So, I noticed some things when I went back to reread these chapters. I had some MAJOR mistakes. And I apologize for the really stupid names of the powers that they have.
From Then, To Now, Til Later
Chapter 8: The Final Battle: Part 1
By: AutumnHime
Five men wearing full battle armor in five different colors—violet-black, emerald, gold, crimson, and silver--stood united on a rise on top of Selene's Mount (1). Horror and hatred clouded their eyes as the scene in front of them unfolded in full. The stomach-wrenching scents of blood, smoke, and fear lay thick upon the air. The only sounds that carried in that atmosphere were those of the screams of dying, the calls of carrion, and the clash of swords. Bodies littered the ground en masse, demon and human still fighting as death took them.
"What happened?" Apollo asked shock apparent.
For a moment, nobody replied. Ares responded tersely. "We can find that out after we find the girls, the queen, and the cats and get them out of here." He turned to Shinigami whose black armor gleamed brighter as each new death gave him more power and a more terrible aura. He hesitated, reluctant to ask what he needed to. "Can you tell if they have been killed yet?"
Shinigami shook his head, the braid swinging back and forth slowly, pendulum-like as the count down to death for a new person began. "I sense only that death hovers close to all of them. Their life force weakens every moment we stand here doing nothing."
The Gods looked at each other, and nodded, disappearing into thin air to find their beloved Princesses.
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Mars grinned, wiping the small drop of blood off of her lip with her tongue. Her raven's hair flew around her in a wild fury. Her fuku was torn and stained, body bruised and cut, but hope, determination, and satisfaction still flamed in her eyes. The last refugee had escaped. All that was left was her and the evil that surrounded her.
"Give it UP, demon-wimps!" She cried in defiance as the dark, shadowy creatures advanced. Their laser green eyes and carbuncle red ones pierced her.
"Demon-wimps? Really, you think that the Senshi of Fire could think up a better insult. Seriously, is that all you have, little girl?" A slimy voice that made her think of snakes, worms, and spiders surrounded the Sailor Soldier of Mars. She whirled, falling on one knee as the ankle she had twisted in an earlier round with the demons of the Negaverse gave way beneath her.
A man in a gray uniform stood behind her. Curly blonde hair fell into eyes with no soul.
"Jedite." Mars spat at the newcomer's feet. "I might have guessed it was you."
"My dear Princess Rei of the planet Mars," the general sketched a courtly bow. "You should have fallen to the Negaverse when you had the chance. Now you get to witness the Negaverse use these pretty teleportation devices you protected so hard to continue our conquest of the planets within the Moon Kingdom and the Silver Alliance." Jedite clucked his tongue in false sympathy. "Too bad you sent away the only hope of rescue you had." He sighed. "Oh well, time to say good-bye, love."
Power began to pool into the palm of his right hand, which was held away from his body at chest level. Mars was faster however. "MARS FIREBALLS IGNITE!" She screamed, and the power poured from her body into that one command.
Jedite snapped up a shield immediately. "Foolish, my dear. In your current state, you have no hope of beating me."
Mars coughed and laughed at the same time. "I was not aiming for you, traitor." She stated smugly, wiping the blood she had coughed up away from her mouth with her hand. She gestured behind him. "Try teleporting now!"
Jedite turned around. His mouth dropped as he took in the molten gates, and he whirled to face her again. "DIE, BITCH!" He shrieked.
Black arrows of pure negative energy hit the princess. She had reverted when she expended all of her power on her last attack, and, totally defenseless, the arrows took her right in the chest.
She heard a gasp, and felt a bright white light push inexorably against her eyelids. Squinting, Rei made out a single form in that brilliance. Apollo had finally made it.
"DIE, JEDITE!" The cry that left the golden King's lips that day held such anguish that its like had only been heard five times throughout the whole of the Silver Millennium. The other four came within minutes of this one.
Apollo drew light to him, turning the shining aura he gave off into a weapon. The monsters in the courtyard, all except for Jedite, died immediately. Apollo turned his terrible gaze onto Jedite next, and promised to seek retribution for his wrongs in all his forthcoming lives until he was sure Jedite would never come back.
Apollo poured his life-force into one attack and screamed, "SOLAR RADIANCE SWORD" spearing Jedite and killing his current body.
Apollo then collapsed next to the body of his love. Their hair twined together, forming a flame of opposites, and he drew in one slow shuddering breath, lips twisting in a sad smile. His love had worn the essence of fire for her final battle.
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Normally turquoise and deep blue, the water in front of Mercury now boiled black with blood. Creatures crawled out of the water and poured down towards her from the steps leading to the harbor. Her back rested against the solid door to the baths. Her short navy hair had been streaked with the blood of the monsters. Her own blood dripped crimson down her face, her legs, and her arms. It painted her fuku red with its horrible designs. She would have trouble fending off too many more attacks.
Mercury called upon her computer, hoping that a weakness, a possible Achilles heel; anything could be found in the monsters surrounding her.
"Don't bother, my dear, dear, Princess Ami. We have no weaknesses. You will never be able to stop us from over running this planet and all the others that you hold so dear." The voice sent chills and tingles down the Sailor of Ice's spine, causing her to instinctively stand up straighter. She glanced up.
"I might have known, Nephrite. After all, the power and trust my family gave you never meant anything, did it?" Mercury's mouth twisted bitterly.
Nephrite laughed harshly, "Bones! That was all you ever gave me: bones out of pity!"
Mercury sighed, saddened and disgusted by what had become of the once loyal retainer to the House of Mercury
"I have no time for this now," the traitor claimed. "The sooner I get rid of you, the faster I have access to the rest of the palace." Nephrite, long, wavy brown hair drifting about his shoulders, began to chant.
Mercury had no need for it. She had always wanted to save people's lives, and she knew that she was dying, unless some miracle occurred. Gathering the last of her power to make one final desperate strike, she shouted savagely, "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!" thus releasing her most powerful attack. The bay froze, sealing the monsters hidden within it for all of eternity. The door behind her also froze, blocking that entrance to the palace until well into the next millennium.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, YOU LITTLE..." Nephrite choked over his rage.
"...now...you'll never get in..." Ami panted, returned to her normal dress with the last of her power gone.
Nephrite snapped and Ami screamed as dark energy enclosed her, draining what little life she had left.
A wordless scream echoing her own one of pain rang out dark with graveyards, the echo of one heard only seconds before. Energy blacker, more terrible than the Negaverse's, and yet more brilliant as well, darkened the sky. A harsh voice, cold, devoid of any softer emotion spoke from the direction of the stairs. "Bad move, Nephrite."
"Shinigami..."Ami whispered and fainted, her coloring gray.
Indigo eyes swept over the hordes of monsters crowding the area. The monsters fell without a sound. The God of Death then turned the power of his gaze on Nephrite. "Now, you die." he declared. He gathered all of his energy into one single area, and called his scythe back into existence. Rather than the normal green glow, the blade of his scythe had turned violet. "Dark Scythe Destroy!" Shinigami leaped into the air, aiming his attack at Nephrite. A line of power shot out, sweeping through the middle of the Negaverse general's body.
"Enjoy my realm, jerk. And when you come back, I'll be there, too!" he muttered, tossing his braid around to lie straight down his back. He landed softly on the ground next to Ami's body, and let go of his Ultra personality. As Duo, he gathered her to him, and fell unconscious, the use of so much power too much for him.
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A deadly game of hide-and-seek had begun in the halls of the palace. Despite the blood and bruises dotting her body, and the tears and rents in her outfit, Jupiter hadn't had a really bad moment. She had avoided, often narrowly, being surrounded, by escaping down some passage that looked like a dead-end, but which she knew to have another exit. Only, that wasn't possible this time. This time, Jupiter realized, she was well and truly caught. Monsters surrounded her on all sides, and they kept streaming in from the three paths into the room.
Oh well, I am tired of running anyway the Senshi of Jupiter thought wryly. Her chestnut hair fell down her back in scraggly waves, the band that normally held it cut. Her leaf green eyes sparked in anticipation of battle and reflected the mad light of her berserker grin. From her subspace pockets, Jupiter pulled two katanas, getting ready to fight with both magic and weaponry.
"Oh no, little girl. No one in his right mind, except for you betrothed and his sister would face you with katanas in your hands. No, those need to come," A sound like a snap came from the direction that Jupiter heard the dark and mocking voice from, "here."
The silver chased katanas disappeared from Jupiter's gloved hands. The mass of monsters laughed; a threatening and grotesque sound.
Another snapping noise ricocheted off of the walls. The monsters parted, revealing a muscular, white-haired man. A short cape draped down behind him, attached with epaulets to his outfit.
"Malachite." Jupiter's pithy one word phrase turned the name into an epithet.
"Princess Makoto," the man nodded regally. "So nice to see you again, and what a pleasure it is to have been given the assignment to kill you. Nobody spurns the Negaverse."
"Bite me."
Malachite's eyes narrowed and drifted over her body coldly. "Oh, I think not. I doubt I'd find you to my taste." He inhaled deeply, regaining his composure. "While I enjoy our exchange of insults, I need to get into the room behind you. Queen Beryl wants your princess destroyed."
Jupiter flushed, and her chestnut hair crackled with contained electricity. "You will NEVER get to Serenity, not as long as I live!"
"Exactly my point, m'dear. You are going to die." Malachite's eyes flashed. He began gathering dark energy into the palm of his white-gloved hand.
Jupiter made her move. Take my energy. Feed everything I have into this one attack, please! "Jupiter Thunder Clap Zap!" Her voice held the same booming note as the rumbling thunder. A green pocket of energy skipped straight up, crashing into a stone at the immediate center of the ceiling, from which all the arches in the room fell from. The capstone disintegrated immediately, and the roof grumbled ominously. Suddenly stone began falling from above. The arches had begun collapsing. The columns began falling shortly after as lightning ricocheted off, blocking the only entrance to the Great Hall from inside that part of the palace.
"YOU...YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" Malachite screeched, and sent a dark levin-bolt flying straight for Makoto. Unprotected and unready, Makoto flew straight into a falling column. Bones snapped in her body and Makoto screamed in pain. A moment later, she felt nothing as a whirlwind picked up her bruised body with gentle force. Its spinning kept off the rest of the debris and falling stones, shielding Makoto from further injury.
The dust stopped flying from the destruction of the roof, and the whirlwind slowly spun to a stop. Shenlong appeared, ebony hair falling gently about his shoulders and black eyes burning with an inhuman light.
With tenderness at odds with his expression, he set Makoto down among the rubble. The God of Dragons and Justice pivoted at a tortoise's pace on his foot. Malachite laughed nervously, scared at the chillingly calculating look being directed his way.
"Prepare to die, Malachite. And when you come back, my face will be the only one that you need to fear."
Malachite moved faster than Shenlong had expected. A single levin-bolt caught him in the shoulder, something that would soon become a mortal wound.
Shenlong merely laughed. "That won't stop me, Malachite." He continued approaching; a force of nature glowing faintly green. "Shining Dragon Katana..." he called, focusing all of his power on Malachite. "Help me right the injustices done by this man. DESTROY!" A single beam shaped like a dragon cleaved the very air in twain. Malachite died instantly.
Wufei slid to the ground, keeping conscious only long enough to crawl close to Makoto, twining their hands together.
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The mad queen laughed at the havoc she had already created...
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So what do we think? I originally intended that the end of the Silver Millenium would be only one chapter, but I really wanted this posted now, and I'm afraid I'm too tired to carry on with Venus's and Serenity's parts. Next time, I promise.
Hoped you liked this chapter (part)!
AH and her crazy cats wave good-bye