Chapter 14 – Infiltration
The scene that surrounded Sailor Jupiter was not one that she would have picked had she had the choice. She, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Venus were in the middle of a thick horde of those insufferable Black Moon droids. No matter how many the trio took down, they never let up, and more of them would re-spawned almost instantly to take the place of the others they had just destroyed. It almost felt like she was trapped in a horrible video game that was stuck in a continuous loop that they couldn't get out of or stop.
They were far away from the Crystal Palace, and the one of the only things that kept her fighting on, was the fact that the queen was safe. She glanced back in the direction of the Crystal Palace periodically when she could and was briefly able to see the apex of the large energy barrier still in place around it. The energy shield around the palace rhythmically pulsed with surges of light. Sailor Jupiter felt confident that until that light went out for whatever reason, she didn't have to worry about anything more than the immediate threat of the horde in front of her.
She was still worried about her husband and daughter. Simply knowing that they were out there fighting for their lives with her sister-in-law didn't exactly make it easy for her to concentrate on the enemies around her as her eyes continuously scanned for any glimpse of them. She channeled that frustration and anger into her concentration, and let her plant and electric attacks wipe out any droids that dared challenge her. Defeating these mechanical minions was the first step to get to the real people who were to blame for this whole fiasco.
A flash of orange and yellow light caught her eye off to the side, and she instinctively got ready to duck, in case it was a laser blast from one of the nasty metal creatures trying to ambush her while her attention was occupied. When she turned her head to look at the origin of the light flare, she smiled as she realized that it was only Magik's flaming SoulSword. Nearby, she saw more movement and her emerald green eyes were rewarded with the appearance of her husband and daughter. She could see the three of them not too far away, fighting their own pack of droids. Seeing them made her happy, because she now knew that they were ok. They were close enough for her to recognize, but still far enough away that she couldn't tell if any of them had been seriously hurt.
"Sailor Mars! Sailor Venus! The others aren't far away! Start clearing a path this way towards them so we'll have the advantage of numbers!" Sailor Jupiter's voice rang out, and the other two Sailors followed her gaze until they, too, could see their allies. With renewed vigor, the trio of Inner Sailors began to cut their way, slowly and painstakingly, through the wall of droids towards the spot where their trio of allies that were battling with equal gusto.
A short distance away, Hybrid could see movement to his left, and a sigh of relief went through him when he saw his wife at the forefront of the tiny band of reinforcements that were slowly coming to their aid, carving a path of shredded and molten metal as they did so. He signaled with his hand over to Magik who smiled a little when she saw the three Inner Sailors edging closer to them. He looked over at Sailor Earth but she currently had her back to him.
"Help is on the way, Tera. Don't give them an inch" Hybrid called out to his daughter. His voice drew her attention and she looked back at him. He turned his head, causing her to look where he was turning and saw what he meant. Her green eyes lit up as she watched her mother drive her fist through the chest of a droid that was standing in front of her.
"I won't Dad but I feel sorry for the droids now" she replied back with a smirk before clubbing a droid's head with her power scepter. Hybrid couldn't help but agree with her as he knew full well how determined his wife could be when she wanted something.
It seemed like years before the two groups finally merged into one, but in reality, it had only taken a few minutes. Sailor Jupiter took a nanosecond to squeeze Hybrid's shoulder with her fingers as she joined the trio, making the circle of protection a little larger. He smiled quickly at her, and that was all it took. The two of them never needed many words to let each other know how they felt. Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Earth locked eyes, and the younger woman smiled at her mother, blowing her a quick kiss before she whirled back around to face the threat that was still all around them. Pride surged up in Sailor Jupiter, and she had to quickly blink back tears so as not to distort her vision when she resumed fighting.
"Glad you three ladies could join the party. I'll have to apologize for the party favors, they're not the best ones I've ever had." Magik's voice floated over the scene, cutting through the sounds of battle and everyone couldn't help but briefly grin. It was at that moment that Sailor Jupiter had a thought as she dispatched another droid, turning him into a hunk of twisted metal.
"Magik! Would it be possible for you to teleport up into the ship? Maybe we could find some way of bringing it down, or disable the rest of the droids." Sailor Jupiter watched as Magik's face fell as her question registered with her. She didn't like having to explain all over again why she hadn't already done that. It made her feel inadequate, but she took a deep breath anyway and launched into her explanation.
"The idea crossed my mind already, but I'm afraid that there are a few holes in that game plan. Even if I do teleport into the ship, I have no idea what's up there. I'd be going in blind, and if the inside of that ship is anything like what we're facing, then I'm not so sure that I'll make it back out. Even if it's not full of droids or other enemies, I'm not sure that I would be able to navigate the interior of the ship in time to find out where the controls for the droids are or how to disable the ship entirely without being discovered, and if I was, there's no telling what would happen to me. I'm sorry, Sailor Jupiter, but the way I'm looking at it right now, the bad is still outweighing the good, and I just can't agree to do it."
Sailor Jupiter's face fell just has her sister-in- law's had as Magik ended her little speech, but there was nothing that she could do about it. Everything she had said was true, and the more she thought about it, the more she agreed with her. She couldn't send her up there blind and without more of a plan.
"I can help with that!" A new voice cut into the group's thoughts, and every single one of them took their eyes off of their current targets to see who the newcomer was even though each of them immediately recognized it. That was the first rule of battle, never take your eye off your opponent and they'd all just broken it. Fortunately for them, so had the droids as their audio sensors had picked up the new voice and their mechanical brains were racing to analyze this new variable and the possible outcomes it would have on their battle programming. Now it was just a matter of who regained their composure first.
In the tense seconds that followed, Sailor Earth and Hybrid both cringed and looked in the opposite direction as their symbiotes picked up on another new audio sound from somewhere not too far away. They locked eyes as they both recognized an animal roar when they heard one but neither of them could see the beast that the bellow belonged too They then turned their eyes to Sailor Mercury, who had been the speaker, and who was now gracefully dropping down off of a roof top to join the fray.
"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody" she cried out as she descended down to the ground, calling forth her Mercury Harp. As she strummed the threads of mystic water that made up the magical instrument, large streams of water appeared and struck a large group of droids, causing them to be knocked around and in some case, explode from their short circuiting wires in their interiors.
There was silence from the group as they focused their attention back onto their individual droids, but each one had their ears perked up, waiting to hear what else Sailor Mercury had to say. The calm only lasted for a few seconds as the rest of the droids present resumed their attack on the defending Sailors and guardians. Sailor Mars took one of the rare opportunities in between sounds of metal meeting flesh or energy blasts of various colours to voice the one thought that she was sure everyone had in mind at that moment.
"Mercury! What took you so long to catch up to us? We really could have used your help earlier, you know!" She parried a blow from a droid before sending him up in flames with her Mars Fire Snake attack as she waited for a response.
"Where is Sailor Moon?" Sailor Earth cut in before Sailor Mercury could reply, only seeming to realize for the first time that her friend hadn't been with the older guardian as she had come to assume. The clear tones of fear and worry had crept into her voice as she had asked her question. Not far from her, Sailor Mercury used her Shine Aqua Illusion attack at an advancing droid, freezing it solid before she answered.
"Don't worry about the princess, I promise you all that she's safe. She's off on another mission right now and can't join us." Even in the chaos of the battle that they were involved in, that response caught everyone's attention, and each of their minds exploded with questions. . What mission? Was she alone? Why didn't they know about this before?
"Mission? Where did she-" Sailor Earth began to ask, the only one able to give voice to the thoughts in her head, but Sailor Mercury held up a right hand to stop her torrent of words. The unexpected gesture caused Sailor Earth to snap her mouth shut. She knew that it wasn't wise to discuss battle plans in front of the enemy, but she was worried about her best friend. Feeling thoroughly chastised for her lapse in judgment and carelessness, she took out her anger and embarrassment on the remaining droids in front of her. She morphed into her full dark green symbiotic suit and tore into them with the four tentacles sprouting from her back and her razor sharp claws.
"As I said, I can disable the ship, I just need a way to get into it" Sailor Mercury stated, bringing the conversation back to the task at hand. No one around her doubted her words in the slightest. Sailor Mercury could do also anything with science and technology and she was the only one among them that would be able to understand the machinery that comprised that space ship in time to save the city. The only question left was how would she get up there?
"Let's get to it then!" Sailor Mars punctuated her enthusiastic cry by sending a Fire Soul fireball at an unfortunate droid, incinerating him on sight.
"I'm very sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I have to interrupt," Magik said grimly. "If you want me to teleport all of you up onto the ship, I won't have any energy left to help deal with whatever resistance we encounter when we get up there."
That posed a real problem. They couldn't let one of their team go unprotected, and it would take far too long to fight their way back to the Crystal Palace, secure Magik inside and teleport into it with the hope of trying to disable it. At the same time, they couldn't afford to have the added complication of having to protect Magik if they encountered hostile forces aboard the ship. After a few seconds, Hybrid spoke up.
"I think we need to organize a small strike team to go up into the ship, while the rest of us hold down the fort, so to speak, down here. That way, Magik will have more energy left over, and the mission would still get done." A murmur of agreement came from each member of the circle. "Alright, then I think that Magik and Sailor Mercury should go." His words had barely begun to sink in with everyone, when the arguments arose.
"I'm going, too." It wasn't a question, and it came from Sailor Venus. Usually, she was free spirited and carefree, but the fierce look on her face right now was a testament to her warrior spirit and brooked no argument. If she wanted to go, she would go and no one was going to stop her.
"Me too." Sailor Earth's clear voice rang out, and although Hybrid didn't want to risk his daughter as well as his sister, he had to understand that she was now a young woman and was old enough to make at least some of her own decisions. He kept silent as he relented that this might as well be one of them. He looked over at her and watched as she sliced a droid clean in half with a symbiotic axe that had grown in place of her right hand. He took a deep breath and refocused his attention.
"Alright, then the team has been decided. The rest of us will stay here on the ground and continue to protect the city and any remaining survivors. It might even help you guys if we keep our enemies focused on us." No one raised any objections so he took that as a sign that they were all in agreement.
Without any further hesitation, the members of the strike team gathered together and slowly backed up into the center of the protection circle, letting the rest of their friends and family close the gaps around them. Magik put away her Soul Sword back into the scabbard at her waist so that she could fully concentrate on the teleport discs that she needed to conjure.
"Everyone, move in tight to me" Magik ordered to the other three sailors.
She closed her eyes and began to concentrate the mystic energies that were hers to command as soon as she felt the Sailors next to her. An electric blue light seemed to engulf her, rolling down her body like a waterfall and gathering into a large pool near her feet. Her eyes remained closed as the large mass of light split apart and formed into three smaller pools, lengthening and reshaping themselves into perfect circles at the feet of the other three Sailors. Sailor Venus and the others closed their eyes as the magical light underneath them was near blinding. A few seconds later, a flash of crackling blue lightning occurred and when it faded, they were gone.
Hybrid and Sailor Jupiter shared a quick moment where their eyes locked. Both of them were uneasy about their little girl going somewhere without them, especially when it was so dangerous, but what choice did they have? They didn't have time to further come to grips with that uncomfortable reality as the droids that still surrounded them began to move in to resume their invasion of Crystal Tokyo. The remaining guardians quickly refocused on them and redoubled their efforts against the mechanical monsters. As the battle recommenced, it seemed like the Sailors and Hybrid were almost in competition with each other to see who could take out the most droids. So far, Sailor Mars was in the lead. No one could blame her, either, because she had a lot of anger in her, and now she had the perfect outlet for it all.
High above the epic battle in the streets of Crystal Tokyo, blue lightning flashed in one of the cargo holds of the monstrous ship. A second flash and four female warriors materialized out of thin air. They immediately opened their eyes and Magik and her companions crouched down to make themselves seem smaller right away. Holding their collective breath, they each listened for any signs that they'd been discovered or that someone had seen their entrance onto the ship. They waited in complete silence for several minutes, listening for any alarm bells or radio chatter that would indicate that they had been detected. Finally after not hearing any, they slowly straightened up and took a good look around at where they were. They were in what appeared to be a cargo hold. It was full of droids. Sailors Venus and Mercury immediately raised their hands while Sailor Earth and Magik drew their weapons, waiting for the onslaught, but nothing moved, not a single droid.
"I think these droids haven't been activated yet. They seem to all be turned off, waiting to be used." Sailor Mercury whispered to the group, as she lowered her arms. The others slowly followed her lead, putting their weapons away but still keeping their eyes trained for any sudden movement from any of the robots. They were in no immediate danger it would seem…yet.
As they resuming taking in their surroundings, a yellow light flashed at the far end of the cargo hold, and the four of them immediately flinched. Sailor Mercury watched as the neon yellow light flashed again and again, almost in a sequence, moving progressively towards them. As it drew closer, she could see that the beam of light would engulf a single droid and a second later, it would be gone and it would move on to the next droid beside it. She quickly theorized that the light must be some sort of transportation beam that was teleporting one droid every few seconds off of the ship while simultaneously switching it on.
"Guys, we need to disable that light beam so that we can help our friends down below" she whispered to the rest of the group. The other three nodded their heads, catching up with her on the purpose of the light flashes.
Magik, Sailor Venus, and Sailor Earth formed a tight triangle around Sailor Mercury, with their hands up or weapons drawn. Moving together, they escorted the brilliant blue-haired guardian as she tapped various commands into her mini-supercomputer to find the source of the teleportation beam. The light moved past them and continued on down the line of droids as they crossed the halfway point of the cargo hold.
"Got it" Sailor Mercury exclaimed as she snapped her mini-computer shut. The others looked over at her and she pointed to a large control pedestal about fifty yards away from them. The other sailors nodded their heads and they moved quickly together towards their destination.
In less than a minute, they reached the control panel. Sailor Earth and the others retained their defensive perimeter around Sailor Mercury as she began to analyze the various buttons and blinking lights. It didn't take long for her to figure out the mechanics of the beam's operation, and when she did, she pulled a device out of one of the little pouches at her waist. At first glance, it looked like a metal spider with several buttons on its back. Sailor Mercury pushed one of the switches on its body and held it close to the podium as she waited for its metal legs to come to life. Sensing the energy coursing through the control panel, the spider sprung from Sailor Mercury's hand and latched onto the podium's surface with a death grip. Sailor Mercury began to frantically punch in numbers and letters using the keyboard attached to it, making a complex binary code up as she went. She was determined to make sure that none of the Black Moon's forces could turn this beam back on after they left. The encryption she was entering into the system would 'lock out' any users and block any attempts to reactivate the teleportation beam, but if that didn't work, she still had her little mechanical friend to fall back on. The metal spider was actually a compact electromagnetic pulse bomb that would go off if it was forcibly removed or tampered with, frying any electrical circuits in the process. A few seconds later, she stood back with a confident smile on her face, looking back into the cargo hold as she watched the transportation beam. It went off every few seconds, and when over a minute had passed without the bright shining light appearing again, they all quietly cheered.
Their celebration was short lived as Sailor Mercury pulled her mini-supercomputer again and started typing in various codes and commands. When she was done, she waited in silence as it whirred and chirped. When it beeped a few seconds later, she smiled and pointed to a door that had been obscured from their view earlier by the mass of motionless droids.
"The main power reactor is that way" she quietly announced to the rest of the group as she started to move towards the door. The others followed after her a second later.
Meanwhile, back in the city…
Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter were standing to either side of Hybrid as they did their best to dispatch as many of the droids as they could. They were all getting weary as the tolls of the seemingly never ending hordes of Black Moon robots kept coming at them but they had to keep themselves going not matter what. They had been charged by Neo-Queen Serenity to protect Crystal Tokyo and the planet Earth from evil so failure was not an option.
Wave after wave of the robotic soldiers broke against them, and even through the cries of "Burning Mandala" and "Coconut Cyclone" more and more of the monsters kept coming at them. It was almost like they were being funneled from other parts of the city just to overpower the group of warriors that dared to resist them. Hybrid was doing his fair share of the damage too, using his Sword of Gaia to cut down any droids that the Sailors' attacks missed or couldn't reach. They were slowly moving outwards in a big circle, trying to clear out one block of the city at a time, but it seemed that as soon as an area was clear and they moved on to the next, more droids would appear to fill the area they'd just left.
As they moved, occasionally they would see flashes of yellow and aquamarine to the left and right of them and that let them know that Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune were still in the fight, and most importantly, still alive. Sailor Saturn was not far away from them, holding her own as she sliced droid after droid with her twin bladed Silence Glaive. It bolstered their confidence in themselves. Every time they saw a flash of energy and saw Sailor Saturn cut down another enemy, it made them renew their efforts and stand a little bit taller as they took on their next opponent. It showed them that they weren't the only ones battling this seemingly endless threat, and it gave them renewed hope of victory.
Hybrid danced in and out of Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter's various attacks, finishing off the droids that were still standing. As he was driving his sword into the back of a metal head in front of him, he saw a mangled droid coming up behind his wife. Judging from the melted pieces along its exoskeleton, it must have escaped from one of Sailor Mars' attacks.
"Sailor Jupiter! Behind you!" Hybrid watched in horror as his warning was received too late, and the droid kicked in Sailor Jupiter's knee from behind, sending her down to the ground. She tried to spin around to look at it, but it's one functioning arm caught her with a powerful cross punch to the side of her head. Her head snapped back from the impact, and saliva flew from her slightly open mouth. Neither of those, however, was as horrific as the ominous crack that came from her jawbone.
"No!" Hybrid's scream was more fury than fear, and the adrenaline that comes with worry immediately shot through him. He crossed the distance between them in two strides and with one swing of his great sword, he cut the droid's head off neatly, then sliced it again through the torso on the backwards swing. There was no doubt about it that it was dead this time, but he was afraid that he might be too late. He couldn't tend to his wife right away, because more of the droids were rapidly approaching, but all he could see was red. He lashed out with his sword, anger and adrenaline, making the sword feel weightless in his hands.
After several minutes, the crowd of enemies finally seemed to thin out, if only for the moment. He took the opportunity to reach down an arm to help his wife back to her feet. She was struggling to stand up after that hard blow to her leg, and she gingerly tried to apply some weight to it. Pain lanced through her leg and she gasped involuntarily. Hybrid tightened his hold on her to keep her from falling. She wobbled back and forth for a minute or two, but then she seemed to steady herself. Her leg finally gave in to taking its share of her body weight as her rapid healing took effect.
"Ready for another bout?" Hybrid's eyes were on the next wave of droids that was rushing to meet them, not stopping to look at Sailor Jupiter. His voice was grim, and the concern he felt for her was evident in his voice. She nodded her head, ready to lash out at the cause of her pain, even if it wasn't exactly the same one. She was a little hunched over in her stance, letting her knee recover as much as possible until the last possible second.
"Of course. What? Don't tell me that you're getting sleepy?" She threw the joke his way, and it managed to bring the ghost of a smile to his face. He caught her humor and grinned back at her.
"Not a chance" he replied back as he raised his sword.
For the last hour or so, Sailor Mercury and her triangle of protection had slowly and painstakingly navigated their way through the labyrinth of corridors and chambers that made up the great floating battleship. She kept frequently glancing down at the mini-computer in her hand, then back up at the tunnels and catwalks that they found themselves walking on. It was slow going, but at least they hadn't been forced to backtrack or became engaged with a squad of enemy soldiers. The computer was surprisingly accurate despite having no prior information about the spaceship, and they hadn't been steered wrong yet.
They had encountered a few lone droids here and there, but they'd had been able to make short work of them by either Sailor Earth's symbiotic morphing abilities Magik's flaming Soul Sword. Sailor Venus had maintained the rear position, and every few yards or so, she would ask one of the other women if they could swap positions even for a little bit. She felt a little left out of the fighting that was going on, as sparse as it was and the fighting spirit inside was itching to come out and take a small measure of payback on the Black Moon for all they had done thus far.
There was a large open door off to their right, just a few feet ahead of them, and Sailor Mercury stopped momentarily to double check the small computer. She narrowed her eyes as she typed in a few last minute commands with the keyboard and remained quiet as she waited. She smiled at something on the computer screen when it beeped and snapped it shut before pointing to the doorway.
"Over there. We need to get into that room." Sailor Mercury put her mini-computer away in the secret pocket that she'd had custom sewn into her uniform before leading the way to the door. Each of them knew that they'd been extremely lucky so far. None of the more intelligent droids that Sailors Mercury and Venus remembered from their previous encounter with the Black Moon centuries ago had been along their route, and no alarm had been sounded.
"Careful everyone. There might be some sort of hidden sensor guarding that doorway. Keep your eyes peeled for any signs of it" Magik whispered as they drew closer to it.
"It's ok Magik. My computer didn't pick up any electronic signatures so there shouldn't be an cause for concern" Sailor Mercury replied back. Behind her, Sailor Venus pursued her lips but kept silent. She knew enough by now to simply trust Sailor Mercury's word.
They reached the doorway and Sailor Mercury moved past Magik and Sailor Earth to move inside ahead of them. She crossed the threshold and stopped a foot inside the room. No alarm rung out so she turned her head and ushered her friends to come inside and fan out to either side of the entrance as fast as they could. The rest of the group moved quickly, hands either on their weapons or raised up as they began to take in the vastness of the chamber that they now found themselves in.
It rivaled the massive throne room of the Crystal Palace, and was completely bare except for a huge machine that sat in the dead center of the chamber. Two large saucer shaped basins were visible, with thick coils of ropes and wires stretching not only between the basins, but also escaping up through the ceiling and down into the floor. Between the basins, was an energy shield that pulsed so quickly, it sounded like it was humming. A sickly yellow sheen was radiating from it, and it made the women look sallow and haunted. It seemed like the yellow current was flowing downward, but Sailor Mercury could have told them all that it was only an visual illusion. The machine was humming so loudly that it blocked out any and every other noise within the chamber. Sailor Earth's eyes widened as she tried to take in every aspect of the monstrous machine.
"What is that?" she breathed in awe, looking around as if she expected the name to be taped on it somewhere. Sailor Mercury's lips tightened into a grim expression.
"That is the ship's main reactor. If we can manage to shut it down, the ship will become powerless, fall out of the sky, and it won't be a threat to Crystal Tokyo anymore." Even Sailor Mercury's voice was full of awe as she continued to take in the technological marvel as she spoke. It didn't last very long however, because she was soon giving the other three tasks to accomplish that would lead to the total destruction of the reactor.
"Magik, destroy the metal structure on the left. Sailor Earth, the one on the right. Sailor Venus, come with me and help me disable the main control panel" Sailor Mercury ordered, turning to look at the large display console that she had noticed during her initial scan of the room.
They all immediately turned to move as they rallied themselves to complete their individual tasks. Suddenly a downward flash of bright purple caught their attention in their peripheral vision and they stopped their departures to turn and see what the violet burst was. What they discovered was a blinking energy arrow embedded in the ground in the center of the open space between them. A wave of nervousness passed through each of them as their brains registered the projectile and it what it represented. There was no time to utter a warning as the energy arrow exploded, sending all four female warriors flying through the air before landing hard against the exterior walls of the chamber.
Sailor Earth were slow to recover, the impact knocking the wind out of them. A flash of movement from above drew their attention and they lifted their heads to get a better look. Their muscles tensed up as they saw Rubeus, hovering high above the ground. He had his arms crossed over his chest. He glared down at them with a smug smirk and they could see that he was chuckling at them even though the reactor was drowning out the sound.
The Sailors and Magik scrambled back up to the feet and began to send various attacks his way. Using the advantage he had over them by being hovering above them, Rubeus dodged each attack with his enhanced agility and speed. As he evaded the last attack, the fiery haired man came to a stop and laughed out loud.
"Pathetic! You think you can defeat me with those little fire crackers. Here, try some of mine!" Rubeus thrusted his hands out and twin clusters of small pink and black flashing energy balls at the Sailors and Magik. The spheres of concentrated magical power made contact with the ground all around the young warriors and exploded on impact. The concessive force of each explosion rocked their bodies and knocked them around like a pinball.
Sailor Earth managed to avoid most of the collateral damage due to the added bonus of her symbiotic other. She rolled forward and morphed into her full symbiote costume as she came back up to a standing position. In her right clawed hand, she raised her Gaia Power Scepter.
"Gaia Scepter Eradication" she screamed in her deep raspy symbiotic voice. From the tip of her power wand, a cascade of red and gold shapes and streams of energy erupted outwards. Rubeus did not have time to move out of the way but he didn't seem worried about it. He just continued to smile down at them over crossed arms.
The energy blast hit Rubeus dead on but a second before it made contact, an invisible energy barrier flared into view as Sailor Earth's attack struck it. The barricade became more and more visible as it absorbed the young warrior's blast. When it was over, the barrier vanished from sight, allowing them to see Rubeus clearly once again.
"He must have a shield protecting him. This is bad" Sailor Venus exclaimed, stating the obvious. Beside her, Sailor Mercury tightened her lips as she struggled to come up with a plan to defeat Rubeus so that they could get back to their original objective; disabling the ship.
Sailor Earth moved quickly as Rubeus shot a thick bolt of dark energy at her. She went into an evasive roll to the left and came out of it into a running sprint as he sent another mass of flashing energy spheres at her, keeping her on the defensive. Meanwhile, Magik unleashed her Eye Bite minions at Rubeus while his attention remained on Sailor Earth. She hoped that the demonic creatures would be able to get past the hovering fiend's barrier and give them a fighting chance.
"Eye Bite Sting" the blonde-haired sorceress ordered to the collection of tiny flying cycloptic beasts. Obeying her command, each of the eye bites fired their primary weapon, the eye laser beam in rapid succession. The energy shield around Rubeus lit up like a Xmas tree as the rays of deadly light struck it from dozens of different angles.
The bombardment lasted only about a minute but from their various positions on the ground underneath him, the Sailors and Magik could see that none of the laser blasts had penetrated through the barrier to find their true target. Rubeus He continued to float in mid-air and look down at them with a look of amused distain.
"Honestly, are you even trying" he mockingly taunted them. To emphasis his point, he threw both of his arms out to the side and then out in front of him, creating a sonic wave that cleared away all of the eye bite creatures that still fluttering around him. The tiny demons were sent backwards with such a force that they were slammed against the exterior walls of the chamber. Two seconds after each impact, the corresponding eye bite demon would vanish from sight as it's connection to this dimension was severed by the force of Rubeus' attack.
"Mercury, we need a plan and fast" Sailor Venus stated flatly to her comrade beside her, as she kept her eyes squarely on Rubeus. Sailor Mercury didn't respond as she was already way ahead of Sailor Venus. She had her mini-computer back out and was feverishly typing in every scrap of information she could think of or detect, stopping only to keep track of Rubeus's movements herself.
High above her, Rubeus began to show signs that he was getting bored with their feeble attempts to resist him. He uncrossed his arms and his smug smile disappeared into an expression of annoyance. He narrowed his eyes and zeroed in on Sailor Earth and Magik, the last two sailors to attack him.
Without wasting a second, he generated and threw mass after mass of energy spheres with infrequent blasts of dark energy and lightning at the two sailors darted and zig-zagged through the open space to avoid them. As he relentless continued to attack them, Rubeus caught sight of Sailors Venus and Mercury and threw several attacks at them for good measure.
"Hurry up Mercury, we can't keep this up for much longer" Sailor Venus called to her friend as they landed from jumping to avoid a large bolt of dark lightning. Sailor Mercury again did not reply back as she continued to type into her small computer, dividing her attention between her task and evading the deadly projectiles aimed at her.
"Little help over here guys" Sailor Earth called out to everyone. Rubeus had her pinned down beside the massive machine in the chamber's center and was not allowing her an inch of movement as he continued to rain powerful energy blasts all around her. One of the dark energy blasts grazed the machine's side and made Sailor Earth fall backwards, completely exposing her into the open. Rubeus smiled malevolently as he saw his chance to finally dispose of one of the meddlesome interlopers.
"It's time to die" he snarled as he generated the most intense beam of dark energy of yet. Sailor Earth was tired and fatigued from the battle thus far and her symbiotic costume was showing signs of distress from the repeated sonic waves created by the multiple explosions occurring in close proximity to her. She had severe doubts that she could move fast enough to avoid Rubeus's attack and even less about surviving a direct hit in her condition. She saw him thrust his arm forward, unleashing the laser beam at her. She closed her large white teardrop-shaped eyes.
'Mom… I am sorry…"
"Soul Flare!' The unexpected scream cut through Sailor Earth's silent apology to her mother and her large eyes snapped open. Magik was standing in front of her, her flaming sword in her hand. From her position behind her, Sailor Earth could see intense white light radiating out from somewhere in front of her aunt and assumed that it was a magical spell of some kind. She was awestruck at the display of bravery and power that she didn't feel Sailor Venus hands until she was being forcibly lifted up and moved to safety.
Sailor Venus moved her to where Sailor Mercury currently was, taking a position beside her. Sailor Earth could now see what was actually going on. Magik was generating a white beam of light from her eyes that was currently in a tug of war with the dark energy from Rubeus. Both sides were pouring everything they had into their attacks.
Sailors Venus, Earth and Mercury watched as the stalemate continued but soon Magik began to show signs of fatigue. The drain on her body from the battle down in the streets of Crystal Tokyo, teleportation onto the ship and the battle with Rubeus had taxed her to the limit. Her knees began to buckle under the strain and slowly but steadily, Rubeus' dark energy crept closer and closer to her as her white laser beam was losing strength.
"Good… but not good enough" Rubeus grunted as he gave one last surge of power and drove the dark energy beam right into Magik. The Crystal Guardian of magic screamed as the dark energy slammed into her and sent sailing back into the side of the massive reactor. She hit it hard and slumped down, collapsing into a heap.
"MAGIK" Sailor Earth screamed as she watched her aunt lie motionless. Sailor Venus held onto her tightly so that she could not run to her. Sailor Venus struggled to keep the younger guardian put, the added strength from her symbiote made her one of the strongest of the guardians but she was somehow managing. Sailor Earth's crying was loud and competed with the noise from the reactor for audio supremacy but somehow the electronic chirp from Sailor Mercury's mini-computer made it through.
"Got it! "Everyone at once! Channel your power!" Sailor Mercury's loud command drew everyone's attention. The blue-haired guardian put her computer away and in a flash, stood up and focused her eyes on Rubeus above her. He was turning to look at her, her voice drawing his attention too.
"Mercury Aqua Cyclone" she called out as she fired her attack.
From her outstretched hands, a large mass of light blue energy instantly amassed and a powerful stream of water burst from it, heading straight for Rubeus. Ever since the initial defeat of Aldrich Reid and the start of the events that had led to the creation of the Black Moon and the inevitable war that they now found themselves in, Sailor Mercury had been using the little spare time she had to develop a powerful attack of her own after witnessing her fellow Inner Sailors discover theirs. She had hypnotized that it was because of the extreme emotion and desperation that allow each of them to tap into this hidden and powerful attack,
Using their current situation, Sailor Mercury concentrated on the facts that every second that passed, more and more of their city was getting destroyed, their friends were down on the street fighting for their lives, they were facing an enemy that they could not touch and now, her friend and fellow guardian, Magik might have just been killed right in front of them. All of those elements combined with her extensive research into the "Fight or Flight" response in human behaviour had given her the confidence that she could find her hidden sailor attack as well but she had never had the chance to actually practice it. She suppressed the urge to congratulate herself for being successful on the first attempt.
Sailors Earth and Venus watched in amazement as they had never seen this attack from Sailor Mercury before. The blue haired guardian stood tall and firm as the powerful jet of water shot out of the collected mass of sapphire-coloured energy at her fingertips. Her gaze never faltered as Rubeus' shield repelled the attack, leaving the fiend unhurt. The two sailors' fixation on the awesome display by their friend lasted only a few seconds as they scrambled up to their feet.
"Crescent Beam" Sailor Venus exclaimed as she pointed her fingers at Rubeus. A thin yellow laser beam erupted from the tips of her index fingers and joined Sailor Mercury's water jet as it batted against the barrier.
"Gaia Scepter Eradication" Sailor Earth announced as she once again raised her dark green clawed hand. Just like her earlier attempt before, a cascade of lights and energy shapes sprung forth from the top of the scepter, hitting Rubeus' shield from a different angle.
All three women kept their attacks up, refusing to give in to exhaustion or disappointment. Their patience and perseverance was soon rewarded as cracks began to visibly form along the surface of the shield as it began to buckle under the force of the three powerful attacks hitting it at once. However, the shield was still holding and the strain of maintaining their attacks was beginning to physically drain them, despite their unshakable resolve.
"Soul Flare" came an unexpected voice. A fourth beam of white energy appeared and struck the side of Rubeus' barrier. Sailor Mercury was the only one that was facing where Magik had fallen after taking the direct hit from the dark energy beam. The blonde haired sorceress was up on one knee with her left hand gripping the side of the reactor for support. Her eyes were open and fierce and Sailor Mercury had a strong feeling that it was merely adrenaline that was keeping her conscious right now.
The added addition of Magik's Soul Flare gave the Crystal guardians the edge they needed. The shield exploded outwards as it overloaded itself, trying to repel such an incredible amount of magical power at once. As soon as the shield vanished, all four attacks struck Rubeus at the same time. He was knocked backwards, falling head over heel until he slammed hard into the reactor, near the upper left part of it. The augmented dexterity and strength of his body's anatomy caused him to burst through the thick cables and structure that they were connected to with ease before coming to a stop against a large control panel on the other side of the reactor. As he passed through the structure and hit the control display, loud alarm bells began to sound and the lights in the chamber dimmed to an eerie red, mixing with the
He landed hard on the ground and Sailor Earth was on him instantly. Without wasting a second, she punched him over and over again with her clawed fists. The long green tentacle whips on her back, wrapping around his arms and legs to keep him from counter-attacking. Her left fist made contact with the side of his head as he tried to twist away from her, shattering the black crystal earring that dangled from it.
Recovering from the blow, Rubeus used his open hand and sent an energy sphere into Sailor Earth's face, hitting her square in the center of her 'monster' face'. The surprise attack caught her off guard, causing her loosen her grip on his ankles. Rubeus took advantage of that distraction by kicking her off him. However, in her temporary state of blindness, Sailor Earth swiped out wildly with her clawed hands and several symbiotic strands. One of them grazed his face and pierced the crystal earring hanging from his left ear. The gem broke apart in several pieces and chattered down to the ground.
Rubeus wiped a thin stream of blood from the side of his mouth and look maliciously at the green feminine creature before him. If looks could kill, Sailor Earth would be dead a hundred times over by now.
"You haven't won yet, you little bit…" he started to say. "Hey Rubeus…" a voice cut in. The red-haired man turned to look in the direction of the new entry and was rewarded with a spin to the face courtesy of Sailor Venus. Rubeus went sailing through the air again and hit the exterior wall. He wasn't knocked out but the look on his face showed something that they hadn't seen from him up to this point, surprise and perhaps, fear. He stared at them for a few more seconds before turning around and running and exiting the room.
"Good Riddance" Sailor Earth snarled through her razor sharp black teeth She turned around to face the others as Sailor Venus took a position next to her. Sailor Mercury was already in motion, moving towards the control panel along the outer wall that she had originally been heading for before Rubeus showed up. She reached the panel and set to work reading and interpreting the information that was displayed there while Sailors Venus and Earth moved to tend to Magik who still wasn't able to fully stand up yet.
"Oh no! This ship is powered by nuclear technology and our battle with Rubeus has caused the radioactive materials to go critical and meltdown! The reactor is going to explode, taking the ship and everything around it with it! Magik, you have to get us out of here now!" The urgency in Sailor Mercury's voice struck fear into the other three, and Magik immediately closed her eyes and used whatever energy she had left inside her to teleport them out of the ship.
Not far away in another part of the ship, Rubeus was trying to tend to his wounds. His body ached from the collision with the reactor and he was still seeing black spots in his vision from that kick from Sailor Venus. He was leaning up against a wall as he tried to get his bearings and thoughts refocused in the chaos of the ear-splitting alarm sirens and flashing red lights.
"Aw, isn't that sweet. Don't tell me you want me to play doctor?" Emerald's voice cut through the loud dim and noise like a knife, and Rubeus snapped his head up to look at her.
"Emerald! Please, get me out of here. The sailors destroyed my black crystal earrings. I can't use my powers or teleport anymore. The ship is going to blow any minute!" He reached a hand out to her, but she just laughed.
"You always did want to go out with a bang." Her laughter lingered even after she teleported out of the ship, leaving him to die in the explosion as he desperately screamed after her.
End of Chapter 14