Avenging Angel
Chapter Twenty-One
Revelations, the Final Battle
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story.
Somewhere in an underground cavern:
Mamoru Chiba was sitting on a throne made of hard stone. He was trying to come up with a plan to take care of Usagi's new bodyguards, and lure her to him. He glanced over at Ouka whom was breathing shallowly and shook his head with a smirk.
' I already have the perfect bait.' He thought to himself. 'I can call Takatori Reiji and ransom Ouka-san for Usagi-chan. Or I could just tell him that I would be willing to exchange Ouka-san for her. So many possible options.'
He leaned back in to his throne and rested his chin on his fist. "Saa…I had better think of something before Sailor Pluto discovers my lair, and leads them to it." He muttered to himself.
So saying he raised his hand and concentrated; a swirling mass of energy emerged from his hand and drifted two feet away from him. Slowly it started to take the form of a scrying mirror. Mamoru stared at it and willed it to show him what Usagi was doing.
He chuckled, if anyone had asked him how he had gotten his powers he would have told them upfront. After Usagi had taken the Gold Crystal from him the real Mamoru Chiba had been genuinely happy that he was no longer bound to his destiny with her. Oh sure, at first he had loved her, and was looking forward to being a King. Who wouldn't? But over time he came to resent the fact that his life was being controlled by Fate, and Destiny, and that he had no say whatsoever regarding the choices in his life. So when he was finally free, he and Rei-chan went out all-night and partied.
But then the next morning he felt something cold and dark awakening inside him, and overtime it had quickly consumed him. The good Mamoru Chiba, the reincarnation of Prince Endymion was destroyed leaving only an empty shell for the small fragment of Chaos; that had hidden deep in to his subconscious mind, and had been biding it's time for the right moment. To emerge and take over his body. So when the Gold Crystal had been removed from his body; Chaos seized it's chance and consumed him. Once it had succeeded, it had begun to seduce the other Sailor Senshi and tricked them in to thinking that he loved them, when in fact they were only pawns.
"It was just too easy." He chuckled. "They all had a silly crush on him."
He rose from his throne and walked over to where Ouka was laying. 'Who knows…perhaps Ouka-san will become my newest puppet servant.' He thought to himself.
He then turned his attention back to the scrying mirror and watched as Usagi started getting undressed so she could take a bath. Chaos's lustful eyes glided up and down her naked form and smirked.
"Then again…perhaps I will try and seduce Usagi in to my bed." He said lustfully. He walked back to his throne and sat down watching Usagi's every move while she washed her hair, and then climbed in to the tub.
"Oh yes…that plan will work out perfectly well." He said to himself. He reached over and picked up his cell phone and dialed Takatori Reiji's phone number.
"Moshi, Moshi." Reiji's voice was heard.
Chaos let out a cruel chuckle. "Takatori-san. This is Chiba Mamoru. I believe I have something of yours."
He laughed out loud when he heard the rather colorful obscenities that came from the assistant Prime Minister. Oh yes, this was going to be so much fun.
--
Meanwhile in Takatori Shuuichi's manor:
Usagi was soaking in the tub. Her telepathic ability had told her that Ken and Omi were downstairs watching a soccer game. (Of course. V ) Nagi was nearby trying to track down Chiba Mamoru. While Schuldig had left to buy some more cigarettes, or something.
"Ah…Bliss." She murmured.
As she soaked in the tub she sensed the eyes of someone or something watching her. She frowned as she tried to pinpoint the exact location of the eyes. 'Who is it?' she wondered. Closing her eyes she concentrated on the strange energy trying to pinpoint its exact location. After about five minutes she had traced it to an underground cavern, beneath the parks fountain. She probed deeper and detected Ouka's weak thought patterns.
She opened her eyes and frowned. 'So that's where she is.' She thought to herself and climbed out of the tub and grabbed a towel. She wrapped it around her naked body and stepped out of the bathroom. She shivered slightly as she walked down the hallway.
"Brrr…next time I'll have to remember to bring a robe." She said to herself as she entered her bedroom. After she dried off and got dressed, she turned her attention to the Mercurian book of poisons and antidotes that Setsuna had retrieved from Ami's apartment. She opened the book and studied the page carefully. She then took out a ceramic bowl and started putting the ingredients for the antidote that the Senshi of time had gotten from a vault deep in the Mercurian planet. Looking at the page every now and then to make sure that she was doing it right; Usagi ground the herbs and plants in to a fine powder and then poured icy cold water onto it creating a light blue liquid. She carefully stirred the potion making sure that it was mixed properly. Once that was done she picked up a small crystal vial and carefully poured the contents into the vial. Followed by another and another. She was filling up the last vial when she detected the minds of Crawford and her Oji coming towards her bedroom.
She then heard a knock on her door and sighed as she pushed the cork in to the mouth of the vial. "Come in." She said as she slipped it in to her pocket. The door opened and Reiji Takatori came in followed closely by Crawford who looked like he had swallowed a glass of lemon and limejuice without the sweetener.
"Usagi-chan…may I speak with you?" Reiji asked her a little hesitantly. He really didn't want to do this but Ouka was his baby girl.
Usagi raised an eyebrow when she heard the unspoken thought that was in her Oji's mind. 'Something has obviously come up, otherwise he wouldn't being acting like this.' She thought to herself. "Hai, what is it?"
"Chiba-san has called and made his demands for Ouka-chan's safe return." He began.
Usagi closed her eyes and massaged them with her fingers. "Let me guess. He wants to exchange Ouka-san for me." She said tiredly.
Reiji nodded his head in confirmation while Crawford was glaring at him while clenching his fists until they drew blood.
Usagi sighed and slipped the corked bottle in to her sub-space pocket. "Where and when is the exchange supposed to take place?" She asked.
"In an hour at the park's fountain." He replied.
She grabbed her leather jacket along with her cellphone and turned toward her uncle and Crawford and said: "Let's go." She then walked out the bedroom with her uncle and Crawford right behind her. As she walked down the stairs she noticed some of the soldiers from Reiji's private army were holding their rifles up and had them trained on Ken, Omi, and Manx. She also noticed the unconscious form of Nagi slumped over his laptop; a tranquilizer dart protruding from his back.
'Saa…that certainly explains why Crawford-san is having such violent fantasies going on in his head.' She mused.
When they reached the limo the driver opened the rear passenger door for them. Usagi climbed in first, followed by Crawford who sat next to her, and Reiji the seat across from her. As they rode she noticed that Crawford was staring at the hair accessories that were still adorning the back of her head. (Namely the hair comb with the small dagger from Farfarello, and the hair sticks that Aya had given her earlier.) A small smile of relief flickered over his lips for a brief instant and then faded.
When they had arrived at the scheduled meeting place they noticed a rather dark ominous cloud overhead. Usagi's eyes narrowed when she saw the cloud. She could feel the dark energy coming from it.
'I would know that dark energy signature anywhere.' She thought to herself. 'It's Chaos!'
She opened the car door and stepped out followed by Crawford and then Reiji. They walked to the fountain, and there floating above the fountain was Mamoru in his Prince Endymion armor; Though darker and more sinister looking.
"Ah…Princess Serenity. It's so good to see you again." Chaos said his voice echoing throughout the park; his eyes glowing a deep dark red.
Usagi felt herself transform in to Princess Serenity and stood there calmly. Next to her Crawford and Reiji stood there in shock. If the sight of Chiba Mamoru floating over the fountain wasn't enough to surprise them, then the sudden transformation of Usagi was enough to knock them for a loop.
Princess Serenity looked up toward Chaos and said cooly: "Spare me your pleasantries Chaos. I know you don't really mean them." She looked around and then asked: "Let's get this over with, Where is Ouka-san?"
Chaos smirked and conjured up a small portal; he reached in and pulled out the pale form of Ouka in to his arms. "Here she is. Demo her life is fading fast." He answered.
Reiji who had been in shock throughout the whole thing snapped out of his stupor when he saw his little girl. "Ouka!!" He cried out and took a step forward. Only to be stopped by his Mei.
"Iie…don't take another step towards him." She ordered him. Never taking her eyes off of Chaos.
Reiji and Crawford both gazed at Usagi in disbelief. She wasn't acting at all like her usual self. She seemed to possess a regal air about her.
Reiji stared at his Mei uncertainly: 'What is going on? Usagi is acting so strangely, as if she were a whole other person.' He thought to himself.
Crawford was thinking along the same lines. 'There is obviously more to Usagi-chan than meets the eye; and it's not just her sudden transformation.' He thought to himself.
Serenity turned and looked at them with sad weary eyes and responded: "You don't know the half of it." She reached in to her sub-space pocket and pulled out the vial containing the antidote. "Here…Setsuna was able to find the antidote ingredients and I ground and mixed them together. Just give Ouka one tablespoon a day and she will get better. But don't give her more than one Tablespoon otherwise she will die." She told them as she handed the vial to Crawford. She then turned and faced Chaos once again and said: "Now then…let's finish this once and for all."
Chaos smirked and lay Ouka on to the hard concrete edge and replied: "Follow me my dear." And then flew off toward the stratosphere. Serenity summoned her wing and was about to follow when she felt a restraining hand on her shoulder. She turned around and faced Crawford who had been the one who stopped her.
"Who are you? Really." He asked her. He felt that this might be the only time he would ever get the chance to ask her this.
She gave him a sad smile and replied: "I am the Light, I am Hope, I am Serenity." With that she spread her wings and flew off after Chaos who was waiting for her near the asteroid belt.
Crawford and Reiji watched her until she faded from view. 'Be careful Usagi-chan.' They thought and then picked up Ouka and made their way to the awaiting limo.
---
In outer space on top of an asteroid Chaos was waiting for her with folded arms. When he saw her he dropped his arms and shook his head with a mixture of annoyance and amusement.
"Well Serenity. I see that you haven't changed all that much you are still running late." He told her with a grin.
Serenity just glowered at him and replied: "Well excuse me for taking the time too speak to Crawford-san, and my Oji-san."
Chaos just shrugged his shoulders and then became serious. "Well then. Shall we finish what we started back at the Galactic Cauldron?"
Serenity nodded her head and summoned the deceased Inners powers deep within her. "Aqua Rhapsody." She yelled out and a harp made of water appeared in her hands. She skillfully played it and a powerful blast of ice cold water rushed towards him.
Chaos just floated there while it headed straight for him, and at the last minute swatted it aside and let it strike a nearby asteroid; effectively destroying it.
"Is that the best you can do?" He taunted.
Serenity gritted her teeth. "Not hardly." She responded and then summoned yet another attack.
---
Meanwhile back on the Earth:
Crawford and Reiji had just placed Ouka in to the limo when they heard the sound of screeching tires. They turned around and saw Shuuichi storming towards them followed closely by Manx, Omi, Ken, Yohji, Aya, Nagi, Farfarello, and Schuldig who were all looking quite perturbed. (To put it mildly.)
Shuuichi grabbed his Oniisan by the lapels of his business jacket and roared: "Where is she?!" He yelled angrily while lifting Reiji a couple of inches off of the ground.
Pointing up toward the heavens Reiji gasped out: "Up there fighting Chiba Mamoru, or rather the demon that possessed him." He replied still in shock by what he had seen, not to mention the rather violent Shuuichi whom was giving him a rather potent death glare.
Shuuichi lowered him to the ground and changed his grip from the lapels of his brother's jacket to his throat. "What the heck are you talking about?" He replied with a mixture of ice and venom. "So help me Reiji if this is some kind of joke, I am really not in the mood."
Reiji shook his head while trying to break the vise like grip his younger brother had on him. He doubted he could explain it very well. Especially since he himself was having a hard time trying to figure it out.
Crawford who noticed this decided to step in and try to explain. "It seems that there is more to your young Mei than we all thought." He said gaining the attention of everyone that had gathered around the limo.
"Nani?" Everyone replied looking confused.
"He is right. There is more to Usagi-chan than you know." Someone answered.
They all turned around and saw Meioh Setsuna, Tenoh Haruka, Kaioh Michiru, and Tomoe Hotaru who was being pushed by Haruka coming towards them all looking grim and worried. When they arrived Shuuichi asked: "What did you say?"
"Usagi-chan is more than what she seems too be." Setsuna repeated sadly.
"What do you mean? Usagi-chan is Usagi-chan." Omi responded.
Setsuna sighed and shook her head. 'I guess that I will need to show them her past.' She thought to herself. Closing her eyes she summoned her staff of time. "Perhaps it would be easier if I showed you." She replied while summoning a portal to the ruins of the Moon Kingdom. Specifically the Royal throne room.
"Usagi-chan is the reincarnation of the Tsuki No Hime; whom we are sworn to protect." Setsuna said while conjuring an image of the past.
Shuuichi, Manx, Aya, Ken, Yohji, Omi, Reiji, Crawford, Nagi, Schuldig, and Farfarello watched the image of Usagi's past self. They watched her past life right up to when the Dark Kingdom had attacked the Moon Kingdom and they sadly watched her as she died. Setsuna then showed them her life in the Present; from her first days as Sailor Moon to her battle with the Dark entity known as Chaos.
"We had believed that Chaos had been successfully contained for another thousand years. Unfortunately we have just now discovered that a small piece of Chaos entered Mamoru and had destroyed him from within. Chaos then seduced the Inners shortly after Usagi-Hime had removed their powers and planned to use them to hurt Usagi emotionally, demo that idea was quickly replaced with the idea to have her killed."
Meanwhile back in space Eternal Sailor Moon and Chaos were still battling in the asteroid field.
"Give it up Serenity. The only way you can even hope too defeat me is with the Outer Senshi's powers and they are on the moon with your surviving relatives and friends." Chaos taunted. He or rather it knew that she loved her two Oji's and new friends; he wanted her to get angry, and therefore make her careless.
Eternal Sailor Moon gritted her teeth in annoyance. She knew what Chaos was trying to do, and she was doing her best not to rise to the bait. But it was so hard not to, she loved her new home and family and friends and she didn't want to loose them too.
"Forget it Chaos! I know what you are trying to do, demo it won't work!" She yelled up at him.
Chaos glanced over at the moon and smirked. "Well then. How about this." So saying he sent a blast of dark energy towards the moon with the obvious intent to destroy it.
Eternal Sailor Moon gasped in horror and flew off after the blast. 'I have to stop it before it destroys both the Earth and Moon..' She thought to herself. She flew as fast as she could and slowly caught up to the energy blast. She pushed herself even harder and passed it; she didn't stop flying until she was far ahead of it. When she was about ten miles away from the Moon she looked over her shoulder.
"Good…I'm still far enough ahead of the energy blast, and far enough away from the moon. Now I just need to concentrate for an energy blast of my own." She muttered while bringing her powers up to their full potential.
She focused her energy in to the Ginshinzhou and fired an energy blast straight at the incoming dark blast. The two balls of energy collided with each other both battling to over come the other.
'This isn't good,' she thought to herself. ' At this rate those two energy blasts will gather enough power to become a either a Nova or a collapsed star.'
She added more power to her energy blast and slowly it overcame Chaos's blast and slowly pushed it away from the Moon. Chaos noticed this and sent more of his energy in to his blast. 'This should do it.' He thought to himself and sent it back toward her.
" I need more power." She muttered to herself and tapped in to the powers of the Inner Senshi that was contained in her crystal. She then sent the power in to the pure energy and it once again pushed the dark energy back. 'Setsuna-chan…hurry up and get my family and friends off of the Moon! Chaos and I both have energy blasts battling between us, and if his energy blast wins the Moon and the Earth will be destroyed!' She telepathically told the Senshi of Time.
In the ruin of the throne room Setsuna's eyes widened when she received her Hime's telepathic message. She turned to face Usagi's uncles and friends and said: " We have to get you all out of here! Chaos and Usa-chan are both fighting near the Moon and he had sent a negative energy blast toward the Moon and Earth. Usagi-chan is trying overcome it with a blast of pure energy, demo the negative energy is slowly overcoming hers." So saying she opened a portal and transported everyone back to the park. When everyone was away from the portal it slowly began to close with her and the Outers still inside.
"Gomen nasai. Demo we must leave you here." She told them.
When they turned around they saw that the portal was only the size of a baseball, and then nothing.
'What are they going to do?' Was the collective thought.
In the mist filled area of the Time Gates the Outers had transformed and summoned their powers, and prepared to give them to their beloved Hime. "We must hurry the Negative energy has overpowered our Hime's energy blast and is hurtling toward Usagi-Hime." Pluto told them.
In space the negative energy was indeed coming closer to Eternal Sailor Moon who was desperately trying send more of her energy back into her energy blast to keep it away. Chaos just floated there smirking the whole time and chuckled.
"Give it up Serenity. Another fifteen minutes and the energy blast that we both created will reach you and turn you in to space dust. Followed by the Moon and the Earth." Chaos crowed in triumph.
Eternal Sailor Moon gritted her teeth in anger and replied: "Never. I will never give up. Everyone and everything is counting on me." So saying she began to tap in to her life energy, and was about to send it in to the energy ball. When she sensed that a portal was opening behind her; a few seconds' later four glowing balls of energy hurtled out of the portal and entered in to her.
Her eyes widened in surprise and shock. She would know those four energy signatures like she knew her own. A lone tear of gratitude slid down her cheek. "Minna-chan. Arigato. I won't let you down." She murmured silently; she then allowed the powers of the Inners, the Outers, the Golden Crystal, and the Silver Crystal flow through her body and transformed.
Chaos floated there in stunned amazement as he watched Eternal Sailor Moon transform into her ultimate form. Sailor Cosmos: Queen of the Stars.
She held up her hand and halted the energy blast that was fifteen inches away from her. "Chaos. For what you have done to the Inners, Mamoru, and Akiko. You will pay for all of the pain and heartbreak that you have caused." Sailor Cosmos said in a cold voice devoid of emotion.
"Oh Please." Chaos answered. "I wasn't the one who paid Akiko to kill the Inners. It was your Ojisan Takatori Reiji."
"True" Cosmos conceded. "Demo judging humans is not within my jurisdiction. However invading aliens, demons, other dimensional warlords, and of course power hungry dark gods are."
So saying she sent a small amount of her energy in to the huge energy blast that was just hovering there and sent it hurtling towards Chaos who had narrowly avoided it. When she was sure that it was far enough away from her Solar System she snapped her fingers causing it to explode harmlessly in to space dust. She then turned her attention back toward Chaos who had fired yet another energy blast at the Earth while she wasn't looking. Cosmos shook her head and halted that energy blast as well.
"I don't think so." She said calmly and destroyed the energy ball. She then faced Chaos and sent a small compressed blast of energy towards him. Chaos just smirked in confidence and raised his hand thinking he could stop it. However the smirk vanished when he realized that it wasn't stopping; He tried to escape, but it was to late he was struck by the blast and consumed by it in a brilliant flash of light. When it faded there was nothing left of him but a small orb containing the small fragment of him and Chiba Mamoru's star seed that was floating there lifeless and dull.
Sailor Cosmos drifted toward the two items and studied the star seed carefully. She took it in to her hand and concentrated, searching for even the tiniest flicker of the soul of her former love. She was about to give up until she detected a miniscule glimmer emanating from within the deepest recesses of the star seed.
She gave a small smile of relief. "Saa…that's good to know. I guess I have one more stop to make before I head back home." She said to herself and then summoned the star seeds of the Inners and Akiko to her. As well as the orb containing Chaos's fragment. She summoned two boxes one for the star seeds, and one for the orb. When she had them all she spread her wings and vanished in to thin air.
Well Minna, here is the new chapter. The next one will be the Epiloge. I just hope that you will enjoy my little Christmas present to you all. Signed Magic Cat