Chapter 27: Intervention
Cole quickly soared down toward the ground as he faithfully kept his hands reaching towards the sky. His only hope was to transform with the purity chalice…and if it was not successful the fall from the police tower would certainly kill him.
The purity chalice form of transforming himself had always proven itself useful to Cole, giving him a temporary huge surge of power…but at a price, the rush of power could easily jolt his heart and kill him as well…especially when used multiple times in a short amount of days. The purity chalice had never failed him before so he had to hope that it could remain so.
Cole held his eyes shut as tightly as he possibly could, it seemed like hours when in reality he had just been hurled out of the window half a second ago. With a quick concentration he could feel his hands sparking violently. He could feel the gloves forming over his hands…The sparks became more concentrated though, he could feel each bolt of electricity wriggle through his veins and it was hurting him very badly…but amazingly he was falling much slower than before.
A drum bumbled in his ear…he could feel the heavens tearing themselves open and sending a divine cylinder of lightning down upon him. He could hear the winds rip the air into shreds and feel his shortened breath, it was only another moment before the blue bolt would strike him and the chalice would descend from above to save him.
The pressure of the sparks was driving him to his limits, his eyes couldn't hold shut any longer. Reluctantly he released them and could see the bolt of lightning coming down at him. His widened his arms in an embrace for it. The lightning made its way down and struck him directly in the chest. Dangerous amounts of energy tensed his body and arched his back toward the sky. His pupils were at their maximum dilation.
His bones began to pop and his skin tighten as a canvas does to a drum; his ribs were grossly visible through his shirt which was already beginning to rip into shreds. Cole struggled to keep his arms up, the chalice would make its arrival down any moment now…he just hoped that it could make it in time. The wizardly white uniform was rising through his skin.
He squinted to search for to golden relic in the sky…but something seemed to be going terribly wrong. Transforming into an eternal form usually hurt, but this was excruciatingly painful…even his teeth were loosening. Blood was accumulating underneath his fingernails and his abdominal area was on the verge of bursting.
Cole took short nervous breaths; his uniform was beginning to fade away and was becoming his raw flesh again. The bolt of energy was slowly dissolving into a funnel of wind and the winds were now starting to die as well.
This was it, he thought. This would finally be his end. He was falling at full speed again and after a lifetime worth of fighting superhuman enemies and winning battles against the essences of evil itself, gravity, in his human form, would be his downfall.
He released a single tear from his eye and embraced the hands of death.
A thread snapped in his head. The crystal Father Holloman had given him was radiating a divine pearl glow. He felt a small crack in the wind…the hands of death finally had their grasp over him…only they really felt like hands. He felt as if he was being carried down into his fate…death seemed to have fingertips that gently squeezed at his waist.
He felt himself nearing the underworld, rocks hurled upwards like rockets to the side of him. He could feel the debris on his face. Slowly and gently he was placed on the ground, his angel had the kindness to place him on his back.
He wanted to see how this new world would look like, but was afraid that opening his eyes again would truly mean that he was dead. Death was so interesting, he didn't even feel an ounce of pain…aside from the pain that strained at his body as it was. His muscles still felt so burned out and deflated from his failed attempt at transforming, he always imagined that after death there would be no pain. Aside from the pain that he felt of failure and from his yearns for his friends.
Feeling a sort of burst of courage Cole decided he would open his eyes. Maybe there could be some way he could make it back to the real world…just like Oswald…or Ulayly…or whatever his name was that was in a book that he read when he was younger.
Taking a deep breath he bolted his eyes open.
He had never felt like such a dumb jackass in his life. He was still very much alive, just on his back on the concrete in front of the police station.
He turned crimson, but quickly searched for his scepter through the rubble that had apparently been broken as he fell…but everything felt so real as he was falling, like someone was pulling him down into the unknown, but he had to make his way back to his friends.
He was sure beyond a reasonable doubt that his scepter was almost exactly where he fell…but his muscles felt deflated and worn down which made things feel very difficult for him.
For once he was correct. His rod was laying under some chunks of concrete. Weakly he wriggled it out and held it securely with what little grasp he had.
He felt very weary of using his scepter to transform, it could be a little much for his body to handle, but he was a lot more resistant to another fall like that in his Sailor form.
He cried out to the scepter and with a shiny burst of light Cole reemerged in his uniform. Surprisingly he felt stronger, not weaker in this state, but far from 100%..
Cole slowly made his way out of the small crater made by his fall; he had never been so grateful to be alive, his survival was a miracle. He looked forward to locate his friends and his heart sunk.
He had no idea what happened, they all seemed to be doing fairly well against the Amazon women…but now their ultimate destinies seemed very clear but glum. The first who stood out to him were Mars and Venus, who barbarically fought each other in a blood colored rectangular prism while Aricia laughed without any notice to Cole. She seemed to be concentrating very deeply despite her laughter--as if she was somehow forcing the boys to fight, toying with their feelings very viciously.
Next he saw the other 2, helpless and weak on the ground while Juna and Posindra continued to thrash them around with endless attacks. Cole felt so obligated to help them…but he was not sure if he had the strength to do so.
He definitely did not want to mess with the purity chalice again, it almost killed him and his muscles were still very raw from his first attempt.
For the moment, they didn't seem to notice him, it bothered him that after so much lightning and light in the sky that they didn't notice anything…and he had no idea where Arodice was. She could be anywhere. If he made a surprise attack it could fail and probably hurt more than help. Non of his attacks could finish these women off in one blow and his ice rings were too slow to capture everyone in time and with Arodice still out of sight, that could prove very unhelpful. Cleansing them was out of the question as well…that seemed to stop working after the Negaverse empire was destroyed.
Shaking away all of his thoughts he grasped reality--he had absolutely nothing to lose. If he could just maybe charge up and attack long enough and without causing them to notice him, maybe he could injure them or at least bring them to his level of health. It was worth a try.
He quickly ducked back into the small crater and held out his right palm. Closing his eyes he tried to imagine the sun…the almighty with the power of infinity, such a key source of life. He needed an equal power right now.
His palm pulsed…a very tiny sphere of orange energy was forming in his palm. Cole couldn't pay attention to that, he needed to envision it to be a grand source of energy. With these thoughts the sphere doubled in size.
He wished he could just yell like he usually did in the back of his mind.. Crying out the attack could make its size increase exponentially if he held his voice out long enough…but that could make him noticeable to the amazons.
Instinctively he held out his other palm as well. The sphere doubled again and continued to grow very slowly. He had to hurry, he could only imagine how much longer his friends could last.
~*~*~
Posindra clutched Mercury by the wrist and flung him into the ground again.
"Will you hand over your scepter willingly?", she asked.
"No!", Mercury shot back. He still felt groggy from his sleep.
Posindra grinned. "You know that I can kill you anytime I want. Don't you?"
Mercury spit in her face. Posindra frowned.
"I see.", she continued. She pulled him up. "Come on, Mercury. Try and attack me."
He cocked back his arms, preparing a beam. Posindra smirked and shoved her heel into his stomach, causing him to keel over.
"Not.", she cackled. "Take this!"
She bent over and pressed her razor sharp nails into his neck. Her nails sunk deeper and deeper into his skin. Mercury tried his hardest not to give her the satisfaction of groaning. She pulled her blood tipped nails out of him and slammed her fist into his back. Mercury wailed in pain.
*~*
Jupiter continued to stand despite his serious injury. He refused to give up. He managed to pull himself onto his feet, breathing heavily and sweating profusely.
"I must admit that you are quite persistent for a human.", Juna smiled. "But you are no match for me."
"JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!", he yelled, sending thousands of leave shaped grenades at her.
Juna shook her head disappointedly. The grenades began to fade before they could even reach her. "If I didn't know any better," she smirked. "I would say you were running dangerously low on energy." Juna sent a tiny sphere of energy at him.
Jupiter fell back on his rear. She was right, but he was not about to let her know that.
A small antenna sprouted out of Jupiter's V-shaped headpiece. He managed to come back onto his feet, but this time it was twice as difficult as before.
"Jupiter…", he breathed heavily. "Thunder…", he took another moment to take a few more breathes. "Crush!"
A tiny bolt of lightning formed over the antenna but before it could be released the headpiece completely dissolved into dust as were Jupiter's gloves.
"No…", Jupiter said nervously to himself. " This can't be happening. Not now!"
"Sorry to burst your bubble, kid.", Juna mocked. "But it is."
His uniform was slowly fading away and his human form was becoming more distinct. Juna released a neon blade from her palm and slowly walked towards him.
*~*~*
Saturn kept his concentration and his energy sphere was about as large as his upper body. He could faintly feel the life energy of his friends…he couldn't sense Venus and Mars' because of that box that they were in…but he felt the other two, both dangerously low.
He intended for the sphere to be a little larger than what it was…but his friends lives were at stake. He opened his eyes and cautiously reared his head above the indent in the ground. He needed to get the women away from his friends so they wouldn't be at as high a risk of getting hurt.
A drop of cold sweat maneuvered down his cheek. Juna was approaching an untransformed Drake with a long blade. He needed to get her away from him. He turned his head to the side. Posindra was beating Mercury into the ground maliciously and Aricia still seemed to be concentrating on messing with Venus and Mars who were attacking each other like two territorial wolves fighting for leadership. Arodice was still no where to be found.
He placed the sphere on his right palm which was quivering violently. This was his only true shot.
"HEY!", Saturn yelled. The 3 women turned around to him. He felt terrified. Desperately he cocked his hand back and launched the sphere.
Everything just seemed to be going insanely slow. The sphere revolved at mach speed in the air and seemed biased towards Juna more than the others. Probably because she was in the center of them, but the explosion would probably reach the other two nevertheless.
Snapping out of their trance, Venus and Mars looked out towards them. They said nothing and ducked. The sphere was going to zoom very close to the box.
Mercury managed to turn his head in time and used this opportunity to cover his head with his arms. Drake seemed overwhelmed at first, the sphere was coming right at him, but in a split second he leaped onto the ground.
The huge energy ball barely scathed the box that held Mars and Venus, but still shattered it into millions of pieces. Aricia turned to see where it would hit directly.
Posindra slowly stepped to the side, but Juna fiercely held out her blade, ready to slice it in two.
It gained more ground and was inches away from Juna.
In a perfect angle a yellow beam from above struck the sphere and absorbed its fiery impact.
Saturn yelled out a curse and looked up at the Police Station. Arodice was the one who sent the beam.
With a cat's agility she jumped from the 7th story of the building and landed on her feet.
"You have ruined my plans, Sailor Saturn, for the last time.", she growled at him.
Saturn had never been so frightened in his life. If he ran forward he would have to deal with Juna, Posindra, and Aricia, but if he went towards the bulding, he would have to deal with Arodice.
"SATURN ICERING---WRAP!", he yelled out of desperation. A large series of rings sprouted from his palms and squeezed at Arodice.
Effortlessly she crushed the rings with her shoulders and continued to walk slowly towards him.
Saturn ran forward, but was greeted by the other three, Juna especially vicious with her long blade in hand.
"MERCURY BUBBLE---BLAST!", a voice called from behind the 3 women.
A thick haze covered the entire area. Saturn was virtually blind, he had no idea where to go.
Somebody reached at him and dragged him to the side. It was Mercury, his aura was very strong for some reason. He had never been so happy to see…well be near him at least. Mercury still had Cole by the wrist and lead him a good distance from the building. He could feel several others beside him. Obviously they were Mars, Venus, and Drake.
"YOU CAN NOT HIDE FOREVER, SAILORS!", Arodice roared over the mist.
One of the taller silhouettes charged a moon shaped ray on his index finger.
"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM---SMASH!"
A large cylinder of light charged from his finger and flared into the distance.
That was definitely Venus.
Mercury finally released his wrist, to his relief the mist was still holding strong…now if only they weren't all of the verge of dying they could probably hold a fair defense.
"You guys, come over here quick! They got me!", cried Cole's voice from the other side of the hazy wall.
Saturn looked curiously at himself. "I didn't say anything!"
The others searched blindly around themselves for Cole.
"I'm right here!", both voices said in unison. "Stop doing that!", they both scolded.
"What the hell is going on!?", demanded Venus.
"You guys, I see Cole, they have him over there!", Matt's voice yelled.
"Wait a second!", Mars yelled. "I did not say that."
"They are tricking you!", the voice insisted. "Hurry, they have him by the throat."
"I can assure you guys I am not being strangled.", Saturn pressed. "This must be some trick." He reached around for the others. He could feel someone's arm.
"Matt, look out, they are about to grab you!", Cole's voice yelled.
Mars impulsively kicked Cole away from him.
"What was that for!", Saturn yelled.
"That's it! I cant take it anymore!", Mercury hollered. "MERCURY---AQUA ILLUSION!"
A large gush of water flushed away the haze and revealed the women opposite of them, and their team fully assembled on their side the whole time.
"AHA!", Saturn cried victoriously. "You were all lying all along!"
"Pleasant observation, Sailor Saturn.", Posindra said with her eyes rolling sarcastically. "I see you aren't nearly as tough as you were before. I guess somebody was just too scared to face us head on and ran away with his tail between his legs as usual."
"This is your final day alive. This city-and world for that matter is ours!", Aricia giggled.
The girls lined up and charged up their palms with energy.
Saturn turned to his friends. "You guys, we have to try and beat them. It cant end this way. Despite how hurt we all are, we have to go down with a fight!"
Venus cut in. "He is right. Let's do this!"
"I am all of juice you guys.", Drake frowned. "But good luck!"
"Wha-", Venus started, but stopped. They needed to hurry and fight back before the women launch their attack.
The men formed a horizontal line as well, all four charging up energy between them.
"SAILOR PLANET POWER!", the men yelled, while Drake stood behind and watched.
"AMAZON SASS POWER", the yelled even louder.
"READY!?", Saturn and Arodice asked in unison.
"READY!" , the others responded.
"FI-"
A great life energy became visible, the attacks were held on both sides.
The crystal around Cole's neck glowed a white as it did earlier…he felt so nauseas…it was as if it was repeating everything from before.
A blinding flare of light formed between the two sides. Violent winds rushed outwards and pushed against both sides. Drake dug his fists into the ground to keep from flying back.
The women did the same with their heels.
Cole had never felt such a powerful life energy before. Not a good one.
He squinted his eyes to see what was in the large dome of light. He had felt it before…but never so strong, he just couldn't pinpoint its identity.
The large embodiment of energy gave a final blinding flash and began to fade, both sides eager to see who had intervened with such a powerful presence.
9 mouths dropped in synch. The figure was almost 7 feet tall with pale white skin and deep purple eyes.
Cole could almost collapse. Although he was slightly different in appearance and in power level…Maddox had returned.
