Sailor X #3
Dark Sailor
By: John Brengman
Scaramanga looked over the desolate landscape of the
Negaverse from a spot atop the Ghora Cliffs. The bulk
of the Negaverse...what little there was left, could
be seen from this vantage point. Everything below the
cliffs was shrouded in a sullen darkness, as if
waiting for some evil force to return and reclaim the
glory that the Negaverse had been.
No overpowering force of evil had returned to
claim the Negaverse after the downfall of Queen Beryl,
and the Tree of Life's attempt to revive the evil
dimension had failed almost before it began. The
shadowy Doom Tree now lurked in the mists of the
Negaverse far to the north of the Ghora Cliffs.
The Black Moon hung in the sky to the east, a
silent witness to the ravages below. Shards of
darkforce energy showered the battered city below like
meteors, leveling whatever they hit.
The forsaken people who called the Negaverse home
were in a pathetic state. They lived below ground, the
only place safe from the darkforce that rained from
the sky. They had been used as soldiers in the
conquering armies of Queen Beryl, or as energy sources
for evils that fed on lifeforce. Now, with Beryl and
Her minions gone, they were useless in a dimension
gone mad.
"Why do you insist on looking at this
hideousness?" A voice inquired from the darkness.
"It reminds me of what was," Scaramanga replied.
"It reminds me of where I came from, and if I am not
careful, where I may end up."
A woman clad in a black and gray version of a
Sailor uniform approached Scaramanga's side and looked
out over the blasted remains of the city.
"I doubt you'd ever allow yourself to fall the
way the peons here have fallen," she said. "Your pride
would kill you first."
"You're probably right," Scaramanga stated. "I
didn't work my way up from Beryl's army just to become
another forgotten soul in this waste land."
"I hope you didn't summon me for this dose of
cheeriness," Dark Sailor said dryly.
"No, I asked you here because I thought you would
be interested in my new, and if I do say so myself,
brilliant plan to steal much-needed energy from Earth
and get rid of the Sailor Scouts once and for all."
"Two birds with one stone, hmm...sounds
interesting," Dark Sailor said. "Fill me in."
Scaramanga nodded and continued. "Humans have a
knack for stumbling blindly upon important universal
truths. Many of these appear in their cultural
literature. One such universal truth is 'The star
that shines the shortest, shines the brightest.'"
"I don't understand," Dark Sailor said.
"What matters is that I do," Scaramanga replied
impatiently. "in any event, look at the human
lifespan. When they are young, humans have so much
energy that most of it is wasted in frivolity. As they
get older, humans lose vital energy until they grow
old, run out of energy, and die. Thus, the universal
truth: 'The star that shines the shortest shines the
brightest.'"
"Keep going," Dark Sailor said. "This is
beginning to sound interesting."
"I called you here because of your abilities and
weapons. They are perfectly suited for this mission.
We will steal children from Earth. This will draw the
Sailors to the Negaverse, where we will attack and
destroy them. At the moment of their death, you will
drain their energy." Scaramanga smiled. "Even if we
fail to eliminate the Sailors, we will still have the
children to drain."
"Sounds like a plan," Dark Sailor remarked wryly.
"Before we begin," the elder villain said, "I
need to obtain my powers." Scaramanga raised his hands
in the air and shouted "DARKFORCE POWER! Give me the
power to destroy my enemies!" A hail of lightning
bolts descended upon Scaramanga who endured the arcing
waves of energy in silence. The bolts then splashed to
a spot in front in front of him and quickly coalesced
into the form of another villain.
"Ah!" Dark Sailor said when she saw the outline.
"Mimic. This should prove entertaining." Scaramanga
stepped forward and let the outline envelop him. Once
he was done merging with the energy outline,
Scaramanga turned to Dark Sailor and clenched his fist
triumphantly. "It's time to get some kids!"
==> * SM * <==
Ginza Field, in Tokyo's Ginza District
4:02 PM
"It's the bottom of the second inning as the
hometown Tokyo Ryoken come to bat," an announcer
squawked over the small radio Raye had propped in the
seat next to her. Surrounding it, and watching the
action on the field below was Cass, Rachel, Mina, and
Victoria. The Luna Foundation always sent someone
to the home games of the baseball team that they
owned, but this was one of the largest contingents
that
had attended a game in recent months.
The reason the five women attended the game was
simple. The group had taken quite a beating at the
hands of Hellfire a few weeks ago, and Queen Serenity
had noticed that the group's morale was sagging. Luna
had told the group, both active sailors and reserves
that the queen did not want to have to order them to
find something fun to do, so a group of the girls had
become regular visitors to Ginza Field.
"First up to the plate for the Tokyo Ryoken," the
radio announcer said, "shortstop Adam Miller!" After
two pitches, Miller belted a curve ball, sending it
shooting out into left field for a base hit.
"How can you watch this? Raye asked quietly so as
not to offend the fans near her.
"I think it's interesting!" Cass replied, her
eyes glued to the action as the next batter took
position in the batters' box.
"You just like the men," Mina scolded with a
wink.
"I do NOT!" Cass yelled.
"Will you guys keep it down?" Rachel asked. "I'm
trying to watch this."
"What does our yelling have to do with whether
you can see the game?" Raye asked, but any further
comment was stifled by a glare from Rachel, who then
turned her attention back to the game with a low
growl. Victoria just sat through this argument and
watched everything. She then sat back in her seat,
made sure her long, braided black hair was neatly
settled over her right shoulder, its tip laying on her
chest. Every so often, Mina would hand her the bag of
popcorn and try to include her...but it was hard since
Victoria was almost a carbon copy of her introverted
mentor. She had the additional crucible of muteness to
bear, and she carried out her role as Sailor Saturn
with a grim efficiency that made the others shudder.
By the time things had quieted down, the Ryoken
had two men on base, two outs, and the fifth batter
was at the plate. Mariko Katsuragi squared to bunt at
the first pitch, then suddenly drew back and swung
hard at the incoming shot from the opposing pitcher.
With a CRACK, Katsuragi sent the baseball high into
the air. The ball soared out of the area of play and
into the crowd. With a thud, it ricocheted off the
cement steps near Raye, who ducked just in time to
avoid being hit. The ball flew into Mina's lap,
showering her and Victoria with popcorn. Mina then
stood up and dumped the rest of the popcorn on Rachel
as she held up the ball and bowed to the nearby
spectators.
"Admit it Raye," Cass said during all the
commotion, "you like baseball."
"Perhaps," Raye murmured, hoping that her answer
got lost ion the roar of the crowd as Katsuragi
slammed a ball out of the park.
==> * SM * <==
Downtown Tokyo, near the Imperial Palace
4:10 PM
Bus 49 proceeded along a major boulevard in
central Tokyo, heading home from a picnic outing. The
bus was filled with children who were acting as though
it were eight in the morning. Only their seat belts
kept them from playing in the aisle. The teacher sat
in the front seat behind the driver and waited for the
school to come into view around the next
corner....which would not happen for some time. Molly
sat in the
mid-section of the ship looking as if she were about
to be engulfed in a tidal wave of kids. At the back of
the bus, Jordan Winston sat in the only area that was
relatively calm...the eye in the hurricane of
kindergarten youngsters. Seated next to her was Karyn
Anderson, nearly the very essence of calmness.
While Molly attempted to play rock-scissors-paper
with about five kids, Jordan and Karyn talked about
various things...at least Jordan tried to.
"So, Karyn," he said, "you're good in school?"
"Yes," the girl replied, her deep-blue eyes
looking at the teenage boy. "Not as good as mom,
though."
"Do you want to be as good as mom?" Jordan asked.
He wasn't expecting the answer he got.
"No," Karyn replied simply. "I'm good at playing
and ball and stuff...mom's good at other things."
It was at about this point that a dark-clothed
figure appeared at the front of the bus. The figure
turned and waved her hand over the steering wheel as
the driver tried ineffectively to get her to go away.
The woman grabbed the driver's shoulder and a dark
aura quickly surrounded him. He moaned tiredly as his
lifeforce was drained away.
Seeing the demise of the bus driver, the children
attempted to get as far away as they could, nearly
trampling Molly, who was on her way forward with a
grim look on her face. Jordan looked around helplessly
as Karyn scanned the situation calmly.
"Stay out of my way and no one gets hurt!" Dark
Sailor yelled as she waved her hand over the steering
wheel again. The bus started to lift away from the
ground.
"What do you think you're doing?" Molly demanded.
"I'm warning you," Dark Sailor said sternly.
"Stay out of my way!"
This didn't deter Molly, who advanced upon the
villain and grabbed her arm. The steering wheel
continued to move by itself as if the bus were driving
through the air. Dark Sailor grabbed her axe from her
back with her left hand and bashed Molly with the flat
of the weapon. She went down in a heap at the bottom
of the stairs across from the driver's seat. Grinning
wickedly, Dark Sailor opened the doors of the bus and
Molly flew out. She grabbed the metal bar attached to
the door at the last moment to prevent herself from
falling to her death. It did not prevent her from
letting out a terrified scream which rippled through
the children as they saw what happened.
Karyn saw Molly fly out of the bus and tossed her
book onto the seat. Since most of the kids were
standing on their seats to get a better view, Karyn
made her way to the front of the bus quickly by
crawling under the seats.
Dark Sailor's attention was focused on Molly and
she did not see the little girl approaching the front
of the bus. Her axe whirled again and the metal
attachment between the door lever and the door itself
was shattered. Molly screamed again as she nearly
slipped from her hold on what remained of the metal
connecting rod.
When she reached the stairway, Karyn tightly
grasped the metal railing on the other side of the
stairs from the door mechanism and descended toward
the shattered door. The little girl reached the base
of the stairs and yelled out, "Molly!" as she reached
out to her friend.
"Karyn!" Molly screamed. "Get back, it's too
dangerous!"
"I know," Karyn replied, tightening her grip on
the railing. "Grab my hand!"
"I can't reach! Get back before you fall!"
"No!" Karyn shouted. "I don't want you to fall!"
At that point, a gust of wind caught the door and
pushed it toward the bus. Molly grabbed Karyn's hand
and pulled herself back aboard the bus.
Molly glared at the villain, who had watched the
whole rescue with a dispassionate gaze. "What now?"
Dark Sailor growled, "Get back with the others
and leave me alone...or I'll bash you again!" The two
girls obediently headed toward the back half of the
bus, where the rest of the kids had gathered along
with their adult protectors. All of them were now
prisoners.
==> * SM * <==
Crystal Palace
6:35 PM
The royal court had just finished dinner and
returned to the throne room to commence what had
become known as "the evening hour" which was when
various guests of the court could petition for aid of
some sort or another. Although the Moon Kingdom was
not recognized by any government on Earth, the Luna
Foundation secretly contributed to charitable
interests across the globe. In return for permission
for secret access to the Luna Foundations rather vast
resources and a visit to the court to petition the
queen or princesses directly, the Foundation was given
certain privileges or authority in some things in
which its interests were at stake.
Although Neo-Queen Serenity realized that all of
this was necessary for the continuation of the work
the Luna Foundation was doing, she still hated all of
the groveling and posturing that went along with it.
Presently, she was listening to an environmental group
who wanted the Luna Foundation to step in to prevent
further drilling for oil in northern Alaska. Part of
the process was that the person making the petition
defend his or her position before the queen...against
another member of the royal court...and the
environmentalist had the misfortune of having to
square off against Princess Pluto.
The argument went something along the lines of:
"Enough damage has been done to this region of
the world," the environmentalist stated. "This has to
stop and stop now!"
"First off," Pluto replied, "you discount the
recuperative powers of Nature. Nature has repaired all
sorts of damage caused by people, and it will continue
to do so. Secondly, you come here asking for our
support,
yet you give us no reason to believe that the
Foundation's involvement will remain a secret."
Serenity decided she'd heard enough and stopped
the proceeding with a slight wave of her hand. "We'll
contact you when we've made a decision. Princess," she
nodded toward Pluto, "please show our guest to his
ship, then return." With that, Serenity arose from the
throne and approached Mina, Raye, and the others who
had just returned from Tokyo. "Well," she said,
feigning delight. She REALLY hated this part of the
royal schedule. "How was the game?"
"It was fun!" Cass said, bringing a smile to
Rachel's face. "I had a blast!"
Raye yawned.
"So who won?" Serenity asked.
Rachel's smile widened. "Our team!"
"Although you could barely concentrate on the
game with the way these two were yammering," Raye
said, pointing at Cass and Mina. Victoria stood back
as far as she could while remaining a part of the
group. Being in public, even while in the castle, was
not comfortable for her.
"Cass was gawking at the guys," Mina said with
mock sternness.
Cass turned to Mina with shock on her face. "I
was NOT!"
Mina continued, "I saw you! Your tongue was
practically on the floor."
Cass growled menacingly.
"Please children," Sandra said as she joined the
gathering. That phrase seemed to lighten everyone's
mood, coming as it did from a teenager, and directed
toward at least one adult.
"See what I mean?" Raye asked.
The conversation was interrupted by a commotion
outside the doors of the throne room. The doors burst
open and a distraught Amy entered the room. The door
person approached her, as was his duty when someone
enters the throne room without the royal announcer or
the queen. The princesses, of course were an
exception, but anyone would attempt to stop a person,
even a princess from entering the throne room and
making a scene there.
"Princess," the doorman murmured nervously,
"perhaps it would be better..." Amy looked at him with
a look that could freeze Hell. "Don't try to stop me,"
she growled.
Not knowing Amy's intent, and only seeing her
obvious distress, the doorman continued to attempt to
fulfill his duties. "Madam, I must insist..."
"Randall," Sandra said as she approached. "It's
OK. I'll escort her." Randall was about to protest,
but a raised eyebrow from Sandra dared him to press
the issue with a princess who obviously was not
distraught.
Once the two women had joined the group, Sandra
looked at her mother. "I don't think the people should
see a princess in this state."
"You're right," Serenity replied quickly. "In
fact, have all but our personnel removed from the
grounds. If they protest, tell them that whatever they
came to petition about can afford to wait." Sandra
relayed this order to Randall and returned. As the
people filed out of the throne room, Raye approached
Amy and hugged her. Once Randall closed the throne
room doors, the group turned to Amy.
"What is the matter?" Serenity asked.
Amy gathered herself up from Raye's shoulder
which she had been leaning on and said with a voice
quavering with fear and anger, "The Negaverse has
kidnapped my daughter!" Amid the gasps of disbelief,
Serenity turned and walked back to her throne. Once
she was seated, the others joined her again, sitting
themselves in a circle on the carpeted floor on the
low stairs in front of the throne.
"How could this happen?" Serenity asked.
"The school bus she was riding never made it to
the school from their outing today," Amy replied
steadily regaining her composure.
"And you're sure it was the Negaverse?" Sandra
asked.
"Yes. Greg and I retraced the route the bus was
supposed to take. We found traces of Negaverse energy
all over an area of downtown where people said they
saw the bus simply float into the sky."
"How strong were the readings?" Mina inquired.
"Off the scale," Amy stated. "My computer stopped
reading them after a short bit."
"Nothing like leaving a really BIG bread crumb,"
Rachel stated bluntly. "They're leading us on...and
they know we'll fall for it."
"And we will fall for it," Raye said, "because we
have no choice but to try to rescue the children."
"Yes," Serenity replied. "I agree."
"Good!" Amy said, standing, "I'll get the rest of
the Sailors."
"Excuse me," Sandra said quietly. "That's my
job."
"What?" Amy said, confused. "What about Lita and
the others?"
"You forget," Sandra stated, "you and the rest of
the princesses are no longer active Sailors. You are
a reserve that we call on if we need to, not before."
"But I want to help," Amy protested. "I must help
my daughter!"
"And you have," Sandra replied slowly with
emphasis on each word. "I mean no disrespect, but let
us do our jobs."
"Amy," Raye said, "we selected them to be our
successors as Sailors. If we jump into everything that
comes along ourselves, then why did we bother giving
the power to the new Sailors?"
Seeing she was outnumbered, Amy turned to
Serenity for support. It was not there.
"I agree with Sandra and Raye," she said. "The
Sailors will go to the Negaverse and rescue the
children." Turning to Amy and Raye, she continued.
"You and Raye, gather the other princesses and be
ready to go to the Negaverse if the Scouts should need
you." The women gathered before Serenity nodded their
agreement and started about the task of preparing to
go.
Serenity approached Sandra before she left the
throne room. "Sandra, could you have Vanessa see me
before you leave."
The queen's daughter looked at her mother. "We'll
be ready in ten minutes."
"I won't take long," the queen replied.
Turning back to the throne, Serenity again
approached Amy. Placing her hands on the princess'
shoulders, she gazed comfortingly into her eyes.
"Don't worry, Amy. We'll get Karyn back."
==> * SM * <==
The Ghora Cliffs, in the Negaverse
The Young Sailors
"So," Mars quipped, looking around nervously,
"where is the welcoming committee?"
"Like if ya knock really nice they'll come out
and ask ya to fry em," Mercury remarked.
"Cut the chatter," Sailor Moon ordered. "We don't
have time." She walked forward to gaze from the cliff
at the desolation beyond. The only buildings remaining
standing besides the huge castle that Beryl inhabited
seemed to be other castles erected in other areas of
the Negaverse. Aside from the castles and a bizarre
church-like building, which had been damaged but not
destroyed, the picture in front of the Sailors looked
like something out of an old war movie.
"How did this happen?" Sailor Uranus asked.
"Evil usually turns upon itself when defeat is
near." Pluto replied. "This was no doubt the result of
the death of Queen Beryl. With no new evil stepping in
to fill the power vacuum, the Negaverse has torn
itself apart."
A silence fell over the group and the only sound
that could be heard was a hollow wind as it rustled by
them. In the distance to the north, a darkforce shower
pounded the area near a castle far to the northeast.
"I wonder who lived there," Mars said quietly.
"That would be the castle belonging to Lord
Malachite." Turning to Mars, Pluto said, "You really
should try harder in history. Castle Malahrand is
prominent in the history of the Negaverse."
The darkforce shower continued and grew worse. A
huge piece of darkforce energy slammed into the area
south of Malahrand, pulverizing an area the size of a
city block.
"My god..." Sailor Moon murmured aloud.
"You are standing amidst the ruins," Scaramanga
said from behind them, "of a place that God has
forsaken. If He were ever here at all." The master
villain nodded a silent greeting to the other Sailors,
all of whom had turned at the sound of his voice.
"Welcome to the Negaverse," Scaramanga said. "I
hope you enjoy your stay, because you will be staying
for a long while."
Sailor Moon stepped forward and calmly said: "I'm
going to tell you this only once. Return the children
you stole, and do it now."
"Oh?" The master villain replied, "and if I
don't?"
"Then I intend to see that you don't walk away
from this encounter alive."
"I'm afraid it won't be that easy, Sailor Moon,"
Scaramanga replied. "You're in the Negaverse now, and
your threats mean nothing here, but I do thank you for
trying. Anyway, now to the business of your
deaths...ZAI!" A stream of darkforce bolts swarmed
from the villain. The Sailors easily dodged the
negative energy as the bulk of it assaulted the ground
in front of them. It proved to be reason enough for
some of the Scouts to retaliate, however.
"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM....BLAST!" was quickly
followed by: "MERCURY SHARD!, MARS FIRE....IGNITE!,
DEEP SUBMERGE! and MOON TIARA MAGIC!"
Scaramanga took the brunt of most of these
attacks, batting away the tiara and the ice shard, and
absorbing the force of the crescent beam, primal fire,
and water funnel. He had been brought to one knee by
the attacks, and when they subsided, his head was
bowed as if in defeat.
Sailor Moon stepped forward and angrily said, "I
don't like having to repeat myself! Return the
children!"
Scaramanga looked up with an evil gleam in his
eye. "You are in for a rude surprise, Sailor Moon." He
stood up, somehow looking non the worse for wear after
absorbing some of the best attacks that the Sailors
could throw at him. He held out a hand and said:
"DARKFORCE TIARA MAGIC!" A black replica of Sailor
Moon's tiara appeared in his hand, its green gemstone
gleaming hideously. Scaramanga threw the tiara at
Sailor Mars with a flourish. The evil tiara screeched
through the air and only Mars' timely dodge prevented
her demise. Instead the tiara slammed into her right
shoulder, pitching her roughly to the ground.
"Dark Sailor! Where are you?" Scaramanga yelled.
The Dark Sailor appeared at the villain's side.
Instead of her black and gray sailor uniform, she was
wearing a full suit of body armor. "I was waiting
until you needed me."
"I need you now," Scaramanga replied. "Attack the
Sailors!"
With a nod, Dark Sailor turned to the heroic
women. "Get a load of this!" She shouted as she threw
globs of darkforce energy at Sailors Jupiter, Uranus,
and Neptune. The darkforce hit the ground near its
targets and exploded into a sticky mess, entangling
the Sailors. The evil force then started to drain the
Sailors of their energy.
"SILENCE GLAIVE SURPRISE" echoed hauntingly
through Sailor Moon's mind as Sailor Saturn called
forth her weapon. With a sinister whisper, a six-foot
tall glaive with a thin, black handle appeared in her
hands.
"You challenge me?" Dark Sailor said with
astonishment. Brandishing her axe, she approached the
silent warrior. "Fine! I'll cut ya to ribbons!" She
raised her axe and brought it down in a fierce arc,
which Saturn deflected with the glaive. The axe
thudded to the ground with a loud clang.
"You were lucky!" Dark Sailor roared as she
pulled her axe out of the ground, "but not this time!"
She swung her axe horizontally, forcing Saturn to
retreat. With a yell, Dark Sailor raised her axe and
brought it down toward Sailor Saturn again. Grasping
her glaive with both hands, Saturn quickly raised its
handle to meet the attack. The handle of the glaive,
which looked like it would snap in two under this
assault, instead held off the attack without so much
as a scratch. The two combatants seemed to realize
they were equally
matched, and neither wanted to stop long enough to
launch another attack. So, Dark Sailor kept pressing
her axe into the handle of Saturn's glaive, and Saturn
kept pushing the glaive up to meet the attack.
Meanwhile, the other Sailors had grouped around
Sailor Moon, who had been knocked out by a DARKFORCE
SHARD attack. Mars stepped forward. "I'm taking you
down!" She growled.
"Oh really," came the villain's reply, "this
should be interesting." Mars rushed toward Scaramanga
and threw a left hook at him. The villain took the
blow and grinned. "I hope you can do better than
that."
"How's this?" Mars shouted as she slammed a
upper-cut into his jaw. .Scaramanga staggered back out
of range of the angry Sailor. "THAT'S IT!" He roared.
"DARKFORCE FIRE IGNITE!" A ball of swirling darkforce
energy appeared in Scaramanga's hand and he hurled it
at Mars. The chaotic energy cascaded around both her
and Sailor Pluto, who had rushed forward to assist.
Both women struggled to remain standing under the
onslaught.
"There's more where that came from," Scaramanga
stated flatly. "DARKFORCE CRESCENT BEAM!"
The beam crashed into the two women, who collapsed.
"That's enough!" Sailor Venus shouted angrily.
"VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!" This attack however was
met with "DARKFORCE DEEP SUBMERGE!" and was
extinguished. Venus herself was drowned into
unconsciousness by the blast.
With a roar, Sailor Mercury rushed toward
Scaramanga. She threw a punch at him and missed. "I
grow tired of this," he growled as he drew his left
hand forward. With a yell, he slammed it back and hit
Mercury in the face. With satisfaction he heard the
crushing of bones and a line of blood spurted from
Mercury's mouth as she was thrown away from the
villain. She landed in a tangled heap and laid very
still.
Saturn could feel that Dark sailor had committed
herself to pressing her attack. Almost all of her
weight was on the axe. Knowing it was either now or
never, Sailor Saturn shifted her weight slightly, then
dropped the hand nearest the head of the glaive. This
time, the Dark Sailor joined her axe on the ground.
Before she could recover, Saturn back-swung her glaive
into the air. Once it was over her head, she grasped
the deadly weapon with both hands and brought it down
with full-force upon Dark Sailor's back. The armor
protecting Dark Sailor's back shattered under the
impact of the glaive, but no real damage was done. As
Saturn again
raised the glaive above her head, the evil villain
could see that she intended to change that.
Scaramanga heard the cry of "Help me!" off to his
right and quickly shouted "DARKFORCE FIRE IGNITE!"
releasing a dark primal attack which downed the silent
Sailor. He approached Dark Sailor and roughly hoisted
her to her feet.
"You couldn't even take out one frail girl!"
Scaramanga yelled. "I am almost out of energy!"
"Stop your complaining," Dark Sailor replied
through her teeth. "There's plenty of energy laying
around." Turning to the downed Sailors, she winked.
"Pick a Sailor, any Sailor."
"Aren't you being a bit premature?" asked a voice
from behind them. "You still haven't beaten us yet."
The villains turned and saw yet more Sailors. One
stepped forward, "I am Sailor Venus, and I will fight
for my friends! On behalf of the planet Venus, I will
punish you!"
Seeing that they were seriously outnumbered by
the eight new Sailors, Scaramanga shook his head and
replied, "Sorry, but we really must be going." With
that, both he and Dark Sailor vanished.
==> * SM * <==
Sailor Moon awoke to the sight of a concerned
elder Sailor Venus staring at her closely. Relief
swept over Venus when she realized that Sailor moon
was okay. "What happened?" Sailor Moon asked.
"The Queen sent us after she sensed you were in
trouble," Venus relied. "most of the others are okay
too." The look on Venus' face told a slightly
different tale.
"What about the more serious injuries?" Sailor
Moon asked as she got to her feet.
Concern again crept into Venus' face as she
replied, "Mercury and Saturn were hit bad, but we'll
have them back to normal in no time." A light smile
crossed her face as if even she had yet to be
convinced.
Sailor Moon looked around at her friends. Sailor
Mars was standing near the edge of the cliffs talking
quietly with her mentor. The elder Pluto, Neptune, and
Uranus were assisting the younger Sailors who had been
trapped and drained by the cocoon-like darkforce.
Sailor Moon noted with concern that the two women
representing the planet Uranus stayed well away from
each other, as if they knew that now was not the time
to get into an argument over personal issues.
The elder Jupiter was helping out the younger
Venus, and both elder Mercury and Saturn were
attending to the young Mercury.
After a few minutes, the group assisting Mercury
broke up, and with a sigh of relief, Sandra saw that
her young partner was fully recovered. All of the
Sailors, young and old formed a loose group in front
of Sailor Moon.
"As Sailor Moon, and because you are the crown
princess of the moon," the elder Venus said, "you are
the leader here."
"Thank you," Sailor Moon said with a nod. Looking
north over the expanse of the Negaverse, she asked,
"Where do we start?"
"Well," the elder Mercury said, "If I know Karyn,
she will have activated the tracking device in her
watch." She pulled her computer from its storage place
and activated it. She quickly picked up a signal and
reported, "The children are over that way," as she
pointed toward the huge skull-like structure that was
Castle Beryl.
"I spotted a path down the cliffs," the elder
Mars said. "it's narrow, but it should do."
"This is going to be way too confusing," Sailor
Moon stated. "I'll talk to the elders naturally, and
talk to the younger Sailors mentally while we are
together. Let's get going. Keep your eyes open. We're
not out of this yet."
==> * SM * <==
Outside the Astra Chapel
The group of heroes reached a shattered
chapel-like building near the center of the city at
the bas of the Ghora Cliffs with little interference
from the natives. Most of those that the Sailor did
see quickly scurried away. Those who were in a mind to
be more aggressive quickly thought again when they
discovered who it was they were facing. "Puff up! Puff
up! They hate that," was a quote that came unbidden to
Cassandra's mind after once such encounter.
The younger Sailors took up the lead, while the
elders brought up the rear. Not much idle chatting
went on amongst the group...all seemed preoccupied
with the eerie haunted look of the places and people.
One small child straggled forth from the rubble of a
nearby house and with curiosity enough to kill nine
cats, she approached Victoria, who with a smile picked
her up. She walked a short way with the child in her
arms, doing her best to wipe the soot away from her
face. The other Sailors didn't seem to mind this,
although Sandra had to remind Victoria that she could
not take the child too far from her home.
After seeing the child safely off, Victoria
rejoined the group, this time a bit further back, near
her mentor Hotaru, who was wielding her glaive at the
rear of the group and scanning the area forward
vigilantly for any signs of the enemy.
Death however came from the rear. With a
near-silent hiss, Dark Sailor appeared behind Sailor
Saturn, her axe unsheathed, its blade much more wicked
than before. With a scream of triumph, Dark Sailor
slammed the blade of her weapon into Sailor Saturn's
back. With an agonized scream, Saturn was driven
forward. Blood splattered from her mouth as ribs were
shattered and organs obliterated. Her frail body was
lifeless before it hit the ground.
Victoria was the first to see what had happened.
She turned in time to see Dark Sailor rip her axe
roughly from the body of her beloved mentor.
Victoria's anger turned into rage as she realized that
the vile villain was about to hack at Sailor Saturn
again. With a mental shout that dripped vengeance,
Victoria screamed, "DEATH RIBBON DEVASTATION!!"
Razor-sharp ribbons of deadly energy erupted from
Victoria and surged toward Dark Sailor.
"Oh damn," Dark Sailor muttered as she realized
she had attacked the wrong Sailor. Just after that,
the fury of the younger Saturn's attack slammed into
her. Within a minute, the screaming villain was
reduced to a mass of bleeding fleshy pulp as the
ribbons scoured her flesh from her bones. After
expending that much energy, Victoria collapsed, her
right hand outstretched to clasp the hand of her
fallen friend.
"Well, that was a waste." Scaramanga said as he
solidified near Victoria's prone form. "My partner in
crime had so much potential. At least she took one of
you brats out before she was killed."
"I will see you dead for this, if it's the last
thing I ever do!" Venus shouted, her voice quivering
with rage. The other elders either echoed Venus'
sentiments in some form or launched attacks at the
villain. The elder Mercury noticed that the younger
Sailors were about to join the fray and hurriedly
waved them off. "No," she said. "You must find the
children. We'll deal with this creep!"
"But you'll need our help," Sailor Moon
protested.
"If someone can not find the children, then
Hotaru's death will mean nothing," the elder Mercury
replied. "Now go. We can handle this."
Sailor Moon nodded to the rest of the young
Sailors as the elder Mars blasted at Scaramanga. "You
heard her, let's go!" The younger Sailors headed off
in the direction of Castle Beryl.
==> * SM * <==
The Young Sailors
The Sailors were keeping an eye out for any other
surprises as they headed to Castle Beryl, located not
far to the northwest of the chapel. As they went, each
Sailor tried to keep the visions of Hotaru's brutal
death from their minds. Most were doing a good job of
it, despite the difficulties. A friend had died, but
unless they were successful in their task, innocent
children would die...and that had to be prevented at
any cost.
Everyone was focused on their objective except
for Sailor Mars, whose sobbing caused Sailor Moon and
the rest of the women to stop.
"What's wrong?" Sailor Moon asked, though she
knew the answer.
"I can't get Hotaru out of my mind," Mars replied
through her tears.
"Well, get over it." Sailor Moon said coldly. "We
have people depending on us, and we can't afford this
now."
"But what if we could have done something to save
her?" Mars wailed.
Sailor Moon grabbed Mars and shook her. "Knock it
off! We can mourn later. Right now, I need you, and I
need you straight!" That seemed to silence the
distraught Sailor. After a moment, she looked at
Sailor Moon with a glare that could kill. "I'm ready."
"Good," Sailor Moon replied sternly. "Let's go."
With that she walked off and the group continued on
their way.
==> * SM * <==
The Elder Sailors
"WORLD SHAKING!"
Scaramanga shook off the amber attack as it
splashed against him and replied with, "DEEP
SUBMERGE", sending a torrent of water at Sailor
Uranus. "Your pathetic attacks are getting better,"
Scaramanga taunted, "but you are still no match for
me!"
Undaunted, Sailor Neptune stepped forward. After
a quick concerned look at her partner, who was trying
to shake off the effects of the villain's attack, she
shouted, "Why are you doing this?"
"Why?" Scaramanga said with surprise as if the
Sailors didn't already know, "because I want to show
you just how pathetic you really are! You pass
yourselves off as the 'champions of justice' yet you
can't even save yourselves from the throes of my
power! All of your attacks are useless! Anything you
throw at me, I can reflect back! I am impervious to
your attacks, unaffected by your pleas...in short, I
AM INVINCIBLE!"
Mars still remained to be convinced, however her
MARS FIREBIRD STRIKE did little to harm the villain.
"You seem to have a hearing problem, woman," he
taunted. "You can not hurt me with your attacks!"
Mercury had taken cover behind a scorched wall of
a nearby hovel along with Venus. "He's right," Mercury
said. "Nothing we throw at him is working, and he
turns our attacks against us." Venus nodded her
agreement. "Do you mind if I try something?"
"Go ahead," Venus replied. "I think we are
running out of ideas. Pretty soon I'm going to start
throwing rocks at this joker."
"Wish me luck," Mercury said with a wink. She
then approached the battlefield. Scaramanga was busy
easily fending off attacks from Sailors Uranus,
Neptune, and Jupiter. In response, he sent punishing
attacks at the heroes, one of which brought Jupiter to
her knees.
"This has gone on long enough!" Mercury shouted.
Turning, Scaramanga spotted the Sailor. "Oh
really, and I am supposed to be scared of your small
attacks?"
"I'll give you small," Mercury muttered. "MERCURY
BUBBLES....BLAST!" A thick fog shrouded the area
around the evil villain.
"Now," Mercury growled as she aimed at the ground
at the villain's feet, "Let's see you absorb this:
"MERCURY ICE STORM BLAST!" Swirling ice quickly froze
the ground, then worked upward until Scaramanga was
frozen in a block of ice. Seeing her handiwork,
Mercury sighed in satisfaction, then went to attend to
Victoria, who was already being helped by Sailor
Venus. Sailors Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto however,
pressed their attack on the villain. Pluto shattered
the ice block with a DEAD SCREAM attack, which was
quickly followed by WORLD SHAKING and SUPREME THUNDER
DRAGON. Under these battering attacks, Scaramanga was
forced to retreat.
As he fell back, Scaramanga tripped and fell onto
his back. Seeing the Sailors looming menacingly over
him, he quipped, "Well, it looks like you have bested
me this time...." He started to fade away and the
Sailors tried in vain to grab him. "But there's always
next time!" With a sinister laugh, the villain
vanished.
"Well, I guess that takes care of him," Jupiter
murmured.
"Yes," Pluto replied bitterly, "for now." With
that, she turned and went to assist the other Sailors.
==> * SM * <==
Castle Beryl
The Young Sailors
"I've never been here before," Sailor Moon said
calmly while entering the Throne Room from the
adjoining chamber with Sailor Pluto., "but I've heard
stories from the elder sailors."
"I've heard stories as well," Pluto replied as
she approached the throne. "None of them were good."
Pluto pulled a small device from her breast pocket.
Brushing the dust off a murky softball-sized ball, she
placed the device atop it.
Seeing this, Mars asked, "Don't ya feel like
you're grave robbing?"
"Neo-Queen Serenity gave me direct orders to
recover the conversion bed and the scrying orb
specifically. They are too valuable to leave here
where anyone has access to them." Any further comment
from Pluto was stopped when Mars collapsed. The
Sailors rushed to her.
"I'm picking up the children," Mars said, "but
they're in danger!"
"I'll check it," Sailor Moon said. "You guys keep
a lookout here."
"That will not be necessary," an angry voice
hissed from the shadows.
A sinister laugh followed, and a female voice
said, "Yes. Why go looking for trouble when it is so
eager to find you?" With that, the ghostly figures of
Malachite and Zoisite stepped into view.
"You thought you could defeat me," another voice
whispered from the shadows near the throne, "You
should know it takes more than a single attack from a
weakling little girl to defeat me."
Queen Beryl appeared from the blackness and took
her seat on her throne.
Sailor Mercury was the first to recover from the
surprise at seeing these relics from the past. "I
don't know where you came from," she growled, "but I
am definitely not in the mood for this!"
"Yes," Beryl said, "and I sympathize. I know it's
been a terrible day for you." Beryl's hand flicked
Pluto's device from the top of her scrying orb as she
activated it with a quick gesture. With a tap, the
queen forced the orb to project its contents into the
space between her and the Sailors. The image projected
were the agonizingly brutal last moments of Hotaru's
life.
Beryl smiled cruelly. "That axe had to hurt."
"You are SO dead!" Mercury screamed. "MERCURY
SHARD!" A jagged spear of ice formed in Sailor
Mercury's hand and she launched it toward the former
mistress of the Negaverse. The attack was foiled when
Malachite imposed himself between the shard and its
target. Malachite absorbed the ice shard within the
folds of his cape. "I believe you have forgotten
someone," he said.
"Yes," Zoisite agreed. "ZOI!" Zoisite's darkforce
attack stabbed toward Sailor Neptune's back. The
Sailor shuddered as the hideous energy assaulted her.
Sailor Jupiter turned and hurled a lightning attack at
the villain, which she dodged.
Events after this became fuzzy as each side
traded attack after attack...
==> * SM * <==
Outside Castle Beryl
Jedite laughed triumphantly as he watched the bus
filled with screaming children fall slowly into the
chasm that the castle overlooked. The balcony-like
ledge that the bus had been on was shattered, a result
of numerous blasts of darkforce energy.
As Jedite leaned forward to further inspect his
handiwork, a voice behind him said, "You always were a
self-centered jerk, Jedite!"
Jedite turned and faced the newcomer. "And you
always were a weak fool, Nephrite!
With that, a battle to the death ensued.
==> * SM * <==
The Young Sailors
From a kneeling position, Sailor Jupiter shouted
"JUPITER THUNDER DRAGON!" Her attack was aimed high
and missed Zoisite. The attack screamed by and crashed
into the wall, showering the villain with a fine
powder of soot.
Zoisite however, acted according to the Sailor's
plan...she landed lightly on the ground. Jupiter
launched herself and slammed into her.
Sailor Mars glared at Malachite. "Feel the fire,
Flyboy!" She yelled. "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE...SURROUND!"
The swirling bolts of primal fire pelted Malachite and
he thudded to the ground. He looked up to the Sailor
with rage in his eyes. "I'll rip your heart out for
that!" He launched darkforce bolts which enveloped
Mars, who screamed, but held her ground. Mercury came
to her defense and threw up a field of fog that forced
Malachite to break off his attack.
Sailor Uranus hacked at Beryl with her sword with
no effect. Beryl simply grinned. "I am not affected by
your useless attacks!" She said. "You can not hurt
me!"
"Then you'll have to kill me," Uranus replied
grimly, "and the others."
"That's fine with me," Beryl replied as she raked
her sharp fingernails across the face of the Sailor
who fell to the floor in agony. "Taking you out will
be too easy!"
==> * SM * <==
The Elder Sailors
Jedite slammed his hand into Nephrite's chest,
easily penetrating his body. Nephrite screamed and
tried to pull away.
"Don't bother, Nephrite." Jedite smiled, "Give
in! Let your death come quickly!"
"Ha!" Nephrite muttered through the pain. "You
are as stupid as you are selfish! We ARE dead!"
"Mind if we join this party?"
Both combatants glanced in the direction of the
voice. The elder Sailors stood there defiantly.
"Certainly!" Jedite replied as he resumed his
attack on Nephrite. "You will all have an equal
opportunity to die!"
Nephrite however growled in agony. "Sailors! Help
me! The children are in danger!"
Mercury yelled in anger as Venus stepped forward
and delivered a crescent beam that knocked Jedite back
and away from Nephrite. Mercury then stepped forward.
"MERCURY ICE STORM BLAST!" Jedite was soon frozen in a
thick block of primal ice.
The Sailors approached Nephrite as he stepped to
the edge of the chasm. "Where are the children?"
Mercury asked. Nephrite pointed into the darkness.
"Down there."
==> * SM * <==
The Young Sailors
"Enough with the pleasantries," Beryl snarled.
"Time to die!" Spikes of darkforce energy shot out and
splattered into the Sailors. As the vile energy
shimmered with negative energy, the Sailors collapsed.
Beryl roared in victory.
"I believe you're celebrating a bit early,"
Sailor Moon muttered as she fought to a standing
position. "It's time to take you down a notch or two.
I stand for love, justice, and my friends! In the name
of the moon, I will punish you!"
Sailors Mars and Venus looked at each other and
then: "MARS FIRE IGNITE!" and "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM!"
The twinned attacks snaked forward and exploded around
Malachite and Zoisite. As they realized that they
would not survive the combined attack, they turned to
each other.
Fighting through the agony of the flaming
attack,. Zoisite smiled at her mate. "I love you." She
said quietly.
"And I love you," Malachite replied. They then
faded from view with a wisp of black smoke.
As the smoke died away, Beryl descended from her
dais and stood proudly before her throne. "You still
haven't won! You have not beaten me!"
"An oversight," Sailor Moon replied, "that we
mean to correct!"
Sailor Mars stepped froward. She shouted "MARS
STAR POWER!" and was sheathed in an angry field of
fire. The primal fire coalesced around the young woman
and transformed her into a fiery phoenix-like being.
Shafts of brilliant light stabbed out in all
directions, blinding everyone in the room and lighting
up all of the shadows.
Once her painful transformation was complete,
Sailor Mars charged toward Queen Beryl, who tried to
flee into the next chamber. Mars grabbed Beryl and
embraced her in a bear hug!
Beryl screamed horribly in agony as the primal
fire of the phoenix scorched her. She soon became
enveloped in an angry sheath of flames. Her body
wracked with pain, Beryl clawed at the young woman and
tried to dislodge her. Mars simply gritted her teeth
and endured the assault.
Mars backed up and turned until Beryl's back was
facing the rest of the Sailors. "Sailor Moon!" She
screamed. "Throw your tiara!"
Sailor Moon did not immediately react.
"What are you waiting for?" Mars yelled as Beryl
slashed at her head.
"I might hit you!" Sailor Moon replied.
"Yeah, yeah! And you head is really made of green
cheese! Throw the damned tiara!"
"No!" Sailor Moon replied. Instead, she waved her
hand in the air and shouted, "MOON STAFF!"
A flash of light splashed the room and the Moon Staff,
a longer version of the Moon Scepter appeared in
Sailor Moon's hands.
Beryl wrenched herself free and turned around. An
exhausted Sailor Mars dropped to the floor.
"MOON ZERO MAGIC!" A disk of destructive magic
appeared at the tip of the staff and floated outward
until it reached the queen. Beryl roared as the energy
consumed her.
A wraithlike entity floated up from the spot that
Beryl occupied only moments before. With an evil
laugh, the shadow-form swirled around the room.
Beryl's voice boomed, "You still have not defeated
me!"
The wraith then slammed into Sailor Mercury, knocking
her to the ground before vanishing into the floor.
"She's gone!" Sailor Neptune shouted as she
hugged Sailor Moon. Sailor Jupiter and the others
hurriedly checked on Mars and Mercury, both of whom
seemed to be recovering quickly.
The castle shook suddenly, throwing most of the
women to the stone floor. "What the...," Sailor Uranus
murmured.
Nephrite burst into the room. "Sailors! You must
leave quickly! Beryl has set up a reaction within the
darkforce stored under the castle. It's going to
explode!"
"What happens then?" Neptune asked quietly.
"Most of the Negaverse goes away," Pluto
answered.
"What about the children?" Sailor Moon shouted.
"There's no time!" Nephrite yelled. "That
darkforce will explode any minute!"
"No!" Sailor Moon rushed past Nephrite and out
onto the ledge where she saw the other Sailors, who
were looking into the chasm in search of the children.
"Where are the children?" Sailor Moon demanded.
"They're somewhere down there," the elder Mercury
sobbed.
After a moment of searching, Sailor Moon
muttered, "We don't have time for this..." However,
she didn't know what to do next. She seemed to reach
out to the innocent children trapped in the darkness
of the chasm...knowing that there was no way to save
them from what was to come.
==> * SM * <==
The Crystal Palace
"Sandra," Serenity murmured to herself. She then
shook herself back to alertness.
"She's in danger," the queen announced aloud to
the empty room. She turned and approached the crystal
throne. She ascended to the throne and pressed a small
button on the right arm. A hidden door was revealed in
the wall behind the throne.
Neo-Queen Serenity entered a small circular room.
Its walls were made from quartz-like crystal and
lighted by a large circle of nine clear crystals. One
crystal represented one of the planets dedicated to
the defense of the Moon Kingdom. The queen entered the
circle and stood at its center.
"May the use of this power bring you all home
safely," Serenity said quietly. Then, "PLANET POWER!"
All of the planet crystals flared to life, bathing the
room in a warm glow. Serenity raised her royal scepter
in the air and shouted, "MOON REJUVINATION MAGIC!"
A bright beam of intense light bloomed in the
chamber and arose through the glass ceiling.
Travelling through space, the magical energy crossed
the dimensional barrier and disappeared.
==> * SM * <==
The Negaverse
In the pools under Castle Beryl, the darkforce
bubbled and frothed with the infusion of energy from
the extinction of Beryl.
The dimensional barrier was pierced by the magic
from the Crystal Palace.
The nether magic neared the boiling point and
continued to build up.
The magic produced from love cascaded down and
lit up the sky over the Negaverse.
The darkforce exploded...and Serenity's magic
enshrouded Castle Beryl at the exact same time.
The deadly energy, which should have obliterated
most of the Negaverse and killed the people living
there, rained gently down upon the dimension and
gently transformed it. The blasted buildings melted
away and were replaced by spacious cabins and stately
mansions. The castles dotting once-horrid landscape
were transmuted into posh villas. The somber,
darkforce-soaked sky turned to a crystal clear blue.
In short,
The Negaverse became Elysium.
Just before the moon energy took Molly back home,
she stood atop the flower-speckled cliffs above the
city and looked out over the now-thriving expanse. "Oh
Nephrite," she said to the tall man next to her,
"Isn't this great? It's so beautiful!"
"Yes," Nephrite agreed, "it is."
"All except for that," Molly said, pointing into
the sky to the northeast, where the Dark Moon still
hung. "Why hasn't that changed?"
"The Dark Moon was originally populated by exiles
from the far future. Because part of its creation
involved the forces of good, those same forces can not
erase the evil they created."
"What good is light without darkness..."
"What?" Nephrite asked.
"Oh nothing...just rambling," Molly replied.
==> * SM * <==
The Crystal Palace
Once the initial celebrations had died down, the
Sailors and the staff and workers at the palace
gathered on the grounds to pay their respects to a
departed friend. Far above, in the depths of space,
the elder Uranus led the palace's lone fighter wing on
a flight path that would take them over the palace.
As they came approached the palace, one wingman
dropped out of formation, and the fighter wing passed
over the gathered crowd in the "Missing Man" salute to
Sailor Saturn.
Despite the fact that the children they had been
sent to rescue were now safely at home, the mood of
the
Crowd, especially the Sailors, was one of sorrow and
deep loss.
Although she knew it to be wishful thinking,
Serenity silently bowed her head and prayed that no
more of her friends would ever fail to return from a
mission.
FINI
FOOTNOTES AND EXPLANATIONS
Quotes:
"Puff up. Puff up. They hate that" - Batty,
"Fern Gully"
"What good is light without darkness?" - I
believe the bad guy in "Legend" said something along
this line as he was being killed.
Notes:
- Sorry about the mixing of Japanese and NA names, but
in the case of the outer Sailors / senshi, they do
not have names that everyone can agree on. Apologies
also to all of the other things which would fall
into this category.
Fanfic c 1999 - John Brengman and Artemis Publishing
Sailor X series inspired by Bishoujo Senshi Sailor
Moon, c 1992 by Toei Animation Co Ltd. and based on
Kodansha's manga production of "Sailor Moon", written
by Naoko Takeuchi
This fanfic is freely distributed. Release date:
August 26, 1998
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