PRETTY SOLDIER SAILOR MOON: FUTURE
Chapter 72: Apfelschuss Redux
Sailor Chibi-Moon and her Sailor Quartet guardians flew straight for the Animus Syndicate's headquarters and descended upon the front gates.
"What the hell!?" Juno screamed.
Pallas clenched her teeth and whimpered in revulsion, "What happened here?"
They had stumbled upon the already-decaying bodies of the Syndicate's warriors that Zarnik had extracted the Sailor Crystals from. Ceres kneeled in front of one corpse and examined its brooch, then said, "Their crystals are gone."
"Did Eris do this? Or was it Midori?" Vesta asked.
"If it were Eris, she most likely would have done it a long time ago to us. This has to be Midori's doing. Plus there aren't any signs of battle here, so it must have happened suddenly for them."
"Damn it! What the hell is she trying to accomplish!?"
Chibi-Moon felt an intense wave of negative emotions overwhelm her for a moment. She could sense Eris' immense presence nearby, but she also felt a second source of evil energy slowly growing in power. She remembered this sensation from when Zarnik went berserk before, and she exclaimed, "Midori!"
"What's wrong?" Pallas wondered.
"I just felt Midori's Sailor Crystal, and it's rapidly filling with darkness! She must be trying to challenge Eris with that energy!"
"So she must have absorbed all of these Soldiers' negative emotions into her crystal to power herself up, thus killing them," Ceres surmised. She stood up and stared back at Crystal Palace. The eight streams of light from the planetary Soldiers surrounded the castle, and she realized, "If the Syndicate's attacking forces aren't able to infiltrate the palace, they'll have to come back here to regroup. We shouldn't leave the rear unguarded."
"Good idea," Juno agreed. "Chibi-Moon, you go on ahead and find Midori. We'll make sure no one comes after you here."
"Are you sure?"
"Don't worry! Now that the majority of Eris' forces are gone, we just have to practically clean up!"
"Okay… Be careful out there!"
With that, Chibi-Moon ran deeper into Upala Acropolis while the Sailor Quartet stood on guard before the front entrance.
Midori's vision swam about incoherently. Her pounding brain felt like it was tossing and turning on stormy waters. As she stumbled forward, she had to suffer through an agonizing bout of vertigo and exhaustion, so she leaned against the walls of the grand hallways to compose herself.
What is this…?
She stared at her darkening Sailor Crystal, feeling something indescribable worm its way into her corrupting soul. She had absorbed so much darkness from Eris' barrier and the evil Sailor Soldiers that the gem started taking in negative energy on its own volition. In that moment, her head and chest flared with excruciating pain and she thought she was going to collapse, or maybe even die. Some kind of metaphysical parasite was burrowing its way into her Sailor Crystal and making it her nest.
Damn it… Am I inviting other kinds of evil inside me without realizing it…?
She had no idea what was happening, other than it was abhorrent and repulsive. But after a few moments of her suffering, the unusual existence that found its way inside her began to relax, which in turn calmed her heavy breathing and cured her horrendous headache. She still kept absorbing more and more negative power though, so her vision kept swimming about.
I don't know what's what anymore… No, I shouldn't worry about it… I just need to destroy Eris… Once I do that… nothing else will matter… Just need to keep moving… before Chibi-Usa catches up to me…
She mustered the last of her strength and walked up the stairs to the orchard.
In that garden… is the Goddess of Discord…
She narrowed her eyes and seethed.
It's long past time for me to ruin her fun.
The young woman made her way to the palace gardens, fixing her sights squarely on the misshapen tree formed out of a sealed woman's body. Golden Apples grew from the hundreds of sinewy branches, surrounded by dark leaves that cast deep shadows upon the otherwise colorful and radiant garden that Sailor Upala once lorded herself upon.
The sealed goddess' eyes glowed a sinister red, and the bright irises fixed their gaze upon Midori. Although the woman's mouth didn't move, her voice could still echo out, "Ho ho ho… So you've finally come."
"…"
"It seems you didn't bring the Silver Crystal to me as an offering. If you had, I would have granted you the power to revive Alkima as you saw fit."
"…"
"Oh, my. I can feel your anguish whirling within you. Has the truth caused you to lose your voice? How utterly broken you look. Come, poor child. Let me mend your shattered heart."
Eris' branches contorted and reached for Midori like arms. Wood creaked and cracked as the arms drew ever closer to her like tentacles. The stoic girl's Sailor Crystal suddenly flared with immeasurable power and sent a shockwave that dissolved the reaching branches and obliterated the Golden Apples around them.
"That power…!" Eris murmured in surprise. "So you have unlocked the power that Arsen's bloodline granted you. Know this though – it's impossible for you to take in all of my awesome power without falling into darkness. If you were Arsen, you probably would have stood a chance against me. As you stand though, your body will rot into nothing and your soul will vanish into the abyss for all eternity, never to be mourned by anyone ever again. If you value your life, then give up and stay your hand."
Midori didn't care about Eris' empty threats and promises. She had no intention of listening to the mad goddess anyway. In a flash of green light, she transformed into Sailor Zarnik, but her ambience was much darker than usual. The darkness gave her an incredible power that she had never felt before, and she felt confident that she could challenge even a deity with it. She summoned an arrow of pure light betwixt her fingers; it was the raw power drawn from the darkness and converted into destructive energy for combat.
In essence, she had turned all of Alkima's suffering into her arrow to pierce this rotten apple.
With a broken utter, Zarnik's silence was finally broken as she gasped, "Now… allow me to introduce myself… for the first… and last time…"
The archer raised her arrow and spun in a lithe rondo, her pleated green dress flowing outward and her long chartreuse hair twirling around her upper body.
"I am… the Sailor Soldier… of Strategy and Precision… Sailor Zarnik."
She finished her graceful movements by aiming her weapon at Eris as she declared, "I'll destroy… your foul tactics… with one shot."
She remained still in her archery pose and concentrated squarely on Eris. The goddess' red eyes flared, and her previously immobile body writhed to life. Although she was still trapped inside the apple tree, she could still move her head and arms around enough to battle Zarnik. Eris' angry mirth intensified as she mocked, "What a stupid little girl you are! You are naught more than a termite before me! Witness an entire galaxy's worth of discord and tremble before my immeasurable might!"
Eris raised her arms up, and howling black winds blew around them in response to the goddess' conjuring. Leaves flew about so quickly that some lacerated Zarnik's skin, but it was like she didn't feel the cuts whatsoever. The roots of Eris' tree burrowed their way through the palace and spread through the ground that it sat upon.
As Sailor Chibi-Moon was running through the empty halls of Upala Acropolis by herself, the foundation rocked violently and made her stop.
"What's going on!?" she exclaimed.
She felt the flooring bulge beneath her feet, and she leapt back with a startled cry as demonic black tree roots broke through and rampaged around her. She clenched her teeth as several of the roots clamored their way toward her. She whipped out the Pink Lady's Regalia and shouted, "Pink Lady's Heart Barrage!"
A torrent of glittering pink hearts tore a swath through the malevolent plants, allowing her to continue forward. She was surprised that they didn't take chase after her, but when she looked back at what they were actually doing, she realized how serious the situation was. If Eris' tree could plant itself firmly within Earth, she could infect the entire planet with evil miasma through the roots. And if Earth was ever in a crisis such as this, there was someone who could experience the planet's pain as his own…
"Papa!"
"GWWAAAAGH!" Endymion let out a guttural cry of agony and grasped his chest.
"Endymion!" Serenity gasped and held her husband's shoulders as he fell to his knees.
"What's the matter, Your Majesty!?" Luna shouted.
"Gah… E-Eris is… UWWAGH!" the king tried to talk, but the pain was too unbearable for him.
"Look!" Artemis pointed his paw to the monitor that observed the acropolis. "Those tree roots must be the cause of this!"
"What's going on?" Diana asked.
"Eris is trying to corrupt Earth as we speak! That must be why she sent those warriors after us; to buy herself some time to dig her way through the earth!"
"How horrible!" Luna exclaimed angrily. "Even if we tried to come up with a strategy, Eris will destroy the planet before we can do anything!"
Serenity gasped, "This can't be happening…"
They were running out of time and options fast. Such a hopeless situation made the queen despair over all of the pain everyone had triumphed over to make it this far, only for the conclusion to be a potentially tragic one. She couldn't stop thinking about the Silver Crystal and how its blessing could be used to save everyone. She wanted to take it out and utilize its power immediately, even if everyone told her to stop.
But she didn't.
Serenity's eyes kept focusing on the monitor. Even a denizen of the light such as herself could sense the power of Sailor Zarnik's dark bloodline being awakened and taking in all of the evil for herself. The power was growing so rapidly that she feared that even if she used the Silver Crystal right now, she would need time to build up the necessary energy needed to defeat Eris. Zarnik had beaten her to it and had advanced past the point of no return.
I can't catch up with Zarnik in this battle… But I can at least help her a little!
Serenity stood up and approached the altar upon which the sacred gemstone rested. She took it within her hands and returned to Endymion's side.
"Your Highness, you mustn't!" Luna urged. "You can't fight Eris like this!"
"Don't worry. I have no intention of fighting," Serenity assured her feline advisor, then said to her husband, "Endymion."
"Serenity… What are you trying to do…?" the king gasped.
"Let us focus our thoughts and prayers upon the Silver Crystal. If you represent Earth itself, then if I keep you healed, the planet itself will become strong enough to fight back Eris' roots."
"Ungh… Will that really work…?"
"Your life force is connected to Earth's. I think that if I give you the Silver Crystal's holy energy, it will transfer into the planet and drive away Eris enough for Zarnik to finish the job."
"… Might as well give it a try…"
The royal couple closed their eyes and concentrated on the crystal's healing energy. He could feel the pain dull significantly, although there was still a tinge in his chest. He thought about everyone on Earth who was hiding away due to fear of this unknown enemy. He found the Sailor Quartet guarding the entrance of the acropolis, surrounded by the dead bodies of other Sailor Soldiers. He also saw Chibi-Moon dashing through the palace in a mad fervor to find Zarnik. Finally, he could see the dark roots penetrating through Tokyo Bay and burrow through the ground. Serenity likewise saw this vision and focused on sending her power through to block the roots, surrounding them with binding ribbons of white light that halted their advance.
"I've got them!" Serenity exclaimed.
"Nnnngh! What is this!?" Eris suddenly screamed. She could feel Neo Queen Serenity's holy energy burning through the roots that comprised her legs. The sacred power seared through Eris' negative influence like a searing hot razor. "Serenity, you worthless cur!"
Zarnik narrowed her eyes, realizing what was going on but not really caring all that much.
"ARRGH! I was so close! I was just about to take Earth for myself!" the livid goddess ranted. "Then I'll show you how powerless you really are! Watch as I send this whelp to the void, and anguish that you have no hope of saving her! You will live the rest of your existence knowing you could not save one lone soul from my wrath!"
The Apples of Discord surrounding the tree instantly rotted away and dripped black fluid, which then transformed into a soupy ball of pure hatred and evil. Millions of disfigured, horrifying screams echoed through the orb, and hundreds of various organs like eyes, mouthes and arms bubbled to the surface. It contained the essence of countless people's sorrow and hatred from Alkima Galaxy that had been contained for centuries and was finally allowed to release its frustration upon this single girl.
"TAKE THIS!"
The thick beam of coagulated miasma burst from the tree and aimed straight for Zarnik. She made no motion to get out of the way as the energy overwhelmed her and exploded in a deafening boom. When the cloud subsided, and to Eris' astonishment, Zarnik remained standing there in her archer's pose. Although the ground surrounding her was heavily damaged, the area immediately around her feet remained unchanged. What had changed was that her white energy arrow tripled in size to that of a cannon shell, while her Sailor Crystal could be seen on her brooch as it sucked in black wisps of negative energy. It had become pure black by now, leaving no trace of any green that she represented. Her cadence was entirely different as well, having become a silent silhouette of pure darkness save for her eyes, heavy with the burden of enduring so much suffering.
"Im… poss… ible…" Eris gasped silently, drained of her power. "Why…? Why are you still alive…?"
That was a good question. Why was Zarnik still alive? Despite the sorrow and anger she experienced from Eris' attack just now, her thoughts were clear and calm.
Is there something else taking on the burden for me?
Then she remembered the strange, parasitic essence that had found its way into her corrupted crystal. It guided her mind through a void of nothingness. She could see into an endless world of black, her thoughts completely detached from the battle with her worst enemy. Within that empty universe, a trio of demonic eyes made out of pure light slowly opened and stared at her silently.
… Chaos?
She could hear some kind of voice, not being telepathically spoken to her head, but rather straight to her heart.
Release… Power… Return… Cauldron… Guardian Chaos…?
None of it made any sense. It didn't matter anyway. She had a battle to finish.
With a flick of her fingers, Zarnik wordlessly released her final arrow.
It all happened in an instant faster than the blink of an eye. Eris truly had no idea what hit her, even while being eradicated. All of that discord she had collected during Alkima's civil war was now being used against her. She knew it had the power to destroy entire worlds. She just didn't understand how terrifying that kind of power was. Up until now, what did it matter to her? Everyone else would suffer the consequences of inciting her wrath, and she would find it all hilarious and bask in her own glory. That was simply what she did as the Goddess of Discord; make others suffer. To imagine that her own hatred would be turned against her…
If it wasn't for… this abomination… of a Sailor Soldier…
Eris lost all conscious thought as her tree-like body exploded in a fantastic and deafening display of raw energy. Zarnik's head snapped back as her body went flying at least 200 meters due to the shockwave. The explosion tore through the ground and castle like a nuclear bomb, demolishing the throne room and orchard with little effort.