Chapter 12
Hikari awoke in a dimly lit room. Her head throbbed with a dull ache, and her skin stung in several places as if marked by cuts or bruises. Slowly, she sat up on the bed, ignoring the waves of discomfort, and looked down at her hands. A faint smile crossed her lips. The sensation of pain was unpleasant, but it was also new — fascinating in its unfamiliarity. This suffering, trivial as it seemed, was another step in understanding the essence of her newfound existence. She had taken on a physical form after separating from her previous, alien state of being, and every moment in this body was both a challenge and a revelation.
After a moment, her focus shifted from her physical sensations to the world around her. She glanced around the room, her gaze catching on the advanced monitoring equipment surrounding her. The rhythmic beeping of the devices filled the space, creating an almost mechanical melody. Memories began to trickle back into her mind. She recalled the desert worm and the mission to return it to its own world. Yet, the final moments of the confrontation remained a chaotic jumble of fragmented images, with no clear sequence or meaning. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she attempted to stand.
"Rest for a while longer. The creature's attack has left your nerves and muscles in disarray. They need time to recover," a calm male voice interrupted her effort.
Hikari turned her head toward the voice and saw a man with long hair seated in a chair nearby.
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice steady despite the confusion in her eyes. "And where am I?"
"You're safe," he replied, rising from his chair and approaching her. "My technology saved your life and will soon restore your strength. But you shouldn't have faced an opponent you knew nothing about."
Hikari furrowed her brow, trying to piece together the puzzle of her thoughts.
"I don't remember the details of the fight. I don't know why I fought that creature or how I ended up here. My mind feels... clouded."
The man nodded. "I know what you're going through. I was once the victim of a similar beast. I promise, in time, your memories will return."
"I hope so," she murmured. "I remember my name and who I am, but I don't know how I got here. And I don't know who you are. Have we met before?"
The man sighed softly. "I suppose I should start by introducing myself. My name is Mortimer Theobald. I'm a traveler and a collector. This is the infirmary aboard my airship — or, more precisely, within the tesseract that powers it. I found you injured after your encounter with the sand creature, which I had intended to capture for my collection. I had to abandon that plan to save you."
Hikari's expression softened with gratitude. "Thank you," she said, attempting once more to rise to her feet. Mortimer watched her closely, his gaze analytical.
"I can see you're not one to sit still," he remarked.
"I just feel much better already, and I want to stretch my legs a bit," she replied, managing a faint smile.
As she looked down at her clothing, a flicker of confusion crossed her face. She remembered wearing something entirely different before her encounter with the creature — a uniform that reminded her of someone... someone important. But the moment she tried to recall more, her head throbbed sharply, and she gave up with a sigh.
Mortimer observed her intently. "Be careful, Hikari," he said quietly. "Recovering your strength is only the beginning. Allow me to show you around my ship and give you a glimpse of my vast collection," Mortimer offered.
Hikari regarded him curiously, trying to decipher his intentions. After a brief pause, the two stepped into a dark corridor. Mortimer halted before a pair of grand, double doors adorned with golden handles. With a deliberate motion, he opened them, gesturing for Hikari to enter first with a subtle nod.
The room beyond was shrouded in shadow, an impenetrable veil of darkness. But as Hikari crossed the threshold, soft lights flickered to life, revealing an extraordinary sight. It was a gallery, filled with treasures that defied explanation.
"These are my treasures," Mortimer declared. "Unique artifacts from across the multiverse."
Hikari's gaze fell upon a chalice, where sparks of fire danced, seemingly alive. The flames pulsed rhythmically, bridging dimensions and intertwining the past, present, and future. Nearby, she noticed perfectly geometric shapes suspended in fragments of eternal silence, defying gravity and logic. Further along, massive chains emerged, their links visible yet tethered to points far beyond mortal comprehension — chains, he claimed, capable of binding gods themselves. As Mortimer led her toward the exit, Hikari's eyes caught on a vase tucked into a shadowed corner. Inside it stood wilting sunflowers, their drooping petals emanating a sorrowful melody — a mournful song sung by a slave from a distant galaxy, its melancholy transcending time and space.
Leaving the chamber of curiosities, Mortimer and Hikari entered another space: a long, narrow corridor, just as dimly lit as the previous rooms. Glass panels lined the walls, illuminated by faint blue lights suspended from the ceiling. Behind the glass, living creatures stirred — specimens Mortimer had gathered on his journeys. As he paused before one enclosure, additional lights activated, dispelling the shadows to reveal the contents within.
"This is my zoo," Mortimer explained, his voice brimming with pride. "I house creatures from countless worlds here. Each one is a unique testament to the boundless and surprising nature of the multiverse."
Hikari stared at the environment behind the glass. It resembled a desert of crimson sand, dotted with dark, jagged rocks that jutted out like the bones of a forgotten world. Between the dunes floated a strange, spherical creature. Its single, glowing green eye focused intently, and its gaping mouth, filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth, twisted into a crooked, menacing grin. Two pairs of horns crowned its grotesque visage.
"That is a Cacodemon," Mortimer explained, gesturing toward the creature. "I acquired it during a visit to an artificial world created by a fugitive from a destroyed reality. Thousands of these creatures inhabit his realm. They travel in vast herds, endlessly wandering the desert and ensuring that no one reaches the escapee's palace."
As Mortimer finished, the Cacodemon turned toward the glass, sensing their presence. Its single eye narrowed with malevolent intent. A deep rumble emanated from its body before it opened its mouth wide, unleashing a fireball straight at Hikari. The protective barrier held firm, extinguishing the flames before they could reach her.
"Let's move on," Mortimer said calmly, extinguishing the lights in the enclosure and leaving the demon to its darkness. "It's irritable and could become dangerous."
"Like anyone trapped against their will," Hikari replied.
Mortimer said nothing, merely leading her to the next enclosure. Behind the glass was a fragment of a dense forest shrouded in the deep shadows of night. At first, Hikari saw nothing unusual, her eyes scanning the dark foliage. But soon, a figure moved — a strange creature, vaguely human in shape, crawling on all fours. It wore tattered remnants of a green military uniform, and its face was obscured by a gas mask. The mask's elongated, dangling hose resembled the trunk of an elephant. The creature noticed Hikari watching and crept closer, studying her with unsettling intensity, as if calculating its next move.
"These creatures were once human," Mortimer began, his tone growing somber. "Until an object from space crashed into their country. It carried advanced alien technology that contaminated everything within miles of the impact site — people, animals, even the very laws of physics." He gestured toward the creature.
"The one staring at you was a soldier, part of a military unit sent to investigate the crash. The energy released from the impact transformed him and his comrades into what you see now — beasts driven by instinct, their reason lost forever."
"How fascinating," Hikari murmured, though her voice betrayed a hint of unease.
"Yes, fascinating indeed," Mortimer replied, his eyes gleaming with curiosity. "What was the true nature of that meteorite? Did it land there by chance, or was it part of some deliberate experiment orchestrated by an intelligence from another world? What will happen next? Will the stone's sphere of influence continue to expand? What other changes might it bring? And are the anomalies that appeared in the region entirely random, or do they serve some larger, unknown purpose?" He smiled, his expression brimming with an almost childlike anticipation.
"One day, I'll return to that reality. I'll uncover the answers — at least to some of these questions."
Mortimer led Hikari to yet another enclosure, the dim corridor illuminated only by the faint blue light of the ceiling lamps. He stopped in front of a panel embedded in the wall, pressing a series of buttons that activated the next display. The glass partition shimmered briefly, and the scene inside lit up — a stretch of crystalline ocean, its surface frozen mid-wave, refracting light into shimmering rainbows that danced across the walls. Beneath the surface of the suspended water, creatures moved sluggishly, as though trapped in time loop. Their translucent bodies pulsed with a gentle bioluminescence, resembling jellyfish but with intricate, branching tendrils that seemed almost plant-like. Each tendril moved independently, weaving hypnotic patterns in the frozen water.
"These are Etherae," Mortimer explained. "A species native to a plane where time flows differently than ours. Their world exists in a state of perpetual twilight, and its inhabitants have evolved to manipulate the temporal currents to their advantage. Fascinating beings, really — they communicate by altering the flow of time in their tendrils, creating waves that their kind can interpret."
Hikari leaned closer, mesmerized by the creatures. One of them drifted near the glass, its tendrils brushing against the invisible barrier. For a moment, she felt a strange pull in her mind, as if something ancient and profound was trying to reach her, but it dissipated almost as quickly as it began.
"Doesn't it trouble you to keep them here?" she asked softly.
"They are specimens, my dear," Mortimer replied. "Their preservation here ensures their survival, should their unstable plane ever collapse. Consider it... a form of stewardship."
They moved on, the corridor twisting and narrowing as they descended into the depths of the ship. Mortimer stopped again, this time before an enclosure shrouded in a heavy fog. He activated the lights, revealing a dense jungle, its foliage glowing faintly with an eerie blue light. In the center of the jungle stood a massive, serpentine creature coiled around the trunk of a bioluminescent tree. Its scales shimmered with an iridescent sheen, shifting colors as it breathed. Its head, crowned with an elaborate crest of spines, turned toward them. Golden eyes, slit like a cat's, fixed on Hikari with an unsettling intensity.
"This," Mortimer said, "is a Shal'voryss. A guardian spirit from a dying world. In its native realm, these creatures protected the sacred groves, ensuring the balance between nature and the inhabitants who once thrived there. But when their ecosystem began to collapse, the Shal'voryss were hunted for their scales. This one is the last of its kind."
The serpent let out a low, resonant hiss, its gaze never leaving Hikari. She felt a chill run down her spine, but there was also a strange sadness in the creature's eyes, a longing that spoke of loss and despair.
"I see why it's angry," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. Mortimer simply smiled, as though her observation was of little consequence.
They continued their journey, passing by enclosures housing creatures of all shapes and sizes: a flock of luminous birds whose feathers produced haunting melodies when they flew; a pool of living shadows that writhed and shifted, forming fleeting, humanoid shapes that melted back into formlessness; and a field of strange, mechanical beings that appeared to grow like plants, their spindly limbs reaching toward an artificial sun suspended above them.
Finally, they arrived at an enclosure that was unlike the others. The glass here was opaque, and the area around it was marked with warning signs bearing the message: DO NOT ENTER.
"This is the crown jewel of my collection," Mortimer said, his voice taking on an edge of excitement. He placed his hand on a panel next to the glass, hesitating for a moment. "But I must warn you, what you are about to see may defy even your wildest imagination."
He pressed the panel, and the glass became transparent. Inside was a void — a complete absence of light or form. But then, as they stared, something began to emerge: a shape that shifted and morphed, impossible to focus on for more than a moment. It was as though the entity existed in multiple dimensions simultaneously, its presence both overwhelming and incomprehensible.
"What... is that?" Hikari asked. Mortimer's smile widened, his eyes gleaming with a mix of pride and unease.
"That, my dear, is the Fragment of the Unformed. It is not a creature in the conventional sense, but a piece of raw, unshaped existence — a relic from before the multiverse as we know it came into being. To gaze upon it is to confront the infinite possibilities of creation and destruction."
Hikari stepped back instinctively, the weight of the thing's presence pressing against her mind. Mortimer chuckled softly, closing the panel and restoring the opaque barrier.
"Not everyone can endure its gaze," he said, leading her away. "But it's a reminder of the endless wonders — and horrors — that lie beyond our understanding."
Mortimer led the girl to another chamber. Beyond the glass, a vacant room was visible, which clearly puzzled Hikari.
"What's in here? An invisible beast? Another Unformed fragment" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"No. Stand still for a moment and focus on the same spot. You'll see something beautiful," he replied calmly.
Hikari did as he instructed. At first, she could only see the void that filled the room, but soon, her eyes began to perceive more. Shapes started to emerge in the air — outlines shifting in length and curvature, flickering and disappearing in various places. The lines connected, split, and danced in patterns that seemed chaotic yet oddly harmonious, pulsating like a living organism. Suddenly, colors appeared between the lines. The room was flooded with a kaleidoscope of hues, forming intricate, ever-shifting shapes. Hikari watched, captivated by the spectacle unfolding before her.
"These life forms," Mortimer began, "exist on the edges of worlds. Their dance is the most complex language in the multiverse. Every color, shape, rhythm, and pattern carries thousands of meanings, describing things we couldn't begin to comprehend. It's a form of communication based on visual impressions. This is how we perceive them, but they understand each other as naturally as we process words. We can't fully understand the mind of another human being, let alone the mind of something like them."
"Language implies intelligence, perhaps even greater than ours. Is it right to keep sentient beings in cages?" Hikari asked.
"Do you think that if they didn't want to be here, they couldn't find a way out? I keep them in my collection, but from their perspective, I might be the one in the cage, under their observation."
"A cage is still a cage," she retorted sharply. "I've seen too little to judge what's happening here, but I do know one thing — I despise restrictions on freedom. If I were trapped, I would find a way to escape. And I will escape."
Mortimer studied her carefully. "You're my guest, not my prisoner. Have I tried to lock you away?"
"No. But isn't this entire tesseract a cage?"
"I repeat, you are my guest. You are under my protection," Mortimer said firmly. "Nothing will harm you here."
He turned and walked toward another chamber. The lights inside illuminated an amorphous object floating at its center. The strange entity shifted form like a massive droplet of liquid, pulsating and morphing endlessly. Its silvery surface reflected the faces of Hikari and Mortimer.
"This is a liquid consciousness, living in a hyper-temporal dimension," Mortimer explained. "Every particle of its being contains both past and future events, existing simultaneously in every moment of time. By drinking a drop of its essence, one can glimpse the future."
"It exists outside of time, yet it's here and now. How is such a paradox possible?" Hikari asked.
"It's cell holds it within our timeline," Mortimer stated matter-of-factly.
Hikari paled, her fists clenching as her voice trembled with anger. "Do you realize how cruel that is? Forcing such a being to experience linear time! It's like stripping someone of their ability to move! How would you feel if someone paralyzed you completely?"
A golden aura flared around her, the air shimmering with the intensity of her emotion. Mortimer regarded her with mild surprise.
"Why does this creature matter so much to you?" he asked, realizing that Hikari was beginning to remember her true nature.
She exhaled slowly, calming herself, and looked away. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I reacted that way. Let's leave. I don't want to see this place anymore — it's too sad."
"As you wish," Mortimer agreed. "This tour was meant to help you regain your full strength and memories. It seems it hasn't served its purpose, so we'll end it here. Let's go to my study."
He walked to the wall and pressed a green orb embedded in it. Instantly, a large wooden door appeared.
"I recall that there's a cell behind that wall. Are you taking me there?" Hikari asked warily.
"Of course not," he replied calmly. "My technology allows me to manipulate the space within the tesseract. I bent it to bring us to my study more quickly. See for yourself," he added, turning the handle. The door opened, revealing a room bathed in darkness, illuminated only by the soft blue glow of a gilded lamp on a desk.
The man gestured toward the couch, inviting the blonde girl to sit. He himself walked to the window, behind which a glowing streak of light spun, resembling a distant Milky Way.
"When I began assembling my collection many years ago, my sole motivation was selfish — a desire to possess rare and extraordinary things," he started, his voice calm yet laden with an undercurrent of obsession. "I acquired technology that enabled me to traverse dimensions and command a pocket space that obeyed my will. I roamed the strangest realms, hunting for seemingly useless artifacts. Then, one day, in an old inn at the edge of reality, I encountered the most peculiar being imaginable. This traveler… was no ordinary entity. They were a letter from the Divine Alphabet, incarnated in human flesh — a variable in the equation governing the multiverse. One look into their eyes, in which galaxies swirled and danced, granted me, for the briefest of moments, an overwhelming understanding of all reality. Just one word from them — one solitary word — contained answers to every question. For a fraction of a second, I comprehended everything… and then, in a heartbeat, they vanished into thin air, leaving me with an unbearable void in my mind."
He paused, his gaze fixed on the whirling light beyond the window. "From that moment on, my life became an endless pursuit. I was consumed by the need to return to that ideal, to relive even a fraction of what I had experienced in that fleeting instant. Years of searching yielded nothing… until I made contact with you."
The man turned to face the girl sitting on the couch. His face was bathed in a cold, blue light.
"Or rather, with what you were at the moment you crossed the spacetime gate leading into this world. I touched your mind and felt it again — that same sensation I encountered in the inn at the world's edge. You were a being existing beyond the bounds of physical space, perceiving hyper-time that connects all past and future events within ordinary reality."
Hikari shifted uneasily on the couch, instinctively moving further away from the silver-haired man who now frightened her. Vague memories from a few hours earlier began to surface in her mind.
"I know you're no longer what you were back then," he continued, his tone unrelenting. "You're merely a droplet of that immense mind, constrained by your own choice in a human form. But even a subset of an infinite set retains its cardinality. And now that I've found you… I'll do whatever it takes to extract your true power and finally attain peace."
Mortimer turned back to the window. His words triggered a sudden realization in Hikari — she remembered how she ended up inside the tesseract.
"You're the intruder from another world! The desert worm was just a trap. You used it to lure me here!" she accused, standing abruptly and stepping toward him.
"Not necessarily. Perhaps it, too, will find a place in my zoo someday," Mortimer replied coolly, his gaze meeting hers.
"Where are they? Where are my friends?" Hikari demanded, her voice trembling with both anger and fear.
"They were of no use to me. They're not unique enough to earn a spot in my collection," he said dismissively.
Hikari's body began to glow with a radiant golden light as she prepared to transform.
"Don't try it," Mortimer warned sharply. "My systems are monitoring the energy you emit. If you attempt anything that could harm me, the security protocols will activate. I won't lose you — not after all these years of searching. If you want to escape, you'll have to kill me. But if you do, the entire tesseract will collapse, and you'll be trapped in a looping void — a terrifying emptiness, utterly alone. You'll feel the same despair I've endured in my quest."
Reluctantly, Hikari abandoned her attempt to attack. She resolved to learn more about her opponent and the fate of Haruka and Michiru. The golden light surrounding her dimmed, and her energy dissipated.
"Come with me," Mortimer said, his tone brooking no argument.
Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune trudged through the scorching sands of the desert, their hands clasped together. Neptune's spell, which had been providing them with life-sustaining water, had been shattered when the Collector of Oddities cast them out of his tesseract. Haruka and Michiru had no protection against the heat or the deadly dryness of the air. The blonde strained her eyes, searching for any sign of a changing horizon that might signal the end of the desert, but all she saw was an endless sea of sand.
"Damn it, I can't go on," Haruka said, clenching her fists.
"He knew exactly where to dump us. Probably aimed for the very heart of the desert. He wanted us dead."
"And he took Hikari," Michiru added.
"If it weren't for her, we'd have handled this on our own, and it'd all be over by now. Why did she have to interfere?" Haruka's frustration was palpable.
"Let's try teleporting again," Michiru suggested.
"Again? We've already tried. It didn't work because that guy used some kind of spell on us. If we try again, we could waste more energy and revert to our normal forms. Without our transformations, we'll have no protection and even less endurance. We just have to keep moving forward."
"You look worse off than me. Are you sure you can keep going?"
"Try walking on sand in these shoes. I might as well be barefoot," Michiru said, brushing sweat-dampened hair from her forehead.
"Let's take a break," Haruka proposed.
"And what good will that do?" Michiru asked but still sank down onto a dune. Her legs needed the respite.
"Our transformations are the only reason we're still moving. Without these outfits, we'd have succumbed to heatstroke or collapsed from dehydration. If we're going to survive, we can't lose our forms."
"You know what's odd? Where's that worm? We're in such a state that we'd make an easy meal," Haruka wondered aloud.
"Maybe it's not interested in human flesh? Or perhaps the aura of a Sailor Senshi keeps us off its radar. Who knows?" Michiru speculated before adding, "I don't think the worm is the real threat. It's just a native creature of this place. That guy is our target. He's the fugitive from another reality."
"He's a bastard, and I'll take him down the moment I get the chance. The worm is dangerous, too. It attacked Hikari."
"Maybe it was defending itself — or its territory?"
"Maybe," Haruka said, sitting beside Michiru. The green-haired girl leaned against her.
"Dying of heatstroke in the middle of a desert... Not how I imagined my end," Michiru muttered, brushing her hair aside and resting her head on Haruka's shoulder.
"You're not dying. We'll find an oasis, regain our strength, and teleport out of here. Then we'll find that lunatic's tesseract and destroy it — with him inside. Michiru, do you think you can sense water in an oasis?"
"I don't know. I can try, but I've never had the same psychic connection with inland water as I do with the sea or ocean," Neptune admitted. She closed her eyes, and the gem on her tiara emitted a faint glow. After a moment, she opened her eyes and shook her head sadly.
"Nothing. I'm sorry," she whispered, squinting into the distance. "Maybe we won't make it after all. My eyes... something's happening to them. The sand looks like it's rippling..."
Haruka's heart sank. She feared Michiru might lose her transformation first, leaving her defenseless against the desert's wrath. She scanned their surroundings, noticing the odd behavior of the dunes. The ground trembled. Haruka stood, drawing the Space Sword. The enormous body of a sandworm burst forth from the desert sands.
"It's not your eyes!" she shouted.
"The worm is here!" she added.
"I'm not ending up in the stomach of some monster!" Sailor Uranus braced for battle. She knew activating the magic blade would drain the last reserves of her strength, but she had no choice. Being devoured was not the death she envisioned.
"Space Sword..." she whispered, beginning the incantation, but Neptune stopped her.
"Wait!"
"What are you doing? It's going to kill us!"
"It's not attacking. Look, it's been stationary for several seconds," Michiru pointed out. The massive creature loomed over them, casting a shadow that shielded them from the blistering sun.
"It's hesitating, but we can't afford to!" Haruka exclaimed.
"Haruka, I think it's trying to tell us something. It's standing over us, almost as if it wants to... protect us from the sun?" Neptune observed, noticing they were now shaded beneath the motionless behemoth. Ignoring Haruka's warnings, she approached the creature's gray hide.
"What are you doing?" Haruka was shocked.
"Trying to do what Hikari wanted — make contact with it."
"And end up like Hikari? Get back! I'll deal with this monster once and for all."
"No." Neptune summoned her talisman, forming a small protective barrier around herself. The worm retreated beneath the sand but soon resurfaced, this time pointing its massive head in one direction as if gesturing toward something in the distance.
"Care to explain what's going on here?" Haruka asked, baffled. She was still ready to sever the creature's head. Michiru glanced at her from behind the shimmering, emerald barrier.
"It wants to lead us somewhere," she replied with a smile. The sandworm dove back into the dunes, reappearing many meters away, still facing the same direction.
"Do you have enough strength to follow it?" Michiru asked her companion.
"Follow it? Are you insane? What if it leads us to its nest and feeds us to its young?"
"If it wanted to kill us, it would have done so already. We're exhausted, and it must sense that. We can take a chance and follow it, or we can stay here and die wandering in the heat. I'm taking the risk," Neptune declared, walking in the direction the worm indicated. Uranus deactivated the Space Sword and silently followed her beloved.
After a grueling march under the blazing sun, the pair spotted an oasis. Lush green trees surrounded a small, grassy lake that appeared like a mirage on the horizon. Haruka's lips curled into a smile as Michiru quickened her pace toward the life-giving water. The giant worm submerged itself in the sands, glancing back at the Senshi one last time before disappearing.
Once inside the oasis, the two warriors collapsed into the cool water under the shade of the trees.
"My intuition didn't fail me," Michiru said, smiling.
"It saved us. It turned out to be an intelligent lifeform," she added. Haruka splashed her face, letting the water cascade down her head and back. "I was ready to cut its head off with my sword. Now I feel ashamed," she admitted.
The Sailor Senshi had regained their strength and prepared to rescue Hikari from Mortimer's trap. Their talismans glowed with the luminous light of their protective planets as they readied for teleportation.
"After everything we've been through, I'm certain now," Neptune declared, her voice steady but determined. "That desert creature was never our true target. Whatever it is, it's a being from our planet. Not an invader that needs to be sent back."
"The invader is the one who lured us to his ship under the guise of helping Hikari," she added, her expression darkening.
"And then abandoned us to die in the desert heat," Haruka interrupted. She clenched her fists, her anger palpable. "We need to send him back to where he came from. And save Hikari."
"How do you know he's still around? He might be long gone by now," Haruka continued, skepticism lacing her voice. "He only seemed interested in Hikari. He got what he wanted — why would he wait around?"
Neptune gently touched the edge of her Deep Aqua Mirror, her gaze softening. "My mirror... it's connected to Hikari somehow. When I think of her while looking into its surface, I can feel her presence. She's still close, I'm sure of it."
"Can you pinpoint where exactly?"
"No," Michiru admitted. "It's more of a sense... perhaps a bond formed between us at her birth."
Haruka gave her a faint smirk. "So, once again, we're trusting your intuition and teleporting into the unknown. What's the worst that could happen?"
"We could end up materializing inside solid rock," Michiru replied dryly.
"Then let's not waste any more time," Haruka said, raising her Space Sword high.
"Uranus Planet Power!"
"Neptune Planet Power!"
Their combined energy surged forward, guided by the vision in Michiru's mirror. A column of teleportation light shot out, colliding with an invisible barrier that separated the physical desert from the tesseract-holding ship. The two warriors materialized on the scorching sands, tumbling to their knees.
"Damn it! The desert again?!" Michiru growled, brushing off the sand as she stood.
"At least we're not inside a rock," Haruka quipped, offering a hand.
"My plan failed. He's made sure we can't follow him," Michiru muttered.
"Not necessarily. Look." Haruka pointed toward the horizon, where the dark silhouette of Mortimer's ship loomed closer.
"Let's go," she said, her tone resolute.
Mortimer observed their arrival through the defense systems of his vessel. The warning lights blinked as its sensors registered the impact of unknown energy.
"Persistent, aren't you?" he mused, pressing a green button on his console. It shifted to a menacing red, signaling danger. Outside, the desert shimmered unnaturally as Mortimer's interdimensional beasts materialized.
Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune halted in their tracks, confronted by monstrous creatures that had emerged from the confines of Mortimer's otherworldly zoo. Though still behind the barrier of the force field, the creatures stirred restlessly, anticipating release.
"What the hell are those?" Haruka asked, gripping her Space Sword tightly.
"A welcome committee," Michiru replied with a faint smile. "Shall we greet them?" she added as the creatures were set loose.
Inside his ship, Mortimer leaned back in his chair, watching the scene on a massive screen. Beside him, Hikari stood bathed in the blue glow of the wall-mounted lamps.
"Let's see how they handle the deadliest beasts from my little zoo," Mortimer said, glancing at Hikari.
"They'll defeat them. I know they will," she replied without hesitation.
The group of eleven monstrosities advanced toward the Sailor Senshi. The first resembled an enormous, crawling sea anemone, dragging itself with countless green tendrils. Atop its trunk-like body was a grotesque maw, dripping with mucus and lined with slimy, writhing tongues.
Beside it hovered the Cacodemon Mortimer had earlier shown Hikari — a floating orb of crimson flesh, with a single glaring eye and a cavernous maw bristling with jagged teeth. Lumbering near was a golem-like creature of obsidian-black stone. Though humanoid in shape, its body constantly shifted, the jagged fragments rearranging themselves into new forms with each movement. High above, a massive amorphous entity pulsated. Its semi-translucent ectoplasmic body revealed throbbing, crimson organs, glowing faintly as it hovered ominously. A giant, twin-headed vulture with tattered, timeworn feathers circled above. The creature's shrill cries echoed like the scream of a damned soul. On the ground, a twisted unicorn pawed at the sand. Its golden coat gleamed in the sunlight, but its glowing, sparking horn betrayed the madness seen also in its wild eyes. Nearby, a grotesque toad the size of a horse leered at the pair. Its bat-like wings twitched, and its slick, green skin glistened with venom. A double-headed lizard-like beast hissed, smoke and fire escaping from both sets of jaws. One head was where its tail should have been, creating a serpentine ouroboros of destruction. A monstrous being, its body resembling a boulder studded with dozens of blinking green eyes, awaited the chance to strike. Its gaze was unsettling, all eyes fixing simultaneously on the Senshi. A humanoid figure with bark-like skin stepped forward. The woman's body was adorned with leaves, her hair a cascade of flowering vines. Finally, hovering above them all was a construct of metallic geometric shapes, spinning and rearranging into ever-shifting forms.
"What are you waiting for?! Are you afraid of us?!" Haruka shouted. Her challenge provoked the frenzied unicorn. It lunged forward, its horn aimed like a spear. With a furious neigh, it unleashed spheres of pure, concentrated magical energy at the Sailor Senshi.
Michiru extended her hand, revealing the shimmering surface of her talisman. A protective barrier appeared in front of them, bathing their faces in emerald light. The crazed unicorn's spell struck the barrier and ricocheted, slamming into nearby rocks. A plume of sand rose into the air, granting the Sailor Senshi a brief opportunity to retreat. However, not all creatures relied on sight — some didn't even possess eyes. A massive land-dwelling anemone launched spiked projectiles concealed within its slimy tentacles. Michiru once again used the barrier created by her mirror, shielding both herself and Haruka.
"World Shaking!" Uranus shouted, hurling a golden sphere of energy blindly toward the clustered enemies. A black, stone-like creature was hit directly. Its body bubbled and quivered like jelly before splitting into three smaller, but still animate, forms.
"World Shaking!" Haruka attacked again. This time, the golden energy ball sank into the amorphous creature, which seemed to absorb it as nourishment rather than suffer harm. Haruka scowled, preparing for another attack. Suddenly, a cacodemon spat a fiery ball of sulfur their way. Both Sailor Senshi leapt aside, the heat of the flames brushing against their skin. Dust and smoke filled the air, obscuring their vision. The monsters were closing in fast. Haruka placed her hand on the ground.
"What are you doing?" Michiru asked.
"I'm going to slow them down," Uranus replied. She released energy directly into the earth, causing a violent quake. Seismic waves radiated outward, splitting the ground and disrupting the enemy ranks. Loud, guttural cries confirmed the effectiveness of her attack.
Michiru's warning shout cut through the chaos: "Look out!" She rushed to Haruka's side, pressing her back against hers as she gazed upward. A geometric entity made of spinning shapes hurtled toward them at high speed.
"Deep Submerge!" Michiru cast her spell, sending a sapphire orb of energy toward the creature. The monster pushed through the watery barrier with little resistance, counterattacking instantly.
Haruka drew her Space Sword and stepped in front of Neptune, deflecting the onslaught of spinning blades. Each strike grew faster, and the creature emitted an irritating, high-pitched sound that grated on their nerves.
"Haruka, they're surrounding us!" Michiru warned, glancing at the cacodemon and crazed unicorn preparing to strike.
"We'll need our strongest spells. Will you back me up?" Haruka asked, deflecting another blade. Michiru nodded firmly.
"Submarine Reflection!" she chanted, sending a concentrated stream of magical water at the geometric monster. It was briefly thrown off balance, its spinning faltering.
Michiru's forehead glowed with the symbol of Neptune as crystalline water coalesced into a violin. She touched it gently and uttered: "Violin Tide!"
A swirling vortex of water enveloped her, expanding outward to shield both herself and Haruka while isolating the monster within. Haruka eyed the trapped creature.
"Uranus! Space Turbulence!" she yelled. The ground split open, and red energy surged from the fissure, engulfing the geometric entity in a storm of cosmic chaos. It disintegrated into metallic fragments. At the same time, Michiru released the vortex, temporarily drowning the remaining enemies in its wake.
From a distance, Mortimer watched the battle unfold.
"They destroyed the Calculus, a one-of-a-kind entity!" he hissed, furiously pressing buttons on his console to teleport his remaining creatures to safety.
Moments later, a shimmering portal opened before Uranus and Neptune, leading into Mortimer's vessel.
"Are we going in? He'll be ready for us," Michiru said.
"I'm counting on it," Uranus replied with a grin. The two warriors stepped into the tesseract's strange interior.