"Sailor Angel and Sailor Phosphora: The Fight Against Catastrophe"
Chapter Nineteen
By Angel Sentier and M'Lila Cronk
Mamoru, the Outer Senshi, and half of the Warriors were staying with Usagi at the temple as the Inners, the remaining Warriors, Pandora, Alie, Jolie, Marie; the Starlights, and Zara made their way to Tokyo Tower at midnight the next night. Since this was where the first rift had been made, it had deteriorated the most and was at its weakest.
They were going to get in and rescue Celeste and the other prisoner tonight. Earlier that day, another demon had arrived and though it had been fairly easy to dispatch, it was enough of a warning that they shouldn't wait any longer. Catastrophe was getting stronger.
Every senshi went over the plan silently in his or her head. Using the new transformation devices, they would track each other's movements at all times. They'd get in as quickly as possible, landing in the dungeon as it seemed to be the only place where the minions didn't regularly go.
It seemed strange to them, but then, it was probably just another display of Catastrophe's arrogance that he felt no one could escape or enter his domain.
They'd rescue the prisoner down there first and a pair of senshi would immediately leave the dimension with him or her. From there, the senshi would fan out and create distractions by fighting the minions they came across while a small group of other senshi would go after Dark Angel. Zara was purposely not in this group, the others thought she was too closely connected to Celeste and that it might effect her judgment. Once they found Angel, they'd use their new attacks in careful concert to knock her unconscious. Then, using the built-in communication device in the transformation bracelet, they would signal the others to retreat and hurry back to the rift, where they would all, hopefully, return to their own world. Lastly, Sailor Omega would use her powers over death to close the rift permanently.
The plan was complex in its simplicity, but if everything ran like clockwork, they should all get out of there in one piece. Whether or not Catastrophe would follow them out through a new rift was something they didn't know, but they were prepared to fight if it came to that.
Ami's computer beeped. "This is it," she announced. Everyone gathered into a circle at the location she indicated.
"Right," said Minako. "Let's do it!"
Using the new bracelets, the Inners, Starlights, and Zara transformed. The Warriors used their own talismans to transform, as they had politely turned down the offer of a power-up, saying they had already been trained to their full potential. Artemis had said it made sense, seeing as they weren't trying to recover their powers from a former life, as the senshi were. So, the Inner senshi now transformed to their Eternal form, like Usagi did, while Zara and the Starlights transformed to their Super forms.
Super Sailor Phosphora looked at the dual golden swords that replaced her Heart Rod, the new fuku with black and gold armor accents, her new retractable wings, and grinned. She liked this new power-up.
Everyone joined hands. Next to Phosphora, Fighter squeezed her hand once, but when she looked at her, Fighter's eyes were staring straight ahead.
Closing their eyes, every senshi concentrated. A soft white glow began to surround them and then grow in intensity. The twelve of them slowly lifted off the ground and floated there as the light engulfed their figures. Suddenly, they were all sucked into the center of the circle and disappeared through the rift.
When they opened their eyes, they were in a dark, stone walled room, lined with barred cells. In one they saw a non-moving figure. They had arrived.
The Warriors and Starlights moved the either side of the long hallway to sound the alert, should anyone appear to be coming. The Inners and Phosphora went to the cell door where Mars went to use her powers to melt the lock. But there was some kind of spell on the door, it was designed to open by magic. Immediately, Mercury set to work using her computer to override the spell.
Inside the cell, the young man chained to the floor dazedly turned his head to look at who was outside the door. He shook his head slightly as if to clear it when he saw the senshi. His gaze focused on Mercury and his eyes widened.
"Oh, my God," he whispered.
"Don't worry," said Phosphora. "We're going to get you out of here."
"I knew her friends would come sometime," he said, still casting frequent glances at Mercury.
The computer beeped. "System override complete," she said.
Mars turned her fire on the door and this time it opened. She and Mercury entered the cell and used the same double team to free the man from his shackles. Once he was free, however, he sat up and embraced Mercury. She blinked in confusion.
"Um... You're welcome?" she said.
"I'm sorry," he said, ducking his head slightly to hide what were apparently tears in his eyes. "I'll explain later. I'm just... so happy to see you, finally."
"Okay," said Venus. "Sailor Sol and Eternal Sailor Jupiter are going to take you out of here and down to Earth now, so..."
"No!" he said, adamantly. "I can help you..."
"You can barely stand!" said Jupiter, who was at the moment shouldering the young man.
"I know this place better than you," he insisted as Sol helped him into his shirt. "I haven't always been kept down here. And Catastrophe has something of mine. I have to go with you."
Venus and Mars exchanged looks. This wasn't in the plan... But if what he said was true, they could be out of there that much quicker. It was a gamble they'd have to take.
"Alright," said Mars. "Lead the way..." She trailed off, prompting him for his name.
"Yuki," he said, gritting his teeth as he struggled to walk. "Just Yuki for now."
After activating the built-in tracker, everyone fanned out as planned. Jupiter and Sol helped Yuki to walk while Mercury and Mars took up the front and back of their party respectively. The four followed Yuki's directions to the throne room, occasionally blasting minions.
"She's usually in there with him," he said as they made their way through the halls. "That's what she tells me, anyway. But he would be out directing his henchmen in a crisis like this, so there's a good chance she's in there alone. Unless she's helping him..."
"No, we'd have gotten a communication from one of the others, if they had seen her," said Mercury. She was studiously watching her computer and communicator for any signs of coming trouble.
"This is it," he said, pointing at a huge set of double doors.
Mercury tapped on her computer. "I'm getting a reading... It's Dark Angel's. She's in there."
Sol and Jupiter set Yuki on the floor against the wall and took up positions on either side of Mars and Mercury. They prepared to fire their attacks as planned, so that Angel wouldn't have a chance to retaliate or dodge. As one, they kicked the doors open.
Angel whirled around. "Wha--"That was as far as she got.
The four attacks hit her, one after another, and she fell to the floor. Feebly, she tried to get back up, but passed out before she could even make an attempt at an attack.
Mercury scanned Angel for her vital signs. "She's alive," she said. "But we have to get her out of here, fast."
Sol hefted Angel onto one shoulder. "That's the plan. Signal the others."
"Wait," said Yuki, struggling into the room on his own. Jupiter shouldered him again. He pointed to an iron cage near the throne that seemed to be emitting a soft blue glow. "There's a bracelet in there that belongs to me."
Jupiter aimed a well-placed thunderbolt at the cage and Mercury retrieved the wide silver bracelet. Yuki secured the item on his wrist and what looked like a large blue sapphire on it glowed brightly for a moment. "Okay, let's go."
On their way back to the dungeon, Mars punched a button on her bracelet and spoke into it. "Retreat! Pull back! Retreat!" These were, of course, the code words for 'Mission accomplished, back to Earth.'
The other senshi filtered into the group from various hallways as they half-ran back to the dungeon. Hauling two bodies with them slowed the process somewhat. As Fighter and Phosphora, the final two, rounded a corner to join them, the others knew something was wrong.
"We've got company!" yelled Phosphora.
Apparently, some of the minions had figured out what was really going on and had followed them. Not only that, but Catastrophe was hot on their tails. Yuki glanced over his shoulder at him. The usually cool demon was, for the first time, boiling with visible anger. His battle aura was a flaming purple and his face was thunderous. He was so furious he wasn't throwing his attacks very accurately, and that was the only reason why none of the senshi had gotten hit yet.
When they reached the dungeon, the wide girth of the minions only allowed for them to follow the senshi two at a time, which slowed them down considerably. A few of them got stuck. Catastrophe just seemed to be getting more and more angry, stuck behind his own minions, he tried throwing dark energy over their heads, but ended up hitting the henchmen.
At the rift, Phosphora turned and looked back at the demon. She gave him the finger just before disappearing through the rift.
His roar of anger was the last thing she heard.
To be continued...
