PRETTY SOLDIER SAILOR MOON: FUTURE

Chapter 50: Mission's End

Although Apis wanted to fly as far away from Hikawa Shrine as possible, she barely had enough energy left to flap her wings. She collapsed in an abandoned alleyway and huddled into a pathetic ball of sorrow and terror. Numerous random thoughts of death and destruction raced through her mind in an uncontrollable flurry. It was a miracle she hadn't gone completely insane by this point. Hyena caught up to her and blocked the exit out of the alley. She made no motion to attack her though. She had never seen her act so hopeless and terrified in her entire life.

"Apis… No… Sailor Kadmas," Hyena whispered. "Please tell me the truth."

"I… I can't do it. I don't… want to… hurt you…"

"Don't worry about how I will react. I'm hurt just watching you act like this."

"Hyena…" Apis sobbed and bit her lower lip. Her friend didn't move; she just patiently stood there and waited to see what her response would be. Then slowly, the stricken Camarilla shifted her eyes away and whimpered, "H-How much do you know…?"

"Well… Gyps never said anything, but Naja wanted to tell me the truth in exchange for me becoming a Camarilla. I tried asking Varan what was going on with my home world, but all she said was that I had 'nothing to worry about', and that the situation was 'much worse than I could imagine'. At first I couldn't understand why you four would willingly side with Sailor Upala on her conquest, but if I take Varan's words and your terrified behavior as hints, then I suspect that the worst has happened."

Apis squeezed her eyes shut to contain her tears, but she lost control and quietly bawled.

"However," Hyena continued, "I don't want to assume anything. No matter how bitter it may be, I must know the facts. I don't want the truth to be dangled in front of me like a carrot, just barely out of my reach no matter how much I try to grab it, nor do I want it to be a bargaining chip that you guys can use against me. If we really are friends, then you would tell me everything without a guilty conscience."

The blonde-haired girl listened to her friend's calm words and started to settle down a bit. She murmured in a quivering voice, "I'm sorry… that we've been… so cruel to you…"

"Knowing you guys, there had to be a good reason for it. I've held on to that belief this entire time."

"Hyena… I don't know where to start…"

"Then let's start with our home worlds. I left Alkima Galaxy from your world, Kadmas. How is it faring now?"

Apis' jaw dropped as her eyes overflowed with tears again. "I… I can't… call myself… a Sailor Soldier… anymore…"

"What does that mean?"

"K-Kadmas is… gone. It's been… completely… and utterly… destroyed…"

"Destroyed?"

"There's nothing… but a void… where it used to be…"

"I see," Hyena whispered somberly and closed her eyes. Now she understood why Apis said she couldn't call herself a Sailor Soldier anymore. To be a Soldier meant to represent and protect a planet and all of its citizens, even if it meant death. Possessing that planet's Sailor Crystal was a great honor, but also a tremendous responsibility. That was why Hyena took her job as a Sailor Soldier very seriously, and why she felt lonely whenever she thought about her home world.

"It's not just Kadmas, either," Apis sobbed. "Kanos, Mangar, Nabar, Upala, every world is gone!"

She smashed her fist on the ground and yelled the absolute worst words Hyena would ever hear in her life:

"Alkima Galaxy is extinct!"

Now Hyena was completely stupefied. "What are you…? How is that… possible…?"

That was when they heard a third woman's voice interject, "The Opal of Culling."

Hyena looked up and found Gyps flying down next to Apis. She kneeled next to her sobbing comrade and held her shoulder for support, while glaring at Hyena and explaining, "It was a secret weapon of destruction that Eris and Upala developed during the height of the war. After you departed from Kadmas, we infiltrated Upala's faction and were granted high-level access to this information. We also learned what Upala's real intentions were, and how this weapon would fulfill her purposes."

"What… was this weapon…?"

"It was a bomb that Eris created when she absorbed all of the discord in the galaxy and converted it into raw energy. You could call it a god-level Erisian, except this one wasn't sentient yet possessed the power to destroy the galaxy. Upala allowed it to grow more powerful within the core of her planet – thereby turning her own world into a ticking time bomb - then detached Upala Acropolis from the terrain and flew away with her hand-picked survivors before giving the command to detonate it."

"A god-level… Erisian…" Hyena couldn't fathom something so horrible.

"Yeah," Gyps nodded. "We watched helplessly from outside the galaxy as it turned into a supernova, swallowing everything in its destructive path. The shockwave even disintegrated the planets on the external borders of Alkima."

"Including… mine…?"

"Hyena…" the red-haired Camarilla whispered sadly as tears rolled down her cheeks. All of them lost any will to fight further. Hyena's bow dropped to the ground, and she stared down at nothing in particular. Gyps continued between sorrowful gasps, "That was when we understood everything; the war was nothing more than a means of fueling the Opal of Culling, and the Victory Crown was actually the key to detonating it. Eris deliberately chose Upala as its bearer so she could take advantage of her mad ideals."

"And now… they're here on Earth… to get the Silver Crystal…"

"Yeah… Before we knew it, everything had gone completely out of our control. We had no choice but to leave our planets to their fate, hoping that we could obtain the Silver Crystal to revive our loved ones before you could find out."

"But I became acquainted with Earth's guardians before you guys could intercept me, so you had to become my enemies."

"That's right. We want the Silver Crystal, but not because we are Eris' pawns. It's so we can bring Alkima back. Even if we have to dirty our hands with the blood of Earth's defenders, that is the duty we have accepted as our galaxy's Sailor Soldiers."

Hyena fell silent. Gyps helped the stricken Apis to her feet and began floating off the ground as she declared, "Now that you know the truth, you need to make a decision as a Sailor Soldier. Will you side with us to resurrect your home while betraying your new friends, or will you remain loyal to Earth and fight against your Alkiman comrades? Where will your duty as a Soldier take you?"

"My duty…" the green-haired archer whispered vapidly. Her legs felt like rubber and she wanted to collapse to her knees in despair, but she somehow kept her balance. "My duty is to… to…"

"You don't need to decide right now. I know Naja would want to give you some time to think about it. I hope you'll find your answer the next time we see each other. I have a feeling it'll be really soon too – Upala's planning her attack on Crystal Tokyo as we speak, and she'll definitely send us to kill anyone who gets in her way."

Hyena had nothing left to say. She had to use whatever energy she could muster just to process all of this information. Not only was her home annihilated, but now Gyps had thrown a cruel ultimatum onto her lap. The two Camarilla forlornly stared at their silent friend, fully understanding the anguish she was going through.

Just then, Apis yelled, "It's not your fault, Hyena! Please don't blame yourself for any of this! It's all our fault that you're suffering! If only we had retrieved your capsule while it was en route to Earth, we could have prevented you from following through with your false mission!"

"False… mission…" Hyena shivered. That's right; her mission was to ask Neo Queen Serenity for help, then return to Alkima with backup. For Apis to call it false meant that everything she had done up until this point had been a complete farce. To think she had dedicated so much energy and resources towards a fool's errand given to her by her own friends was spit on her pride as a Sailor Soldier.

This inevitably urged her to ask, "T-Then why did you… send me… on a false… mission… in the first place…?"

Gyps scowled. "You should know the answer to that already. If you don't, then think about it a little."

With that, the two Camarilla vanished from sight. Hyena remained standing there in total disbelief, her eyes heavy with exhaustion. She heard several pairs of footsteps rushing toward her direction, but she paid no heed to it. Sailors Mars and Vesta, Phobos, Deimos and Jadeite found her in the alley, and Vesta called out, "Hey, Hyena! Did you get 'em!?"

There was no response. Mars felt an intense wave of sorrow emanating from the girl that struck her soul.

"Hey! Are you listening to me!? Answer me already!" Vesta yelled angrily, but Mars raised her arm in front of her and commanded, "Wait."

"What is it?"

"Something's not right. I'll try talking to her."

The older Soldier took several slow steps toward Hyena, her high heels audibly clicking on the pavement as she got closer. The archer remained perfectly still with her back to Mars, while the autumn breeze blew her hair and dress. She noticed Hyena's hand move as she snapped her fingers. All of a sudden, the bow on the ground exploded in a cloud of green smoke that overwhelmed the small group. When they opened their eyes, the alien Soldier was gone. Mars couldn't sense her presence anymore.

"She got away!" Vesta exclaimed.

"That's fine. Don't worry about her for now," Mars assured.

Jadeite noticed how forlorn his partner was and asked, "What's the matter?"

"I think she was… crying…"

Gyps flew across the sky with the listless Apis in her arms. After several minutes of silence, she finally asked, "Why did you say it?"

"…"

"You shouldn't have shouldered the burden of telling her by yourself."

"…"

"It's a good thing I followed you here. Naja was worried that something would go wrong, so she wanted me to keep an eye on you."

"…"

"… Apis? You okay there?"

"… No…"

Gyps exhaled a despondent sigh, then said, "Don't worry about it. What's done is done. Let's go to our new hideout."

"A new… hideout?" Apis murmured, confused about this bit of news.

"Upala's completely given up on us. We repeatedly failed to obtain the Silver Crystal for her, so she placed a bounty on us and gave the Sailor Soldiers she imprisoned a chance to become her new Camarilla if they brought us back dead. While I was pursuing you, Naja and Varan escaped from Upala Acropolis and found a place for us to hide."

Gyps swooped low towards the outskirts of Crystal Tokyo, where a neglected barn sat within the plains. She carried the listless Apis inside, where Naja and Varan awaited their return. Naja saw Apis' exhausted expression and exclaimed, "Oh, Apis! Are you all right!? What happened to you!?"

"She needs some rest," Gyps said, then placed Apis on a small pile of cloth and waited for her to fall asleep. Afterwards, Gyps explained everything about the battle at Hikawa Shrine.

Naja rested her hands on her chest in total grief as she murmured sadly, "So Hyena knows everything…"

"If it wasn't for those damn crow twins scaring the hell out of Apis, she wouldn't have spilled the beans."

They fell silent, pondering what to do from here. Varan, who had been leaning against the wall and quietly listening to them this whole time, finally said, "We have no time to waste convincing Hyena anymore. We have been backed into a corner, and the only way out is for us to get the Silver Crystal."

"I just gave her the choice of siding with us or the Earthlings. Maybe she'll come to her senses and rejoin us. We're not part of the Animus Syndicate anymore, so at least she doesn't have to worry about us serving Eris anymore," Gyps reminded her.

"I don't know about you, but I am tired of dealing with her. Her ability to strategize may be second to none, but her closed-minded devotion to her duty as a Sailor Soldier has become too obnoxious for me to bear. She has become little more than a nuisance in this convoluted struggle for power."

Gyps grabbed Varan's collar and angrily snarled, "Are you forgetting why we went through all of this trouble to remove Hyena from the Alkima War in the first place!? No matter what she does or what she believes, we should at least prevent her from making the worst possible decision for herself! Whether she fights for Earth, Alkima or both, I will never, ever allow her to use 'that'! You understand me!?"

"Hmph…" the tall spearman grunted. "So even though she's an encumbrance, you still care about her not using the power her lineage granted her."

"What, are you suggesting that she does use it to solve all of our problems!?" Gyps' eyes grew wide with fury at what her partner was insinuating. "That would completely ruin the point of us secretly banishing Hyena out of Alkima in the first place!"

"I never said that she should use her power."

"Well you certainly aren't denying it either! You know how dedicated she is to her mission! If she thinks the only way is to rely on it to save everyone, then… Then she'll-!"

"That's enough!" Naja shouted in a commanding tone. Varan and Gyps stopped arguing and stared at her. Naja removed her cobra-themed mask to reveal her long silky blue hair and crisp ultramarine eyes. "We don't have the luxury to argue with each other. There's only one path we can take; to get the Silver Crystal before any other factions do. It is the only thing in the universe capable of restoring our beloved Alkima Galaxy to its former glory. All other matters are of no importance to us, aside from preventing Hyena from using her power to stop the Animus Syndicate. If we get the Silver Crystal as soon as possible, then we can use it to destroy the enemy and resurrect Alkima."

She narrowed her eyes and added, "If anyone gets in our way, then we kill them. Even Hyena."

"Hyena too!?" Gyps gasped.

"If banishing her wasn't enough to prevent her from using her family's power, then we must seal her away for good."

Gyps was astounded to see how the usually demure leader of the Toxicum Sailor Soldiers had suddenly dropped all niceties and become determined to complete their mission. Varan didn't share in Gyps' shock, simply nodding agreement.

"Once Apis recovers, we will go on the offensive," Naja said. "In order for our victory to be assured though, I ask that we set our disagreements aside and band together for one last mission."

She glanced at Gyps and murmured, "Sailor Nabar…"

She did the same to Varan and whispered, "Sailor Mangar…"

She looked at the sleeping Apis and added, "Sailor Kadmas…"

Varan kneeled in front of Naja in a sign of loyalty and assured, "My life will be put into service for you and all of Alkima… Sailor Kanos."

The next morning, Chibi-Usa was in her apartment working on a drawing for her class before she and the Yoeda sisters would go to the Game Crown Arcade to hang out for the afternoon. This was when she received a call from Rei, and the shrine maiden said, "Good morning, Chibi-Usa."

"Good morning, Rei. You usually don't call me at this time of the day."

"I assume VesVes told you everything that happened yesterday?"

"Yeah, she did."

"I want to know if Midori made it back to her room okay. She disappeared during the fight, and I couldn't find her on the shrine grounds anywhere."

"Don't worry. JunJun and PallaPalla saw her go into her room after they returned from buying groceries. But…"

"But?"

"After VesVes told us everything, we tried knocking on Midori's door and seeing if she could talk with us, but she's refused to come out or even respond to us. The landlady told us that she saw her returning with an extremely sad expression. The sisters are trying to talk to her right now, so I don't know how they're doing."

That was when the four siblings entered the apartment with visibly dejected expressions. Chibi-Usa covered the phone and asked them, "I guess… it didn't go well, huh?"

"Not a peep," JunJun sighed.

"I wonder what has gotten into her," CereCere murmured. "We even tried making as much noise as possible so she would come out and scold us, but nothing."

"Did we do something wrong?" PallaPalla whimpered sadly while twiddling her fingers.

"Maybe she's just exhausted," VesVes offered. "We should leave her alone for now."

Chibi-Usa told all of this to Rei, then the miko said, "I see. Can I talk with VesVes for a minute?"

"Oh, sure," the pink-haired girl said and handed the phone to VesVes.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Can we talk without Chibi-Usa in earshot?"

VesVes acted normal as she walked into the washroom and locked the door. "Is this about your suspicion of Midori being Sailor Arsenic Hyena?"

"Yes. Although I've found some strong circumstantial evidence, there's still not enough to prove it."

"So you said. Midori being from another world is pretty crazy, but that doesn't prove she's that world's Sailor Soldier. How do you plan on getting the truth out of her?"

"I've already put Midori on the spot; I told her that she either reveals everything to Chibi-Usa, or I will tell the queen what I discovered. I'm going to need you to keep an eye on Midori and see if she will keep up her end of the deal."

"You don't want me to say anything?"

"Not a word. All I need you to do is to be my eyes and ears."

"Man…" VesVes grumbled. "I'm not the best in the world at keeping secrets. Especially big ones like this."

"I'm counting on you."

Rei sounded surprisingly serious, which VesVes caught on to in the tone of her voice. She smiled a bit and replied, "Leave it to me. I'll let you know if anything happens."

"Thanks."