PART 8: The True Dark Sailor Senshi – Death Black Wings Return
So this is what it had all come to, it was all or nothing. Amongst the death and devastation the Sailor Senshi stood united together, facing down the awesome power of the Demon Lord. Still in her protective bubble, the young athlete Tessha was forced to watch as her sister and her friends stood to face down the monster that had killed so many people. Beside her the fox spirit Sirius watched silently, not moving even as the Senshi dashed forward for their attack.
The Inner Senshi were the first to strike, letting loose their best attacks all at the same time. The demon only smiled and easily blocked them, absorbing the combined energy into a giant ball and throwing it back at them. The Senshi scrambled to get out of the way as the blast hit the ground just inches from their feet. The aftershock was harder to avoid, causing everyone to fall back a few feet painfully to the ground.
"Is that the best you can do!? Pathetic! At this rate it'll all be over before it's started. The universe will be under my rule and you lot will be nothing more than dust particles. You can say goodbye to this miserable little planet as well…"
"No! I won't let you do this!," Usagi shouted back as she and her friends regained their footing. The demon laughed hysterically as he charged for another attack.
"There's nothing a pathetic human weakling like you can do to stop me! Now DIE!!!"
"WORLD SHAKING…!!" Haruka attacked first before the demon could release the pulsating purple energy ball. Michiru and Setsuna stepped into position for their counterassault.
"DEEP SUBMERGING…!!!"
"DEATH SCREAM…!!" The three blasts of energy converged into one as they shot toward the waiting demon. Yomi dashed forward to fall in step behind it, twirling her own staff forward as it glowed and emitted sparks.
"THE GODS HAVE PASSED JUDGEMENT AND FIND THEE GUILTY!! EXORCISM BEAM!!!" The final blast of powerful energy merged with the existing one, making it grow five times as big. The demon held back a bit, stunned at the sudden show of power. The blast hit him and the ground beneath him exploded upward, sending debris in all directions. High above, Sirius dodged out of the way of stray rocks. The air was so filled with dust it was hard for the Senshi to see. They stuck together, keeping their backs to each other to prevent a surprise attack.
"Everyone stay close! I don't think that blast was enough to…!"
"SIRIUS?!" Yomi called up above her. Her heart sank as she heard a high-pitched yelp and her sister's scream. All the Senshi looked skyward, through the thinning smoke and dust, at the horrifying scene. The demon had indeed survived the explosion, seeming to be completely unscathed. And in his grasp was the young girl, struggling to free herself. The fox spirit fell to the ground seconds later, blood now staining her brilliant silver fur.
"Tessha-chan!," Yomi cried in exasperation.
"Let her go you monster!," Rei growled angrily. Sirius whimpered and struggled to get up, but fell back down and cried in pain – the demon had left a huge gash across her back. Ami and Makoto rushed to her side. But the fox spirit snapped her jaws at them.
"No, don't worry about me! Protect the Moon Princess…", she panted. She could take care of her wound, but it would take some time.
"Let go of my sister, Demon!"
"Or, what…You'll kill me? Go right ahead and try to attack me, and I'll tear this feeble girl in two before you even reach me!" Yomi growled and clutched her staff, glancing over at the crumpled form of Sirius. The fox was once again enveloped in a protective bubble, only this time trying to heal herself. But something was wrong; the bubble was much too small, and it flickered as if Sirius was trying her hardest to maintain it. Yomi felt her heart sink again – the fox sprirt had been fatally wounded, and her trying to heal herself was only draining away her lifeforce. Then she knew…The mystic Senshi wasn't sure how the Demon Lord had found out, but somehow he must have found out that she and her sister had some sort of connection. Sirius was in danger as much as her sister.
"That's playing dirty! Fight fair, you monster!," ChibiUsa stamped at the ground beside Usagi and the others. The Demon Lord stared at her for a while, as if sizing her up. Then he smiled and laughed maniacally.
"I've seen the so-called powers you people think you have, and I'm not impressed. However…,' the demon tightened his grip around Tessha's wrist so hard she cried in horrific pain, '…However, I'll give you a chance to redeem yourselves as worthy opponents…,"
"STOP THIS!! LET HER GO..!," Usagi pleaded. But the Demon Lord merely sent a series of smaller blasts towards the Senshi, making them all scatter again. There was no way they could send an attack now, not if they wanted to risk killing Tessha in the process. Things were progressively getting worse.
"You have one full Earth-day to find me, starting now. Show up early if you think you can. But if you are so much as a minute late, then you'll be picking up the dead body of this girl here. I wouldn't worry too much about it, but once you get there I'll be killing you all anyway. So in the end it all works out for me. Until then, ladies," the demon cackled and vanished into thin air, leaving the Senshi amidst the barren landscape. Yomi sank to her knees and dropped her staff – she'd failed. The death of her mother, all those innocent people…and now her sister, was all her fault. She felt numb, and she couldn't hear the voices of her comrades around her. Something inside her had just died, and she felt like dying along with it.
"Just hang on, Sirius. Don't give up," Hotaru whispered as she desperately tried to heal the fox spirit's deep wound. But it was too little too late – she wouldn't last much longer. Sirius had enough strength left for one final task, and nothing was going to prevent her from completing it. Yomi seemed to momentarily snap out of her death-like trance to crawl to her friend's side. The fox smiled weakly and even struggled to lift her tired head to lay it in the mystic's lap.
"I-I'm…very proud of you so far, P-Princess Io. You've proven yourself…a great warrior worthy of protecting the Moon Princess,"
"No, be still and save your energy. You're…You're going to be just fine, see?," Yomi assured her, even as her eyes burned with tears. She pressed her hands against Sirius's wound to try and stop the bleeding. The fox whimpered, almost like a puppy, and she lifted her head higher to lick Yomi's cheek.
"…I'm sorry, young warrior…but my time has come…,"
"No! Don't you say your goodbyes! We'll make you all better, I promise. I won't let you leave me, understand!? What will I do without you, I can't do this alone!"
"You won't be…You have friends now, comrades to guide you. My job of reviving your powers is done…,"
"..Sirius, no please stay with me. You have to help me rescue my sister,"
"Y-Your sister…will be fine, I assure you. When you find her…you'll see why,"
"What's that supposed to mean? I don't understand." The fox spirit turned her gaze to Usagi, who had joined Yomi and had tears streaming down her face. Sirius reached a gently paw towards her and the girl took it in her hands.
"I'm sorry, Highness..t-that I…can't stay any longer. Please watch over everyone. And…," Sirius began to glow and disappear, the fur under her own eyes wet with tears, '…give that Demon Lord everything you've got. You all have the power to defeat him." Yomi tried to hold onto Sirius but was soon only grasping at a transparent image.
"…Sirius…" The spirit transformed into a brilliant ball of silver light, rising into the air and almost immediately shooting off towards the horizon. The Senshi were left to mourn her passing, but none suffered the loss more than Yomi. Now, one more innocent life had been stacked onto the ever growing list. The mystic pounded the ground with her fist and cursed loudly in English. Sparks began to form around her body as she got angrier and angrier. She wanted revenge…
"Yomi-chan, you have to control your anger. I understand you're upset, but if you let yourself to become unstable…," Setsuna started, but Yomi had already picked up her staff and began walking away. The powerful energy surges becoming more and more frequent.
"I DON'T CARE! I'm going to get my sister back, and I'm going to kill that murderous demon. He just made this a personal battle…"
"Are you planning on going to find him yourself?! That's crazy! He'll kill you!," Makoto raced forward to catch up to her, but was thrown back ward when she collided with the mystic's barrier which was still growing. The others rushed forward as well, all eager to stop the girl from making a foolish mistake. But all their efforts in trying to get close to her were thwarted as one by one, they were pushed further and further backward by the barrier. Amy stared hard at a flash of black energy that began to overtake Yomi's barrier. Flickering, just barely visible, were the outlines of what looked like black wings sprouting from the girl's back.
"We have to stop her! She's a danger to herself if she lets the transformation complete itself," Setsuna warned. She aimed her staff at the departing Senshi and prepared to strike her down, just enough to knock her back to her senses. But before she could utter a single word, Yomi turned and sent her own powerful blast of energy knocking the other Senshi even further backward.
"Stay out of this, I beg you. I don't want to have any more deaths of innocence over my head. If I should die, then you can do what you want…,"
"You think we're just going to stand here and let you leave!? Fat chance! This is a group effort, there's no 'I' in 'Team'," Minako shouted after her.
"That's right, Yomi-san. Please let us, help you," Amy piped in.
"How do you think your sister would feel if she knew you were going in without help? Come on, we're your friends and there's no way we're going to let you leave us behind. What that demon did to poor Sirius was terrible, and we'll all make him pay for it," Rei replied. Yomi turned to stare at them all, even as black streaks began to bleed through her hair. She ignored them, turning on her heel and slinging her triton staff over her shoulders. In the next moment, large jagged jet-black wings exploded from Yomi's back making her barrier expand and enveloping her in a glowing silver-white light. She kicked off from the ground and rose quickly into the air, leaving the others to watch helplessly as she nodded her head.
"I'm sorry, but this is the way I want it. I don't want you to follow because you're my friends. I couldn't deal with anymore loss," Yomi said and soared off in the same direction that Sirius's light went.
"Argh! She's so incredibly stubborn! What's her deal?!," Makoto growled.
"Try to understand, she just lost Sirius…I think she's entitled to a little grief," Michiru came up beside Usagi as the pig-tailed girl whipped her face with the back of her hand.
"We have to go after her. This isn't just her fight. If that demon wins than the whole galaxy is in danger. I can't let that happen," the Moon Princess got to her feet and looked at the others, who all nodded in agreement.
"We'll use Sailor Teleportation to catch up with her and…and try to find some way to reverse her transformation. If we let her fight like that it could be disastrous for all of us. Come, let's begin," Setsuna ushered the Senshi to form a circle and they all joined hands. A few seconds of concentration pass before they all disappear, leaving behind the rubble of the decimated city.