Chapter 11
"Everyone. Watch yourselves."
The Sailors jumped out to the sides to evade the incoming symbiotic shrapnel as it homed in on their positions. Sailor Uranus and the rest of the more experienced Outer Sailors were able to execute perfect front or side rolls that allowed them to get back into standing positions and ready to launch their own individual counter-attacks.
Sailor Mars chose to perform a cartwheel as her choice for an evasive maneuver. She came safely to a stop upon completing the motion with her long black continuing to move passed her body like a wave. When her raven-coloured locks finally settled down enough for her to see her surrounding environment her eyes expanded as she felt her body freeze with panic. Some of the red organic projectiles were heading directly for the King and Queen and there were moving too fast for her to nail them with her 'Flame Sniper' fire arrows. All she could do was scream out a warning to her fellow friends.
"The King and Queen."
Sailor Pluto instantly whirled around and looked up towards where she had last seen their king and queen. She threw herself forward and used all of her enhanced Sailor speed to move faster than the sharp-pointed pellets that she was desperately trying to intercept. As she neared the wall of the raised structure that separated the floor area from where the royal thrones were situated she planted the tip of her garnet rod firmly into the floor. With assistance from her enhanced Sailor agility she pole-vaulted herself up into the air and managed to land directly in front of the royal couple. Without wasting a second she raised her staff high above her head.
"Garnet Ball."
In a flash of light a semi-transparent sphere appeared from the tip of the staff and rapidly spread out to encase Sailor Pluto, King Endyimon and Neo-Queen Serenity inside its protective shell. Unlucky for them though, the energy that made up the orb didn't have enough time to fully solidify before the symbiotic bullets made contact with it. Carnage's manner of launching them caused the timing of t each of the pellets to be slightly off. This caused a staggered formation so that they would not hit their target at the same time. Sailor Pluto's garnet shield was able to repel and vaporize the last three darts but the lead one managed to make it through. It sailed through the air but luckily passed through the small space that existed between the heads of the king and queen. It continued on until it became embedded in the back wall behind the thrones. Without turning around to look for herself and not wanting to take her eyes off her opponent Sailor Pluto asked a single question to the people that she had just barely been able to protect.
"Are you ok my leaders?"
"We are fine Pluto … thanks to you."
Sailor Pluto let a small smile appear on her face which was followed by a small sigh of relief that escaped her lips as she continued to concentrate on maintaining her garnet shield. She knew that she had been extremely lucky in her rescue but from what she had observed of Carnage's attack style he was likely to shoot more darts or something equally worse in a wild and unpredictable pattern. She had to make sure that the king and queen were constantly protected by her shield or they might be hit by one of those stray projectile weapons. If that were to happen everything they were fighting for would be all for nought and the promise of Crystal Tokyo's golden reign would be dead.
She shook her head to clear her head of her thoughts. Now was not the time to think of 'what ifs'. She had to keep her eyes and mind completely focused on her task or the shield's strength may start to waver. However even in her concentrated mental state she still felt the impact of someone landing beside her. Without turning her head she looked out of the corner of her eye to see the newest arrival in her peripheral vision. A flash of purple let her know that her friend and the leader of the Outer Sailors Sailor Saturn was the one that had just joined her. She returned her concentration back to maintaining the strength of her shield and almost missed the comment that came from her young team mate.
"Pluto. Drop your shield and go and help the others."
"I can't Saturn. We have to keep the king and queen safe from Carnage's attacks."
"I will use my shield to keep them secure. I don't have an offensive attack that will allow me to help them without putting others at risk. They need you out there… now go."
Sailor Pluto pursed her lips into a tight thin line. She turned her head and looked down towards the battle that was raging in front of them and knew that Sailor Saturn was right. Carnage was holding his own against Uranus, Neptune and Mars but they needed help to push the odds more in their favour. She mentally recalled what Sailor Neptune had told her during the few times they had been able to catch their breath as they had been fighting Carnage and his inevitable invasion of the Crystal Palace.
Sailor Neptune had told her that fire was the only definite weakness Carnage had that they could exploit to their advantage. That meant that keeping Sailor Mars safe had to be their second priority after the protecting the king and queen. If she became severely injured or killed then their chances of stopping Carnage would be reduced to almost nothing. Sailor Pluto turned back around to look at Sailor Saturn and nodded her head to let her know that she agreed with her young leader and was waiting for her to throw up her own shield so that Carnage did not even have a fraction of a second to get a lucky shot in.
"Silence Wall."
Sailor Saturn lifted her Silence Glaive up over her head as she loudly spoke her words. Purple and white lightning crackled from the tips of the blades and cascaded down around her and the royal couple who were standing a couple feet behind her. After a few seconds the protective barrier became fully operational and was strong enough to protect everyone from every conceivable direction.
Sailor Pluto waited anxiously until she was fully satisfied that Sailor Saturn's shield was completely solidified before she broke her concentration and finally dropped her own shield. In seemingly no time at all, the yellow-ish and white energy of her Garnet Ball barrier flashed once before disappearing from sight. She side-stepped to her right to allow Sailor Saturn to get into a better position on the platform before jumping down to the floor to join their friends in battle.
"Hee-yaa."
Sailor Pluto spun her garnet rod in a downward arch as she descended down to the ground. Just as she had intended, the end of her staff connected with Carnage just below his raised arm and struck the side of his ribcage. The force of the blow caused his body to tilt in the opposite direction and lose its stability which made him vulnerable for a few seconds. When her feet touched the ground she lowered her body and thrusted her staff upwards to hit Carnage under his chin. Her blow lifted him upwards and away from her. As his body fell to the ground Sailor Pluto tightly gripped her staff with both of her hands and tensed the muscles of her body.
"Dead Scream."
She raised her garnet rod into the air and a small whirlwind spun into being all around her. With a mental command, the winds' power coalesced into the Garnet Orb at the end of her staff to create a glowing purple ball of concentrated energy. When the violet-coloured sphere was finished forming, she spun around once on the balls of her feet and held the rod straight out in front of her. She fired the energy orb at Carnage upon the completion of her spin. Moving at incredible speed, the blast soared through the open space between them and struck him as he was picking himself up from the ground. In response, the force of the impact sent him hurdling backwards into the exterior wall of the chamber directly behind him.
The violent act of his body hitting the polished and dense crystalline surface of the wall did not knock him unconscious but did succeed in stunning him for a few seconds. He fell down to ground with a loud thud and dropped to his hands and knees. He shook his head a few times to refocus his thoughts and ease the throbbing in his brain. Suddenly a malevolent sounding scream cut through the air and the temporary break in the battle. Carnage lifted his head and looked towards the voice's owner Aldrich Reid.
He was standing up and had his body twisted so that he could look at Carnage due to his limited movement because of his restraints. At his feet were the bodies of the two royal guards that had been assigned to him. One of them had a symbiotic arrow protruding from his neck a result of Carnage's barrage at the beginning of the battle. His partner had no obvious signs of trauma but Sailor Mercury would later conclude that he probably had his neck snapped when he got too close to Aldrich during the chaos of the battle. This had allowed the evil mystic to get his hands around his throat even with the limited range his shackles allowed and kill the unsuspecting guard. Right now thou he was staring directly at Carnage with a look of fierce anger and disappointment at his supposed ultimate weapon.
"Get up. You must kill the King and Queen or they will curse you again. If that happens it would mean no more destruction, no more chaos and no more killing."
"I do not need help from the peanut gallery. I have nearly killed these Sailors before all by myself and this time I intend to finish them off for sure."
"Release me from my bonds and I will help you in that task."
"Why should I share my action?"
"Do not forget that I was the one that broke the curse that was cast upon you. My assistance will ensure that the Silver Moon Crystal can never be used against you again."
"You do raise a good point."
A pair of large razor-sharp knives formed on Carnage's left arm and spun off at the chains that held Aldrich. Surprisingly, the rotating organic blades were able to cut through the thick metal of the restraints with little effort and the severed ends of them clanked down to the ground with a loud metallic noise. Aldrich shook his wrists to loosen up the tired and strained muscles in his arms caused by his imprisonment. All that was left now were the wrist cuffs with a small piece of each of the chains still attached to them. This gave him another hazard for the Sailors to watch out for when they engaged him in battle.
"So partner… shall we make mince-meat out of these snot-nosed brats?"
Aldrich did not answer Carnage's question. He chose instead to focus on the small group of young women that were taking positions around them. His clenched his hands together tightly and they instantly began to glow with orange and red energy as he channelled the demonic powers inside him into them. His brown eyes became solid black as if thick ink was injected into them from the other side.
Off to his left tendrils of various lengths slithered and wiggled around Carnage's body and waited for him to shoot them out at a target. His red and black costume swirled and flowed across his body frame as it formed into all sorts of different shades and patterns. His symbiotic skin seemed to reflect his current thought process as he observed his opponents and tried to decide on what was the most pleasurable way to kill them.
The tension inside the throne room became unbelievably thick as each group waited on baited breath for the other side to make the first move. With this new development, the Sailors were being extra cautious because they now had two dangerous opponents to contend with. It was still unknown as what the full extent of Aldrich`s powers were and this made him both unpredictable and extremely hazardous. With their attention now divided between the two of them it only increased the likelihood that any one of them could be caught by surprise by an attack from either of them. They were in very big trouble and they all knew it.
"You want trouble guys? You're looking at it. In the name of the planet Jupiter you'll regret the day you were born when I stop you. I will show no mercy."
Everyone turned to look at the unexpected newcomer to the battle. As they all cast their eyes towards the hole in the large wooden doors of the throne room they came upon the sight of Sailor Jupiter standing with her arms crossed firmly over her chest. Her eyes were narrowed into tiny slits and her bright green eyes were dark with a fierce intensity. Her forearms were still heavily bandaged and the scratches and bruises that were still visible had not fully healed. Her arm was still in its sling which took a little of her threatening appearance away.
Crouching in front of her was another person that none of the Sailors had expected to see. Sailor Mercury also had her arms up and was ready to counter any attack that came at her. She chose to remain silent and let her body language speak for her.
"Jupiter what are you doing here? You can't fight. You are preg…"
Sailor Mars managed to catch herself before she finished her sentence but she still felt a cold chill race up her spine. She silently swore and mentally kicked herself for being so careless with her reaction to Sailor Jupiter's unexpected arrival. When she had revealed to all of them about her pregnancy Carnage had been in the middle of her fire attack. She had hoped and prayed that the waves of pain that had been bombarding his body as a result had caused him to miss that shocking announcement. Up until now it had looked like she had been correct in that assumption. However due to her knee-jerk reaction she had just betrayed her friend and quite possibly put a target on her back.
She and the other Sailors turned back around to look at Carnage. Some of them were feverishly praying that the sudden shock of the news that he was going to be a father might somehow touch the small piece of their friend that they still believed remained inside the murderous monster. As they stared at him he remained motionless for a second or two as if he was frozen in place. All across his body, the living costume's movements seemed to slow down as well which gave the Sailors hope that he would cease his attack and possibly even surrender to them. His head dropped down and hid his eyes and mouth from their various lines of sight. Everyone including Aldrich remained motionless as they all anxiously waited to see how Carnage would react to the unexpected news.
After a few more seconds of silence Carnage lifted his head. His large tear-shaped white eyes shifted and expanded to even wider proportions as his mouth opened wide. His facial expressions showed surprise and shock first before his eyes contracted and returned to their normal size as the information fully registered with him. His mouth quickly twisted into a gleeful grin and his clawed fingers opened and closed rapidly as a demonstration of his growing excitement.
"Baby? Oh. I just love babies."
The Sailors couldn't help but feel their spirits drop as the chillingly innuendos of his statement flashed through their heads. It became clear that the stakes of this battle were now raised even higher. Not only did they have to protect the king and queen and Sailor Mars from Carnage's evil but now the unborn child of Sailor Jupiter as well. Instinctively, the Outer Sailors took the risk of exchanging glances among themselves so they could silently and quickly form a battle strategy to deal with both of their opponents. They all quickly made eye contact with each other and gave a quick nod to signal that each of them understood what they needed to do.
Sailor Uranus pulled her Space Sword from her waist scabbard. Sailor Neptune held her Deep Aqua Mirror at the ready while Sailor Pluto tightened her grip again around the staff of her garnet rod. They would need the extra firepower that their sacred treasures would provide in order to put the odds back in their favour. Even with the additions of Sailor Mercury and Jupiter and their combat readiness still in question they needed to use everything they had at their disposal. A few more tense seconds ticked by as the stand-off continued until Sailor Uranus' patience finally ran out.
"Space Sword Blaster."
She charged forward towards Carnage and lifted her sword as she closed the distance between them. As her long legs propelled her frontward she kept her sword's blade angled slightly downward. When she began to get closer to her target the metal of her sword began to glow as the internal energy contained inside it swell in preparation for the moment to unleash it. When she got to within five feet of the red skinned monster she swung the sword in a perfect horizontal slash that released a wave of yellow energy behind the blade's plane of movement like the tail of comet.
Sailors Mars and Mercury moved in to assist her at the first sign of her charge while the rest of the team shifted to engage Aldrich. Carnage raised his arm up in front of his body and formed a broad shield to block Sailor Uranus' incoming strike. The razor-sharp blade of the sacred sword struck the diamond-hard alien skin that made up the shield and caused an abrupt disruption in her forward momentum. This caused Sailor Uranus to temporarily lose her balance for a second or two.
The energy blast from the sword hit the shield a second later but had no visible effect other than causing Carnage to be pushed back a few steps from its impact force. He recovered much quicker than Sailor Uranus and instantly took advantage of his opponent's temporary instability to send forth an enlarged fist underneath his shield and right up into Sailor Uranus' solar plexus. Upon contact, the rock-like punch caused her to loudly gasp as the air was violently pushed out of her lungs. She abruptly dropped down to her knees. She dug the tip of her sword into the white tiled floor underneath her to act a support and to prevent her from falling completely to the ground. She wrapped her left arm around her body in a protective "hug" as she choked and coughed while trying to regain her normal breathing rhythm. Carnage stood over her as he relished the moment by smiling down at her with his black needle-like teeth. His living alien skin swirled over his body and continued to form various small instruments of death that abruptly appeared before quickly melting back into the main body in a continuous loop.
"Oh no you don't. Shine Aqua Illusion."
"Mars Flame Sniper."
Sailor Mercury spun around like a ballerina on the balls of her feet and placed her hands on the front of her shoulders. As she spun her body droplets of water appeared and swirled all around her. She mentally focused these hydro particles toward her hands which she quickly raised above her head and collected them into a single large mass of blue liquid. When she finished her stationary spinning she sent the water blob toward Carnage. Meanwhile at the same time, Sailor Mars summoned a fiery bow and arrow using her control of the heated air molecules around her. She took careful aim by calling on her master archery skills acquired from her many years as a shrine maiden and shot the fiery arrow towards Carnage at the exact moment Sailor Mercury threw her jet of icy water.
Sailor Mercury's attack hit Carnage first. It struck his legs and lower abdomen with the super chilled water freezing him on contact. It instantly encased his legs in a block of solid ice which prevented him from being able to physically move out of the way. As an added bonus, the impact of the attack also caused him to drop his shield slightly in response to being temporarily frozen in place. This hole in his defence allowed Sailor Mars' fire arrow to find its target unobstructed which turned out to be his left shoulder. Her flaming projectile pierced through the symbiotic skin with ease and made it all the way to the human body underneath it. As a defensive response, the alien tissue around the arrow's entry point began to retreat as it tried to escape the pain of the intense heat the projectile was continuing to radiate outwards.
"Ah!"
Carnage staggered back a few steps as his 'shield' arm collapsed and reformed back to its normal humanoid shape. He placed it over the injured shoulder in a reaction that was an instinctive reflex firmly engrained inside the genes of his human half. He turned his head first to look at wound before snapping it back around to look at the two people responsible for it. His white eyes flared up with an increased level of intensity and the red symbiotic skin of his costume began to flow faster than the Sailors had ever seen. It was moving so rapidly that almost all traces of its dominant red colour were gone as it swirled and rippled like the waves of a raging ocean.
Suddenly and without any warning the ice shell that was still holding him in place exploded as dozens of razor-sharp spikes and tendrils erupted outwards from his legs. Chunks of ice sailed towards them and rained down in every direction which temporarily distracted Sailors Mercury, Mars and Uranus from their enemy. When they turned back to look at Carnage after instinctively shielding their faces from the flying debris they couldn't help but feel the blood in their veins run cold. They knew that they had just severely enraged him and was going to now be coming at them with everything that he had. Sure enough he threw himself at them. As he closed the distance between them he screamed three words with a vocal tone that made their skins crawl.
"Rip you apart."
Across the room Sailors Pluto, Neptune and Jupiter were trading blows with Aldrich. His vast array of demonic powers was keeping the Sailors constantly on the defensive as they struggled to avoid being caught by one of his lethal mystical attacks. Even with the knowledge that he was still human and therefore was not designed to deal with the physical stresses that using such un-natural powers would entail, he was showing no signs of fatigue which was more than a little disconcerting for them. That reality troubled them because the longer the battle went on the more vulnerable they would become to being caught by one of his deadly attacks. In all of their past experiences they had never faced an opponent with a potentially extensive arsenal of different offensive tactics at their disposal. Every time he attacked they had to quickly adapt their evasive maneuvers to whatever form the attack took. This made them incapable as of yet to launch any sort of counterattack of their own.
Right now, Aldrich was firing pink coloured blasts of magically energy from his hands. He was alternating his arms back and forth as he released the powerful mystic bolts in a rapid fire sequence. At the current rate of which he was shooting at them made them have to be in constant motion as the blasts impacted and damaged the floor and walls around them. This added another element of danger for them as they had to watch out for the falling debris or shrapnel that each projectile generated when it made contact with something. After a few minutes of this Aldrich abruptly stopped and raised his hands above his head.
"I summon the Rains of Ragadoor."
A few feet above each of the Sailors an orange and black cloud instantly appeared. A second after that, orange energy droplets began to pour heavily down onto each of them. Whatever made up the substance that each of the rain particles contained was highly acidic. It instantly began to burn the material of their uniforms as well as their bare skin and hair upon contact. What made the situation even worse was that the clouds followed them as they tried desperately to get out from underneath them. This was meant to ensure that they would never be able to escape and suffer the maximum amount of damage. That left them with only one chance to save themselves or else their bodies would suffer too much trauma and go into shock. They quickly grouped closely together with Sailor Pluto in the centre.
"Garnet Ball."
In an instant the semi-transparent sphere appeared once again from the tip of her staff and rapidly spread out to encase Sailor Pluto, Neptune and Jupiter inside its protective shell. Their desperate prayers were answered when the barrier solidified and stopped the harmful 'rain' from passing through its defensive shell. They all breathed a collective sigh of relief as the pain from the burns they had received began to slowly subside. However their sense of ease was short-lived as they quickly realized that this was only a temporary solution. Outside the shield, the magical "acid" rain was still continuing to pour, which meant that they had to keep it up. This prevented Sailor Pluto from counter-attacking but also meant that Sailor Jupiter or Neptune couldn't launch any attack from within the barrier without first dropping the wall of the sphere first. This was due to the nature of Sailor Pluto's shield as it not only prevented attacks from going in but also stopped anything from going out. This put them in a stalemate in that if either of them chose to venture outside the energy barrier to launch some sort of counter-offensive they would be instantly bombarded by the supernatural downpour once again. Their enemy Aldrich was well aware of this predicament and couldn't help himself from letting them know it.
"You have lost Sailors. Your shield will keep you safe from my mystic rain for now but you can't stay in there forever. Very soon my partner will be done with your team mates and shortly after that your king and queen will fall to the ground battered, broken and bloody right before your eyes. I have won. Accept what is right in front of you and surrender to my mercy."
"Not on your life you monster."
Aldrich and the three Sailors are looked to where the strong feminine voice had come from. They all wore expressions of surprise on each of their faces as their eyes found the announcement's owner. Standing in the hole in the door panels was Sailor Venus. She had one hand on the side of the hole and was clearly using it to support her body. Her posture was tilted to the side and let everyone know that she was far from being fully healed from the near fatal injury to her leg that she had suffered several hours earlier. Her arms and face had several bandages on them which marked the various cuts and slashes that she had received in the last battle with Carnage.
As she stepped into the room it became abundantly clear that she was not in any shape to participate in this epic battle. Her 'love-me chain' was wrapped tightly around her injured and heavily bandaged leg. From the looks of it, the energy chain was acting like a split to give her leg the strength and stability it was lacking due to the muscle damage caused by the symbiotic spear that Carnage had struck her with. Her gait appeared to be very laboured and exhausting as she struggled to keep herself from limping or falling to the ground. She did not want to let either of their opponents know just how worse for wear she really was in her current physical state. She took a few more steps inside the room before planting her feet firmly against the heavily damaged floor of the throne room. She quickly raised her hands and ignored the pain her body felt as her tired and stiff muscles protested against the movement. She had to move quickly if she was to succeed in her intention to attack Aldrich before he had enough time to properly counter-attack her.
"Rolling Heart Vibration."
Sailor Venus formed a heart made of concentrated energy in the open space between her raised hands. When it was fully formed she threw it towards Aldrich. It moved through air in a rolling corkscrew motion as it drew closer to its intended target. It moved at the speed of sound and covered the distance between them in less than a couple of seconds before striking Aldrich square in the chest.
The force of the blow sent him sailing backwards against the opposite wall across the room from where Carnage was battling the other Sailors. Aldrich hit the stone wall hard with a sickening 'thud' and fell to the ground hard. He wasn't knocked unconscious by the impact but his body had still taken a serious physical hit. He slowly lifted his head to look up at Sailor Venus and the other warriors he had just been battling. A bead of nervous sweat ran down his forehead as he watched Sailor Pluto drop the shield protecting her and the other two young women. When he had been struck by the heart-shaped projectile it had broken the mental concentration needed to continuously maintain the mystic rain. With all four Sailors now back in the battle he needed time to recover as he couldn't take them all on at the same time in his present condition. That was something that wasn't going to happen without help.
"Carnage. Help me."
Across the room Carnage finished up the devastating attack he was just executed. He had managed to ensnare Sailor Mars by the ankles as she had attempted a flying martial arts kick. As she had been coming towards him he had extended his arms out in front of him and sent a pair of tendrils out at her. They had wrapped tightly around her feet and brought them together which had effectively halted her attack. As soon as her feet were firmly side by side the two tendrils merged together into one thick band. He finished up his counter-attack by swinging her around two times like an Olympic hammer thrower. When he felt he had achieved the proper level of kinetic energy he swung her around one final time before releasing her and sending her body hurdling into Sailors Uranus and Mercury. All three of them crashed hard to the ground in a heap and were slow to get back up.
Carnage turned to look over his shoulder at where Aldrich was situated upon hearing the warlock's desperate plea. He leaped across the room and landed a few feet beside him. He made no immediate motion to assist his cohort in getting back to his feet and chose instead to stare down at him. To anybody else Carnage's body language seemed to suggest that he was either greatly irritated or even disappointed at Aldrich for not holding his own against the Sailors like he was. In response to the silent stare of his homicidal partner Aldrich looked up at him. His facial expression indicated a clear element of surprise as he registered the hesitation and lack of immediate assistance from Carnage. A few more seconds of dead silence ticked by as both individuals continued to stare at each other and not saying a word or making any moves. Taking advantage of the lull, the Sailors watched from their various positions around the room as they took the brief break in battle to catch their breath and re-group. Their attention snapped back into focus at the sound of Carnage's voice.
"Give me your hands."
Aldrich hesitated at first but slowly started to extend his arms as he reached out towards where Carnage was standing. His body was visibly trembling as it was still recovering from the hard impact of Sailor Venus' energy attack and then being slammed against the wall afterwards. As his arms slowly drew closer to Carnage he waited anxiously for him to grasp them and pull him up to a standing position.
"No. I wanted just your hands."
With an impossibly quick action razor-like knives formed on the back of each of Carnage's forearms and slashed outwards to slice Aldrich's hands off at the wrists. He managed to catch the two severed hands as they fell towards the ground and held them up in front of the utterly shocked face of Aldrich.
"Now that's what I was asking for. Much better don't you think?"
For a long moment Aldrich stared dumbfoundedly at the spurting stumps at the end of his arms before clutching them firmly against his chest. He slumped forward to the floor with his forehead pressing against the cold hard stone tiles. Blood continued to visibly stain his black clothing and quickly formed an expanding dark red circle on the ground underneath him.
"Wave goodbye, Aldrich. It's time we went our separate ways."
"Carnage! Your barbarism has no place in our kingdom.
Carnage turned back around to face the Sailors. They were all standing again and were ready to re-engage him in combat. He casually tossed the severed hands to his left and right while whistling as he did so. The sickening sight of the cut appendages being playfully thrown away like a child's toy paired with the sound of Carnage's joyful tooting was enough to make several of the Sailors' stomachs churn with nausea.
Carnage used their momentary distraction to send out dozens of tendrils out at them. He sent them out in all directions to make it impossible for the Sailors to avoid them all. Each of the organic pseudopods found their intended targets and were effective in slowing down their desperate attempts to avoid the symbiotic snares. This reduction in speed and hindrance of their enhanced agility allowed other strands to wrap themselves tightly around them. In a matter of only a few seconds all seven Sailors were firmly and securely wrapped up in the red alien vines. Without any warning, the stalks of the tendrils became rigid to keep the Sailors' feet off the ground and prevent them from gaining any sort of leverage that they could attempt to use to break free. They were completely at his mercy and the overwhelming feeling of fear began to quickly overtake them.
Their internal terror intensified as they saw Carnage smile up at them. His grin was beyond unsettling as it showed that he knew just as they did, that they were firmly under his control. As they stared helplessly down at their captor they noticed the muscles in his arms tense up and his feet firmly pressing flat against the floor. As they continued to watch he moved his arms outward which moved them outwards as well as the stiff branches of alien tissue followed the movements of the arms. When his arms extended to a position directly to the left and right of his body he paused for a second before swinging them forward and effectively slamming his arms together like a pair of cymbals. This quick and devastatingly bone-jarring movement caused all the Sailors to crash into each other as the tendrils holding them collided together. Their bodies slammed against one another as heads bounced off each other and knees and elbows struck other bony joints which sent numerous shockwaves of pain throughout their owner's body. The yelps and groans of guttural pain were like music to the homicidal monster. He gleefully relished the sounds for a little longer before he dropped them all to the floor with loud thud. Their collective impact of them falling several feet to the ground served as a final exclamation point to the wickedly violent attack.
The Sailors lay scattered around the area in front of him in varying degrees of consciousness. Some of them were starting to bruise and swell up as the effects of the body collisions began to take effect. Carnage bent his legs and sprang into action. He leapt towards where Sailor Jupiter was laid out and landed on top of her as she was recovering on her back. His hands tightly gripped her wrists as his body pressed down onto her torso which pinned her firmly to the ground. Even if she had been at a full health she would have had a very difficult time overpowering him and getting him off of her in this position. He leaned forward and lowered his face to a spot very close to hers. Red drool dripped out of the corners of his mouth before proceeding to fall down onto her neck and chest. She closed her eyes to protect them from the disgusting liquid. Emitting from his mouth, the foul stench of his breath made Sailor Jupiter almost vomit inside her tightly clenched mouth. It smelled like a combination of decaying flesh, rotten eggs and rancid seafood.
"Finally some alone time with the mother to be."
"Stop Carnage. You can't kill her."
Carnage turned his head to look over at Sailor Mercury who was still down on her forearms and stomach. She had one arm extended out towards him to emphasize her desperate plea to spare her friend. It was beyond amusing to him that the once mighty Sailor team had been reduced to such pathetic and ultimately ridiculous tactics. He smiled at her with insane glee as he locked his white eyes with blue ones.
"Who said anything about killing her? I only want to see my child. I just have to rip out her rib cage, lungs, and spleen to get at my baby. You're all welcome to what's left after that."
Carnage's chilling and completely tasteless comment awoke something deep inside Sailor Jupiter. It was the deep rooted instinct that had been inside all living beings since the beginning of organic life itself. It was the maternal desire to protect any offspring from any and all threats using any means necessary. It was the genetic trait in all 'mothers' that allowed them to summon supernatural strength or cause them to fight to the death to ensure the safety of their child or children.
Upon hearing Carnage verbally threaten the baby growing inside her Sailor Jupiter was instantly filled with a renewed and seemingly infinite amount of strength and energy. She opened her eyes to stare up at the snarling face of the monster on top of her with a look of fierce determination. He was still looking back at Sailor Mercury and his focus remained on her desperate plea to stop his impending attack on her friend underneath him.
With her wrists still pinned to the ground by Carnage Sailor Jupiter opened her hands to extend and spread her fingers outwards as far as they could go. Her hands began to rapidly glow with green, purple and white energy until it visibly crackled with miniature lightning bolts between the fingers. It was at that point that she flexed her arm muscles and called upon all the physical power that her tired body could muster as she strained against the superior strength of the much stronger Carnage. His divided attention paired with the rage and the overwhelming desire to defend her child allowed her to get just enough slack in her arms to wrestle her wrists free of his grip and place her hands flat against the red and black slithering skin on Carnage's chest.
"Jupiter Poison Oak Shock."
The resulting chorus of screams echoed off the high ceiling and bounced off the surrounding walls of the throne room. Sparks began to shoot everywhere and the smell of burning rubber mixed with rotten fish quickly engulfed the air. Tendrils whipped around and around as they slashed at Sailor Jupiter's arms and legs to desperately attempt to break her physical connection with Carnage. However Sailor Jupiter's determination and resolve knew no bounds and she continued to hold her hands firmly against him as the fireworks lit up the royal chamber and the red and black slimy costume writhed around in intense pain.
Finally and mercifully after a minute or two the symbiote around Sean sputtered and popped like bacon grease in a hot iron skillet before disappearing in a small explosion of black inky smoke that drifted up towards the ceiling before vanishing from view as it neared the top. With one final ear-piercing shriek Sean slumped down on top of Sailor Jupiter with no trace of the symbiote left on him.
Sailor Jupiter pulled her hands away from his skin which ended the bioelectrical bombardment. She pushed the barely conscious body of her husband off of her and rolled him onto his back. He was still wearing the severely charred clothing that was leftover from Sailor Mars' ultimate attack earlier. As the rest of the Sailors continued to personally recover and take in what they had just witnessed Sailor Mercury pushed herself up to her feet and rushed over to check Sean for any signs of life.
She looked for his pulse by first checking his wrist and then his neck. She was silent for a few seconds as she concentrated her full attention and ignored the intense aches and pains of her own body as she listened and felt for the unmistakeable throbbing of his cardiovascular system. After what seemed like an eternity she finally lifted her head and turned to address everyone in the room.
"He is alive but not by much. The symbiote must have taken the brunt of Jupiter's attack and retreated back inside him."
The Sailors all breathed a sigh of relief. However they knew that they still had to act quickly. Given enough time the symbiote would be back and they were sure that Carnage would not give them another chance to catch him off-guard like this again. Sailor Uranus turned to look up at where Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endyimon were still standing. At the sight of her friend turning to look up at them Sailor Saturn dropped her barrier as she was satisfied that it was safe to do so for the moment. She remained at the ready just in case Carnage reappeared again and she had too quickly throw her shield up again.
"Serenity. Use the crystal to re-curse him now."
Neo-Queen Serenity nodded her head and summoned the Silver Moon Crystal to her from its usual resting place deep within the Crystal Palace. It appeared in between her outstretched hands with its radiant glow lighting up the throne room with an intense and brilliant glare. It floated in the air as it seemingly awaited her orders. She raised her hands above her head with the crystal following her movements to remain perfectly in between them. She looked down at the spot where Sean lay and focused all her concentration on the task at hand.
"Silver Moon Purifying Restoration."
Rays of white light shot out from the crystal and the intense glare from the crystal grew to blinding proportions. All of the Sailors covered their eyes to protect them from the immense power and light radiating out from the crystal. Moans and guttural grunts could be heard coming from the area where Sean had last been seen. It was similar to the sounds that the rainbow crystal carriers or the phages created by Sailor Galaxia had made when Sailor Moon healed or restored them to their normal human selves. This caused each of them to be filled with a sense of renewed hope that they had not felt since this whole nightmare had begun.
After about a minute the Silver Moon Crystal finished its task and the light quickly dimmed down. A second or two after that, the crystal then disappeared as it returned to its resting place in the Chamber of Prayer. One by one the Sailors slowly lifted their heads and turned to see the results of Neo-Queen Serenity's act.
Sean was still on his back but as they watched him he slowly began to sit up. His body movements were very laboured and it was amazing to them that he was even able to lift his body up off the ground. His head was tilted downward so they couldn't clearly see his face. When he finally did look up he looked directly up at Sailor Jupiter who was still kneeling beside him as she had not moved away during Neo-Queen Serenity's spell. His blue eyes locked with her green ones and a powerful stare down between them ensued.
When the Silver Moon Crystal had finished carrying out Neo-Queen Serenity's command Sailor Jupiter had remained poised and on full alert in case the healing spell had failed to re-curse the symbiote. When Sean had sat up following the completion of the enchantment she maintained her focus so that she could move at a second's notice if he attempted to launch a surprise attack like he had done in the recent past. However when he looked up at her and the look in his eyes was different than the one she had been seeing in them lately. As he continued to look up at her she came to realize that the glint in his eyes was one of love and sadness and not the madness and hatred that had consumed them since that terrifying moment in the open field. She let her body slowly soften and relax a little as she began to allow herself to gradually let her guard down.
The final straw was when she saw a tear run down his cheek. That completely convinced her that the crystal's magic had indeed worked. Their friend her husband was truly back. She wrapped her arms around him and began to cry profusely as she once again embraced the man she loved with all her heart. In response to her actions he wrapped his arms around her and they both squeezed each other tightly in a hug of deep love.
The other Sailors watched on with the hope that their friend was correct in her assumption but still not completely convinced themselves. As the minutes ticked away and no sign or signal appeared to suggest otherwise they too rushed over to join their friend in welcoming back their team mate and dear friend. They all knelt down beside Sailor Jupiter and Sean and took turns hugging him as they cried almost as hard as Sailor Jupiter.
"Nooo. You may have … defeated Carnage … but I am still here. I will … never stop in my … goal of bringing this kingdom … down."
The Sailors spun around to look at the owner of the ominous threat. Aldrich was looking up at them from his kneeling position on the ground. His bloodied arm stumps were obscured by the long sleeves of his black robe and the hood had fallen completely over his head which covered his face. From their positions they could see that the ends of his sleeves and parts of his cloak were soaked with blood and had the wrinkled appearance of cloth saturated with water.
From their current positions and distance from him he looked like one of those "Jawa" aliens from the Star Wars movies. Even though they couldn't see his face it was hard to not imagine that it was wearing an expression of utter defiance and intense malice. He didn't physically look like a threat anymore but the Sailors knew that he still was. He was still in possession of a wide array of demonic abilities from an unknown number of powerful demons and if given the chance he would unleash every single one of them upon the people of Crystal Tokyo.
Sailor Venus was the first one to react as she ignored the pain in her leg and sprang into action. She felt the rush of adrenaline coast through her veins which numbed the intense discomfort in her leg as she propelled herself towards her target. She kept her eyes fixated on Aldrich so she was ready to use her enhanced agility to evade our attack he threw at her to halt her rapid advance. Luckily he appeared to be still too weak from the battle and Carnage's savage betrayal to counter her approach.
"No Aldrich. Your threat ends now."
As she closed the distance between her and him she closed both of her hands into tight fists. Her clenched hands began to glow with a yellow energy that was different than any of her other previous attacks. She never took her eyes off Aldrich as she approached as the energy chain around her injured leg allowed her to move at a fast pace but still much slower than if she had been at full health. When she got within striking distance she drew both her hands back.
"Venus Love Pang Punch."
She threw both of her fists forward and landed both of them into Aldrich's chest. In response, the collected energy in her fists passed from them into his chest and acted like a battering ram. This added to the force of her punch which sent him hurdling back against the wall. As expected, the power of his body's impact caused the back of his head to bounce off the wall and render him unconscious. As his body slumped down against the wall the Sailors breathed another collective sigh of relief as they finally realized that they had now truly won the battle. Crystal Tokyo was safe again and more importantly they had their dear friend back.
End of Chapter 11…