Gold Digger the Insertion Files Chapter 23 Raiding of the Arch Reactor
By Agent Reptile
This is fanfiction and I am not making any money off of this work. I am doing this solely for fun.
"Wild Bill you copy?" The voice on the radio crackled as Grid-Iron called out to the drop ship. The sounds of weaponry being fired off nearly drowning out the captain's voice.
"Hear you loud and clear." Wild Bill said as the Drops ship rose toward the top of the dark fortress. While we couldn't very well see what was going on outside the ship, being there were no windows outside of the cockpit, the sound of crumbling crystal and metal echoed inside the hull while the feeling of the craft's thrust meant we knew we were moving fast.
"Whatever it is that you are doing we need you back at the school pronto. They seemed to have pulled a last quarter come-back and we need our star players on the field right now." This was punctuated with the WOOSH sound of a rocket launching over the radio.
"Oh howdy we are heading back as soon as we take care of this last stone thing. Got to close off the connection between our world and theirs." Wild Bill said as the repeating burr of the drop ship's main gun roared to life. In but a second later we heard a loud banging sound as Wild Bill was cussing up a storm.
"Dagnabbit why in tarnation didn't you say that those things got so bright when they explode." The pilot yelled with such intensity that we could hear him even through the shut security door blocking the cockpit area.
"Cut the chatter Wild Bill." General Abernathy said over the radio. "Now you took out whatever it was that was keeping their world and ours together, but we still got a bunch of blood suckers and these two uglies bearing down on that fortification at the school."
"General this is Sailor Pluto. The Joes are currently busy keeping Beryl and The Lich King forces occupied but this is going to become a battle of attrition if we don't get the rest of the Scouts here soon. Dr. Diggers, his student, and our elven friends are barely able to counter the Lich's magic."
There was a scrabbling sound on the other end. "General are you still there?" Wild Bill asked.
"Yeah I'm here. Just had to get into this newfangled tank of their's." Abernathy voice had the distinct trace of a smirk.
"Wait General the roads are completely blocked with every scare citizen in this city." Duke said. "There is no way to get that firepower or any ground forces to you."
"I'm not driving this truck off base. Dial Tone, Breaker, I need targeting data for this thing." General Abernathy said as we could hear the whrilling of gears and mechanisms in the background.
"Sir I have a laser targeting unit up but whatever the two big ones are using is taking the pounding we are giving them and more. We need something to distract them or otherwise get whatever interruption is messing the laser's feedback signal up offline." Breaker said over the radio.
Sailor Mercury scratched her chin before pulling down her visor. "That interference is a heavy concentration of magic…no it's a magical defense field." The brainy scout blinked in realization.
"Okay all this magic stuff is giving me a headache right now." Grid-Iron groaned. "I don't get it, and whatever it has made any attacks on these two uglies impossible. Even the magic users we have can't seem to push back against whatever they are using."
Ami started to look over the slab on the dropship's floor.
"Got something there kiddo because I'm all ears." Duke smiled.
"I might. I am going to try and activate this device to emit a powerful anti-magic field that we can use to give you the opening you need to hit both Beryl and the Lich King with all the firepower you have, but the problem is that it will shut down all magic spells in an area."
"So you won't be able to attack, but neither can the two uglies out there?" Flint asked loud enough that Wild Bill could hear in the cockpit.
"Yes, but also while activated the passive communication gift we have will be ineffective so we will have to make this fast." Ami explained.
"I say we do it and hit them with everything we've got on this bird from behind. Should be plenty of a distraction to work with." Lady Jay smiled.
"Cool so we just blast them away, can't talk for a while, and then we win." Sailor Moon said with a smirk.
"Sailor Moon while the Joes weapons can harm both Beryl and the Lich King, they can't outright defeat them." Sailor Mercury said. "We still need to stop them."
"But all the missiles and such on here…why not use them." Sailor Jupiter said, still a little uneasy being in an aircraft.
"I think I have an idea." Scarlett pointed out. "We can't destroy them, but we can keep them occupied if their defenses are down. We blast them with everything we have while their magic is turned off and the rest of the Joes at the fortress and called in artillery fire can keep them occupied so they can't focus enough to use whatever it is that they have."
"Yeah sounds good, but Brianna and I will have to come up with a replacement shield around us for all the heat and scrap metal you are going to unleash." Gina said.
"We are approaching in T-Minus 3 minutes ladies; that give you enough time?" Wild Bill asked.
"Oh that is plenty of time." Gina said with a smile in her voice.
"We can't get there faster?" Sailor Mars asked with honest confusion.
"Sorry there little lady but I'm not heading level, I'm tying to get some altitude so I can drive all this ordinance right into those uglies and try to not hit my compadres there behind those walls. And these missile pods are so loaded up that the cross-winds from whatever tomfool voodoo they pulled earlier takes a bit to keep her in control." Wild Bill said. "So you do whatever you need to do in the back and I'll keep us all safe and sound."
"You sure this will work? Cracking alien technology on the fly and all." Flint said scratching his head.
"It's not alien…whatever this is and however it came to be is most definitely from some sort of human origin, or at least near human. The mathematics is base 10, the programming language is in binary, and the interface is touch sensitive surface who's reaction surface area is just right for a human hand." Sailor Mercury asked. "Now please I must concentrate."
"What exactly did all of that techno-stuff mean?" Sailor Moon asked scratching her head. "Sounded alien to me."
"Moon I swear that the cooking instructions of shake and mix cake would seem alien to you." Sailor Mars groaned.
"She said that the input controls on that thing are too perfectly designed for a human mind and hand to be strictly alien in origin." Scarlett said looking at Sailor Moon.
Sailor Mercury worked at a fevered pace as she was typing into the black monolith and her Supercomputer. It was amazing how hard she worked and her focus was so much that I could almost see her visor fog-up from all the heat around her eyes. I was worried that it was going to overheat, but thankfully Sailor Mercury lifted her visor and brushed her brow removing the sweat.
"Wild Bill the field is set, but while it is on only myself and Sailor Venus can speak fluent enough English to talk with all of you." Sailor Mercury smiled as the big black slab lit up for a moment and then went dark.
"Hot doggie." Wild Bill said as we could feel the aircraft roll and pitch slightly as the incline were had been following was soon turned into a dive. The craft shook slightly as we braced ourselves. As the dive dipped lining up the missile strike, we could feel repetitive shocks as the volley of the entire remaining missile and rocket pods were emptied of their armaments with the bright red light of the rocket motors shining as bright dots that vanished quickly from view. Then we could hear the massive explosion as the warheads went off.
The blast of the missile volley lit up the inside of the craft as Wild Bill pulled out of the dive.
"Grid-Iron we are coming in fast. You got a clear place for us to land? We got a package on special delivery." Duke said over the radio.
"We got one on the back side of the building coming right up." The captain said as the sounds of rockets exploding.
"When we hit the ground we are going to have to run fast and hard to get into the school and have Gina and Brianna try to figure this slab out." I said as I carefully placed the slab back on Britanny's back and held it in place balancing it on top of her saddle. "Then Wild Bill will have to dust off again unless he gets overwhelmed by what remaining forces are attacking."
"Having a huge forward facing loading ramp seems like a bad way to drop off and take back troops when the bad guys are below the gun's ability to hit." Lady Jay said as she pulled out one of her spears.
"It was meant to bring armored personnel carriers with their own firepower into combat." I pointed out. "We just have to make do with what we got."
"And what about these guys?" Sailor Mars asked pointing at the unconscious generals strapped down in seats along the wall. "If we leave then who is going to protect Wild Bill up there if they wake up?"
"I'll stay." Tuxedo Mask said as Wild Bill unloaded rounds into what I guessed was some hapless undead outside the fortified school. The girls all turned around to look at the guy. "Look you don't need me to cast your attacks at Beryl so I will keep an eye on them so Wild Bill can keep flying about." The guy smiled at Sailor Moon.
"But your English skills are only passable." Sailor Moon pointed out.
"So yeah with the Conan guy leaves you won't be able to understand eachother." Sailor Venus pointed out.
"I'll be fine." Tuxedo Mask said patting his girlfriend's shoulder.
"Woah howdy we got us a mess a uglies up ahead." Wild Bill yelled as he reset the missile pods back into their retracted mode. "So let's open up on this here turkey shoot." The sound of the main gun unloading filled the drop ship again.
"I'll find a way to make it work." Tuxedo Mask groaned.
"Yahoo partners if you are heading out now is the time." Wild Bill said as the loading ramp dropped to a scene of massive destruction. Everywhere around us was the broken and fallen bodies of undead, the limbs of the few remaining Yoma, and the vast holes blown into the ground by various explosives from grenades to RPGs. This was the opposite side of the building from where I had been fighting before. The Joes had protected this side well and we thankfully had the entire fortification to protect us from Beryl and the Lich King's assault. The vampires though were a different subject.
"Great how do we deal with those uglies?" Scarlett asked aiming her crossbow.
"Leave that to us." Sailor Mars smiled as she looked at Sailor Jupiter. The two scouts charged up an attack and unleashed a brilliant wave of flame and lightning that cleared a line to the back door area of the fort.
"Everyone run." Flint yelled as we charged out of the dropship and made our way towards the door. The moment we left the ramp, the roar of the dropship engines sounded as the mechanical whrooring of the hydraulics from the loading ramp meaning that Wild Bill was pulling up and out of the combat zone.
"Ewe what in the world did I just step in?" Sailor Moon audibley gagged as the wet slopping noise of her shoes getting stuck in something disgusted her.
"Not now kid, we are moving." Lady Jay grabbed Sailor Moon by the arm and just about wrenched the younger woman's arm out of the socket in doing so.
"Quick in here now." Gina yelled as Britanny bolted into the building first with the huge slab on her back. "Brianna, Dial Tone, help me with this slab." The brilliant explorer said as she and the rest of the uber genius squad went about trying to figure out the anti-magic device."
"How are we doing so far sir?" Duke asked Grid-Iron, who was propping himself against a wall with his helmet off and throwing back water like crazy.
"We are holding, but things are getting real ugly." The Lt. said in reply. "They ran out of skeletons and the dark generals somehow high-tailed it out of here soon after that explosion. That queen out there seems to have lost control over whatever that orb is, but the skeleton guy and the vampires started summoning actual undead to act as bullet sponges. Thankfully the walls of this place are about as solid as NORAD's control room if not more so. The real danger has been fatigue." Grid-Iron said getting up. "The lady elf was kind enough to help Doc in using whatever her magic is to keep us going, but she's so tired that I wouldn't ask her for more. She passed out in the nurses office a few minutes ago….as for the rest well we are rotating our gunning positions to give everyone a break."
The windows had been blown out by Natasha's attack earlier and the Joes had placed make-shift barricades with gun ports. Mostly they were armed with machine guns, laser and plasma rifles, and the occasional SAW. Most of the room was clean, but a lot of the school equipment had fallen to the to the floor and swept up into a corner to keep it out of the way. There was a coffee maker probably taken from the teacher's lounge and several of those Styrofoam cups on desks and tables. There were Joes sniping off undead and other such badguys, there were some cleaning and maintaining their weapons, and others working the radios and such. The sound of gunfire rang out from every other room.
"Are guns always this loud?" Sailor Moon asked.
"None of the movies I ever say made it seem like they did more than pop." Sailor Venus, being the pop culture nut she was, pointed out.
"Yep. That's why a lot of us wear earplugs." Leatherneck smiled. "And movies are all fake, nothing in them is to be believed."
"If you don't mind my asking, why are there so many bodies all over the place?" Sailor Mercury asked as we headed towards the front of the school.
"Well they went from undead to just regular dead after being shot up, so they are just littering the ground at this point."
"Now that is weird." Sailor Jupiter said in thought.
"And disgusting, bleche." Sailor Moon stuck out her tongue as she looked at the bottom of her shoe.
That just got a few raised eyebrows from the Joes. It was the very idea of not seeing a dead body
"And what would you expect to happen to a corpse after it dies?" Flint looked almost incredulous at the Sailor Scouts.
"Usually when we blast them with magic they….I don't know how to say it….turn to dust?" Sailor Jupiter answered.
"Please understand when we defeat our foes they typically disappear in a flash of light and disintegrate into nothing." Sailor Mercury said as she addressed the senior Joe staff. "We don't often have bodies to worry about."
"Mercury think you may be able to help the other smart people figure that slab out?" Sailor Mars asked scratching her head. "You seem to be able to talk their language after all."
"Yes of course!" The brainy Sailor Scout said in enthusiasm. "If you don't need me at the moment that is." Sailor Mercury said to Grid-Iron and Duke.
"Just tell me what you find out." Grid-Iron smirked at Sailor Mercury who ran off to where Gina and Brianna were.
"You do something with your hair Britanny?" Sailor Uranus joked as she took a look at my love's empowered animal form. "Looks almost feral."
My love did the best she could in animal form to smirk. "Rou know. Rath to range it rup time to time. Ro,rhat's rowing on?" Britanny said as she walked by my side and looked out over what was the grassy field in front of the school a few hours ago, but was now more like no-man's land from the Eastern Front of WWI. The overuse of "r" sounds not getting nearly the comedic reaction as before as the somber tone of the whole building was clear.
"Well my dear, we have kept them at bay for now. But it seems the hordes of the Undead realm are willing to crawl over their own dead to try and get to us, or at least haul off the piles and piles of dead comrades before trying to attack us." Theo said with a somewhat jovial tone. "But you were successful in your mission?"
"The tower was destroyed, their command staff are captured, and we are now trying to turn their anti-magic weapon against them." I said looking over the field with a twist in my gut seeing this. I never wanted this to be how we affected people's lives here, or anywhere. Our goal was to spread a more efficient, greener, and better way to power a modern city…not bring war and calamity to a peaceful and prosperous nation….but then I reminded myself that we didn't start this fight but we had to end it.
"But if that is the case, why won't they just high-tail it out of here? What can they gain from this assault now?" Scarlett asked aloud.
"Stinks of desperation, that and they are on their last legs." Grid-Iron said. "The attacks may not have let-up, but they are significantly weaker than before."
"Cool, let's just go out there and blast them again." Sailor Moon smiled. "Should be easy enough now right?...Right?" The bunny brained scout asked thinking that now victory was at hand.
"My child, a Lich is not something you dare to underestimate. While they can't regenerate magic as the living can, their power is so beyond the scale of raw resource that even now my father could snuff you out like a candle." Theo said with a sigh. "But this makes no sense…surely they would run by now."
"Unless husband they can't leave." Julia said as she was being tended to by Seance with some magical healing spells. Her skin had minor scratches and she moved like her leg was bothering her. "If your father is keeping the portal open to the undead realm losing so many of his forces, then likely he is desperate to the point of his very existence being threatened if he doesn't get that reactor."
"So now it has moved on to being a war of attrition." Grid-Iron said addressing the returning Joes.
"Aw but I hate math." Sailor Moon groaned. Those who weren't used to Sailor Moon's thoughts looked at here with confusion, while those that did understand her just groaned.
"Attrition Moon not addition." Sailor Mars said putting her head in her hand. "It means that we are being attacked slowly to see who outlasts who, not playing number munchers."
"Well you can lead a bunny to war, but you can't make her think." Sailor Venus said with a sigh.
"Are you always like this?" Lady Jay said with near disgust. "Arguing with teammates, no coordination…or at least no tactical coordination, childish acting…is this really how things are done around here."
"Well they usually stop when things get bad, but considering the day we have had…probably isn't helping anything." Sailor Jupiter said. "We were given our powers with no forewarning, no idea we were reincarnated princesses, and no explanation about what the whole thing was till one day a talking cat showed up and gave us each our pens." The tallest of the inner scouts said. "Out of all of I have the most hand-to-hand training but just because I have studied martial arts since I was in kindergarden. Sailor Venus has the longest record of actual heroics but she was like 13 when she started and even then I doubt Artemis did much in formal training, and we have to do this without pay while trying to have a social life and be somewhat normal high school students."
"You had to train yourselves?" Lady Jay and Julia blinked. "There isn't some superhero hand-book for how to do this? If you have talking cats then don't they have something?"
"We tried, but the assumption was that with reincarnated memories they would just know what to do and wouldn't require instruction. Also Luna and I were advisors to a royal court, not combat instructors." Artimus said scratching the back of his head. "But even then the scale we are facing now is equivalent to the final days of the Moon Kingdom before Queen Beryl destroyed everything and forced Queen Serenity to use the Silver Moon Crystal to defeat her."
"I dread having to ask this question, but what happened?" Theo said concerned.
"Well the whole kingdom died, the princesses got sent to earth to be reincarnated, Artemus and I were put in suspended animation, and the Queen died…along with the whole kingdom being blown apart." Luna sighed.
"Why on earth did she do that?" Grid-Iron asked in shock.
"Essentially in desperation she used the power of the crystal as a sort of….how do I put this delicately Captain….the magical equivalent of a thermonuclear warhead." Luna said. "When used properly the power is completely safe and controllable…but as it was a desperate move to save what she could of those that she loved, the queen waited till she was the only potential casualty and used all of her will to destroy as much of the Negaverse as she could."
"Damn." Grid-Iron said. "Let's not do that shall we. Uh that wasn't your plan was it?" the Captain asked as he looked at Sailor Moon.
"WHAT? Are you crazy I'm not blowing myself up. I have a dance this weekend and all my friends want to hang out, and my mother would kill me if I failed my test again…." The leader of the Sailor Scouts started to go into hyperventilation mode causing the adults to chuckle.
"So why we wait for the eggheads to finish what they are doing, I have a few questions that don't relate to mass death." Duke spoke up. "From what I gather the pattern is monster of the day/week/month shows up, you girls show up, do some odd magic stuff, win the day, and everyone goes about their lives. Rinse, wash, repeat right?"
"Pretty much." Sailor Venus said. "Which kind of is what you were doing back when Cobra was a big thing." The more world-wide scout said.
"Longer time-line, but fair point." Duke agreed. "But for as real a danger as this is, everyone seems to treat this whole thing with you as sort of an urban myth or some tourist trap."
"Yep, and often no notice when the bag guys show up." Sailor Mars said. "And all the toys and manga? We don't get a dime off of that stuff. A million dollar industry and we can't get a penny to help fund a college investment system. So yes we are extremely appreciative of everything all of you are doing, but sorry we don't have military training or the funds of a modern nation's budget to focus on our heroics. Heck the police don't even respond to people who are new to this calling asking for help."
"Well if we don't stop ugly one and ugly two out there, I don't think you'll have to worry about college." Scarlett said. "So what is the plan then?"
"So far we are holding the line." Grid-Iron answered as I looked around to see the Joes working on their weapons, taking a breather, or manning gun positions where they were shooting the various ghouls that kept pouring out from the pits of fire and brimstone that make up the Undead realm. "General Abernathy has been trying, with almost no success, to get the Japanese Defense force to mobilize their armored divisions for a coordinated artilarry strike, but they are going through more red tape than a Christmas wrapping party."
"Great." Sailor Jupiter groaned. "Sorry but here there is so much….how do I put this politely…."
"Bureaucratic bullcrap?" Lady Jay replied, getting a chuckle from everyone.
"That will work." Sailor Jupiter laughed softly. "That they pass the buck from one layer of government to the other with the hope that the problem solves itself rather than, you know, do their jobs."
"Sounds like most of Congress." Duke said as he shook his head. "So anyone bring a pack of cards?"
"Oh anyone want to trade? I have like five Sailor Mars but not the rare collectable Minimoon." Sailor Moon asked pulling a bunch of printed cards from whatever the Sailor Scout version of weapon's space was.
"Uh not those kinds of cards." Lady Jay said while pulling out a deck. "You girls are too young for gambling, but anyone want to play a few hands of blackjack if welcome to join."
"How are the rest of the scouts doing sir?" Sailor Mars asked as she looked around the base for the Outers.
"Well after that impressive hammer throw, most of your friends got blasted back against the walls of this fortress and we scrambled to go get them back before anything happened." Pathfinder said walking up to the arrived group. "Thankfully you all seem a lot tougher than you look so beyond being slammed around a bit they were fine."
"Look tougher?" Sailor Moon huffed as Sailors Venus and Mars joined Julia and Pathfinder in the cardgame.
"Not like your dresses look like flack armor." Pathfinder shrugged.
"Pathfinder please." Grid-Iron said sternly.
"Well the older of your friends decided to rotate into the firing position while the younger two have been helping to keep us hydrated." Pathfinder said.
"Why didn't they try to use magic against Beryl?" Sailor Jupiter asked.
"The vampires kind of made that a bad idea, plus the ground has become a slog so getting stuck in it is an equally bad idea." Grid-Iron explained. "Thankfully with the sun finally out the bloodsuckers don't seem to keen about sticking around."
"And what about Rene….I mean Sailor Minimoon and Sailor Saturn." Sailor Moon cried out as she looked around.
"They are busy with the elves down at the make-shift medical ward that was part of the nurse's office." Pathfinder smiled. "That dark haired one was working her little heart out healing us from the fatigue and exhaustion of sustained fire and tuckered herself out so a point she nearly passed out. Took both of the older scouts and the lady elf to finally get her to slow down or she was going to pass out."
"And you let a kid do that to herself?" Sailor Mars said in shock, nearly dropping her hand. "You just let a kid work herself to exhaustion?"
"Let? Little lady that ball of determination wouldn't be swayed to stop." Beach Head said as he was cleaning his weapons. "Had to nearly strap her down to the table for her to take a break." The Ranger said with a small sense of pride.
"Why Beachhead I'm surprised." Lady Jay said with a sarcastic retort. "You complementing anyone? Have you got combat fatigue yourself?"
"Zip it." Beachhead shot back, causing Lady Jay to chuckle. "If half of the fresh recruits I had to train had a quarter of the dedication that girl had, then we wouldn't have had a COBRA problem."
"Be that as it may. Where is everyone else?" Duke said looking at the few Joes around him. "Don't tell me they all are in the infirmary." The team leader joked.
"Heavy Duty and Roadblock figured that we needed some grub, so they headed to the school kitchen to make something for everyone to eat." Pathfinder smiled.
"So you we've been here long enough that you are raiding the school's pantry?" Sailor Venus asked looking hungry.
"We brought our own chow thank you." Grid-Iron said. "Expected us to have to hold out for a while so we packed some snacks."
"Give me a moment, I've got to see this." Sailor Jupiter said running off to the kitchen area.
"So all we can do now is more waiting?" Sailor Mars said as she checked her hand again while seeing if she wanted another card. "Well this just sucks."
"Can't say I disagree with you on that one missy. But you got a better idea?" Scarlett said.
"No, but sitting around while the city is in ruins and our own military is deliberately sitting on its butt and we have the only skills needed to actually defeat these guys, but are left unable to do so because just trying to run through that hellscape is going to be impossible to get close enough to….you know at this point I'm surprised we haven't blown a gas line or something."
"Must be hard, being your first time seeing a situation go this south." Duke said to Sailor Mars.
"We don't usually get to use guns." Sailor Uranus said as she walked up to us. "And as fun as they are, in our case they would probably cause serious casualties."
"You unleased an explosion that blew apart bodies like a frag grenade while standing close to the explosion and your calling guns dangerous?" Beach Head blinked for a second. "Not to mention the cats just told us that some queen of yours set off a magical equivalent of the csarbomba on the moon, and you are worried about the potential damage of firearm scale impacts?"
"Magic can be….specific Sgt." Theo said explaining. "It is rather complicated but more than likely whatever you scouts do probably is completely useless against a human target, or even buildings. However, that is a conversation for another time. Gina my dear any news on your end?"
"Well I have good news and bad news." Gina said. It was the first time I had a chance to look at her since we got back and she was covered in dirk with her gloves black and what had been a nice business dress smeared in grease and gun oil. She looked like she had been run ragged.
And Brianna's usual chipper face and bright smile had been replaced with an extremely tense look and her own cloths covered in sweat and grime.
"I'll take the good news first." Grid-Iron said as he turned around and saw the group that was near him.
"The good news is that this thing is an extremely advanced but very user-friendly computer system which generates a field capable of negating magic, no matter how strong or what type, within a given area while activated. Which means that when we turn this thing on, we can instantly shut down these big baddies power in a snap." Gina smiled.
"Well heck that sounds like the best news we have had all day." Lady Jay smiled. "Turn it on and let's blast these suckers back to the hell they crawled from."
"And that is where the bad news comes in." Brianna said while drumming her fingers on her bicep. "See Séance and Mesha's magic will also go poof while the shield is on so all the shrapnel we didn't have to worry about before, we have to worry about now." The lycanthropoid caught her breath for a moment. "And if the idea is that we have a combined artillery strike we will possible have to worry about a shit-ton of flack, bones, and whatever else flying through the gaps in our ramparts here."
"We don't have much of a choice do we?" Flint said. "We have to call in that strike after we have made sure everyone is hitting the deck and covering their ears."
"So what is everyone's problem. Just turn on the thing and blow these guys to pieces already." Sailor Moon said with a huff. Which made everyone who knew what was going on look at her like she was out of her mind.
"Okay kid you want to know what the danger is?" Beach Head said putting his gun on the table and standing up. "Regardless of what you may have seen in movies and TV shows, explosions are not nice, they are not clean, and when you are firing live ordinance from a cannon you don't wind up with covered in soot and ash like Daffy Duck with a face full of buck-shot from Elmer Fudd." The Ranger said looking down at the leader of the Sailor Scouts.
"Okay…." Sailor Moon answered, very worried now.
"Care to guess what actually happens?" Beach Head said while smirking under his mask.
"Uh probably blown up?" Sailor Moon shrugged unsure how to answer.
"Oh no, not just blown up. See if you are lucky you get killed before your nerves register the pain of the impact as an explosive shell, not a solid lump of iron but an armed explosive that releases tremendous heat and pressure in such a manner than either you are flattened into the ground when the fuse ignites or vaporized into fine powder lost that is also ignited after the explosive force goes off because the heat alone will cause all the water in your body becomes gas before the pressure wave even hits you. But that again is if you are lucky. If you are unlucky and are standing a little further away from the blast that the heat doesn't flash fry you, the pressure wave will rupture your internal organs, blow apart your ears, and rip your limbs off of you before you die."
"Uh that is very unlucky." Sailor Moon said as she did the sweat-drop thing.
"Oh that's not the worst of it." Beach Head continued with almost sadistic glee. "That isn't even talking about the metal of the shell that burst forth like the worse party favor you ever heard. That copper, lead, and steel doesn't just go away when it detonates but instead become super-hot bits of debris flying out in all directions faster than the speed of sound that will slice whatever is in its path like a hot knife through butter. And if that thing is a soft fleshy body part then even if you survive you will look like hamburger. So you want to think about what a joint strike will look like with high caliber munitions all detonating in close proximity to you will feel like? Because believe me I can do the math for you right now." The Ranger continued to smile as he grabbed a piece of chalk from the chalkboard and was about to do the calculations.
"Uh that won't be necessary." Sailor Moon said completely taken back. Beach Head just went back to cleaning his weapons.
"I'm not going to lie about how I'm feeling about how much destruction this is causing, but I know it's not your fault. It's the waiting around and nothing we can do that is bothering me." Sailor Mars said, mostly exhausted by the high activity of the day.
"Well maybe this will cheer you up." Sailor Jupiter said holding out a cookie to her friend.
"Oh my gosh Jupiter brought cookies?" Sailor Moon switched completely as she grabbed a cookie from the plate her friend was offering. "Oh these are soooo good."
"Moon we just got here. The Joes made the food." Sailor Jupiter sighed as she shook her head at her bunny-haired friend.
"Your friend seems rather hyper doesn't she?" Scarlett asked Sailor Venus.
"Well she has gotten better since we started, but she's kind of…." Sailor Venus tried to be polite as she could. "A few fries short of a six-pack." Yep classic Sailor Venus mixed metaphor. "But as I haven't had anything to eat in quite some time, could we uh have something to eat?"
"Help yourselves. We are using the dinning area as the mess hall." Grid-Iron smiled while four teenage girls made a beeline for grub.
"I'm sure we all can relate to being that young at some point. Don't you agree Sgt." Theo said trying to ease the air of conflict in the room while looking at Beach Head.
"Speak for yourself." The Ranger replied. "I was valedictorian of my high school." This was ended with the sound of his 45 sliding into position.
"You were really going to do the math weren't you?" Sailor Uranus smiled as she looked at the Joe.
"Damn straight I was." Beach Head said with no humor at all.
"Don't let Beach Head get to you too much." Roadblock smiled bringing a sample of the food they had prepared. "So what is the plan now that the gang is all here?"
"The plan, or at least what we can get as one is this General Abernathy is trying to coordinate an artillery strike and we are going to give him the opening he needs by flipping their off switch. As soon as those shells are done striking down, we turn the device off and we continue to supply cover fire to keep those big uglies occupied while the Sailor girls unload whatever they have on them and we clean up this mess afterwards." Grid-Iron said. "And this is gone on far longer than expected and people's lives are on the line."
"Hey wait I just thought of something." Sailor Moon said as she was munching away with cookies and sandwiches she grabbed from the school cafeteria.
"That you didn't ask if anyone else wanted some of those cookies?" Sailor Mars complained to her friend.
"No." Sailor Moon groaned while swallowing the cookie bits in her mouth. "Whatever happened to all those government guys from earlier? Shouldn't they, I don't know, do something?" The blonde teen asked while continuing to eat.
"Wait she's right." Sailor Jupiter said standing straight at that. "We were so busy with the situation at hand we forgot about them. Should they not have recovered by now?"
"I thought it would be in everyone's best interest if they were…indisposed until the situation was rectified." Theo said as he bit into his unlit pipe.
"Huh?" Sailor Venus said looking confused.
"They are unconscious in the gym next to the arch reactor." Julia said grabbing a cookie. "My husband is a psychologist as well as a mage so he said it was needed for their mental health."
"So why not wake them up and tell them to get the rest of the government big-wigs to get moving?" Lady Jay asked grabbing some coffee.
"We tried that earlier." Sailor Uranus said getting coffee herself. "They couldn't stop screaming for the five minutes needed to make a phone call. Best let them think they are having a nightmare."
"So where are the rest of our group?" I asked looking around the classroom.
"We got them spread out all over the building keeping watch in case they try to flank us. Need them for something?" Heavy Duty asked.
"If we are calling in this attack soon then we need all hands to blockade the rooms." I pointed out. "As we won't have the flack protection, we need to start gathering tables and blockading the windows immediately to try and have the tables absorb the incoming shrapnel."
"Good point." Grid-Iron answered. "Okay everyone that is not doing something immediately important I need you up here pronto." In a few minutes every Joe, Scout, and Diggers family member was in the room or just outside.
"Alright people we need to have this entire side of the building barricaded for potential impacts so start grabbing tables and stacking them in front of the windows so that we don't have glass and metal flying all over the place. Grab whatever else you can and try to prop those tables in place. Doesn't have to look pretty, just hast to work."
At this we started flipping tables, chairs, whatever else we could find and making as best a barricade as we could. Genn and Brian were running all over the building grabbing as much as they could while Joes and scouts stacked the tables."
"Got any other ideas?" Scarlett asked.
"We need padding of some sort, something that can pick-up splinters." Duke said as he pushed a teacher's desk behind the tables.
"I hate to say this, but girls head to the library." Sailor Mercury said.
"Wait the library? This isn't a time for reading Mercury." Sailor Venus pointed out.
"Hey I have an excuse for not studying right now thank you." Sailor Moon said as she was huffing and puffying moving chairs.
"No we need something that we can stuff behind these tables or the whole room will be filled with sharp wood fragments." Sailor Mercury said. "We need to grab as many books as we can and soak them in water."
"Now that is smart." Beach Head smirked.
"Wait what now?" Sailor Jupiter asked.
"No time to explain, Renee you and Hotaru grab as many books from as many rooms as you can and start soaking them in water. Then bring them back here." Sailor Mercury said.
The two smaller scouts started running from class room to class room and gathered all the material they could while the older Scouts raided the library.
"So what exactly does this help with?" Sailor Moon asked as she dropped a bunch of the school books on the floor.
"I'll tell you in a moment." Sailor Mercury said as she dropped a bunch of books off and headed back to the library for more.
"Got to admit, didn't think I was going to be doing a reenactment of the Battle of the Alamo when we shipped off to Japan." Roadblock smiled as he stacked another table in front of a window that Sailor Mercury and Jupiter stuffed books behind.
"Okay so now we are destroying school property?" Sailor Uranus said confused while she placed a heavy table to brace another room's windows.
"Either this, or someone gets seriously hurt." Sailor Neptune said. "But I still don't get the books." The outer scouts looked to see Renee and Hotaru cramming as many books into holes as they could, dripping water all over the place.
"Okay what exactly is all of this for?" Sailor Pluto said as she looked at the completed work.
"Dr. Diggers are you skilled in ice magic?" Sailor Mercury asked as she caught her breath.
"I know a few spells, why do you ask my child?" The aura mage said confused.
"Help me freeze these wet books and we can call in that attack." The brainy scout said.
"Okay wait now we are freezing these things? What is going on here?" Leatherneck asked as he finished the room he was barricading. The sudden chill in the air made most shiver while Mercury, Theo, and Séance froze the wet books solid. I could hear some words being said, but between the halls and rushing around helping moving materials from one room to another, it sounded like gibberish.
"Incoming strike people. Dial Tone is that thing working?" Grid-Iron yelled on his radio.
"It is on and running, now." The Joe said with a loud signal. While I couldn't feel any change around me, nor see it affect the scouts, I got the thumbs up from Brianna and we heard Grid-Iron yelling on his radio to General Abernathy.
"Everyone get to an inner room, hunker down, and cover your ears." The captain. yelled aloud. Everyone was doing as said.
"Sailor MiniMoon, Sailor Saturn, hide behind my shield." I said as I took it from my back and slammed it into the floor on its edge. The two friends did as told and covered their ears. Britanny had positioned herself so that her armored flanks blocked the doorway.
It didn't take long. In a moment or two I could hear the screams of the undead horde outside while the rushing heat burst forth from the windows. There was a massive crashing noise as the tables and chairs banged around in their rooms, but the building itself didn't shake or even the lights flicker. The craftsmanship of the Imperial Fists held strong.
"Everyone okay?" I asked as I picked up my shield and saw the friends smiling okay.
"What the heck was that?" Luna yelled as she had her paws to her ears.
"Luna? You okay." Sailor Moon asked picking up the cat.
"We'll be okay, but we need to go now." Luna just about yelled as she shook her head from side to side.
"Go? Did they actually survive that blast?" Sailor Venus asked as she turned her head to look and see all the tables and chairs blasted against the walls broken to pieces with bits of metal embedded it them. "That is…wow….."
"Venus now is not the time to watch, we need to go right now." Artemis just about yelled at the teenager as he bore his fangs.
"Can't believe I'm agreeing with a damn talking cat." Beachhead groaned as he grabbed his carbine and headed for the door.
"Heavy Duty, Roadblock can you give us cover fire?" Duke yelled as he grabbed his rifle and made a made dash to the stares.
"We got you." Heavy Duty said as he and his cousin headed to their machine gun positions.
"We're going to have people shooting over our heads?" Sailor Jupiter said as all of us rushed out the doorway.
"Trust me they know what they are doing." Scarlett said as we fanned out seeing that the impact had leveled the entire army of undead piled up flat and the anti-magic device had shut off the portal to the undead realm.
"Hey is that anti-magic thing off?" Sailor Uranus asked as Tark summoned forth his green blade while his wife Meesha was summoning a protective field of aura.
"I'll take that as a yes." Theo smiled as his hands glowed yellow with incantations.
"About time we got back to doing this personal." Leatherneck said as the Joes started to open fire on Beryl and The Lich King.
"Joes keep whatever stragglers we have off of those Scouts." Grid-Iron said. "They are the quarterback with the ball and we are running it right into the endzone."
"YO JOE!" The Joes yelled as we charged forth with 50 caliber rounds flashing well above our heads.
"Keep it up Moon we can't let your lazy butt cost us our home." Sailor Mars said just about dragging Sailor Moon through the flash-baked dry ground.
"But how do you keep running like this…." Sailor Moon huffed as she keep trying to keep up with her friends.
"You blasted little brats have cost me everything." Queen Beryl yelled at the top of her voice barely able to concentrate her spells as her magic orb flashed violently from the crack Britanny had smashed into it. The constant impacts of high caliber rounds wasn't making it easier for her either as the Sailor Scouts were getting closer to her.
The Lich King roared in damnable fury as he attempted to release a massive waved of flames at us, which Theo was able to hold back.
"So son care to try your luck again? You did so well the last time we fought years ago." The undead spellcaster yelled as he brought forth his evil upon us. I quickly brought up my shield to try and force the magic back at him, but it didn't work as hoped.
"Blast this man is almost as powerful as Skeletor himself." I said holding my own.
"Keep him busy." Theo said as he and Séance were able to focus their attacks at the Lich. In an attempt to escape from the spell, the Lich levitated up right and out of the way.
"So Theo can't do it by yourself can you…..ahhhh! What in the….." The Lich didn't know what hit him as we saw the tracer rounds slam right into his body. As only about every third round was a tracer, that meant three times the bullets possible impacted him and buried themselves inside his undead body. Instantly the Lich fell to the ground with an audible thud and rolled towards us.
"Heavy Duty, Roadblock, concentrate fire on the big ugly bitch." Grid-Iron said over his radio. "The other one just got shot out of the sky." At that moment the captain fired his RPG right at Beryl's head sending four rocketed explosives her way.
"So father, it ends here does it?" Theo said as he, I, Julia, and Séance surrounded him.
"It would appear so my son…so what do you intend to do to me? Kill me, send my soul straight into the netherworld? What would that say about you? For all the good you try to do in life the magic of your aura leaves a mark on your own soul and who knows when we die? Will you become like me then when it is your turn to go?" The Lich chuckled to himself, barely able to summon any of his power as the heavy rounds inside him interfered with his magic.
"No…no I won't give up on you father. Not for the man you were, not for who I know deep down you still are. I won't end you, but I won't let you hurt my family any more….I will find some way to help you. Meesha bind his magic…I will try to save him after this is all over." Theo was nearly at tears saying this as he held his father back while the Elf did as she was told. "I won't give up on the past man you were."
"The past…yes the past…I think it is time you got a reminder of the past." The Lich chuckled subtlety. It was a very unnerving sound, though perhaps not as flamboyant as Skeletor's manic laughter, the sound was unnerving in it's own way. "A past that wants to finish its own story you also impeded."
A flash of red jumped up and over the Lich, just about tackling Julia to the ground, only for the feeling of rushing wind around us as an armored yellow flash tackled whatever had attempted to attack Julia.
"So werecat bitch….you seemed to be stronger than your mother…." The red furred thing said under Britanny's powerful paw. "I wonder if you will put up any more of a fight than she did." It was Brendan the Betrayer. Released from his iron maiden style prison he was free to kill and slaughter at will and in the service of the Lich King.
"Rooo RASTARD!" Britanny yelled as she bit down on Brendan's head and tossed him over a hundred feet into the air.
The werewolf didn't slam back down in a crater though, but instead twisted himself in mid-air and landed on all fours with little difficulty.
"So you are stronger than your kin, but tell me are you willing to face me one-on-one with honor? Or will you too reliant on that armor and fight like an animal? I'm sure your fiancé just loves being reminded how much of a beast you really are. You werecat bitch." The corrupt werewolf smiled a toothy grin. He reminded me a lot of Sabertooth,: a sadist with a bloodthirst and an axe to grind.
"Ri name is Britanny Riggers…And roon it rhile be Ritanny RcLean…and I talked rith my mother and ri father about rhat happened….and I am rot doing this for rhonor, but RUSTICE!" Britanny said as she tensed her massive frame about to charge at Brendan. The werewolf smiled as he pulled out a book from the sackel by his side, his loin cloth the only the else he had on him.
"Here is to your pathetic 'Justice'." Brendan said as he summoned forth an enormous stream of flame that engulfed my love.
"BRITANNY!" I yelled as I saw her not even bother to dodge the attack.
"I know werecats were vain, but stupid as well?" Brendan started to laugh.
"You wretched maniac. I will kill you for that." Brian said as he tried to attack Brendan himself, only he never got a chance. Before the royal guard could approach Brendan, Britanny stepped forward from inside the flames on the ground. She did so slowly, filled with rage and focused anger.
"That….That isn't possible. That was dragon fire. DRAGON FIRE! No lycanthrope could have survived a magical spell with that heat." Brendan said, actually trembling with fear as he saw the massive form of Britanny as Battlecat step forth.
"Rou know, this isn't the rist time I was rurned by ragon rire." Britanny smirked as she bolted at Brendan who summoned up a defensive barrier that Britanny slammed down on so much that cracks in the spell formed. With each blow of her massive claws, the shield bent and cracked more.
"So it seems I have underestimated you. But at least this shield has bought me some time to find an incantation strong enough to put you down for good." The traitor said as he summoned forth another incantation. This one was a massive electrical discharge. Britanny had tensed herself before the release and dodged side to side as Brendan guided the electrical charge towards Britanny. Since electricity does take the path of least resistance, the arching stream was drawn towards Britanny's metal armor which caused my love to flinch as she jumped side to side with hyperspeed.
Britanny shook off the occasional shock as she swiped hard against Brendan's magical defense. The impact thundered with a loud bang from the collapsing air vacuum from Britanny's super-fast claws on top of the resounding impact on the transparent shield Brendan had summoned. With each blow from my love, the shield shimmered with what looked like cracks bending as if a crystal ball was deforming into cheap plastic before reforming itself. Brendan's once cocky arrogant smile had shifted to bare teeth rage as he was truly a cornered animal.
I would have slammed the ground to avoid the shield, but knowing the fact that there was underground pipes for sewage and gas, I couldn't attack like I would on Eternia. But this fight was personal, too personal for me to interfere directly.
"Alex we can't just let Britanny fight this battle alone." Brian said to me as he extended his blades and prepared to kill the werewolf if needed
"My friend we can't not trust her to fight this alone." I replied. "This battle is one that is between her and Brendan. Our allies are already dealing with Beryl and we would only be a hindrance. But we will prevent Brendan from escaping. Regardless of how this plays out, the betrayer will not get away this time."
Brian looked at me as if he wanted to strangle me, but relented as he cast his harms wide so that if Brendan tried to turn tail and run he would be caught between myself and the young werecheetah.
"THEO do something." Julia yelled as her husband was busy with his incantation. The matriarch of the Digger's family prepared herself to jump into the fight as well, but kept her distance with her blade out. The fact Brendan's bite would mean instant thralldom probably the reason for that.
"Dear I am busy separating my father from his magic that he no longer will threaten anyone again. I can't take my concentration away from this." The Aura mage said aloud. "Séance if you would please remove the protective barrier spell Brendan is using, it would be most helpful."
Brendan had other ideas. While each loud bang after band from Britanny smashing her huge claws against the werewolf's magical defense didn't seem to be doing much, the murder protected by the spell was now wincing as his ears pulled back in pain. Brendan's muscles were tensed with every blow and his eyes were squeezed so tightly that I thought he may about passed out from the pain of hearing the reverberations pounding through him.
"So little kitty, let's see if you're new armor can deal with this." Brendan smiled as he dropped the shield and released a powerful waved of violet energy that cascaded towards Britanny. Britanny dodged towards the side of the blast while Brendan coiled his legs to bolt from the site and try to escape. I pulled my fist back to throw my shield at Brendan while Brian had tensed his legs to tackle the werewolf at superspeed. This became instantly unnecessarily as Britanny already reached Brendan with a bound and slashed into his legs while biting hard into his shoulder.
"AAAAHHHHH!" Brendan screamed in pain as his blood gushed out of the wound and his tendons had become little more than flopping bits of irreparably damaged jerky. Britanny proceeded to throw him around like a ragdoll in her mouth as her now saber teeth had dug deep into the werewolf's chest and shoulder. My love then tossed the werewolf in the air. He screamed in rage as he grabbed onto Britanny's head holding her mouth shut and started to bound on her helmet with all his strength, even trying to rip into her neck with his claws.
"You overgrown werecat bitch." Brendan said as he held on for dear life. "I don't know what you did to get so strong, but I am going to personally send you straight to hell." He was losing a lot of blood but Britanny seemed as if she was more just annoyed with him; like a bit of gum caught on your shoe.
"Ret row…" Britanny growled as she thrashed around tossing her head from side to side, up and down, and even started rolling around in the hardened muck and mire.
"Are you sure we do nothing? She is to be your wife!" Brian yelled at me. Yes he was right, and I wanted to jump forward and bash Brendan personally, but I couldn't. This was a fight Britanny needed to face between herself and the man who killed her biological family.
"Yes, and what husband would I be if I didn't trust her to fight a battle she must face. I do not stand by because I can't act, but I stand firm because I trust her as the woman I love and believe in her ability to stand her own when she can." I replied. "All we can do now is prevent interference in this fight and see what she chooses to do."
Brendan tried with all his might to rip out Britanny's throat, but as his own blood now had covered the helmet, he slipped off and landed right in front of Britanny's mouth.
"So werecat….are you going to kill me? You know I thought long and hard about how I was going to absolutely destroy you, butcher you like I did your parents..." the werewolf smirked with horrible malice. "I would have done it too you know. Killed you right there in that crib…if that damnable fool Theodore hadn't adopted you…."
"He's goading her isn't he?" Brian whispered to me.
I nodded as I found myself clenching the sword of Greyskull's handle tight in my hand.
"Why don't you say something? You know he wants her to kill him to end his suffering." The werecheetah looked at me.
"Because I have faith that Britanny will do the right thing." I said as I looked carefully at the situation.
"Do you have nothing to say you werecat bitch…couldn't even face me by yourself. Had to put some sort of invincible armor to even try to take me on…." Brendan continued to press as he spat up blood and his breath was beginning to become shallower.
"Rendan." Britanny said as she pressed hard into the werewolf's chest. What looked like barely trying to her would have completely crushed his ribcage and killed him on the spot. "Rou deserve to rie." Britanny said as she started to cry. "Rou deserve to be rut out of rour misery." My love said as she tapped her claws right above Brendan's heart. Then she looked up at us. She turned to Theo and Julia, to her grandfather, then to me and Brian. She was crying so hard that is was causing Brendan's blood to flow off of her helmet.
"Rie should rill you right rnow…" Britanny said raising up one paw as to take Brendan's head right off of his body. And then it came crashing down right next to his head as he flinched and turned away; ripping up dirt and offal. "Rut I won't ret rou do that. You live rot because rou deserve it, rut so rou can see me and the real ralpha of the werewolves make reace." Britanny said looking right into Brendan's eyes. "Rou get to see how rig a railure you are as the reace you could have made, rat rou ried to stop happens." Britanny said as she tested her claws slowly starting to dig into Brendans shoulder. "Reacause I row it will hurt rou more than death. And then rou'll see that Iceron's plan won't rwork and ruffin and I won't be like rou."
Britanny picked Brendan up by the scruff of his neck and tossed him towards, but out of range of, Theo and Julia.
"The bitch is soft, just like you Diggers.." Brendan said as I picked up the book of spells Brendan had used and hugged Britanny around the neck.
"I am so proud of you babe." I said scratching the back of her head as she wrapped her arm around my back.
"Indeed your highness." Brian said kneeling. "Shall we detain the prisoner for sentencing?" the young werecheetah asked as he looked at Theodore and Julia who smiled with beaming pride at their daughter.
"My little girl is stronger than you ever will be Brendan." Theo said with booming pride as he bound the werewolf. "And I don't know how you ever sired a daughter like Jetta, but she is a far greater leader and person than you'll ever be." The aura mage made sure the magical incantations that held Brendan were tight, even slightly painfully so.
"Awe baby I am so proud of you." Julia said with tears of joy as she hugged Britanny around the neck from opposite my side.
"Raw mom…" Britanny said bashfully. This happy moment was short lived sadly, as not all of the Lich King's forces were delt with.
"I knew the furball couldn't do this right." The hissing voice of Natasha cried out as the former ruler of the undead realm drew her claws out. She still had one arm that was regenerating so it looked for all the world like someone had slapped a doll appendage onto her side. It would be funny if she wasn't such a real threat to everyone.
"Dear we need to head back to the undead realm." Her boytoy Vlad said trying to hold back his love, who's limb was still dripping as the small hand was growing on it. "The sun is still out and our powers barely are working. We need to leave."
"Natasha, if you leave right now, and never bother me or my family again….we will let you go in peace." Theo said with his hands raised. "I will even send you back to the undead realm myself, if both of you are willing to let us be at peace." The aura mage looked at the two blood suckers with a gaze like flint. This caused Natasha to still her anger as she held her still withered hand in her good one.
"Fine. Vlad we are leaving. Grab the other girls and we are going back to our home. Diggers, you better keep that thing from ever getting free because I won't be willing to make peace with you next time." The vampire queen hissed as Theo blasted the undead group back to where they came from.
"Was that wise sir?" Séance asked as he looked to see the Joes and Scouts still heading toward the battle with Beryl. "They still could be a threat to us."
"Perhaps Séance, but that is for another day." Theo said as he looked at the abomination that his father had become. "For now we have more than enough to deal with."
Brian cleaned off the werewolf's blood from Britanny's helmet with his shirt and we all looked at the fight still going on.
"Ready?" Britanny asked me with a smile. I threw my leg over her back atop her harness and helped Julia and Séance up behind me.
"Onward to battle my love." I said as Britanny actually roared with excitement as I held on fast.
The Joes found themselves making progress as whatever limited forces Beryl had left were quickly being mowed down by gun fire. Julia and I sliced one or two heads off of a negaverse demon or two.
"Need a hand?" Julia asked as she saw Beachhead and Duke blast apart some undead warrior with rifle and shotgun fire.
"What we need is these scouts to try that magic stuff again and it to work." Beachhead said as he fired off a round right into an undead knight's skull causing the rotten bones to fly off and the body to fall.
"Dial Tone this better be important." Grid-Iron said pressing the com unit on his helmet. "You did what? Snake-Eyes had to do what but…wait…damn straight that's good news fire it up." The field commander said with a smile in his voice.
"What was that?" Scarlett asked as she fired bolt after bolt of her crossbow keeping the stragglers at bay.
"Apparently that Lich guy tried to have our rear attacked with some would-be ninja but Snake-Eyes took him out. But while the eggheads were working on that slab thing they figured out how to get it to pin-point a specific spot and zap the magic out of it. But no idea how long it lasts."
"Captain tell your men to turn it on and quickly." Luna said as she huffed running up to the men.
"You want to explain yourself missy?" Grid-Iron asked as he turned his head for a moment.
"Look this may sound insane, but with all of you here in this proximity combining your thoughts and minds together then we can not only send Beryl back to the great beyond, but possibly destroy that Negaverse crystal she has been trying to use to destroy the confined Metalia being permanently." The Sailor Mercury pointed out.
"And what kind of mumbo jumbo does that mean?" Leatherneck asked. "We don't do that magic stuff little lady." The Marine said as there was little now between us and the imposing form of the dark queen of the Negaverse.
"Magic isn't just a bunch of words and silly moves that make a light show." Artemis said. "It is a manifestation of one's emotions, desires, and inner self into being."
"You know how ridiculous that sounds right?" Cover Girl said groaning. "Okay girls time for you to do your thing." The Joe said to the Sailor Scouts.
"We need all of you."Artemis replied. "Not just the whole of the Scouts, but the Joes, and you too." The white cat said looking at us.
"We don't have time for this." Flint said. "Heavy Duty and Roadblock don't have enough ammo for us to keep talking. Now look I can accept magic is real, but this new age stuff just won't work for us normal people. Emotions aren't what we do. We control them so they don't control us."
At this Luna yelled out, very pissed off. "And what about indomitable will Warrant Officer?" This got the Joes to look at the black cat. "Beryl uses fear, lust, hunger, and desire to corrupt and destroy. Metalia is her master who is a demon who will show up again and again if not purged from this realm. You say you don't let your emotions rule you and that is fine. You are excellent warriors, and have shown to be the bravest of allies, and we need that."
"Need what?" Lady Jay asked.
"We need your courage." Luna said. "When combined it can summon a single focused spell so strong that it would completely obliterate Beryl and her master and end this fight once and for all. If you have the guts to try."
"But what about the potential nuclear blast like you said?" Pathfinder asked.
"That was because Queen Serenity wanted to make sure everything was destroyed so that her daughter and her friends could be safe. She deliberately gave up her life to save them. But if the intent and will is focused specifically on one target with that one intent then your combined strength would be stronger, but focused on that one specific target with no fall out." Luna explained.
"Well shoot ma'am why didn't you say so?" Leatherneck smiled along with the rest of the Joes.
"Okay Dial Tone you have the all-clear. Hit it." Grid-Iron said as Beryl's field shut down again.
"You disgusting little twerps think that you can win again. I will summon all of the Dark powers of…what are you doing?"
Sailor Moon stepped ahead of the Joes and held out that weird heart saber thing of hers. "Beryl you have threatened this world and it's people for the last time." The head of the Sailor Scouts said with renewed courage. "In the name of the Moon, in the name of the Earth, in the name of all that live here, you shall be punished."
"You annoying children should learn your….place?" SLOTCH! I had taken a moment to hop off of Britanny's back and ripped up a huge chuck of earth and threw it right at Beryls face blocking her sight completely.
"And that is mud in your eye. Now Sailor Moon!" I said holding up the Sword of Greyskull right at the break in the crystal in Beryl's hands.
"So what do we do?" Grid-Iron asked.
"Just focus your mind on it and mentally push your will into whatever is going on and the magic seems to do the rest." Duke said as the Scouts summoned forth their spells.
"Shine Aqua Illusion."
"Mars Fire Sniper."
"Super Supreme Thunder."
"Crescent Beam Barrage"
"World Shaking"
"Deep Submerge"
"Death Reborn Revolution"
"Dead Scream"
"Moon Gorgeous Mediation"
As the scouts yelled out their attacks, somehow the magic they fed on seemed brighter and whiter than usual with the usual amount of sparkle effects replaced by a massive wave of power with focused intensity rivalling the sun.
"I HAVE THE POWER!" I yelled out as I pushed not only my will into the wave, but again the whole of the power of Greyskull itself along the same magical tide that the Scouts and Joes had released. The will, courage, strength, and wisdom combined with that of the Joe, Julia, Britanny, and Séance and slammed right into Beryl's crystal at the spot Britanny had hit before causing fractures all over it and the thing ripped apart into fractures that became small dust particles and then obliterated as the dark being within screamed with pain and became a dark whisp of smoke that faded to nothing shortly before Beryl cleared her eyes only to see for one brief moment the attack about to hit.
"Oh shit…." That was the last thing she said before a wave of intense white flooded over her removing ever part of her existence from this reality.
And in a moment the wave was gone…the stunned silence of all around the only thing to see as the once powerful returning queen was gone in a literal flash.
"We….we won?" Sailor Moon said as confused as ever.
"We, we won." Sailor Mars said smiling at her friend.
"Uh anyone want to explain exactly what that was?" Beachhead asked confused.
"Well Sgt. The long and short of it was that the Sailor Scout are a team, and they work best when they are able to combine their individual abilities together for a common goal. The same with you Joes. I thought that perhaps you and your team would act as a massive power-boast to the Scouts own abilities. It was a gamble, but seems I was right." Luna said smugly.
"Wow…all this…" Sailor Jupiter said looking around us. "This was our school yard."
"That's war for you soldier." Duke said patting the Scout on the shoulder. "It ain't pretty, and it costs a lot, but sometimes you have to do it."
"I'm sure that this will take time to clean up….not to mention the rest of the city probably looks almost as bad." Sailor Uranus said as she sighed. "But got to hand it to you guys, you sure know how to throw on hell of a fight." The short-haired blonde said in congratulations.
"General situation update." Grid-Iron said. "The objective has been protected and the enemy has been completely destroyed. Repeat the entire enemy force has been neutralized. We are going to need some serious clean-up and repair crews to the school-grounds, but all enemy forces have been obliterated."
"What exactly do you do with all these bodies?" Leatherneck asked Sailor Pluto.
"That would be Dr. Digger's field of expertise I must admit." The eldest of the Sailor Scouts said. "While they are mostly obliterated from that barrage, we probably will have to incinerate the bodies just to be sure they are gone. This is somewhat troubling."
"Why? The bad guys are all dead and the reactor has been kept safe." The Marine smiled while making moves on the lady.
"Indeed, and that is all very good news. I'm just worried that this is perhaps more public attention than the girls should be exposed to….this changes the whole game and I fear they may not be able to handle it. The fact we were secret for so long was a great protection for them, but with so public an event with actual damage to so much they can no longer hide that they are real from the world."
"Hey they'll do fine. They got a great mentor looking after them." The Marine wrapped his arm around Sailor Pluto's shoulders.
"It's Setsuna Meioh." Sailor Pluto said as she smiled at the Joe.
"Oh sorry ma'am I…" Before Leatherneck could pull his and away.
"My name is Setsuna Meioh. And I think that the very least that you are due Sgt. is a cup of coffee together." The Sailor Scout smiled as she placed her head next to the Joe's.
"Wow who knew Pluto could be so romantic." Sailor Mercury giggled.
"Awe let her. She's earned it afterall." Sailor Jupiter smiled.
"So you kids got somewhere to go?" Scarlett asked looking at Sailor Moon while Wild Bill landed the dropship with a big thumbs up signal.
"What do you mean? We don't really have jobs or…" Sailor Moon sighed in relief.
"But what about your families? Don't they need to know you are at least alive?" The female Joe asked while tapping her foot, trying to give the girls a way to escape they weren't using.
"Oh my gosh mom is going to be so pissed…." Sailor Moon ran off while patting her skirt looking for something. "Quick anyone got a quarter I need to call home now. Oh mom is going to be so angry." Ah yes the age before modern cellphones back when if you wanted to call you had to pay to do so. I almost made a joke about her just using a phonebooth to change like Superman, but Sailor Moon wouldn't have gotten that one at all.
"Sheesh kiddo relax." Flint said trying to calm the hyper teen down.
"How do you ever keep her focused long enough to show her leadership potential?" Lady Jay asked Luna while Tuxedo Mask, Wild Bill, and a few of the other Joes started hauling the dark generals to the school for medical attention.
"It is quite the challenge." The cats nodded their heads in agreement.
"Ruffin?" Britanny asked.
"Oh yes of course. Power Return." I said going back to my usual self and Britanny shifting back into her hybrid form, before choosing to be in her human form.
"Thanks for believing in me dear." Britanny said as I wrapped her in a big hug. "Just let me be here for a while." I obliged her as she had done more than her fair share of the work today.
"Well as weird as today is, anyone check on those government suits from the start of this outbreak?" Scarlett asked as she relaxed a bit.
"Something tells me that those suits won't be doing much of anything. We got news helicopters running all over the city and looks like the incident is already international news." Brianna said turning on the TV and seeing reporters showing the whole demonic outbreak along with most of the situation recorded from some kid with a portable camera.
"Here we are with the young man who go us this footage today, a Melvin Gurio."
"MELVIN!?" The inner scouts yelled in confusion.
"A friend of yours I take it?" Cover Girl asked watching the interview.
"Classmate, friend, guy who runs the Sailor Moon fandom newsletter." Sailor Jupiter said.
"But if he has us on video then that means our identities can be found out by anyone." Sailor Mercury said gasping.
"Well isn't this a fine bucket of kibble." Sailor Venus groaned. As if on cue the various government guys decided to walk out of the building right in view of the distracted Sailor Scouts.
"Hey girls come one ya'll pile up in here." Wild Bill said ushering the Scout out of the way inside the dropship.
"Oh shit shit shit shit…" Sailor Mars muttered under her breath.
"Muffin Stark time." Britanny said as she whispered to me, who realized I was also in the same situation as the Sailor Scouts. Since the big-wigs wanted Stark, they got Tony Stark.
"What happened here?" The minister for energy said looking over the pile of corpses, the massive fortifications that the school had become, and holding his mouth at the smell of rot filled him mouth.
"Well minister." I said walking up to him in a pressed suit of my own and completely unaffected by the horror around me. "During the exceedingly successful test of the arch reactor the school was attacked by a terrorist organization and you were rendered unconscious. In that time an elite counter terrorist team was assembled and was able to repel the attack. Sadly it became a warzone out here and the whole city was attacked, but the situation has been contained and the reactor has been protected."
"All this for a simple power source?" One of the aides said, as his glasses nearly fell off of his head.
"Yes well that seems interesting, but how was all of this set up so quickly, how long were we out?" The energy minister asked as one of his aids ran to him with a radio a Joe had given him.
"Sir the Prime Minister wants to speak with you personally." The aid said handing the mouthpiece to his senior, who took the conversation privately.
"So muffin any idea what is going to happen?" Britanny asked looking at me.
"Not a clue." I replied, worried that after all this victory that Japan could scrap the project entirely.
"Yes sir, of course sir." The government big-wig said as he finished his call.
"In light of certain events, and news. We regretfully cannot build a fully functioning arch reactor..." He said.
"Awe that stinks." Britanny muttered to herself.
"Yet. We cannot build it yet." The minister explained. "Due to recent terrorist activity in the city we will have to rebuild our infrastructure and help get people's lives back together. However, it is at the request of the Prime Minister that you continue to allow the use of your reactor to help keep sustained power during the clean-up effort. During the attack several power systems, basic utilities, and whole blocks were damaged in our city. While the reactor is your property, we are kindly asking to allow the continued use of the one you have at the school, which sadly will have to be closed for a while as repairs are made."
I could almost hear Sailor Moon go "yes" as she probably heard that line.
"Also, since the school is now the most heavily fortified location in all the city, we are requesting that the current gym will be converted into the future location of the reactor system. It is also at the request of the Prime Minister that you remain in Japan for a few days to act as the one-site expert while our infrastructure is repaired as your reactor is quite literally the only think keeping Tokyo powered at this moment. We will continue to work on getting the other power systems up and running, but as this is a case of not only national security, but also humanitian aid we request that you and your family please remain on our dime I believe the expression is."
"Well that is quite a generous offer. I appreciate the situation minister and I happily will remain for a few days as needed."
"Thank you." The minister smiled.
"Sir if I may ask, what did happen here?" The aid asked his boss.
"The official story we are going with is that an army of ecological new world terrorists attacked the city to protest investments in newer energy sources but were subdued with the efforts of anti-terrorist specialists. The local high school is being cleaned and converted into a make-shift humanitarian station at this time and we are calling upon volunteers to clean up the bodies of the dead as well as make repairs to the city."
"Sir the news is reporting that the Sailor Scouts aided in stopping this terrorist threat. How are we supposed to react to those questions?" Another aid asked.
"Officially we didn't see anything. None of us have any ability to confirm or officially deny the existence of any superheroes called the Sailor Scouts or their leader Sailor Moon. Whatever video or photographic evidence can't be confirmed and the idea of schoolgirls showing up to fight various reported monsters cannot be confirmed nor denied."
"Hey what are you kids doing over there?" One of the aids said as the now civilian garbed Sailor Scouts were trying to sneak away from the dropship.
"Well see we…." Usagi tried to answer.
"We came to see how the school dance set-up was going and…" Mina said, in a stroke of genius.
"Right the dance, and we kind of wanted to see what it was going to look like and…" Lita added.
"Don't worry about the students minister." Grid-Iron said as he and a few other Joes walked up to the Sailor Scouts. "They just got caught up in this mess and we figured that it was safest for them to stay by us rather than risk them getting hurt out here with everything going on. They aren't in any trouble are they? Afterall it is a school and they are students here so why wouldn't they be here?"
"Why yes of course." The minister said as he collected himself. "I am sorry to have to inform you young ladies that your school dance will have to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances."
"Awe but…" Usagi was about to cry.
"We understand sir. We probably should call our parents and let them know we are okay." Ami said as the Joes quickly got them to the school grounds.
"Mr. Stark we must assess the situation to see where we are needed and what infrastructure needs to be repaired first." The energy minister said as he dismissed himself.
"Well that went well." Britanny smiled, while looking over to the now revealed Sailor Scouts who were nervously standing there.
"Does this mean we are going to get in trouble?" Usagi asked as she was tapping her fingers together at the tip.
"For what, saving the world?" Duke and the other Joes smiled. "Look whoever your real names are, I think that all you girls did an absolutely fantastic job."
"Got that right Duke. I say that this deserves a bit of a celebration…after all the rotting corpses are cleaned up." Roadblock said bringing food for everyone.
"Indeed. I don't think it would be good policy to have the local heroes thrown in jail for saving the world." Theo smiled.
"Oh good. I don't need to be grounded again." Usagi said with a released breath of sweet relief.
"If you would actually study and not fail in your classes maybe you wouldn't be grounded so much." Ami sighed.
"So are we free to go? We haven't been able to talk to our families since this started and they probably are either worried sick…." Rei asked politely.
"Or want to tan our hides." Usagi groaned.
"What do you think Duke, should we cut these girls some slack?" Scarlett asked her comrade.
"Well they did save the entire city." Duke smiled. Snake Eyes, who was hauling a rather perturbed man with about half of his white mask missing. The silent master just gave a thumbs up expression as he tossed the ninja to the ground.
"Awe thanks." Usagi smiled as she scratched the back of her head. "So does that mean that I don't have to study for that exam next week."
"MOON!" The inner scouts groaned at her.
"No, but I think we can do something about that dance your school was going to miss." Flint said chuckling to himself. "Also General Abernathy asked all of you to wait a bit for him to show up. Had something special planned."
"So what do we do?" Gina asked as she saw Joes carefully load the anti-magic device into the dropship and close it up. "I mean the hotels are probably booked and we probably wouldn't be able to afford a place to stay with how much repairs this city needs."
"You know I think we may have a suggestion." The now civilian forms of Sailor Uranus and Neptune said as they approached us.
"My partner and I, we have a rather large home that honestly has too many rooms for us to ever use, and we would be honored if we could give you a roof over your heads while you are hear."
"Why that is very generous of you." Theo said. "But surely it would be a rather large imposition for all of us to..."
"We live in a mansion." Hakura said. "It has more than enough room for everyone. And we won't feel guilty by not opening our home to refugees if you all help allow hotels and such to be used to help those in more need."
"Does that mean that the big kitties come to visit?" Hotaru said smiling.
"Hotaru please be polite." Mitchiru calmly corrected her adopted daughter. "They are going to be our guests so please respect them."
"Yes Michiru momma." Hotaru said, somewhat defeated.
"Actually little princess, I would be honored to be your guest." Brian smiled as he kneeled down to the little girl, who got a huge smile on her face. "And I don't mind one bit with your endearing nick-name."
"Thank you. We don't have many guests, and Hotaru gets very attached to those she thinks are her friends…." Hakura explained. "And look…I think that I owe you a personal thank you Brian, for saving our little girl."
"It was a pleasure." Brian smiled. For all my issues with him, it seemed that he could be quite charming. Course I was happy he wasn't trying to rub me the wrong way and let me and Britanny just have some time together.
"Michiru and I…we love her as our own flesh and blood and it is rare to have someone be so…" Hakura was trying to say something but looked like she was at a loss for words.
"Friendly, outside of Sailor Moon." Michiru answered for her partner.
"My ladies, I am flattered…." Brian said getting somewhat flustered.
"So as a thank you, we are offering you to stay at our home for a few days." Hakura said.
"That is very generous, but are you sure that is necessary?" Julia Diggers smiled at her host. "Surely the addition of an entire family into your house would be highly inconvenient."
"Not to mention how much food werecats eat." Gina said under her breath causing Britanny to give her sister a look that meant that noogies were incoming for the genius.
"We'll see your werecheetahs and raise you Sailor Moon's bottomless appetite." Hakura smirked. "So what do you say?"
"Well I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth." Brianna said with her bright smile of confidence glowing from a job well done on her face. "Especially since every hotel is probably going to be filled with refugees and such who are locals and you can't just open up the home of a superhero to anyone."
"Plus we wouldn't have to hide the fact that we have elves, werecats, rakshasa, aura mages, etc. running around….speaking of which where is Genn?" Gina asked as a rather exhausted individual with horns just about fell over trying to reach us.
"Sorry I am just so hungry…" the darkskinned individual said as he almost passed out.
"Oh no Genn." Brianna said as she caught her friend and she and Séance helped him to his feet.
"Is he going to be okay?" Michiru asked.
"Genn is a rakshasa, and with all the combat we had going on he didn't have a chance to feed recently." Gina explained.
"Looks like he hasn't eaten in three days." Hakura pointed out. "So if you want we can just drive you two to our home while the others finish things here." The short-haired blonde said pointing to Brianna and Genn.
"Sounds great to me." Brianna smiled.
I just hugged my beloved and sigh. Not exactly how I thought I would start our company, but hey it seemed to be working okay. Even with the copious amount of flamethrowers being used on the various undead around the schoolgrounds to incinerate the bodies without touching them.
To be continued.
Thank you all for your patience and your understanding in this taking longer than expected. I hope you liked this little update and please be so kind as to review.
