Walking Towards Light: Ami Redux
Act 3: Coming Home
Chapter 17: The Light at the End - wherein light is cast into the darkness
Jupiter cursed. The connection to Mercury just blinked out.
She heard Mercury scream somewhere on the floor above them...and then the connection blinked out.
Jupiter didn't know what that meant. She forced herself not to think of the worst. Mercury wasn't dead. She couldn't be. She'd simply turned off the connection because there was some advantage in doing so.
She tried desperately to reestablish the link, but she had no idea what she was doing. All the stupid little computer was telling her was that there was not enough energy. What the hell did that mean? And what the hell was Mercury doing? Goading Pandora on like that...
Another scream. This was unbearable.
Jupiter ran faster. Everyone did. There were up the stairs now. The door was in sight. A new message appeared in front of her eyes 'DON'T HESITATE'. Jupiter growled. More cryptic messages. She really hated these damn goggles, so she willed them to go away. There was a fight up ahead. Jupiter couldn't deal with the distraction.
Then she heard the words. A new, yet familiar, command.
"MERCURY AQUA MIRAGE!"
Mercury was still fighting! She was ok!
Jupiter threw herself at the door. It burst open easily. She all but fell into the room. Venus was one step behind.
Mercury. Where was Mercury?
"Pandora! You again?! Step away from Mercury! I am your opponent now!"
Venus took charge of the situation before Jupiter could get her bearings. All she saw was Mercury falling to her knees in a room full of broken shards of ice. Whatever happened here just now, it was over.
Belatedly, Jupiter noticed the other woman. She must be Pandora.
Venus' Love and Beauty Shock sizzled across the room. Pandora jumped back as it cut between her and the obviously hurt Sailor Mercury. Jupiter was off and running before Venus started her command.
"Jupiter! Go! Now! Get Mercury out of here!"
Jupiter ran to Mercury's side along with Sailor Moon while Mars took up an attack position next to Venus.
"Mercury! Talk to me! Are you ok?"
Sailor Moon asked the obvious question. Jupiter needed to know as well. Mercury looked even worse up close. The way she held her arm tight to her chest did nothing to hide the extent of her injuries. Her chest flailed with every shallow breath and her left hand looked completely mangled. Jupiter hoped that the blood on her lips was just from the cut on her cheek and not some sign of internal bleeding. Worse of all was how pale she was...cold and gray. Nobody alive should be this pale...
Please, Mercury... say things weren't as bad as they looked. Jupiter hoped against hope for some reassuring answer.
"Sailor Moon...Jupiter!...You're here!"
Ami-no-baka! Of course they came! Now answer the damn question!
Sailor Moon knelt down to support Mercury as Jupiter stood guard over the pair. Despite the obvious pain, Mercury looked up with a relieved smile. Jupiter couldn't help but smile in turn.
It was a short breather in the midst of battle. The moment passed too soon. Mercury gasped out a request as she slumped forward into Sailor Moon's arms.
"...pass me...my...computer."
Jupiter handed it over. There was no time to argue. Mercury didn't look like she could last another 4 words anyways. Even holding the computer seemed to be too much. Mercury nearly dropped it before Sailor Moon took it from her.
Mercury's blue googles flickered on as she began to gather data. Her right hand moved with practiced ease over the computer now being held up by Sailor Moon.
Mercury seemed fixated on something. Jupiter followed her gaze. A floating black orb.
Sailor Moon gasped in recognition. Mercury's eyes widened - she found something!
The battle overtook them at that moment. There was no time to share the results. Jupiter saw a golden chain whipping towards the two distracted senshi.
A golden chain...Venus? What the hell was going on?
Dammit. She was fast enough to throw Sailor Moon and Mercury out of the path of danger, but there was no way she was going to get away clean.
This was going to hurt...
Was there a new enemy behind them?
Mars spun around to see what Venus had just attacked. There was no threat there. Just Sailor Moon, Jupiter and Mercury.
Mars looked at the Senshi beside her in shock. Venus had just spun around and launched a Love Me Chain at Usagi and the defenseless Mercury.
Mars felt frozen in horror. She was too far away to do anything about it. The moment seemed to last forever.
Jupiter! Thank the gods. Her fellow Senshi reacted fast enough and tossed Usagi and Mercury both out of the line of fire. Mercury hit the wall with a choked scream and didn't get up again. Sailor Moon landed on her ass but was otherwise ok.
Shimatta. No time to follow up. Jupiter was hurt too now. The Love Me chain caught her across the back. She staggered, but remained standing tall in front of Sailor Moon. With her Princess' safety secure, Mars prepared to go on the attack.
She summoned the Flame Sniper.
What the hell was going on?
She looked to Venus for clarification.
That didn't help. Venus had a panicked look on her face. A golden light filled the air.
SHIT!
Mars dodged the unexpected Crescent Beam. She released her arrow at the attacker instinctively.
MINAKO!
Venus flipped out of the way, fast but not fast enough. The fire arrow grazed her calf. Venus barely stumbled as she turned and gathered energy for another blast.
"MARS! Duck! Pandora! She's...controlling..."
A shower of Crescent Beams burst forth from her hand even as she called out her warning.
Mars' world narrowed to split second dodges and narrow escapes while waiting for an open shot at Pandora. She was doing something to Venus. This had to be her fault somehow. If this fight didn't end soon...
Mars refused to speculate on the future. She was in a fight. There was only the now.
"Sailor V! No...Sailor Venus! I had been wanting to see you again. Since you killed me all those years ago, I believe I owe you one death...with interest. I shall enjoy seeing you kill your friends."
"Melt..again...you...smelly...old...hag..."
Venus choked out the words as Pandora increased her power.
Mars remembered now. Pandora. She used some kind of mind control power to get an army of civilians to attack Sailor V years ago.
She should also be dead. Sailor V killed her with a Crescent Beam.
Then again, every single person in the room should be also be dead as well.
So...how were they going to get out of this alive?
The Crescent Beam shower had Jupiter and Moon locked down behind a pillar. Mercury still hadn't moved from where she'd landed. Mars was getting scared. She had to do something fast.
Mars watched Venus carefully. She was the leader of the Senshi, and the toughest person she knew. No way Venus was going to let Pandora control her without a fight. Mars had to be ready.
There. A signal. It was quick, but it was Venus.
Venus flicked her eyes to a spot in front of Pandora, and then at the orb. After years of fighting and loving each other, Mars understood her meaning.
Pandora was an idol. She knew how to handle idol types. They were all massive drama queens. She would want Sailor Venus to hurt in the most dramatic way possible.
Mars dodged yet another crescent beam as she rolled into position.
Kami-sama, this had better work.
"Venus! My Eternal Love! Don't make me do this! I can't... yet I must!"
She summoned her Flame Sniper to her and held it aloft. Her hair was probably whipping dramatically in the wind and everything. If this didn't work, Mars was fully prepared to die of embarrassment.
It worked. Pandora took the bait.
Venus' body turned and began gather power. Mars held her bow, waiting for the right moment.
Now!
"VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!"
"MARS FLAME SNIPER!"
Mars jumped up high arc. She released the Flame Sniper at the apex of her backflip.
Perfect shot. Her arrow flew true, its point shattered the dark orb. Mars could feel the heat of Venus' Love and Beauty Shock as it shot by under her.
Venus hit the unsuspecting Pandora dead on.
The beautiful idol screamed as her face melted under the light of Venus' power once again.
The fight was over.
When Mercury woke up in Sailor Moon's arms, things were eerily quiet.
The dust had settled. Pandora was kneeling by the broken shards of the orb - alive, but oblivious to the world around her.
The senshi watched her warily, but they were quiet as well. Pandora was clearly defeated. Good triumphed over evil. They had won.
No one seemed to know what to do next. This was no resolution.
Mercury struggled to stand in the awkward silence. She had a promise to keep. Ribbons of blue light flared, and then she was just Ami again.
Moving was painful, but Ami forced herself to continue. Up. Off the ground. On one knee. Stand. Walk.
This was her fight - between Mizuno Ami and Pandora. The moment was critical. The right words now could lay both their ghosts to rest.
Speak.
"Pandora, stop. That was never going to work."
Ami's voice sounded weak even to her own ears, but Pandora heard well enough.
"It's over Pandora. The orb. It wasn't working anyways. Metaria's essence is gone. There was nowhere to channel the energy."
The woman was crying now, the deep shuddering sobs of someone who had nothing left. Ami staggered over and knelt by her side.
"She saved you, gave you what you wanted most...and you truly believed her...I remember Metaria too. I understand you."
Ami felt sick. She remembered the voice of Metaria in her head. The things she had said, the power she had offered. Absolution, freedom, peace. Metaria had offered her exactly what she'd wanted most. Walking away from the darkness was the hardest thing she'd ever done.
It was only though her friends that she'd had the power to say no.
This woman, Pandora, she never had that chance. She was alone. Ami remembered Minako's stories of her days in London. There was a sister too, a sister that went down the same dark road and died for it.
What was her life like then, that Queen Metaria appeared a shining beacon of hope?
"What did she promise you, in the beginning?"
Ami didn't doubt that Pandora would answer honestly. They were past the point of lies now.
"...my dream. She offered my heart's desire. That I would take the world by storm. Be the idol of the century. The beautiful Pandora. She came to me. I said yes. She made me what I am today."
Pandora looked at her with dead sunken eyes. A corrupted dreamer.
"I understand. She offered me the world too. Promised me the power to never be weak again. I believed her too...it wasn't all lies. I wanted it so much. She left out one thing though. Life isn't something someone can just give to you. It is something you have to create for yourself. My friends showed me that. Without them. I wouldn't have had the strength to say no. "
"It's too late. Just look at me. I can't go on like this."
Ami smiled at her kindly.
"It's not the end, not until you give up. Do you know about Sailor Moon? She can help. Let her heal you too."
Pandora nodded and closed her eyes. Ami looked to her Princess.
"Now, Sailor Moon."
Ami stayed by Pandora's side as Sailor Moon used the Silver Crystal. This time, when the light flooded out the world, it didn't hurt. It was just beautiful.
A.N.
Wow. I know I say this alot, but thank you again everyone for reading my story.
So here we are. The battle's done, and they kind of won...so we sound our victory cheer...
Where do we go from here? - Joss Whedon, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Once More With Feeling
We go onto Act 4 - Ami Redux
Up next: Chapter 18 - Aftermath.
Reviews/PM always appreciated and often replied to.