We do not own "Sailor Moon" nor any of the characters.
"SAILOR MOON ETERNAL"
The 6th Season of the Sailor Moon Saga
Chapter 14
"Deadly Interruptions"
Screaming and shrieking, the frightened patrons of this discotheque establishment quickly run out the doors, emptying the building out in minutes.
The tall, dark and dangerous intruder, apparently named 'Jarrod,' was filled with jealousy planted in him by another, as he prepares to serve the ultimate punishment on his unwitting rival. Fingers tightening around the trigger of his high-tech rifle, Jarrod suddenly feels a sharp object pressed to his ribs.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A just as cutting low voice threatens, as the razor-tipped steel blade of a sword moves in dangerously closer.
Glancing back, Jarrod glimpses this would-be rescuer with gleaming, bejeweled talisman in hand. One look in her steely eyes told the general that this was no mere bluff. But he, the celebrated greatest warrior of Janus, was not one to bluff, either.
"This is not your concern, woman." His even lower, gravelly voice commands. "Leave now and I will forgive you your foolishness in falling for this charismatic, deceitful traitor." He raises his weapon again to be trained on Sayer's head.
"You shoot, I run you through." Alex, in all seriousness, dares him, not backing down, her space sword drawn at this Jarrod's back, right in line with his heart.
"So be it, I gave you fair warning." In his currently demented state, Jarrod believed he was doing the righteous thing. Punishment for treason and desertion on his home world was brutal and a lady's honor sacred, especially the Princess Fireball's, for he himself was in love with her.
A proud man, the battle appointed leader of his civil war ravaged planet of Janus, it was difficult for Jarrod to accept the aid of any outlanders, though his citizens were in desperate straits two years ago. War torn and starving, the people depended on their leader to make concessions to do the right thing for their welfare. Being the good man he was, Janus' leader swallowed his pride when Fireball and her star-crossed wanderers landed on their planet.
The Princess, her three shooting stars, and the few remnants of nearby Kinmoku's scattered population she had successfully secretly shielded on Janus during the time of Galaxia's rampage, had kindly offered every assistance possible to the devastated planet now. She and her Sailor Star Soldiers had helped feed the starving, to heal the wounded, to rebuild the shattered world, until stubborn General Jarrod had finally agreed.
All they asked for in return was to join the people of the planet and be able to call the world their home as well. Soon the proud inhabitants of Janus came to realize what a blessing had been bestowed upon them as their dying world was brought back to life as it once was again.
With immense gratitude, the Janusians crowned Princess Fireball as their royal Queen, erecting a palace in her honor. Though the humble Princess objected, the population insisted on naming her sweet-scented shining light—the symbol of their broken planet's unified harmony—as sole ruler of the many factions of the warring world to heal the rift.
To Jarrod, the reigning leader before she came, Fireball gave the title of the Supreme Commander General of her Army, an appointment with which he, obeying the voice of his people, was honored to accept.
At first grim and stoic, over time, Jarrod had watched Fireball's wise leadership, her generosity and gentleness in leading the land and the people to prosperity and wealth again. Before his eyes, Jarrod's hardened heart had soon softened, the beautiful Princess becoming ruler of it as well. Since the past two years, he had lived to please this special shining star of their galaxy, training the newly founded army to, above all else, protect her Royal Majesty Queen Fireball.
Contented to admire her from afar, over the months, to Jarrod's dismay, he found that she had another in her heart. There was a dark-haired, dark-eyed young man in a dark mood with whom Queen Fireball had traveled the stars, with whom she spent most of her time with. He whom the red hued angel of his heart had introduced to Jarrod, that day, long ago, affectionately as her "finest Fighter" though Jarrod never understood why.
For that was the laudable title he himself yearned to achieve in her eyes someday.
Not this unworthy, too skinny and wiry teenage boy who probably had little hands on experience with real, actual warfare.
He had never seen 'Prince Sayer' fight, the oft sullen and unfriendly boy did not seem to have passion for much, if he ever did. And to put salt on his wounded heart, Queen Fireball had asked Jarrod to take this 'special' young man under his wing, to train him in the ways of a disciplined soldier and not just that of a fighter.
Though he believed there was something between this boy who needed constant petting and spoiling from his Queen, though he was secretly steaming inside, Jarrod obediently obeyed. However, the starry-eyed young man's disorderly methods could never make a true warrior in Jarrod's stern eyes.
But that was something he was about to learn was not entirely true.
The qualified soldier of war back kicks the female with the sword at his rear away, simultaneously pulling the trigger. The electrified weapon in Jarrod's seething grip charges up, and in a blinding flash, raw energy explodes from its cam, aimed directly for Sayer Starr's undaunted face.
But he was no longer there.
In the second it took for the gun to flash, Sayer had reached out, grabbing his assailant, pinning him to the ground, as, with a swift and hard left punch from the 'too skinny boy,' the energy weapon skitters across the floor, imploding anything that was in the path of its expelling laser.
Jumping out of its way like a cat as she leaps from the ground just in time, Alex assesses the situation quickly. The scuffling on the ground was not looking very well for Sayer. His larger opponent was not only taller and much more well-toned, but well armored, as well, as Jarrod pummels Sayer with several roundhouse punches.
If it were a regular fistfight, Alex would not worry, having been on the seriously intense end of Fighter's fists herself once upon a time. But there was something in this foreign man's disturbed eyes and his unhinged jealous words that told her he was not in his right mind.
Not to worry. She smiles to herself, almost pleases to get back into the thrilling swing of her true calling which Alex found lacking in 'normal' peace times.
Backup is here. Raising her hand to the air, a small wand-type object from out of nowhere hangs in midair above her head. This is more like it. And enthusiastic scrapper Amaralexis Sokova grasps it tightly in her energized digits with a racing exhilaration that runs straight through her windswept body.
"URANUS CRYSTAL POWER...MAKE UP!" She calls out. Enveloped in yellow light, raging winds explode from the ground beneath Alex. Blowing through her, she spins, aglow with energy, her muscular arms wrapped around herself, transforming into the dazzling Super Sailor Uranus. Jumping right into the fray, the navy blue and long yellow ribboned Super Sailor uniformed Soldier raises her hand to the skies, asking the wind for its assistance.
"WORLD SHAKING!" She smashes her fist to the ground, the resulting golden yellow energy orb, causing the earth to crumble in its path. Its massive blast hits Jarrod directly in the chest, right on mark, as Sayer just manages to squirm out of its way from being pinned beneath the hulking man.
"Could've been a little closer, huh, Ally?" Wiping blood from his split lower lip, Sayer smirkingly jabs her, gladly pulling a long unused object of his own from his pocket.
"Care for some Sailor company, 'U'?" He holds the gold and feathered star powered object to his ear with a smirk.
"It's your party, Fighter." Uranus dares him, her sword still drawn and ready gleaming almost as bright as her aroused eyes. "You know how to take a girl out." She teases the double entendre phrasing, licking her glossy lips as she does. Uranus knew from titillated experience full well what was next to ensue for the currently masculine form of this shooting star. "The stage is all yours." She invites huskily the enticement, excited eyes dazzling at this increasingly more thrilling evening in every second that flew by beside this Starlight soldier.
Jarrod, who was thrown against the far wall, dazed but unhurt, obviously equipped with some advanced shielding technology, slowly rises to his feet across the discotheque floor.
"FIGHTER STAR POWER…MAKE UP!" A starfield background behind him, Sayer seems to rip his vehement hand across the midnight sky. Not only his clothes, but his male body as well, boldly, unashamedly transforms—to Jarrod's utterly shocked surprise—into that of a slender and fit, rather alluring female who shakes her hips.
"Penetrating the evil darkness. I am a wandering shooting star! Sailor Star Fighter! Stage on!" Fighter announces his opening line not uttered in two long years, with a final flourishing backflip. Clad in sleek blackish blue PVC leather, wearing a pair of tiny little tight shorts, long leather gloves, and five inch tall thigh boots, the man Jarrod knew as Prince Sayer, was no prince, now standing a shapely woman before him.
A woman?! My poor sweet Queen, no doubt unwittingly associated with some transientcreature like that! Such foul trickery! His archaically closed mind fills with disgusted rage at the looked down upon, unheard of oddity on his homeworld. Jarrod yanks out another yet even larger weapon from the arsenal strapped to his belt, this one appearing to be some kind of even more vicious, non-tactically-pinpointed energy cannon.
General Jarrod levels the weapon at his target Sailor Star Fighter again, who again jumps out of the way in the nick of time. But the discotheque's front wall was not so lucky, as it dissolves in a fiery red ball of light, blowing open a monstrous hole.
"We could've just used the door if you wanted to go outside." Star Fighter taunts as he and Uranus instantly, in like mind to spare the besieged establishment further havoc, race out the newly opened cavity into the cool night air for a better fighting vantage point.
"You're just making him angrier." Uranus comments drolly of Fighter's acerbic words.
"Good." He smirks with a twisted lip back. "They're only worth it when they're angry."
Despite the danger, he's actually enjoying this, isn't he? Uranus thinks to herself, looking into Sailor Star Fighter's deep blue eyes. Funny thing is, she smirks back.
So am I, Fighter. Once upon a jealous, hostile, inhospitable time, Sailor Uranus never imagined she'd so enjoy being in the heat of battle at this particular alien off worlder's side.
"Where'd he go?" In their moment of flirting joviality with one another in their freeing transformed bodies, our two seasoned fighters were somehow upped one, losing sight of their well armed opponent.
Every foolish question deserves a foolish answer.
Leaping down from atop the night club's roof—How the hell did he get up there without either of us seeing him!?—Commander General Jarrod's full gravity added weight lands on screeching Fighter, knocking him out cold to the ground hard before Uranus' horrified eyes.
"Eeekk!"
Kneeling on the insensible Starlight's scathed upper body and pinned down bloody back, Jarrod unsheathes a broad sword, prepared to behead this perverted traitor, in true executioner's style.
"Fighter!" Uranus flies like the wind to him, just as Jarrod's sword begins its descent down upon unconscious Fighter's limp neck...
Clear across Tokyo's terrorized nightlife center, to a quieter neighborhood avenue…
High above, hidden among the plentiful green leaves of a toweringly graceful birchwood oak, a lone figure skulks in the shadows, spying down upon two lovers pleasantly strolling in the park. But rather than admiration of either marvelous sight, there was a look of pure disdain in his reddish-brown eyes.
What is it you believe you are doing, Teacher? This woman is merely a human. Pushing his light hair from his eyes, Nastrus' mind questions the tall man's dubious actions involving this woman.
A young man of nineteen, Nastrus was once the most promising scholar and magician the rich planet of Kinmoku had to offer. Bright, curious, ambitious and eager to learn, Nastrus had envisioned himself to one day become the ArchMage of the land, Her Royal Majesty Princess Fireball's most honored and trusted advisor for the betterment of their proud world.
However, the lofty dreams of his youth were crushed by Galaxia's rampage. Kinmoku was all but destroyed into a floating, dead planet, and Nastrus erroneously thought he had survived that terrible day only by his wits alone. With the help of some low-level shielding magic the young mage was certain had spared him and that one silly little Healer star girl whom the Princess held in such regard and had asked to be put in stasis, safely kept under the young magician's care.
But it was, in actuality, Fireball who had siphoned a great deal of her cosmic star energy to send gifted Nastrus, with Evelyna under his care, into the covert defensive shelter Queen Melodia had forged long ago. The secret catacomb was hidden in the depths of Kinmoku's most shielded core that allowed the pair to survive Galaxia's terror above ground. Fireball had intended to place the remainder of Kinmoku's beleaguered citizens who were in peril there safely as well.
But that was not meant to be, there was no time and the Princess herself had made the tough decision to urgently flee her own planet, without even her Star Guardians, to enlist the aid of the legendary Silver Moon Princess—the only hope for the entire galaxy—who had the Silver Crystal in her possession.
Somewhere between the madness of bitter war and conflict's melee, and the enforced seclusion, Nastrus' once good intentioned soul became that of a radical zealot, believing only those of Kinmoku were worthy—and anyone else was beneath them. Two years into his shielded exile on Kinmoku, the feeling abandoned mage then was rejoined by his Princess and three fellow countrymen on their chosen new home of Janus.
Nonetheless, Queen Fireball had found the time spent alone unkind to her young friend Nastrus, who was changed for the worse, by his war embattled experiences.
In her plentiful kindness, the generous ruler of this new land, had made a special request of Maker, her beloved scholarly Soldier, whom she held in so high esteem. She wished Prince Terry to take charge of this wayward young man's education, in hopes that a calm, level head would be a good influence on his beleaguered mind.
Terry had agreed, finding Nastrus' intelligence remarkable and his magical powers gaining, though his passions were often ill-founded. Scheming in his own machinations, Nastrus had managed to conceal his rising internal forces of magic from other people. He was biding his time, in the hopes that one day he would control the Princess—ahem, Queen—and the new kingdom she was given, to make it perfect in Nastrus' manic obsessive purview.
Then he could rid this fresh planet of all other 'infidels,' making the world a new Kinmoku, removing all traces of unworthy Janus, with only the true race of powerful and worthy master stars to populate it.
But these ambitions as yet remained a secret to all. His journey to this backward Earth was solely to return the three royals to where they belonged, for in his eyes, Sayer, Terry, and Robin, though changed from the forms he once knew, were still members of the Royal House of Kinmoku. Although not true bloodline, they were the Royals from different stars who, in her infinite wisdom, Her Most Highest Majesty, the Queen Mother Melodia, had taken these three in as her own adopted royal family members.
Any decision from a most supreme source as that, Nastrus embraced wholeheartedly, though lately, he instinctively felt that the three 'Princes' and even Princess Fireball herself were becoming weak members of the Royalty, so easily submitting to and associating with other lesser beings.
I myself will have to guide them back to their majestic roots.
"Why this woman, Your Highness?" Nastrus says the royal title sarcastically now, not really accepting the trio of Starlight Soldiers in their new earthly human male forms.
Suspended by mere magic, not by celestial prowess, he glides down from his perch in the tree, his long white cape flapping in the wind. The abrupt emergence of the misplaced man surprises Terry and Susan, who quickly pull away from each other to look up at him.
"Nastrus." Terry says, a little breathlessly, his brows furrowing in confusion at the man's sudden appearance on Earth like this.
"I ask you again, Teacher. Why do you degrade yourself with this lowly, non-stellar galactic female?" Nastrus' eyes unfeelingly land on Susan, whose hands rise to cover her heaving chest, feeling somehow violated by this stranger's coldest of cold, slit eyes.
"How dare you say such a thing of her? Apologize at once!" Terry's usual calm demeanor erupts into anger at the slightest criticism of his beloved Susan, as he takes a step in front of her subconsciously.
"I dare and I must." Nastrus' voice comes, so distant and unkind. "And I apologize for nothing." The embittered magician snubs both Terry and Susan, trying to sound like he was the rational, logical one. "Prince, you shall return to Janus with me now so we may continue our important research together for our new planet. This blue rock and these earthlings, innumerable though they may be, mean nothing to us." He raises his tall, magical staff, energizing it for the instant teleportation he himself had traveled here by.
"I will return when—" Terry stops in mid-sentence, his eyes gazing at Susan, "—and IF I decide to, on my own schedule, not that of my student. The Queen has granted the three of us special advance leave. We are within our rights to be here for the accrual time allowed." Though aware his kind-hearted adopted sister Princess Fireball would not enforce any legal limits to their 'vacation,' intelligent Terry still states the terms of military service verbatim defiantly, his hand lowering Nastrus' staff.
"Your mind has been turned, my Prince. And this creature, the cause of it." In one unexpected swift move, Nastrus tears it away from Terry and turns his energy charged staff on Susan, releasing some unknown magical streams towards her.
Seeing the danger in a flash, Terry heroically scoops up a stunned Susan, jumping out of the way together as the force of the deadly energy bolts smashes into a nearby tree, splitting it down the center.
"Nastrus, are you mad!?" Terry calls angrily to this crazy man, who was supposed to be an ally.
"No, I am not mad. Simply concerned for the state of your mind. It is illogical that this unworthy earth woman has somehow corrupted you, Your Highness." Nastrus says calmly, though the respect was not truly there in his words. He takes another shot at Susan, whom Terry pulls out of the way again. "I will purge this viper from your thoughts!" Nastrus yells indignantly, in disbelief that this once revered Royal Prince could ever lower himself in such a way.
So, the shoulder length lavender haired mage in a long, white tunic and full crimson cape summons more energy from his circular headed staff's red sphere source…
Leaping towards him in a lunge, Terry knocks the charging staff from Nastrus' hands, kicking it across the grass. Then, in one powerful punch, Nastrus was on the ground, his nose badly bleeding.
"Don't you EVER say anything about this lady again! You're not fit to lick her boots!" Terry towers over Nastrus' decidedly weaker body sprawled out on the ground before him.
"We shall see who is worthy, Prince." His indignation rising, Nastrus' staff telekinetically reappears in his sarcastic hands again, Then, flinging it forward, he hits Terry with some sort of energy drain, knocking the tall man to his knees. Terry tries to get back up, but finds the magical hold cleverly ebbing away at his latent energy.
How do I get out of this without endangering Susan or this delusional student of mine!? His tactical mind races for the answer, but finds, in the end, it only pointed to one solution. A peaceful man, Terry Starr never enjoyed fighting, never liked his role in hurting others, even if they were ill-intentioned enemies. And though it never bothered him much before, right now, at this moment, he did not wish to revert back to the Soldier he once was, the Sailor of the Star Maker he was born to be.
For now he was truly a man, in every way, it wasn't merely a disguise or a want—it was a fact, Terry Starr was his true and natural form now. Though his heart and mind remained the same, Star Maker's body did not, the same as his brothers Star Fighter and Star Healer. The three wandering stars possessed masculine destinies, and so upon coming to this planet in the battle with Galaxia, the three Starlights had landed on earth as males.
Not now! Not in front of Susan! Terry's always proper and organized thoughts shout, as he desperately tries to physically break Nastrus' mystical hold over him. Through the fog threatening to envelop him, the energy drain was so strong it was about to render him unconscious, Terry sees Nastrus' caped form teleporting. In horror, the protective man in love views Nastrus reenergizing right in front of a shocked Susan, knocking her down to the grass on the side of the sidewalk as she was rushing to help.
The demented look in Nastrus' eye, the terrified look in Susan's, and Terry's soul cries out. I must save her. I have to rescue her...
"Grrr!" Against all forces, filled with urgent purpose, with clenched fists and a pained grunt, Terry powerhouse rises to his feet. Closing his eyes, he summons all the tapped energy he had left. Though the gentle man didn't want to ever battle again, he realized this was the only way...
"MAKER STAR POWER...MAKE UP!" The power of the stars releases him from his hold. Exploding with energy circling around him in starry patterns, Terry begins his transformation, changing from a tall, muscular, very defined man into a tall, well-formed woman. Forgive me, Susan. I myself am a farce. He sadly thinks too little of himself as he gives his opening speech, now fully transformed as Sailor Star Maker.
"Penetrating the evil darkness. I am a wandering shooting star! Sailor Star Maker! Stage On!" He calls, going right into his attack, for Nastrus was holding his staff high above Susan's head, ready to strike.
"STAR GENTLE UTERUS!" Angry as he was, Sailor Star Maker aims the roiling acid streaking through the air directly at Nastrus. But the young conjurer disappears, teleporting away in an instant.
"Sailor Star Maker, at last! You have finally returned to who you should be! You have been ignoring your role as a true Guardian for far too long." Nastrus suddenly appears behind Maker, attempting his energy drain again, but sleek Maker avoids the attack easily, long legs jumping out of the way.
"That won't work twice, Nastrus." But there was no joy in Maker's words, disappointed in his traitorous apprentice.
"No. I did not think it would." Nastrus' smile was an eerie sight, his golden tooth sparkling evilly in the moonlight. Twice as fast as before, energy wisps emanating from the fully charged crimson sphere staff zap towards Susan, who was just getting to her feet...
"Susan! Watch out!" Star Maker races to her, but his logical mind calculates he would be just a second too late...
C-CLANGG!
Metal hits metal, steel to steel as Uranus' swift blade deflects Jarrod's falling sword, successfully shoving the attack away from a floored Star Fighter.
"Woman!" Jarrod exclaims in frustration, angrily trying to dodge past her, and finish off the traitor.
"Stop calling me that!" Uranus' bejeweled sword continues to clash with the man and the demeaning machismo she had lifelong despised their condescending sex for. "I am Sailor Uranus, Soldier of the Sky!" Her deep green eyes flash with no-nonsense fierceness within them as she points her Space Sword at her enemy.
"Uranus, it is then. But whatever name you wish, the outcome of this sparring match will remain the same." Seasoned warrior Jarrod smiles at her confidently. "I must warn you, I am the master swordsman of my race, a warrior beyond warriors, an unmatched hand to hand combatant with years of honed martial arts training and A much exercised, better advanced muscular build. You have no prayer with the mere physical strength and merciful mentality of a woman." The self aggrandizing goliath of a man dives at her with his blade once again misjudging her proficiency.
Having the advantage of speed, Uranus deftly avoids, smiling back with the same confidence as this big fool of a man who dared challenge her skills on the basis of gender.
"And I must warn you, I, too, am 'a master swordsman, a warrior beyond warriors, and unmatched hand to hand combatant,' if you'd like." She mimics his words tauntingly. "And, above all that—I am NO MERE WOMAN." She lunges for him viciously, her sword slicing through Jarrod's thick armor which, if it were not present, would've gone straight through to his heart. Glancing down at the more than slight wound she had inflicted on his broad chest, Jarrod huffs indignantly.
Although, the true warrior before him, female or not, had just gained a small bit of his respect.
Indeed, she is my finest opponent yet.
Deflecting each other's blows, neither one holding back, Jarrod tries to unnerve his opponent with words of "wisdom."
"He was only fooling you as you can see, my good woman. This roguish cad's intentions are impure." He offers, in the honorable man's eyes, he felt this may strike a nerve.
And get this blasted woman off my back before I must irrevocably injure her! He thinks to himself as a man more than a warrior for a shamed second as his battle with a woman rages.
"And your point is?" Rebellious Uranus' smirk and the wicked look in her atypical eye told Jarrod quite a different story than he supposed.
No matter. The traitor must be punished, for the honor of the Queen. He thinks determinedly, seeing his target rising to his feet out of the corner of his eye.
"Argh…" Holding his aching head, blood dripping down it, Fighter takes in the battle and shakes himself, trying to wake up enough to take perfect aim.
"STAR SERious…las—ungh…" The Sailor Starlight raises his hand to the celestial skies, but his previous injury was slowing his ability to focus on his power attack, as Fighter sinks to the ground crookedly on one knee, grabbing at his profusely bleeding skull.
"This ends here." Jarrod says suddenly, spotting Fighter about to strike while the general was still clashing swords with Uranus. He pulls yet one more high-tech weapon from inside his jacket, raising a smaller—but just as deadly—ray gun at Fighter, and he callously pulls the trigger at his handicapped opponent.
'Only a pitiful warrior must resort to underhanded tactics to prevail.' Supreme General of the Armed Forces of Janus hears his own proud motto of the past ring in his ears at this moment. But it was a trigger pull too late.
"NO!" Uranus shouts, smashing the full force of her torso against Jarrod's arm, trying to stop him from shooting Fighter, or at least skew the aim. He manages to shoot its powerful energy off anyway, but she had knocked the energy ray gun aside enough to miss the mark.
However, in that moment of her concern for Fighter's safety, Sailor Uranus had let her guard down. The battle exhilaration mingled with compunction's remorse, Jarrod had unintentionally lost control of himself and his enormous, razor-sharp sword.
"URANUS!" Fighter's heartbreakingly painful scream erupts from the depths of his soul as he watches in horror his strong Sailor 'U' sink to the ground to her knees, as Jarrod's large broadsword had run straight through her midsection.
"YOU BAS—" He starts to swear at Jarrod, racing to Uranus, but an earshattering explosion from behind rocks Star Fighter, knocking him to the ground as his world again is rocked before him.
Jarrod's ray gun's energy blast, intended for him, had instead hit Alex's beloved yellow Ferrari at his rear and it now explodes into a blazing inferno at his back.
But that was nothing compared to the searing flames devouring his soul to see Super Sailor Uranus standing wide-eyed and immobile, her swiftly becoming blood-stained gloved hands clutching at the massive blade yet lodged in her pierced chest.
"Ally!" Fighter scrambles to his feet, dashing to her, kneeling close to where the once unstoppable force of the soldier of speed Uranus had sunk to her knees weakly.
"Starr…" Alex chokes out in a whisper, amazement on her beautiful face as she looks down at the sword still plunged into her chest, not so far off the heart's target. Her body stiffens in a state of shock at being so thoroughly run through by her opponent's massive blade in a damning moment of inattention.
"Uranus, what do I do?" Fighter whispers helplessly, running a hand through his thick shock of curled navy black hair, caked with his own blood as tears stream down his cheeks. For both of them understood a wound like this was fatal.
"Take it out." Uranus whispers, bracing against his thin arm as her voice was trying to remain calm and collected.
"But—" Fighter, with not a bit of medical know-how, somehow still knew he should not remove the sword until medical attention was nearby. But the deserted, Ferrari engulfed in flames, smoking street at midnight had no help in sight.
"Take it out!" Uranus coughs out the more vehement command. "I don't want to die with that in me." She looks pleadingly into his eyes. Star Fighter nods at the difficult request and just as difficult action for this guilt ridden fellow Soldier to fulfill, recognizing the consequences.
But lacing his hands over hers, as he would hope his poetic wish to die with his head held high too, would be heeded, Fighter wraps them both around the sword's steel edge on her chest.
Sailor Uranus smiles gratefully, strangely still able to feel the warmth of his hands as they almost glowed with that indefinable, palpable energy through her, if just one more time.
"BUT…YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DIE!" Being an emotional soul filled with passion more than just a heartlessly tough warrior, Fighter's tears instead spill down on her cheek, unable to pull the sword out knowing it would certainly mean the end for this person he had come to lo...
"Do you always have to argue with me?" Cutting off his thoughts, Uranus smirks, then gasps in pain, closing her eyes, squeezing his hands tightly around the blade, drawing blood from them both neither felt the immediate pain of.
"Yeah. But you've gotta promise to keep trying to win our arguments, U. It's no fun otherwise." Agonizingly saying what he desperately yearned to with their infamous banter, Fighter takes firmer hold of the sword. In one swift motion, Sailor Star Fighter pulls the broadsword out, thrusting the bloodstained steel behind him with disdain, and it just happens to fall, clattering, at Jarrod's feet.
But Supreme Commander Jarrod does not retrieve his trusty comrade. Looking down at the scene before him, the General's mind suddenly could not justify his actions. Seeing this brave woman collapse into Fighter's arms, her blood splattering to the ground and Fighter's agonizing tears and voice filled with pain, Jarrod retreats, running away like a frightened child.
What have I done?! His conscious condemns his soul with every pounding step.
"What are you doing, Evelyna?" Sensing something amiss, Michelle quickly turns to the petite girl, whose glowing hand was still hesitating in mid air behind Robin's unknowing back.
I just can't! Ultimately, Evelyna's kind heart could not betray the one she was in love with.
"Prince Robin, Miss Moreau?" She says suddenly, pulling her hand away, her inherent power to psionically render someone unconscious ebbing away. "I can't go through with this. Please forgive me, Your Highness, I can never be a soldier." Her sad eyes look away from the pair's confused glances.
"What do you mean, Evelyna? Go through with what?" Robin asks, but his normally husky and annoyed voice, as always with his tender protégée, was unusually soft and kind.
"My mission...I mean, our mission...I'm supposed to bring you back to Janus. Seeing how things were developing, we feared you may not return on your own." The words come out in a rush, her eyes still planted on the ground. Evelyna fiddles with her braid guiltily.
"And I may not." Robin shares a serious glance with Michelle, whose eyes light at his spoken word full of fantasized promise. "But that's my concern and not anyone else's." The maturity of his decisive, self-ruling, independent thought was invigoratingly attractive to the Soldier of Embrace who was drawn to such strong convictions in her partner.
"But who is the 'we' you're talking about, Evelyna? I know you would never conjure this up on your own." He lifts the timid girl's chin so her eyes meet his field of soft mint.
"I..." Evelyna pauses, even though the young girl was entranced in his pale green eyes. She wished she did not say what she had already, hesitant to reveal her accomplices' names, knowing full well how the Commander demanded secrecy and harshly punished those with loose tongues in his army. He's a good leader. A good man really, but very strict, and I'm a little afraid of him. I am a weakling. Evelyna was very good at beating upon herself.
"Don't let others rule your life." She suddenly hears a gentle voice in her head.
Miss Moreau? Evelyna recognizes the tone, but looking at Michelle, she sees her glossy pink lips unmoving. How are you in my head?!
"This is what I've learned here on earth, Evelyna. This is what Michelle has taught me. Not only the ability to send mental messages to those we are connected with, but to communicate live broadcasts in current time transmission, direct speaking." Robin's voice adds a layer to Michelle's in Evelyna's mind.
"You can speak in my head? Telepathically, is it called?" Evelyna asks aloud in astonishment at her sensitively perceptive mentor's newfound abilities.
"Due to Michelle's vast astral abilities." Robin credits his aqua companion with what could only be classed as an adoring smile.
"No, Robin, it must be because of yours." Michelle grips his hand easily, the pair not yet sorting out how their amazing new connection came about, but feelings for one another in such an intimate realm was inevitable.
"It's our beautiful destiny." Michelle savors the phrase as she mentally shares it with the two adorable-eyed children of the Star Healer.
"There's a whole new world we've discovered together. That's why I can't leave. I can't ever leave Michelle. Not after what we've found together. Can you understand that, Evelyna?" Robin asks gently, thrilling Michelle to sigh in ecstasy with every unhindered word of truth he honestly felt. Within their linked world of joined souls there was little place to hide emotions.
Yes, I do understand that, Prince Robin. I understand love all too well. A guarded part of her mind thinks sadly, though Michelle, as a fellow intuitive female, catching a whiff of it. "I see." She whispers aloud, biting back the tears as she smiles sweetly. I will give you up because of it. "The Commander will be upset when he hears this, though." She chuckles nervously, as was Evelyna's habit when anxious.
"Jarrod is here?" Robin asks, his guard going up at the mere mention of Janus' extremely strict and serious General of the Armed Forces whom Princess Fireball was forced to deal with due to his high standing and influence on the people.
"Yes, the Commander General, and Lord Nastrus, as well, brought me here." Evelyna offers.
"Nastrus?!" Robin hears the name and alarms gong off in his startled head. The sensitive psi was always a little wary of that loony zealot Terry had to contend with. Evelyna nods innocently, unaware that her traveling companions posed any real danger, their hidden agendas unbeknownst to her naiveté.
"Who are—?" Michelle begins to inquire, when suddenly her face goes stark white, her pupils dilating, and out of her small mouth comes a heart-wrenching scream. Falling to her knees, Michelle's ashen face turns to Robin, who takes her shoulders for support, his own mind exploding with her pain.
Her cousin, her best friend, her Sailor partner, the other half of her soul was out there somewhere in the dark of midnight.
Uranus was out there, and she was dying.
"Amara…" Michelle barely manages to whisper the word, tears overflowing down her face. "AMARA!" She screeches her beloved companion's name as Robin envelops her in his arms, his own eyes stinging with her tears.
"Let's go!" Robin orders Evelyna, taking hold of his sobbing Michelle and scooping her up in his surprisingly strong arms. The silver-coiffed young man heads for the quickest way out of the building, and immediately jumps from the second story window, expertly landing like a cat on his feet, Michelle clinging tightly to him.
"Take me to her, please, Robin." Michelle whispers in his ear, soaking his hair with her unceasing tears.
"I will, Michelle. We'll make it." He promises as all his senses search for Alex's mental signature, which was growing fainter by the minute. We must find her quickly. The heart of the Star of Healer vows determinedly. Whether or not he and Alex Sokova were at odds with one another as they had vied for Michelle's heart, Robin recognized the close, forever bond the two women shared.
That and the fact that Alex's death would mean the end for Michelle's beautiful soul as well.
"U! Uranus! Uranus! Ally, wake up! This is all my fault!" Fighter shakes the woman in his arms, after desperately trying to plug up the large punctured hole the withdrawn sword left on both sides of the main trunk of her body, thankfully just missing penetrating her heart.
Pooling all resources at hand, his slapdash mind trying to recall all those boring science and first aid lessons he once slept through in school here at Tenth Street High School, Star Fighter had delicately aimed some seriously serious, pinpointed lasers to cauterize the wound. It was all he could do to stop her life's blood from flowing away. Thankfully the red-hot lasers had served to coagulate the freely flowing red liquid.
Despite his best efforts, though slowed, Uranus' blood was still dripping out. Frantically searching for another solution, Fighter could find nothing to cover up the gaping hole in Alex's chest.
A piece of cloth! Anything! He looks down at his own clothing, willing to strip naked if he had to, but his wild mind realized the skimpy, weather-resistant PVC leather would not cut the cheese.
Ally, what do I do?! You would know. You always know, Sailor U.His eyes rest upon her uniform now. Without a second thought, he grabs up a thick fistful of her navy blue skirt. With star-infused strength, Fighter rips it off, trying not to disturb the near comatose, insensate woman too much. Then he rolls it up, pressing the special guardian planet endowed fabric to her bloody chest, praying it would absorb her spilling out blood.
His own wounds still open, Fighter's hot blood mixes with Uranus' all over her white uniform now stained thoroughly red, her yellow front bow ripped asunder. Feeling her skirt being unceremoniously torn off, Fighter's rough hands all over her body, Uranus comes to, fighting back the unconsciousness trying to overwhelm her.
"Fighter…are you going to rape me now that I'm down?" Alex's sense of humor was her lifeline that she holds onto when she was secretly frightened. Uranus tries to smile up at him, but finds the effort too painful, her eyes shutting again.
"Uranus! You stay awake! You're going to be fine!" The tears running down Star Fighter's gorgeous face were evidence enough that he was only desperately hoping, all assurances false.
"Come on, Sailor U! Wake up!" 'U' can do it! 'U' are a winner! 'U' stands for ..." He remembers that silly Sailor V television show, forever in reruns, making a comparison to it, trying to keep her spirits up. "Underwear!" Fighter laughs right through his tears, the quickest word beginning with the letter 'U' coming to mind.
Perhaps because at this moment Alex's shapely Sailor spankies were very obvious for him to see, her skirt shredded away as it was above her shapely thighs, and of much interest to Sayer Starr's wolfish mind.
"Underwear? You're crazy, you pervert." Alex snaps awake at the ridiculous word. He nods, relieved she was awake enough to yell at him.
"Should I carry you to the hospital? Or is it better to wait for help? Or…" Star Fighter presses his hand tighter to her heaving chest, the torn off navy blue Sailor skirt now pretty doused and dripping with her blood.
"It's too late for that." She tries to swallow down the blood rising from her chest to her burning throat.
"This is all my fault. Jarrod got the wrong idea because I am so stupid… Ally, please don't…" Fighter starts to plead at the way she seemed to be giving up.
"You are stupid. But…shut up, and promise me something." Uranus opens her eyes wide with the cutting insult Sayer was only too happy to be the recipient of. Though filled with pain, her orbs were still strong and clear, causing Star Fighter to nod, ready to accede to anything she asked. "I shouldn't ask you this, why am I asking you, of all people, this…?!" She coughs, blood escaping her mouth as Uranus questions herself.
"I guess after everything, after all that we've been through, I feel I can trust you...It's crazy but, in some ways, we're really alike." She coughs again, wiping the crimson liquid on her sleeve, realizing that this Soldier kneeling here before her, this Star Fighter was her true equal, in battle, in determination, in passion. And the only one she could defer her most imperative duty to if she was to leave this world.
"Promise me, you'll take care of Michelle." Her voice wavers on her beloved's name, the thought of leaving the aqua-haired beauty behind, alone, unbearable. "Promise me you'll never let anything happen to her. Protect her with your life, as I would have done." Alex looks away sadly, now on the verge of tears herself at this life cut short when someone still depended on her protection.
"U..." He touches her cheek, turning it to face him.
"Promise me." She demands, their eyes locking with a trust only real soldiers on the battlefield shared. I asked you this once before for Moonface, didn't I, Fighter?
"I promise!" Recalling the same moment of their past relationship on top of that building roof when Uranus proved she was made of wily smart, unsurpassable tough stuff in the fight with Galaxia, Star Fighter's high-pitched pledge was never so intent. "Now promise me something."
"If I can." Her voice was growing hoarse with the blood stinging it dry.
"Promise me you won't give up without a fight. Give it that old 'Sailor U' one-two punch! Okay?" He smiles. "Believe me, I know all about those." He rubs his jaw at the memory of their past encounters. Looking down into her deep green eyes, Fighter wonders now how he could not have fallen in love with this stunning fellow soldier from the first moment they met on the wrong foot. Don't go. There's so much I want to tell you. So much I want to show you…how you have fascinated me, taken me in with that dazzling smile of yours… His hot tears fall unbidden on her cheek.
"Hey, I don't want to see you crying like a girl. Just because you are one currently. And a drop-dead gorgeous one at that…Maybe that's what finally got me…" Teasing, flirting, challenging in her defiantly audacious way, Uranus, puts her hand on Fighter's cheek, caressingly, her own thoughts the mirror image of his.
If only I had more time. There's so much we might share...
In the second their eyes meet, in that moment a thousand unsaid things pass between them—pain and hope, fear and understanding, courage and determination, but above all the others, above everything else, there was an inconceivably hard fought for love neither of them could have predicted.
But both wanted it so badly now, they could taste it.
About to lose the harsh woman he has implausibly learned to care for, unbelievably beyond reason, Sailor Star Fighter could no longer withstand the tortured longing within him and he reaches out for her, bringing his mouth to hers, landing a kiss beyond kisses on her beautiful, bloodstained lips.
Knowing it was about to happen, her own passions ignited by his dark, dangerous eyes, Uranus lets the kiss—her very first—sweep right through her. As star and planetary energies crash in this most intimate way, pale steely blue and golden yellow energies catch fire through the touch of these Sailor Soldiers' mouths pressed together in fervent, full osculation.
With all the tension in their past building to this moment, Uranus and Fighter's two wild souls merge, passion beyond passion. The perfectly matched warriors kiss long and hard, the kind of tongue-lashing only true lovers share—for it was more than just a simple kiss to both these wind-tossed souls.
Though feeling her breath growing short, her increasing pain stabbing sharper, Uranus still refuses to let go of this exciting new thrill. Her arms wrapped tight around Fighter's neck, pull him down to her harder, his intense, untamed vitality and wet and wild kiss only making Uranus want more.
I promised I wouldn't give up without a fight… But if I am going to die, let it be like this….
This once maddening Sailor Star Fighter's mouth was amazingly comforting to her, somehow, unbelievably feeling so right a fit into hers now. It was as if she had been running her entire life from everything demanded and mundane, just for this chance to wait for this singular person to thrill her every sense like this.
However, despite her longing to live now to discover even more with this star called Fighter, and her great endurance to fight, in the end, Sailor Uranus' consciousness slowly ebbs away…
Madly running through the filmy, yellowed mists, a tall golden haired woman wildly hunts for something as her eyes scan the deserted dark streets. There! She picks up the frantic pace, flying like the wind as she catches a glimpse of a shadow turning the corner. Chasing it, she furiously tries to catch up, desperate to stop its escape, but the faster she runs, the distance between her and the flickering shadow seemed to increase.
Why can't I catch you!? Stop running from me! Her mind calls to the elusive figure, who suddenly halts, as if waiting for her to catch up. But in a distorting hologram, the street ends, suddenly transforming into a grassy field, her target on the far other side of it now. He waves to her, but his unknown identity was still a mystery. Not slowing for a moment, she rushes to the dark shadowy figure. I need to know who you are! As she kicks up dust to run through the sea of flowers in the field, white petals flutter up, scattering across her line of vision.
Almost there! The figure turns around to face her. At last! Brushing away the petals blowing in her face, she opens her eyes to find herself no longer in the field, but back in the street, driving quickly away in her golden Ferrari in the opposite direction. No! I have to turn around because...because...what is back there for me? She could no longer recall, only able to see the important blue checkered flag raised, waiting for her at the finish line ahead. She steps on the gas, racing to win—for racing was her life...Faintly she hears a violin playing, somewhere in the distance, coming from somewhere behind her.
Wait! Screeching the tires, she spins the car around, pounding the brakes hard as she leaps from the car back into the field, running, running. It was him calling her and she was running to meet now. I can't turn away anymore. She reaches out for his outstretched hand when suddenly the grassy plain dissolves from beneath them and they both begin to fall, down, down, an endless chasm. Their joined hands slip away from each other and he vanishes once again into the ebony darkness of space. Reaching out, she grabs hold of the edge of a cliff, pulling up to find herself standing on a hill overlooking the beautiful shore, by a sun setting ocean.
Is that where I'm supposed to go? Ready to fly to that gorgeous splendor ahead, on the wind that was so much hers, the woman pauses, remembering the warm embrace of the hand that slipped away, of the sound of a violin ringing loudly in her ears, as if to wake her up.
She lifts a golden mirror from the edge of the shoreline, and she looks into its reflection. Her fingers delicately touch her lips, these lips that made vows to him, these lips that he kissed...Turning and running again, she searches for him, the violin playing louder and stronger…Through it, she could hear his voice singing in her head—No! He was whispering the initial their shared passion had engraved onto her heart, shining and sparkling in gold…
"..Initial U..."
"…U…"
"Sailor U!" Fighter calls again, his voice rising to a fever pitch. "Ally! I know you're awake! You're just mad at me because I kissed you!" His panic-stricken mind pleads with her unconscious form, saying anything and everything to arouse, awaken, or at least rile her up.
"Why would I be mad at you for that good a kiss?" Alex whispers, her eyes still closed, now distinguishing that this was reality and not a dream from the stabbing pain in her chest.
"U!" His voice was filled with utter joy as tears drip down Fighter's pleased face. "I thought I had killed you." His curls tumble across his face as he leans down, looking deep into her eyes.
"It'll take more than that." She says flirtingly back, raising her eyebrows as Fighter pulls her closer to his chest. Sheer determination and love for those she has come to know in this world brought her back to the living, though the immense loss of blood from such a wound was making Uranus' chances of staying alive slimmer and slimmer with the passage of each second.
"I have to get you to a hospital!" Sailor Star Fighter insists, knowing it was now Alex's will alone keeping her alive, and her borrowed time was running out.
Not a heavy woman, Uranus' well-toned body weight was even considered low for her tall height, but still she weighed more than the bony, rail thin Sailor Star Fighter. But looks were deceitful, for these Starlight aliens were stronger than any of them appeared.
Fighter, now strengthened even further by his passion on top of that stellar power, picks her up, carrying Uranus in his arms.
"Do you think they'll take me in without a skirt?" She smiles, trying to find something funny in this all as she playfully lobs an adult mood tease at him for decimating her previously believed impenetrable Sailor uniform.
His star energy can rip it apart…mmm…appetizing for future reference…If I have a future to refer to…
"Do you think they'll even let me in at all?" Fighter answers back with a sideways grin, the shiny, skin-tight bikini leather and stiletto heels not exactly regulation hospital wear. Through all the pain, all the anxiety, this unlikely pair still manage a laugh. Chuckling at each other's ridiculous foolishness, Sailor Star Fighter carries Sailor Uranus down the dark deserted roads, desperately in search of medical assistance for her extremely grave wound.
Begging God above to give him more speed, Sailor Star Maker moves like quicksilver across the park's grass lined path, closing the distance between himself and Susan as the deadly energy cuts through the cool night air towards her.
I'm not going to make it! Terry would do anything, give anything to save the life of the woman he loved, his heart pounding in his chest as he races. But Nastrus' energy attack was just too fast for him as it was about to make a direct, unforgiving strike upon his beautiful Susan...
To Nastrus' surprise, the 'lowly' normal woman he had known only as 'Susan' up to now, stands to her feet, tall and confident, a look of quiet determination etched on every line of her face. In her hand, appears an impressive silver staff of her own. Within the heart shaped crown on top of it, a large, perfect and pure crimson garnet—far more prevailing than the crimson sphere atop Nastrus' mage wand—glows with the raw power of Time.
Maker manages to catch a glimpse of this in the second before the incoming energy detonates, for the resulting explosion that rammed into Susan was blinding.
"SUSAN!" Terry's deepest bellow screams her name as the force of the explosion sends him flying, skidding backwards, his trembling eyes stunned as Terry's mouth hangs open in horror.
"It is done, Maker. The mockery is finished. Return with me now." In his cold-hearted calculations, Nastrus never accounted for the one glitch in his plan, one thing he could not and never will be able to control—the human heart.
A galaxy of differences, perhaps, but love was always still the same. Rising to his feet, the sight of the cloud of dust and debris where Susan previously stood filled Terry Starr with nothing but contempt for this pitiful excuse for a man. Blindly enraged, Sailor Star Maker rushes the force field shielding Nastrus, though the specially formulated barrier was strong enough to hold back ten Star Makers.
And it would have, but for the one other thing clinical Nastrus did not account for—revenge—for taking something Terry Starr treasured so highly. With unbelievable force, Sailor Star Maker thrusts his large hands straight through Nastrus' shield, breaking his staff in half with an eerie cracking sound. Then the incensed Star Maker grabs the shocked, worthless piece of slime by the neck, this gentle spirit now fully prepared to destroy the life of another...
"Terry!" Susan's sweet voice travels through the misty rubble. Turning, hope alight in his wisteria eyes, Maker instantly drops Nastrus, who falls to the ground with a thud, chokingly holding his own neck.
Through the smoke and night's deepening darkness, a dim reddish orb glows stronger, revealing his beautiful Susan standing there, unharmed, untouched by the devastation—and thankfully alive. The smile they share was a beautiful beacon of love in the dark night as Susan raises another smaller object in the air, the silver rod still in her other hand that had protected her, deflecting Nastrus' attack.
"PLUTO CRYSTAL POWER...MAKE UP!" Susan calls now upon her guardian planet, her docile voice becoming strong and powerful. Purple mists of time envelop her, surrounding her as she begins to revolve, her long dark hair dancing in the winds of time around their mistress.
My graceful lily… Maker gazes upon Pluto's slender form through the eyes of love as she transforms into the stately Sailor of the planet Pluto.
"I am the Sailor of all Time. The Soldier of Revolution. Sailor Pluto!" Super Sailor Pluto states, planting her staff firmly into the ground. "Star Maker! Beware!" She calls his name in warning as Nastrus rebounds from the assault before, rising with a new unfamiliar object in his hands, a small statue in the shape of a dragon, which he holds out pointedly at Maker.
"Within this ancient artifact, the infinite energy of the dragon had been harnessed by the great League of Magicians on our planet of Kinmoku long ago. Hidden away for centuries, I discovered it just before the planet was destroyed, but foolishly I did not have time to decipher and utilize its great strength against Galaxia. Its power cannot be extinguished by mere mortals, and their party tricks. Once released, it will destroy the one I determine will die. And to start with, I determine that repugnant abhorrence to be YOU, Teacher, for contaminating the Royal Line of the future with these solar system infidels!" Insane Nastrus thrusts the onyx dragon effigy out at a guarded Super Sailor Pluto. The evil lunacy in his mind summoning its dark energy from the sealed core of Kinmoku after Galaxia's attack had opened up a fissure deep below in the catacomb.
Maker attempts to knock it from his hands with a flying kick. But filled with malignant strength, Nastrus pushes him aside in a wave of g-force energy, sending even strong Maker flying across the sidewalks into the grass again.
A bright flash of light and a dark shadow of a monstrous black dragon erupts from the small statue. Thunderous roars could be heard across the city, its eyes were two burning infernos, fire red with energy.
"STAR GENTLE…" Raising his hand high to the air, Sailor Star Maker begins to fearlessly shoot his acidic attack when he sees in Super Sailor Pluto's eyes her tender acceptance of his invitation to merge their spirits and powers. So the resulting swirling orchid hued acids and purple lavender mists swirl around the two tall, intelligent and dutiful soldiers, when, at the same time, Super Sailor Pluto finishes the attack as she calls upon the cries from death's revolving door to stop the creature. "…SCREAM!"
But to no avail, though awesomely powerful, even the potent, combined attack seemed to have no influence on the deadly shadow monster, rather conversely, as the acidic death screams are absorbed into its dearth of necrotic darkness instead.
Turning, the distressed pair could hear above the thundering dragon, an evil cackling, insane laughter coming from Nastrus.
"There, Beast! There is your first victim! The one who had tempted and corrupted our Star champion to abandon his duty!" He calls suddenly with scornful disdain, pointing to Sailor Pluto. "DESTROY HER!" He continues his cackling, the infinite power corrupting his already cracked mind totally. The monster was merely a shadow, impervious to their attacks, apparently.
Nevertheless, the force of each clawed foot crashing down was like an earthquake, shaking the entire park as it slithered its way towards its target, leaving gaping holes where it once stood.
"SUSAN!" Maker's scream could be heard above the din. Racing like never before, his long legs make a wide jump right over the monster's head, amazingly landing directly in front of Pluto. He stands tall in front of her, addressing the creature pleadingly. "I will be your target, Monster! Not this innocent woman. If any, I am the one who should be punished!" Maker's emphatic words fall on deaf ears, for this dragon could hear no one but its Master who had mysteriously disappeared. Filled with all the power of all the evil magicians of Kinmoku's past, the Monster gives a mighty roar, smoke coming from its nostrils as its long neck lunges for Pluto, its razor-sharp teeth snapping as she artfully dodges.
Feeling its hot breath building, brilliant tactician Maker suddenly realized its next deadly move, as a raging inferno of fire, straight from the depths of hell itself, was readying to blast from the creature's mouth. Moving with his heart filled with the power of love, like lightning, Terry utilizes all of his considerable strength, in the split second he had left, to grab hold of Susan's lithe form. He powerfully launches Super Sailor Pluto far up into the air. It pained him to thrust her so forcefully away, knowing it would most likely be the last time he would touch her tender body...
As long as you are safe, Susan, my love. Dear God, protect her. Terry asks the Creator above to protect her when he could no longer, his final thoughts only for her as the fiery blaze devours Sailor Star Maker whole...
Each step is controlled by dread. Each time her well turned high heel hits the pavement, her heart is filled with fear. Visions of her cherished cousin pass through her beleaguered mind. Memories of the life they forged together, of happy times and sad ones, together always. And the love and deep bond they shared cause hot tears to spring to her eyes.
"Amara!" Michelle's mind calls out to the woman who was an ingrained part of her being. But much to her sorrow, she could not reach her with any comfort. Sophisticate debutante lady, renowned musician, and artist extraordinaire Michelle Moreau only had the profound sense something was terribly wrong, and the emotive tears flow freely from her lovely blue eyes.
"We'll find her Michelle." The other owner of her soul speaks directly to Michelle's heart, racing beside the ocean-tossed beauty.
"Robin." Michelle wanted to collapse in his arms, a world of hurt exploding within her. But she could not give in, as Amara never would for her. Her partner's indomitable spirit drove her onward despite the mental anguish. I can feel you out there, Amara. You're in pain…Please, wait for me, my beloved. Hold on. Michelle's thoughts were only for her friend, as blindly she follows her silver-haired companion, trusting him with all her heart to lead her to Amara.
Sensing Michelle was too soulfully distraught when the news first came in a psychic wave, Robin had taken control to supportively zero in on Michelle's psychic lead from earlier to find Amaralexis Sokova.
Suddenly Robin changes direction, veering down a side road. There before them lay the signs of battle, a building's wall blown away, disintegrated. Rubble, debris and smoke still lingering in the air, a bloody sword lay on the ground, and there, at the end of the road, to Michelle's horror, was the burnt out carcass of an automobile.
Blackened like coal, no longer distinguishable in make, but for the icy feeling creeping into Michelle's heart told her exactly whose it was, for she had been passenger in it many a day. To corroborate her dreaded sentiment, a charred bit of cloth is swept to her feet by the wind. Trembling, she leans down, picking it up to find the darkened remains of what was once the golden tuxedo suit jacket she herself had picked out and purchased not so long ago.
"Amara!" Michelle screams, recognizing it immediately. Coupled with the sight of her partner's beloved Ferrari destroyed, clinched the conclusion that gripped her heart with fear. Turning to Robin, her lifeline in this torrential storm, she sees him kneeling by the sword lying on the ground in a pool of blood. No longer caring about his designer suit, Robin Starr lifts the large, elongated weapon, examining it with scrutiny, as he touches the stained edge, still dripping with a great amount of blood.
Seeing the line of his mouth harden, Michelle understood perfectly what it all meant, despite his attempts to hold his morose mental theories back from her, the physical evidence was clear.
"It's her blood, isn't it?" Michelle asks, her own voice sounding distant and strange. Without looking at her, Robin lays the sword back down to the ground he touches. Standing up, a determined look in his eye, the handsome model turns his face to the oncoming winds.
"There's danger out there." He states, his sixth sense tensed by the feeling. Wordlessly, he takes off, running in the direction of it. As one, Michelle was with him, running to catch up right at his side, just as she always wordlessly did with her Amara.
"HEALER STAR POWER…!"
"NEPTUNE CRYSTAL POWER…!"
"—MAKE UP!" Their minds in perfect rhythm, the two transform in sync, aglow in light green and aqua, the stars shooting over the ocean waves, as they continue to run, never slowing their pace one iota.
Now in the cosmic forms of the Sailors known as Star Healer and that of the elegant Neptune, they race in leaps and bounds towards the edge of the skyline, with only the bright moon to light their path, heading straight into danger.
The quiet figure of a young girl chases behind them, keeping silent the entire time, frightened and feeling quite alone on this alien world.
But I will help you, if I can, Prince, to make up for my mistakes. The young girl would follow Robin through hell and back if she had to. Looking down at the street pavement as she runs after Robin and Michelle, Evelyna swallows hard, seeing that this time she might be headed exactly in that unholy direction.
Because as the trio of psychics ran, lined along their moonlit path was a crimson trail of human blood.
"Stop." A voice whispers in the darkness amid the rushing winds.
"Starr, I said 'Stop.'" Uranus' limp body sags in Star Fighter's arms as he had been carrying her through the dark streets for several blocks towards the nearest hospital.
"U, what is it?" Sayer's usual boisterous voice was now quiet, filled with concern as Fighter slows the pace, looking into the eyes of the woman who he was carrying in his arms.
"I don't want to run anymore." The words were barely audible on her cold lips pressed against Fighter's sinewy arm.
"Hey, you're not running, I am." He tries to lighten the mood, but a chilling, helpless fear grips him as he looks down, directly in Uranus' dulled eyes. So Sailor Star Fighter obeys her, kneeling to the ground. Cradling her body closely in his arms, her breathing becomes shallow. Uranus closes her eyes, leaning her golden head to Fighter's breast.
Ally, don't die. This is all my fault. If only I left you alone, like I should have, if only I never came back here to see Bunhead, if only I… Star Fighter's tears fall on Uranus' cheek, and her eyes open slowly.
"Starr," she says his taken surname suddenly, "do you think there is a God?" Her eyes look past him, up towards the infinite expanse of space beyond the earth's limits.
"I—I never thought much about it." Fighter stumbles over the words truthfully, not in a place to get involved with religion in his fast-paced idol world here on Earth, except perhaps during that Christmas play a few years back with the girls in the mountains.
The school Christmas play we starred in, and those carols Meatball and the others were singing, telling about that Christ child sounded pretty deep and darn compelling…
But you and I at that time certainly were NOT on friendly terms, Ally…what a waste of precious times we could have spent together that Christmas…if only we had more time now…Please…
"'As surely as there is a God in Heaven'…Funny what you remember." Uranus smiles, coughing up blood. "When I was a small child, I always heard my mother say that. And I never believed it." Her eyes close again, this time with the pain of old memories, too. Wiping the blood from her lips, squeezing her a bit closer, his hand on her wounded heart, Fighter looks into the deep green eyes intently, honestly having no idea if there was some Supreme being watching over them. It was a question he himself had never wondered, until this very moment.
Searching Alex's eyes, though, Sayer thinks he finds the answer. "If God could make an amazing person like you, He must be real." Star Fighter's serious voice was certain of the feelings he now truly had for this remarkable woman he wanted so badly to keep discovering new things about.
A final smile sweeps across Alex's gorgeous face, as the pain becomes unbearable, even for this strongest of strong-willed soldiers, and she could hold on no longer. Sailor Uranus' eyes shut tightly, her face contorting in pain. Then it suddenly turns peaceful, serene, as Fighter could feel the once vigorous life force spirit of Uranus leaving this body.
"…Take me to Heaven, take me tonight…" Alex whispers in a small voice, her parting words to him a symbol of the new feelings she was grateful to have experienced once in her life, if only for this short time.
With a final look in his starry blue eyes—which were touched she would recall the heartfelt wedding song lyrics he and his brothers had written and sang for her Moon Princess—Uranus holds her head up high one more time to touch the sky, feeling the free wind on her face.
Wishing she could see her beautiful Michelle again, thanking God for what she had on this earth, de-transforming Alex Sokova's head falls loosely in Sailor Star Fighter's trembling arms.
And the cool winds blowing through the night abruptly cease to exist around these two small people on this vast wide world spinning through the galaxy.