor ChibiMoon's pure ki in case something went wrong. Ten minutes later, the soldiers touched down in front of a particularly lofty building.
"Le Fin...why didn't I think of that?" Saturn whispered as Gohan set down a block or so away. He quickly pulled both of them behind the remains of a liquor store. He quickly took a peek around the corner - the soldiers' stances and faint conversational tone was relieving; despite their relatively close proximity, they hadn't detected them.
"What's Le Fin?" Gohan inquired as he closely eyed the soldiers.
"The city's largest hotel suite and casino - it was one of the biggest cash cows for the entertainment industry. There was one renovation that made it stand out among most of its competitors, though."
The soldiers had paused, clicking several buttons on their scouters as they lingered outside the hotel. The larger one had set ChibiMoon down on the ground next to him. Gohan could sense all of her energy, so he figured that she was doing a very respectable job of playing dead.
"What was that?"
"The casino wasn't simply the bottom levels of the hotel - it was built completely on two expansive basement levels."
"Expansive enough to hide a command post?" Gohan brightly asked.
Saturn smiled back at him with a glimmer of triumph.
"Definitely; now let's go get the princess before--"
"Hold on a minute," Gohan gripped onto Sailor Saturn's shoulder before she could move out into the open. "They've probably got the entire area inside guarded. If we show ourselves too quickly."
"True..." Saturn sounded overly annoyed at the idea of leaving the princess out in the line of fire any longer than necessary, but she was smart enough to see his logic. "If we have to sneak behind them indoors, it could get risky..."
"Relax...nothing you and I can't handle, right?"
"You're never lacking in confidence, are you?"
The first soldier scooped up the prone ChibiMoon and made a small motion to his partner. Seconds later, both aliens strolled casually indoors.
"Can you sense anything inside the lobby?" Saturn whispered to Gohan as both of them cautiously moved forward. "I can feel a lot of relaxed powers inside...all grouped together."
"Yeah...about...maybe a dozen, a bit more if we're unlucky."
"The front door's a bottleneck - it'd be suicide, even for you if we tried through there..."
Gohan had another childish smirk on his face, taking in a deep breath.
"Who said we had to use the front entrance? I'm content with going through the wall if we have to."
Saturn initially rolled her eyes at Gohan's gung-ho attitude, but she didn't seem to have any viable alternatives. She threw the Saiyan boy a glance - Gohan could tell her mind was clicking.
"I think I have an idea..."
* * *
The elevator leading up to the ground level was certainly big enough for Sub-Commander Tre'ik Silvars if he'd ridden alone, but the mindless muscle-bound duo that served as his personal bodyguards were nearly smothering him within the tight oval space. The two grunts didn't seem to mind - they were silently enduring the elevator ride even as their superior squirmed uncomfortably in the small confines.
Silvars had been in a foul mood for the entire day - the humans scavenging the area had been causing nothing but trouble for his battle group for the last few days, raiding their supply convoys and making off with a significant amount of cargo. Head Commander Bortyx would've had his head just for that alone, so Silvars had planned on making it up to the commander by staging a surprise attack on the Crystal Tokyo western garrison.
How the scenario should've played out still tantalized Silvars to no end - his troops would crush the western garrison and leave the north blockades in disarray. Bortyx - being the eternal strategist and opportunist - would send in the rest of the earthbound forces like a tidal wave to consume the confused masses of Crystal Tokyo scum, conquering the last remaining human stronghold in short order. Bortyx and, more importantly, General Damos, would laud his brilliance and resolve for leading the conquest of the humans. He'd nearly been delusional while envisioning the possible rewards the general could've presented him with - a place in the elite Horde, command of a starship, perhaps even his own planet.
Things had been going well despite the claims by the field commanders that their troops were under-prepared. Silvars had waved off the concerns without a second thought - after all, the frail humans were attacking with nothing but common swords and had no experience with ki warfare whatsoever; how tough could one garrison possible be against his men?
But reports of stonewalling near the edge of the sector by Crystal Tokyo forces had been when everything had started to go horribly wrong. Reports from fleeing units had identified several of the new Mystery Mercenaries as the leaders of the counter-offensive, and before Silvars could request reinforcements from his outlying squads, the entire company had been routed, with only five or six coming back alive out of a group of nearly forty.
The loss would've been relatively minor in the long run, but Head Commander Bortyx had been furious when he'd inquired about the unscheduled ambush. Forty soldiers had been wasted needlessly, something that Bortyx's ruthless efficiency despised above all else. In between the commander's ranting and raving, Silvars had managed to conveniently shift the blame over to his now-ex-second-in-command. The circumstances were dubious, but with Bortyx in such a rage, he'd taken out his frustrations on the accused without question, and Silvars head hadn't been the one chopped off.
The men had been giving him murderous glances since the communications with Bortyx, but Silvars spat at them within his mind. What did he care if his grunts thought him a coward? He was the commander of the west battalions; it hadn't been his fault that forty men couldn't deal with a mere handful of unknowns. Why should he have taken the fall for their weaknesses?
His mood had become elevated when two of his scouts had reported their capture of the human princess - Silvars hadn't been able to believe his luck. Damos and Bortyx would certainly forget about the small smear once he presented the girl to them.
He smirked even as the bicep of one of his guards caught him in his right eye.
Starship Commander Silvars...Horde elite Silvars...Overlord Sil--
A sudden tremor violently shook the elevator, and the sub-commander was thrown onto his back. One of his guards was also unbalanced by the powerful shock, he stumbled and fell backward onto his superior. Silvars screeched and flailed his arms as his lungs were compressed.
"Dammit...! Get off'n me, you clumsy fool!!"
The guard jumped up as another tremor caused the elevator to shudder. Silvars was thrown back against the steel wall, banging his head.
"By the Cold, what is it now!!" He cried out, though he already hypothesized that they were under attack. "Contact the lobby security!!!"
The second guard quickly tapped into the scouter, opening a link to the ground level soldiers. Silvars felt his pulse racing again - how could they have discovered their location? And where had they accumulated enough resources to launch an attack this surgical and effective?
"-attack, I repeat, we are under attack!!" A frantic voice - Silvars recognized it as the Security Chief Dy'one - spilled out of the scouter's crackling vocal circuitry. After another powerful shock, the link was shattered, and the guard's scouter only spewed obnoxious, useless static.
Silvars felt his blood boiling - the two squads of aerial defenders that were supposed to be patrolling the area outside the facility would be compost when he was through with them. He furiously jammed the buttons on his scouter, attempting to reach anyone that he could.
"My perimeter defenders!! Where the hell are they?!!" He grew more and more agitated as he received repeated responses of nothing but static.
"Excuse me, sir, but..." The first of his bodyguards stuttered uneasily as Silvars turned his reddening eyes toward him. "You sent them out as part of the attack wave...none of them came back, and reinforcements won't be here for another hour..."
Silvars felt his heart sink, his breath catching in his throat.
"Damn it all, why didn't someone inform me of that before I committed them to the offensive?!! You're all worthless!!"
The elevator controls had gone offline after the first explosion, and the two guards were looking startled and clueless.
"Now, don't just stand there, you morons!! Blast us out of here and get up there!!" He barked at them.
The two soldiers readily complied, firing a pair of ki blasts that tore through the roof of the elevator as if the metal was paper. The robust duo was quickly out through the small opening and soaring up the darkened shaft toward the ground level.
Silvars rubbed the back of his head and groggily stood up. However, before he could blast off, he felt the oval-shaped cubicle falling victim to gravity - the two imbeciles had vaporized the support cables for the elevator when they had blasted their way out.
The elevator picked up speed, throwing Silvars off his feet once more, and it was all the sub-commander could do to scream as the module plummeted to the lowest basement of the complex.
* * *
Sailor Saturn - much like the rest of the Outer Soldiers - wasn't altogether comfortable with the idea of uncertainty in a battle situation; after all, through their experiences, taking gambles almost always led to disaster. Even as she'd explained her plan to the attentive Gohan, the rational part of her mind had been berating her for even considering such suicidal nonsense.
But at the moment, it seemed that her moment of spontaneity had paid off - she'd rushed the main entrance of the complex with all the speed she could muster - the initial trio of guards conversing near the doorway hadn't seen her Silence Glaive Surprise attack until it was too late. She'd been satisfied with the results - all three had been torn to shreds by the attack; it relieved her that she was still effective in some way against the aliens.
Of course, the remaining guards had been on her like a pack of wolves - had it not been for her Silence Wall, their ki blasts and fists would've shredded her almost immediately.
Gohan had been quick to play his part, using his Masenko beam to explode a rather large section of wall adjacent to the main entrance. The beam was so powerful that it incinerated the entire west wing of the lobby, including entire crates of equipment and portable security stations. The crushing wave of attackers had been swept back by the force of the blast alone, and it had nicely fried several of the ranged gun-equipped soldiers.
With some breathing room, Gohan and Sailor Saturn had taken a bead on the left flank of the attackers, where most of them were grouped. After a combined attack of a Masenko beam and another Silence Glaive Surprise attack, the bulk of the alien guards were sprawled on the ruined floor, dead or mortally injured. Only a handful of the startled enemies remained standing.
"Almost too easy," Gohan proudly surveyed his handiwork, the fierce glow of the energy surrounding him beginning to dissipate. "Now where is--"
"Stay back!!" One of the remaining soldiers barked toward them from the back of the lobby. Sailor Saturn recognized him as one of the soldiers who'd been carrying the captive princess; she immediately raised her glaive defensively - the soldier had a stranglehold on ChibiMoon and was using her as a human shield with an energized fist at her right temple. Saturn and Gohan didn't move.
The soldier had been slightly injured in the initial attack - blood oozed from a deep wound in his side, and blood was dribbling down his left cheek. He had a crazed look in his eye, and his glowing fist trembled precariously. ChibiMoon was struggling to breathe under the strain of the soldier's large forearm, and she was looking somewhat terrified.
"I'll put a hole right through her head!! Get back!!!" He screamed as his remaining comrades rallied to him. Before Saturn and Gohan could move, the metal doors of one of the deadened elevators at the back of the lobby erupted. As the steel bits of the elevator doors skipped across the lobby floor, two larger-than-average soldiers zipped through the smoke.
"Terrific..." Gohan mumbled to himself as his eyes darted back and forth between the twin giants and ChibiMoon's captors. He was clearly thinking of rushing the mob nonetheless, but the risk was too great, especially with the soldier's weakened physical condition and shaky arm. "Now what?"
Saturn growled in frustration, her anger rising as she studied the fearful expression on the faces of the soldiers. They all appeared to recognize and revere Gohan, and the fact that he was accompanied by a Sailor Soldier had put them into a state of near panic; they'd been reduced to cowering behind a human shield, her best friend, no less, the same best friend who she'd been powerless to save the previous evening.
She felt her anger beginning to condense around her, feeding her energy - for a brief instant, she felt her Sailor Soldier form overtaking her mind, the pure rage and her potent energies coalescing into a powerful combination. These damned cowards didn't deserve to breathe Earth's air; she had to cleanse them from--
"I'll get her!!" A shout from her left broke her flow, and Gohan zipped along the wrecked left side of the lobby in the direction of the gang. Saturn stared after him with astonished and exasperation - that clueless boy was endangering the princess even more than she already was with such an action; his idiotic scheming had gotten them into this mess to begin with.
The soldiers behind ChibiMoon's captor finally resolved on a course of action; as Gohan zipped past the lumbering duo that had just crashed through the elevator, each of them took their turns at Gohan.
Saturn shifted her gaze to the one holding the princess, scowling even more as he began to back up nervously. Gohan was already downing two of his comrades as the larger ones began to close in from behind, and the glowing fist was looking even shakier.
"No..." She whispered, releasing the stored energy. She felt herself surging forward, carried by the weight of her own power toward the unsuspecting guard. "No!!"
Her glaive skewered the already ugly wound in the guard's side - he let out an agonized scream as the energy in his hand suddenly dissipated. Seeing her opportunity, Saturn yanked the glaive out of the soldier's side and drove deep into his exposed throat. Letting out a liquidy gasp, the soldier's tight hold on ChibiMoon was broken and the princess fell to the ground.
Saturn waited until the dying alien crumpled onto his knees, a waterfall of blood draining out of his throat. She stared at the thug with pure contempt, enjoying the sight of him letting out his last death spasms before becoming motionless on the floor.
"Bastard..." She murmured, yanking the glaive out of the corpse's throat. As she soaked in the sight of the bloody mess, Sailor Saturn felt the cloud of rage around her fading away, and she began to calm herself, her pulse slowing down. She bent down and undid the rope holding the princess, helping her dazed friend up to her feet. "Are you okay, ChibiMoon?"
"Fine now, thanks to the two of you..." She stuttered, holding her head - she'd banged it on the way down. "I never get used to that look in your eye when you...get that way."
Sailor Saturn faltered a bit, staring back at the corpse of the soldier that she'd so been so satisfied to watch die in front of her. She relished in his anguish and the obscene amount of blood flowing down his chest. She didn't respond to the princess - she'd already seen it happen to her before, when the darker side of her Sailor Soldier form took over.
"You guys?" Gohan's voice broke the icy silence, and it took Sailor Saturn a moment to realize that he'd finished with the security guards. Their broken, bleeding bodies were strewn about the floor, including the mammoth carcasses of the twin goliaths that had joined late. "I'm glad you're okay - that was a close call."
"Gohan!" ChibiMoon cried in elation, throwing her arms around his neck. "I knew you'd be here! I wasn't worried, not for a bit!"
Saturn scowled - of all the times to become lovesick.
Gohan wasn't sure how to react - he stared at the blushing ChibiMoon blankly for a moment before offering a warm smile.
"I'm just keeping my promise, that's all!"
"I'm sure..." Saturn was still overly annoyed - she cast a small glare over at Gohan in light of his latest instance of irrationality. And how could ChibiMoon fall all over him without as much as a 'thank you' to her?
And there's that aforementioned promise again.such a hero, and everything. And while he didn't react in an overly positive manner to ChibiMoon's smothering affection, it did remind her briefly of the aerial trip to the complex - she had to admit that despite flying at such an altitude, she'd felt completely safe with Gohan, as if nothing could go wrong.
She decided to shrug it off - there were more important things to accomplish at the moment.
"So this is where the command post is?" ChibiMoon asked. "It makes sense; I would've thought of it eventually."
Saturn ignored the quip.
"They're probably coordinating the soldiers from the basement levels. Considering the equipment they had here, who knows what's down below."
"You said the levels were deep and expansive.I don't think I could generate a Masenko wave that could completely destroy the place, at least without risking attention from any other enemy forces."
"I think it would be better if we completely went through the place first anyhow, just to make sure nobody survives. We can even gather some intelligence on enemy activity if we're lucky enough."
Gohan pounded a fist into an open palm.
"Let's fly down the shaft, they'll never--"
"Attack...attack...!!!!" A shrieking voice rang out from the empty elevator shaft. "Don't stop, you idiots, kill them all!!"
"Somebody's coming!" The three backed away from the open doorway as the ranting voice grew louder. Apparently, whoever was down there thought there was still a battle going on.
"His battle power's not very high..." Gohan mused as he readied himself.
After half a minute of waiting, a small armored figure appeared out of the blackness of the shaft. Sailor Saturn lowered her glaive - the purple squid-like alien was noticeably bruised and cut, and bits of his armor had been chipped off. From the far-away look in his eyes, she guessed that he had little or no clue as to what he was doing.
"Vic...victory...for Damos...victory...for...Sub-commander Silvars," He stumbled back against the wall, shaking his head and attempting to clear the cobwebs. Finally, he seemed to notice the trio. He straightened himself, putting forth a somewhat dignified aura. "Y...you!! How dare you assault the army of Sub-commander Silvars!! You shall pay for this outrage!! Guards!!"
His bellow resonated throughout the lofty chamber, but only silence answered him.
"What the...?" Silvars glanced feverishly around at the broken bodies. "Where are my two personal bodyguards!! I sent them up a minute ago!"
Sailor ChibiMoon leaned over and whispered to Sailor Saturn.
"I think he's referring to the big guys that Gohan beat up earlier."
Saturn shook her head at the skittish little vermin - if this was the kind of command structure that Damos's army possessed, then she would have felt embarrassed that they'd been losing against them this whole time.
Silvars's gaze eventually landed on Gohan, and he let out a horrified gasp. His maw hung open as he thrust a gloved arm in Gohan's direction.
"You...I haven't forgotten your face from the Priority Listings.you're the one who beat Captain Infernia!!"
"Me?" Gohan approached the trembling commander calmly. Saturn couldn't fault him for lack of defense - the only energies emanating from the alien were fearful ones. As the boy slowly approached him, Silvars nearly stumbled backward and fell. He was deathly afraid of the boy. "Well, now that you're here, could you tell me who's charge of this place?"
For a brief instant, Silvars appeared indignant.
"Little...urchin!! I am the commander of the forces stationed in this region. You've...you've no right to speak to me like that, the gall!!"
Gohan studied the alien officer carefully, shaking his head.
"Nah, you couldn't possibly be in charge here," he concluded nonchalantly. Silvars gaped at the remark. "I mean, your soldiers had us in a bit of a fix back there and they were much more capable than you were. The commander for those guys has to be much stronger and tougher than you are."
"Why you miserable...!!!"
Silvars looked bold enough to take a swing at Gohan, but as a small bit of dust trickled down onto both of them from the damaged ceiling, Gohan suddenly reared his head back and let out a monstrous sneeze.
"He'll be caught off--"
Saturn was about to move - Silvars could've capitalized on him if he was temporarily occupied - but the sudden jolting move had triggered the officer's wired nerves, and he'd jumped back so far that he tumbled down the open door of the elevator shaft. Saturn heard the alien's shrieking voice reverberate all the way down until she heard him slam into the ground several stories below them.
"Ouch..." ChibiMoon cringed, but she was fighting to suppress a laugh. "What a loser."
Gohan lifted his head up, sniffling a bit.
"Uggh, excuse me," He absently said, glancing around. "Hey, where'd he go?"
Saturn moved forward and patted Gohan on the shoulder.
"Relax, he's moved on to better things. He wouldn't have been worth the trouble anyway."
* * *
Silvars found himself staring up into the blackness of the elevator shift. His resistant skin and armor had saved from certain death at within the ruins of his elevator cubicle, but oh, the unrelenting pain.
Bad dream...yeah, that's it...two Sailor Soldiers and one of the Mystery Mercenaries didn't just obliterate a quarter of my remaining staff and ruin the security equipment...
In the back of his mind, he knew that wishful thinking couldn't help him - with the perimeter breached, they would be down looking for more trouble in a matter of seconds. They'd been courageous and brash enough to tear their way this far...Bortyx was going to have his head if the damage reports ever got to him. Considering the potency of the boy alone...
Silvars glanced upward, already detecting movement in the shadows from the lobby elevator entrance. They were coming, coming for him, coming for his career and life...
By now, the additional guards within the lower levels of the facility had gotten wind that something was wrong, and a small contingent was rushing toward the ruined elevator and their downed commander.
One of them - a high sergeant from his markings - bent down to inspect the injured sub-commander.
"Sir? What of the lobby security forces? We've lost all radio contact."
Silvars weakly lifted his throbbing head, feeling bones pop in the back of his stiffened neck.
"In...coming...kill...them..." He squeaked before blacking out.
* * *
"I'm reading a lot of battle powers down there..." Gohan murmured as he peered down the hollow, dark shaft. "This won't be easy."
"We haven't come this far, right?" ChibiMoon brightly reminded him. "Besides, I get the feeling we can take on anything as long as you're leading the way."
"Oh, brother..." Saturn was beginning to feel her stomach turn - ChibiMoon had been known for laying it on thick with her love interests, but this was becoming absurd.
Gohan hovered out into the pitch darkness of the vertical tunnel, motioning for Saturn and ChibiMoon to come to the shaft's edge.
"I'll take point - they'll probably be waiting for us down there," He suggested. Saturn shook her head - Gohan's eagerness to mete out justice was tireless, and his strength and endurance rivaled his resolve easily. "Think you guys can handle a fall from this height?"
"We can fly a little, don't forget," Saturn told him, holding up the blood-covered glaive. "Just give us enough room and we'll be fine."
"See you at the bottom!" He gave them one last smile before energizing and zipping downward, the white energy trail illuminating the tunnel and making him appear like a falling star.
"Isn't he wonderful..." ChibiMoon muttered dreamily to herself. Saturn took her long glaive in one hand and her partner's wrist in the other.
"We'll wait until he 'introduces' himself to the rest of our enemies, then we'll follow," She explained as ChibiMoon drew out her scepter. "This could get ugly...we don't know what exactly they'll throw at us once we get down there."
"Let's just stick together, watch our backs like always," ChibiMoon proposed. "We've lived to see this far, so we have to win!"
A brilliant explosion of red-orange energy at the bottom of the shaft nearly blinded them. As Saturn squeezed her eyes closed to ward off the effects of the awesome light, she heard the faint echoing of energy blasts being fired and fists crunching.
"Let's go!" Saturn yanked on Sailor ChibiMoon's wrist, and both went soaring down into the darkness toward their comrade, and hopefully toward victory.
* * *
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are now currently proceeding to our final destination, the New Planet of the North Kaio. If you'd please prepare for departure, we'll be arriving within a few moments," the airplane pilot's calm and friendly voice informed the remaining occupants of the craft - only the five Sailor Soldiers - as the thick, unwieldy craft dipped toward a small green planetoid.
As Pluto continued to stare outward at the prism-like void outside their transport craft, her fascination continued to grow with the realization of Heaven's makeup. No legend or mythology in Earth's history had reflected the true nature of what this place was - a metaphysical realm without the limitations of the lesser galaxies, its own self-contained system of planets that were not dependent on any source of heat or a balanced atmosphere. It was essentially the Universe, without the taxing physical demands. The more Pluto pondered the idea, the more she began to realize that such a concept truly was bliss, at least for humans.
Sailor Pluto stretched her arms and legs and stood from the velvet- cushioned chair. Peering behind her, she noticed her four comrades doing the same, though she noticed that Sailor Jupiter was wide awake, alert, and as fidgety as she was at the start of the trip. A neutral expression was on her face, which pleased Sailor Pluto - she'd been glad enough that Jupiter had faced and conquered her fear.
Jupiter caught the time guardian's gaze, smiling and standing up, stretching her back.
"My first airplane trip since I was small," She remarked. "Ironic that it's taken me here, the same place it took my parents."
"Will you attempt to locate them during our time here, if you're given a chance?" She inquired.
"Of course! I have to see what they've been up to for all these years," She excitedly told her. "But the prospect of getting stronger on the side is giving me even more energy."
"I've been thinking though," Sailor Mars had her arms folded and was comfortably sunken into her chair. "Lord Enma mentioned that this guy was a martial arts master - I doubt this will be merely a mental power upgrade like we've experienced before."
"I've been pondering that myself," Sailor Mercury, comfortably seated by the circular glass window, added after a small yawn. "I'm not exactly certain if I'm cut out for hardcore martial arts if that's what this training entails."
Jupiter and Venus both look unconcerned; being the most physically active members out of the current group, Sailor Pluto could understand their confidence.
"Can't be anything we can't handle - after all, it's not like we're going to die if we strain ourselves," Venus reminded them as she stood up. "Besides, the letter from the Guardian of the past Earth said it would take time before all those artifacts could be gathered. We'll have plenty of time to get ourselves in shape."
"I'll take much time as necessary," Jupiter vowed, cracking her neck. "If we can become as strong as Tridyx was, then no army could possibly stand in our way, even those aliens!"
"Sailor Pluto, have you ever heard of this Lord Kaio?" Sailor Mars asked. "Throughout all my years, I've never come across his name in my scrolls."
"Your studies are not lacking, Mars; even I know less about him than I did about Lord Enma," Pluto shook her head. "Though from his title, I would gather that he is a being of unfathomable energy - he's more than likely existed far longer than even Lord Enma himself."
"Then he's got to have the greatest fighting skill than any master I've ever studied under on Earth," Jupiter hypothesized. "This is going to be great! The secrets of fighting laid bare right in front of me!"
"Easy there, Jupiter..." Venus play-punched her friend in the shoulder. "Looks like we're coming down. Let's get moving - we don't want to be late!"
The five Sailor Soldiers moved toward the back of the plane as it touched down on a miniature stone runway on the south end of the planet. Sailor Pluto took a deep breath - not much was completely unknown to her, which may've explained the relentless anticipation that was building inside of her. She was looking forward to this meeting.
* * *
"Well, they're here, right on time."
"Excellent! I haven't had any students for centuries.I hope their spunk and bravado are as legendary as the stories I've heard about them."
"They'd certainly make some terrific sparring partners.please, can I have a crack at one of them?"
"No, not right away. I have to see if they're worthy of the training first; if they pass the initial tests, then maybe I'll set you loose on them. For now, you can be content to stay here and observe."
"You did promise. That's why I made the trip over here!"
"Calm down, child. You'll get your chance if my suspicions about their abilities are correct. And you know often I'm correct."
"Okay, okay...the usual method, I guess?"
"As always. It turns out the best pupils."
Adjusting his glasses and straightening his gi, he stepped outside.
* * *
The runway was remarkably close to the only visible structure within the immediate area. A grand, palatial estate stood tall nearby, its exterior a brilliant, flawless shade of white with rivers leading out from its source.
"Can you believe this..." Sailor Mars couldn't help but stare with the rest of them at the wondrous place around them. Aside from the runway and the splendid building nearby, they were completely embraced by nature on the tiny world. Thick grasslands spread for miles around them, broken off by thick forests on the horizon. Small rivers cut through the land with pure crystalline water, untouched by humanoid beings. Though no sun could be found, somehow, it was light, like the middle of the afternoon.
"It was nearing the beginning of autumn back home..." Sailor Venus took a long sniff of the fresh air as a wonderfully warm breeze swept by them. "It feels like a perfect day in spring..."
Sailor Jupiter dropped down into the grass - it nearly enveloped her, like a blanket.
"Is this Eternity?" She muttered as she gazed dreamily up into the cloudless sky. "Give me an occasional snowfall...and I'll be happy."
Sailor Pluto concurred - she hadn't nearly felt this relaxed for some time, especially by just standing around doing nothing. The environment was quite naturally perfect - a flawless mix between warmth and coolness.
Though she wished they could bask in the sights for a longer time, she already felt a twinge of power pricking at her senses, nagging her away from her daydream-come-to-life. Somebody was approaching from the extravagant palace.
"Let's go and meet him," Sailor Mercury suggested. "Maybe he can direct us to Lord Kaio."
The Sailor Soldiers gathered themselves and approached the figure. As they closed distance, Sailor Mars noticed that the humanoid was short, nearly squat. His extensive girth and a gi that engulfed his entire body gave him the appearance of a giant black-and-red rubber ball - Mars had to stifle a laugh as the comparison rang in her mind.
The creature's round face mirrored the clear blue sky above them, and tendrils resembling those of a catfish dangled from the bottoms of his plump cheeks. A thin pair of circular sunglasses encircled his beady eyes and sat below a pair of cricket-like antennae, and a small cap sat atop pointed ears and a perfectly spherical head. He bore a warm, peaceful expression on his round face, something Sailor Mars remembered from her old grandfather.
Finally, they caught up with the catfish-creature. Instead of introductions, however, the pale blue being glanced all of them over, occasionally muttering something incoherent under his breath.
The Sailor Soldiers glanced back and forth at each other wordlessly as the strange being continued his study. Finally, Sailor Jupiter offered to break the awkward silence.
"Excuse me, but could you tell us where we could find the martial arts master, Lord Kaio?"
The beady-eyed creature glanced over at her, laughing a bit.
"My, but don't you have a powerful frame! Sailor Jupiter, warrior of thunder!" He nearly cackled. "They say you're as tough as they come on Earth." His twin antennae flickered, and suddenly Jupiter's own antenna that she used to channel her thunder attacks sprang out of her tiara. Electricity crackled up and down the creature's antennae, and Jupiter's tiara responded similarly, much to her surprise. "It appears we're on the same wavelength, you and I."
He motioned to the wire-thin tentacles with a wild laugh.
"You wouldn't believe how many channels I can get with these things!"
"Don't mess with that!" Jupiter had been slightly frazzled by the zaps of thunder on her tiara, and she deactivated it of her own will and shot a glare toward the rolly-polly creature. "My powers are not a toy!"
He held up his grubby hands in mock defense.
"Please, Ms. Jupiter," He said. "Don't thunder so loudly, you might cause a storm!"
With this quip, he suddenly burst out laughing, almost uncontrollably. Jupiter became more agitated at the horrid pun, though she had no immediate response to it, much like her comrades. Mars gaped with disbelief at Mercury - not even the queen's oddball sense of humor would've permitted such a terrible line...
"Now, now, moving along, moving along..." He collected himself, going from left to right in proclaiming the names of the remaining Sailor Soldiers. "Sailor Venus, Sailor Mercury.bah, you have me confused - why does one who hails from a rock of a planet such as Mercury have the power to control water?"
Sailor Mercury backpedaled a step, stammering for a response. The blue creature simply laughed more.
"No need to sort out the details with me - after all, on that planet during a drought, things just go from one ex-stream to another! Bwaha, I'm on a roll today!"
"Wha...er...huh??" Venus was standing next to Mercury, arching her eyebrows in astonishment.
The being turned toward her next, leaning backward and forming his hands in the shape of square, a pseudo-reference to a stereotypical director.
"Ah, Sailor Venus, like Venus de Milo," He said. Venus, though still somewhat confused seemed to appreciate the compliment. "You know, a friend of mine once told me that Venus de Milo was his favorite statue from Earth."
"R...really?" She stuttered.
"Yes, he said it very disarmingly!" He broke out into another laughing fit, and Sailor Venus grew red in the face - Mars tried to restrain her from doing anything rash, reminding her about what happened when they'd acted so crassly on the bridge outside the Judgment Seat.
"Sailor Mars, the great voice of reason!" He had calmed himself, using a mock-booming voice as he observed the fire soldier. She attempted to reach into his mind and ascertain what exactly the stout creature was, but something was keeping her senses out - either he had more capable mental powers than she did, or he was at least better at keeping other people out of his mind for whatever reason. "Uh-uh, no fair peeking!"
He gave a teasing wag of his finger, and Sailor Mars jumped back, fearing that she'd damned herself for the effort.
"No need to be shocked, I get that sort of reaction a lot," His reaction suddenly grew stoic, all of the incessant humor melting away in an instant. "They say you can read fire as good as minds.is this true?"
Sailor Mars attempted to be respectful.
"Well...yes, of course, better than anybody!"
"Then, may I ask you this?" He leaned in close to her. "...Do you believe in light after death?"
Mars nearly fell over as the small blue creature skipped along to Sailor Pluto, who was looking perturbed but slightly calmer than the rest of the girls. Mars threw a glance over to the steamed Sailor Venus - who did this little prankster think he was humiliating them like that?
"I assume you're going to try pulling a pun about time on me, little man," She sternly said to him. "I'm way ahead of you."
"Ah, yes," The creature adjusted his glasses, seeming more reverent of Sailor Pluto. "The great guardian of time is never surprised - can you always see which way time flies, Ms. Pluto?"
"You seem to know enough about us, you should know about my experiences guarding the Gates of Time. I performed that task for centuries upon centuries."
"Excuse me, could you run that past me again?" He cupped one hand to his large pointed ear.
"What? You heard me loud and clear!"
"Sorry, Ms. Pluto," He shrugged casually. "You know how it is: in one era and out the other!"
"He got her, too..." Venus said with a hint of defeat as the strange blue creature fell to the ground laughing. Pluto had seemed like she wanted to respond, but she was just staring down at the small being with a mixture of bewilderment and contempt. "He's unstoppable..."
"I don't have time for this!" Jupiter roared. "Listen, we don't have time for these games!! We're looking for the Lord Kaio, the great martial arts master that's supposed to live here!! Can you tell us where he is, or not?!"
After half a minute of listening to the creature's annoying laughter, he finally kipped up to his feet with surprising ease. He stood proudly and erect, thrusting out his chest a bit and speaking with a more dignified tone.
"Look no further, Sailor Jupiter!" He bellowed. "For you have found him!"
