"Sailor Angel and Sailor Phosphora: The Fight Against Catastrophe"
Chapter Sixteen
By Angel Sentier and M'Lila Cronk
Two days, and the plan was ready. Artemis discovered that the protection spell on the rift was weakest at midnight, right as it renewed itself for the coming day. The plan was to have everyone, except for Usagi and a small group to protect her, gather around the rift and combine powers in order to get through it in one piece. Setsuna would use her considerable powers over time space to keep the rift open as long as she could.
It was the afternoon of the evening this was to take place when the senshi received their strange message.
Everyone was doing whatever they each did to prepare... Whether that was sparring, meditating, praying, sleeping, eating; or, in Minako's case, trying to wrest a good-bye kiss from Yaten. Thus far, according to the magnitude of her pouting face, her endeavors had been unsuccessful. Rei was at the fire, trying to predict the outcome of the night's venture, when her sudden scream of fright brought everyone running to the fire room.
A ghostly apparition hovered directly over the fire.
"Rei, what's going on?" asked Ami.
"Yeah, I thought the temple was warded against ghosts!" said Minako, clearly frightened, but with enough sense to take advantage of the situation and snuggle against Yaten.
Rei herself was shaken. "I... I don't know what it is..." She pulled out a ward and chanted. "Evil spirit, begone!"
The spell had no effect. The blurry figure began to come into better focus.
"Rei, it's getting stronger!" said Makoto.
"Wait a minute!" said Zara. "Are those... wings?"
"An angel?"
"Not just any angel! That's our Angel!" Zara sobered considerably. "Celeste... You're dead?"
The figure had come into complete focus at that moment and everyone could clearly see that it was indeed, Celeste.
"No," she said, her voice echoing. Now that she was fully with them, it appeared she could speak. "I am not dead. I am not even really Celeste. I am merely the visual manifestation of the last of her powers."
"What do you mean?" asked Rei.
"Celeste used the last of her power to alert you in this fashion. She had the Holy Crystal call all of the Warriors in this galaxy to your aid. They will be arriving shortly. But she could only do this by giving up all of her power."
"You mean, she isn't a senshi anymore?" Zara said, shocked.
She nodded. "That is correct. Before my time is up, I must tell you... Celeste's wish is that you destroy all the evil you will face. It may be difficult, but you must do it."
Zara's brow furrowed slightly. "Why would Celeste ask us to do something so obvious?"
But the spirit's time with them had been expended. With a bright flash of light, the body dispersed and floated down around them like twinkling stars.
Zara's shoulders slumped. She couldn't really believe it. Her best friend was no longer a senshi. As long as they'd known each other, they'd been fighting at each other's side. Celeste's duty was what first brought them together. And now...
An explosion from outside drew everyone's attention then.
"What now?" demanded Haruka.
"You guys," said Michiru, pointing to the men in the room, "stay here and protect Usagi. We'll go see what's happening."
Many transformations later, the senshi ran out into the temple courtyard. Standing atop one of the sakura trees, everyone could see a figure silhouetted by the moon. The high pitched laughter told them the person was female and the fact that she was throwing balls of dark energy at the temple pointed to 'bad guy.'
"Why is it that all female villains have annoying high pitched laughter?" asked Venus.
"I wouldn't be talking if I were you!" said the girl, in a strangely familiar voice.
"Hey!" said Venus, indignantly. "Who do you think you are?"
The girl jumped, no, flew down from the tree on wings with feathers of pure black. Her clothing was little more than a black leather bikini with gloves and boots, but it was her face that shocked them. The golden brown hair and the blue-green eyes were Celeste's, but the wicked grin across her lips was completely out of place.
"I am Dark Angel," she said. "And I am going to kill you now." She flung a large blast of dark energy at the senshi.
Stunned, the senshi were barely able to block, but Saturn was on her guard enough to hurriedly put up a Silence Wall.
"Angel!" cried Phosphora. "This isn't you! What has that monster done to you?"
The look on her face turned uncharacteristically sensual. "Plenty. All night long."
Phosphora gasped. Mars glanced at Phosphora, then indicated Dark Angel. "He's brainwashed her. We went through this before with Mamoru."
"No, this is different," said Mercury, who was typing on her computer, studying Angel as she tossed a few more energy blasts at the Outer Senshi. "Celeste was no longer a senshi when this transformation took place. Rather than suppressing her senshi nature, Catastrophe has replaced it. It's a much stronger type of brainwashing. I'm... not certain it's reversible." Mercury gave Phosphora a sympathetic look. "I think this may be what Celeste meant when she said we must destroy all evil in our path."
"I won't kill my friend!" said Phosphora, vehemently. "There's got to be another way!"
Saturn blocked another attack, but it appeared as though Angel was only playing with them at the moment. She wasn't even trying to kill them yet.
"We may not have a choice!"
Angel yawned. "I'm getting bored. I really thought you senshi would be a challenge."
"Boy, that gets more ominous every time I hear it," muttered Jupiter, sarcastically.
Angel ignored that. "Guess it's time to get serious." She prepared an enormous ball of energy. "Hand over the princess, or die."
Everyone looked at the amount of energy that was suspended and knew that, from the strength of her previous attacks, they might very well die; or at least be nearly incapacitated. But no one was willing to step aside.
She shrugged. "Whatever." She threw the energy toward the senshi in the courtyard...
"Galaxy Strike Rebirth!" a new voice cried out. A blast of grey and silver energy engulfed the dark energy and caused it to implode on itself.
The senshi looked to the source of this new attack and saw a tiny girl in a black and grey fuku with silver hair, hazel eyes, and a serious expression. She was holding a long silver staff, which apparently was the talisman of the attack.
"Care to take us all on, baddie?" asked someone else.
Everyone looked to the roof above the little girl and saw a long line of other girls in various sailor fukus. The senshi realized that this must be the reinforcements – the Warrior Senshi.
Now, vastly outnumbered, Dark Angel scowled and cursed. Glaring at the Inner and Outer senshi, as though they had known about these new senshi all along, she pointed at them and promised, "This isn't over!"
With that parting shot, Angel disappeared into another rift.
A senshi in a magenta and white fuku with iridescent butterfly wings, a long pink ponytail, and purple eyes pouted and put her hands on her hips. "Oh, darn! We missed the fun part!"
Phosphora scowled at her. "What are you doing here?"
She was apparently only addressing the pink ponytailed one. The Inner and Outer senshi just stared.
The sailor grinned. "I'm a Warrior now!"
"Oh, God..."
Venus elbowed her. "You know that one?"
"She's my cousin."
Another senshi wearing completely white, but with short hair as black as a raven's wing stepped forward. "We're the Warrior Senshi. We were emergency summoned, but the spirit-things were kind of sketchy. Details?"
Mars sighed. She supposed there would be more guests at the Hino Temple tonight. "Come on in," she said. "You can introduce yourselves and we'll tell you about the pending end of the world."
"I'll make the tea!" said Venus with a smile, always glad to meet new people.
"Really," Saturn asked Neptune in an undertone, "how many of us are there??"
To be continued...
