Subject: [FFML] [SM] Shades of Gray Chapter 9: Closing the Circle
From: Aaron E Nowack
Date: 1/12/2002, 12:12 AM
To: ffml@anifics.com


Read, enjoy, and please C&C!  It... is... your... DESTINY!


           Aaron Nowack
"Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis."
http://www.geocities.com/anowack/

Shades of Gray
A Sailor Moon Fanfic
By: Aaron Nowack

Chapter 9:  Closing the Circle

        "This is not the end.  It is not even the beginning of the end.
        But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
                -Winston Churchill

***********************************************************************
Disclaimer:  Sailor Moon is owned by Naoko Takeuchi, whose creative
talents far exceed my most humble own.  Distribution and other rights to
Sailor Moon belong to lots of different companies that I do not own.  I
make or imply no claim to ownership of Sailor Moon or its characters.
However, the text of this fanfic and all original characters presented
within are mine, and should not be used without permission. Thank you.
***********************************************************************


        And there was silence.  But only for a few, precious moments.
Then a cheer came from the gathered horde that had come out of the
north.  Units that had moments before been ready to break stiffened,
then surged forward, colliding with their momentarily disheartened foes.
The clash of battle once more filled the air, followed moments later by
the screams of the wounded and dying.
        In the center of the battlefield, surrounded by an oasis of
quiet, the two leaders faced each other.  Jadeite, self-proclaimed King
of the Dark Kingdom, stared at the massive, serpentine form of his
opponent.  "I do hope that you do not expect me to be impressed," he
said, smirking.
        Mordrangar laughed harshly.  "No, little human," he said, mouth
settling into a fanged grin.  "I expect you to die.  Slowly."  With
these words, Mordrangar's claw swept forward to impale Jadeite.  The
former general leapt out of the way, narrowly dodging the attacky.
        As he landed, Jadeite formed a ball of pure flame between his
hands.  With a wordless yell, he sent the rapidly expanding fireball at
the Dragon, who with a snort swatted it out of the air, sending it to
tear a massive hole in Jadeite's front line.
        "Pathetic," the Dragon of Earth commented as he surged forward,
nearly crushing the impudent human underneath his scaled coils.
        Jadeite stumbled backwards as the Dragon pulled itself to its
full height, towering over the battlefield like a colossus.  He lightly
tapped the ground before him, whispering, "Rolling Inferno."  The wave
of flame and explosions sped towards the Dragon, which tried to get out
of the way, its massive bulk for once a liability.
        But Jadeite knew the attack was nowhere near strong enough to
seriously harm the beast.  Clenching the Flame Diamond tightly in one
gloved fist, he kept up the offensive, rushing forward behind a screen
of white-hot fire, which seemed to do nothing more than irritate the
Dragon.
        A quick swipe from one of its claws sent Jadeite to the ground,
grasping at his now wounded shoulder.  The Dragon loomed over the human,
poised for the killing blow.  "You were not as challenging as I
expected," Mordrangar said, knowing that he could impale the human with
one of his claws faster than Jadeite could get off a spell that could
hurt him.  "I almost pity you."
        At this, Jadeite smiled, even as he clutched the bloody mess the
Dragon had made of his shoulder.  Rolling onto his back, he stared up at
the gargantuan serpentine chest hanging directly over his head.  "Save
your pity... for yourself," he gasped, opening his fist to reveal the
glowing Diamond.  "Hellfire!"
        Even as the Dragon's eyes widened in anger at its mistake, a
pillar of flame launched up from Jadeite's palm, rapidly expanding as it
slammed into the Dragon's scales.  Contained by Mordrangar's bulk, it
expended its excess energy on the Dragon.
        The Dragon's roars of pain brought another brief pause to the
battle that surrounded the duel.  This time, it was Jadeite's forces
which took heart and rallied, while Mordrangar's army fell back.  The
Dragon stumbled away from Jadeite, momentarily stunned by the force of
the attack.
        Jadeite rose to his feet, muttering a spell of healing that,
while not completely removing the injury he had suffered, managed to
numb the pain and restore function to that arm.  Jadeite looked up as a
low growl was released from his opponent's throat.
        "That... hurt," the Dragon stated, glaring down at Jadeite.  "It
has been more than ten thousand years since a mortal managed to injure
me.  For that, your soul will be sentenced to an eternity of torment."
        Flames already gathering in his hands, Jadeite smirked once
more.  "You'll have to defeat me first."  And with that, the battle was
joined once more.

***********************************************************************

        Shoju smiled as Mamoru asked Michiru the final question on their
list.  It was awfully convenient that he and Tamori had known her, as it
had cut down a significant portion of the work that had to be done.
Most of the other groups were still attempting to come up with a subject
for their project.
        It was also good to be spending some time with the two of them.
Mamoru was always a bit of a loner, but Tamori had also been rather
scarce the past few weeks, as had Ikawa and Motoki.  Shoju sighed
inwardly for a moment.  Things had gotten pretty boring at times without
his friends to hang out with.  But he knew that these things went in
cycles, and that probably in a month or so he'd be seeing them so often
he'd get sick of them.
        As the interview came to an end, Shoju joined his fellow
students in rising and thanking Michiru.  A few minutes later the four
were walking down the street towards campus, planning to spend a few
hours dividing up the remainder of the project between themselves.
Hoshi, the only member of the group that Shoju had not known previously,
was prattling on about some girl he'd met last night, and managing to
thoroughly bore his companions.
        Across the street, Urawa Meno nodded as he glanced back towards
the screen of his computer.  He had located the energy source fairly
quickly this time.  Poseidon was ready to awaken.  And now all he had to
do was figure out which member of the foursome it was.  Tamori obviously
wasn't it, but it could be any of the other three.
        Meno followed the group for a while, hoping that they would
split up and therefore allow him to determine which was the cause of the
faint signal, but it quickly became obvious that they were not planning
to disperse for some time.  A pity, but not a major problem.
        As the group headed into one of the dorms, Meno settled onto a
nearby bench and prepared to work on refining his scan.  If he was
lucky, in a handful of hours, he'd have Poseidon's identity.  Then, he'd
find Hades.  And after that, there was a war to win.

***********************************************************************

        Overlord Asphara, consort to General Ishamanar, smiled as she
lurked in the shadows of Beryl's palace.  That was how everyone still
thought of it.  For as long as it existed, it would be remembered as
Beryl's, not Jadeite's, nor as a possession of whoever would take it
after him.
        The court was in a fair bit of chaos at the moment.  In the
space of a day, a no-name Overlord had been made General, given the
prestigious post of commanding operations against Terra, and died.  All
this in the middle of the Earth Dragon's invasion, as well.
        Of course, the court had hardly known anything but chaos since
Jadeite's sudden return, in any case.  Many of the most powerful
Overlords had fallen, either to the Senshi or to their new ruler.  One
moment, the Mountains of Desolation were a vassal, the next they were a
deadly enemy.
        Asphara liked the chaos.  In her mind, chaos meant
opportunities.   Her consort's ascension was an opportunity, as was
whatever he was plotting with Nyxan.  The war itself was an opportunity;
Asphara had no doubt that she would weather it, whatever outcome it
might have, and emerge the stronger for it.  And the current lack of any
authority over Terran matters was an opportunity as well.
        Asphara looked up as a centaur-like creature with the
hindquarters of some sort of reptile approached her.  "Greetings,
Overlord Gorhan," she said, her smile widening.
        "Greetings to you as well," Gorhan rasped out in his rough
voice.  "Why have you requested my presence?"
        "Why, I was merely thinking... since that Hakar died, isn't it
the case that no one is in charge of Terra?"
        Gorhan laughed briefly.  "I see where you are going with that
thought.  A successful raid now could improve one's standing in our
lord's eyes, would it not?"
        Asphara nearly laughed as well.  This would be easier than she
expected.  "Exactly.  Now, I have not the servants to launch such a
raid, and my consort's youma are at the front.  But what I do have is
energy... enough to send a sizable force across."
        "And my personal guard is present..." Gorhan stated.  "But what
is in it for you?"
        "Replacement for the energy I expend, and a quarter of whatever
profit remains.  And... an up-and-coming Overlord who owes me a favor,"
Asphara replied.
        Gorhan nodded.  "Agreed.  Come, let us plan this further..."

***********************************************************************

        "You're canceling it?" Uji asked in disbelief as he glanced down
the busy street near the park where he had taken the photos in question.
        "No, I'm not," Sachiko said irately.  "Like I said, I'm delaying
the article... I don't know when it will be ready."  She paused a moment
to look at her watch; she had a meeting shortly.
        Uji frowned.  "I thought you said the article was ready to go."
        Sachiko sighed.  "I thought so too.  But, I've decided there's a
lot of changes that need to be made.  I need to think about it some
more... this is a much bigger issue than it was when you gave me the
photos."
        "I know."  Uji looked up at the sky for a moment, then shook his
head.  "I guess you're right.  But keep me informed, all right?  And
don't you still need to let me have a look at the article?  We were
supposed to do it last night, but..."
        Sachiko nodded, relieved. "All right.  How about we meet down at
the press room in an hour or so?  I've got a meeting I have to run to
right now..."
        "Oh?" Uji asked, curious.  "Who with?"
        "Just a few witnesses of some more of the Senshi battles,"
Sachiko said.  "I'm going to see if I can get some quotes."  Sachiko
smiled.  She had come up with that excuse in advance.
        "Mind if I tag along?" Uji inquired.  "I don't really have
anything to do right now."
        Sachiko nearly groaned.  "Um... they're... kind of private
people.  They probably wouldn't appreciate it."  She quickly departed,
not giving Uji a chance to ask another question.
        Uji frowned at Sachiko's departing figure.  She was acting...
evasive.  That was unusual for her, Uji knew, even though the two were
not particularly close.  Something was up... and Uji was quite curious
as to what it was.  With a sigh, Uji headed off towards campus,
wondering how he was going to kill an hour.

***********************************************************************

        Usagi raced down the sidewalk, ignoring everyone in her path.
Rei was going to kill her!  She had been meaning to make it to the
meeting on time, but there had been that sale at the ice cream store...
and that new game at the Crown Arcade... and she'd thought she'd seen
Mamoru... and then there was...
        She sighed, already hearing Rei's voice.  This would not be
pleasant.  At least the Outers weren't going to be there today... the
quiet disappointment in their eyes was even worse than Rei's more vocal
expression of the same emotion.
        She raced up the steps of the Hikawa Shrine, shouting a quick
greeting to Grandfather Hino as she sped towards Rei's room.  The next
minute or so was spent in the much anticipated ritual combat between the
Moon Princess and the Senshi of Fire, but after that the meeting managed
to get down to something resembling business.
        Ami was, as usual, the first to speak.  "I spoke with Haruka
this morning, and apparently, while we were fighting the youma at the
Tomoe place, a new Champion appeared."
        The others responded to this with a chorus of groans.  The
Champions were already hard enough to fight, and a new one only meant an
even more difficult struggle.  Makoto grumbled, "How many of them are
there?"
        Ami replied, "It seems logical to assume that there would be as
many of them as there are of us.  I've been trying to get more concrete
information but..." Ami gestured towards her computer and sighed.  "The
records are full of gaps.  All I can find are clues... and not very many
of those."
        Minako sighed and lightly petted Artemis.  "I suppose we're
going to have to deal with what information we have.  It's better than
what we've had on some of our previous enemies."
        "Speaking of which," Ami began, "I've located something that
might explain why Jadeite has shown up after so long."  She activated
her computer, accessing the proper entry in the databases.  She jumped
slightly when a beep uttered from the device, and quickly punched in a
sequence of keys, frowning.
        "What was that?" Usagi asked.
        "Nothing..." Ami said, trailing off.  She paused for a moment,
then continued.  "Just a false alarm.  Anyway..."
        The Senshi quickly clustered behind Ami, so they could see the
small image of a crystal displayed on the screen.  "This is an Eternal
Sleep crystal.  As long as its caster is alive, it will contain a person
in stasis indefinitely."
        Rei frowned.  "You're implying that Jadeite was put in one of
those by..."
        "Beryl," Ami stated.  "What records I can recover indicate that
she was fond of using them on those she felt had failed her.  Once she
died, the crystal would have begun to weaken..."
        "Eventually freeing Jadeite," Makoto interrupted.  "At least
that's explained."
        "Not quite, Ami said.  "Apparently, though the crystal does
weaken... it would still be impossible to escape one without powerful
aid from the outside.  At least, if not more, powerful than the caster."
        "More powerful than Beryl..." whispered Minako.  And for some
time, there was silence.

***********************************************************************

        Sachiko nervously knocked on the apartment door.  This was to be
her first real meeting with the others, as last night had hardly been an
appropriate time for pleasantries.  After a moment, the door cracked
open, reveling a familiar face.  "Gladian," Sachiko said.
        The man nodded and opened the door.  "Furuhata Motoki, now,
actually."
        "Kudo Sachiko," was her reply.  She smiled and entered the room.
A few moments later, introductions were complete, and the business of
the meeting had begun.
        Motoki glanced around the room and spoke.  "We are now missing
only two of our number.  The time when we can end this war for once and
for all is quickly approaching."
        Sachiko glanced briefly in Ikawa's direction before speaking.
"What is being done to find Aqoran and Teritan?"
        Meno smiled, pulling out his computer.  "I have been scanning
for energy patterns characteristic to them... and I believe I have found
Aqoran."  A press of a button caused a hologram of a young man's face to
be displayed in the center of the room.
        "Hoshi!" Tamori explained.  He blinked and then shook his head.
"The coincidence is amazing..."
        "You know him?" Ikawa asked.
        "Not really," responded Tamori. "He's in one of my classes...
we've been working on a project together."
        "Do you know where he would be about now?  If so, we can try to
Awaken him," Meno said.
        "Do you know it will work without Sailor Neptune?" interjected
Unazuki.
        Meno shrugged.  "It's based on what I used to awaken Tamori.  It
worked then."
        "Yes, but he was already Awakening," Unazuki replied.  "We just
hastened the..."  Unazuki trailed off, glancing at Tamori and frowning.
"Where would you have encountered Saturn's energy?"
        Ikawa blinked.  "She wasn't even around yet," he commented.
        "I don't know," replied Tamori.  "It probably wasn't Saturn at
all... maybe it was some of the work I've been doing with Professor
Tomoe."
        A silence filled the room, until it was shattered by a beep from
Meno's computer.  Meno smiled and punched out a quick sequence of
commands.  "What was that?" Sachiko asked.
        "Nothing really," Meno said.  "Just the results of a little side
project of mine.  Anyway, what about Hoshi, Tamori?"
        Tamori frowned for a moment, then replied.  "He should be in his
dorm room. I can lead you there."
        Meno nodded.  "Let's go then.  Just the two of us... any more
might scare him off."

***********************************************************************

        Aihara Hoshi slowly opened his door.  He hadn't been expecting
visitors... probably they were looking for his roommate.  He blinked as
he recognized Tamori's visage.  "What's up, Tamori?" he asked,
perplexed.  His visitor had just left an hour or so ago.  "Did you
forget something?"
        Tamori smiled nervously.  "Can we come in for a moment?"
        Hoshi blinked, noticing Tamori's companion for the first time.
"You are?"
        "Urawa Meno.  I have something I need to talk to you about.
It's important."
        Hoshi glanced to Tamori, who nodded.  Hoshi slowly nodded as
well.  "All right," he said, pulling his door fully open.  "Come in."
This was weird.
        When the three were settled, an extremely uncomfortable silence
dominated for some time.  Finally, Hoshi spoke.  "What is it?"  He
wracked his mind to try and remember whether this Meno had been the
victim of one of his practical jokes... or was he that girl from last
night's boyfriend?  Or worse, overprotective brother?
        Hoshi's two guests glanced at each other, and Meno pulled out a
small object, some sort of palmtop.  "This should explain everything,"
Meno said, hitting a button.
        The next Hoshi knew, he was standing.  And in his hands was, of
all things, a sword!  Had he blacked out?  This was too weird for
words... and to top it all off he had somehow acquired a nasty headache.
Tamori and Meno were looking at him expectantly.  Hoshi blinked, and
finally stuttered out, "Wh... what the...?"
        Meno frowned.  "Aqoran?"
        "What?  My name is Hoshi!  Is this some type of joke?  Cause if
so it's not very funny..." Hoshi dropped the sword, not noticing that it
vanished as soon as it left his fingers.
        Meno and Tamori glanced at each other again.  Tamori spoke
first.  "Maybe we have to..." He trailed off as Meno nodded.
        A moment later, Hoshi suffered a second shock as the two pulled
swords out of nowhere, and were promptly replaced by figures Hoshi had
only seen on the evening news.  "What's going on?" he asked nervously.
This had to be a joke.  But he was damned if he knew how they were
carrying it out... or what the punchline was going to be.
        The blue clad one... Meno... though Hermes would be a better
name now, frowned even more deeply than before.  "Don't you remember?"
        "Remember what?!" Hoshi asked, nearly shouting.
        Another silent consultation passed between the two Champions,
and they promptly detransformed.  "Our apologies," Tamori said, glaring
at Meno.  "We had... mistaken you for a friend of ours.  We would
appreciate it if you do not speak of this again."
        Hoshi nearly growled out his reply.  "Get out.  I don't know
what game you two are playing, but I'm no part of it.  If you're lucky I
won't call the police."
        "But.." Meno started, only to be silenced by Tamori.
        Tamori glanced towards Hoshi.  "We're sorry." He quickly ushered
his friend out of the dorm building, than turned towards him.  "What the
hell was that?!  You messed up, and now we've let a civilian in on our
identities!"
        Meno shook his head angrily.  "You don't understand... he has to
be Poseidon!  He had the sword!"
        Tamori slowly contained his anger.  "Then what went wrong?"
        Meno let out a long sigh.  "I don't know."

***********************************************************************

        Hoshi's breathing slowly became less rapid as he leaned against
the wall of his dorm room.  A sigh escaped his lips.  That had to have
been some sort of joke.  It had to have been.  Already his mind was
beginning to recover, searching out possible, rational explanations for
the recent events.
        Unfortunately, those did not appear to be exactly racing to be
discovered.  Hoshi opened his eyes, and began to search the room for the
sword he half-remembered appearing in his hands.  For some sign that he
wasn't going insane, and that what had just occurred wasn't some
hallucination.
        After a few moments of searching, Hoshi winced as the dull pain
in his head suddenly escalated, searing his mind.  Foreign images
flickered, and were forgotten even as they faded, their only remnant a
new beat of the drum that had taken up residence in Hoshi's mind.
        "...all are one..."
        Hoshi shook his head.  The sword wasn't here.  Was only his
imagination?  His body shuddered as the headache returned for a third
time with new force.  Was he having some sort of seizure?  Hoshi slumped
to the floor as another wave of pain consumed him.
        After an eternity, the pain subsided.  With a groan, Hoshi came
to his feet, leaning against the wall once again.  He had to get out of
here.  Get some fresh air.  Or something.  Find somewhere quiet, where
he could think.
        "...bind all of us..."
        Hoshi found himself standing outside the Crown Cafe.  As good as
anywhere, he supposed.  He walked into the cafe, ignoring the smiles of
the waitress and the new proprietor.  As he shook his head to try and
clear out the fog that still enwrapped it, he caught a glimpse of
familiar aqua hair out of the corner of his eye.
        The owner of the hair had apparently glimpsed him as well, as
she waved and gestured him over to her table.  Hoshi complied, and
forced a smile.  "Nice to see you, Ms. Kaiou," he said.
        "Please," responded the woman with a smile, "just Michiru."  She
turned to her companion.  "This is one of Tamori's partners, Aihara
Hoshi if I remember correctly."
        "Tenou Haruka," the blond haired woman stated.  "Pleased to meet
you."
        Hoshi smiled and mouthed his own pleasantries.  His headache
seemed to be coming back... but at the moment it was only a dull roar.
Suddenly...
        "...no choice but war..."
        "Are you all right?" Michiru asked as Hoshi seemed to nearly
pass out.  The man was slumped over their table, clutching his head.
        Hoshi slowly started to rise, and opened his mouth, not sure how
to respond.
        Then, the front wall of the Crown exploded.
        After that, several things happened at once.

***********************************************************************

        The youma burst into the cafe, draining energy as they went.
All in their path slumped over, unconscious.  They did not kill their
victims, for that would be a waste of time and effort.  Living, they
would recover, and become a source for later energy drains as well.
        The youma themselves were scaled beasts that walked on four
legs.  Long tongues occasionally flickered out of their mouths as they
absorbed the abundant energy and sent it on its way to the storage their
master had prepared. The smoke that now filled the Crown made it
difficult to tell their number, even if any were in a position to count.
        Whatever their number, it was soon one less, as a youma head
went flying, removed from its body by deft application of a glowing
sword.  Aphrodite smiled as the youma corpse dissolved to dust, and
began to search for her next target.
        On the other side of the room, two warriors surveyed their
handiwork on as a threesome of youma were removed from the world.
Sailor Uranus, hearing noise nearby, readied a World Shaking, only to be
stopped by her partner's restraining hand.
        "With all this smoke, we don't know if its a youma or not,"
Sailor Neptune said.
        Uranus nodded as the golden ball of energy faded away.  "Right,
we'll have to stick to melee."
        "Exactly," a third voice said.
        Startled, Uranus whirled around.  "Pluto!  Where'd you... never
mind."  She quickly produced and unsheathed her Talisman.  "Let's go."
        Her two companions nodded, and the Senshi were soon cutting
through the youma strike force like a whirlwind, leaving none in their
path standing.  Few of the youma even knew their slayers, as the smoke
which hid them also hid their foes.
        Across the cafe turned battlefield, Aphrodite and Zeus were also
doing their own part to defend the Earth.  The telltale glow of
Aphrodite's weapon attracted youma to them, and the pair fought back to
back, surrounded by an ever dwindling number of youma.
        In a relatively quiet corner of the cafe, Aihara Hoshi lay
forgotten.  He clutched his head, the incredible pain making all that
had come before seem trivial.  Had he been coherent enough to form the
thought, he might have wished for an energy drain to send him into the
blissful darkness of sleep.
        Familiar images that he had never seen before flashed through
his mind, though he was in no state to decipher them.  Alien thoughts
and concepts paraded through his consciousness, and Hoshi found himself
struggled to maintain his sanity in the flood of madness that had
engulfed him.
        Who was he?

***********************************************************************

        Sachiko smiled at Uji as she swiped her ID card through the
electronic lock on the press room.  "Sorry I was late," she said.  "The
meeting took a bit longer than I anticipated."  It had taken so long
that Gladian and Azala... no... Motoki and Unazuki had left before...
Tamori and Meno could return, pleading that their break was up and they
had to return to work.  And the discussion that ensued when Tamori and
Meno had returned had been long as well.
        "No problem," Uji replied.  "How did the interview go?"
        Sachiko blinked, then remembered the excuse she had given the
inquisitive photographer.  "Um... not that well actually.  They really
didn't provide that much of a new perspective."
        "Too bad," Uji replied simply as Sachiko pushed open the door.
He followed her into the press room, as always surprised at the sheer
chaos of the room.  How a paper could ever come out regularly and on
time out of such a place was a small mystery to him.
        Sachiko strode over to one of the computers.  She punched the
power button, and with a sigh waited for the outdated machine to boot.
It was a pity that her requests for budget extensions to upgrade the
school paper's equipment were ignored.
        Uji glanced around the room.  "Mind if I turn on that radio?" he
asked, already moving to do so.
        "Of course not," Sachiko said as she cleared away from the
mousepad a pile of notebooks that had been left there by the last person
to use the computer.  A moment later, the room was filled by the quiet
noise of the radio.
        After a short wait, Sachiko sighed as the computer finished
booting.  "All right," she said.  "I'll have the draft article up in
just a moment.  Bear in mind that I'm probably going to change a lot of
it."
        Uji hastened over to her side, only to halt as the music came to
a sudden stop.  Both people in the room turned quizzically to the radio.
        "We interrupt our normal programming to report that there has
been an explosion in the Juuban District.  Witness report that several
Senshi have been seen on the scene."  The report went on the rattle off
the address of the incident and to pass on a warning from the police
department for all pedestrians and motorists to avoid the area.
        Sachiko blinked.  The address was nearby.  She had to get down
there and see what was going on.  If the Senshi were involved, it
couldn't be good.
        "Shame I left my camera at home..." muttered Uji.
        "Um... Uji," Sachiko began.  "I'm really sorry, but I have to
run.  Wait here, and I'll be back as soon as I can." Without waiting for
a reply, she raced out of the room.
        Uji blinked several times.  This was most... odd.  Uji frowned.
Could Sachiko be... no, that was ludicrous.  But whatever was up, it had
something to do with that explosion.  Uji quickly made up his mind, and
soon the press room was empty once more.

***********************************************************************

        The torrent of flames failed to halt the Dragon's rush, and
Jadeite was forced to roll out of the way of Mordrangar's charge.  "Soul
Flame Barrage!" he growled out, sending another firestorm at the Dragon.
        The Dragon ignored the insignificant attack, instead choosing to
take the offensive, forcing Jadeite back with swipes of its powerful
claws.  Jadeite stumbled away, dodging each strike as best he could.
Realizing that this situation would quickly lead to defeat, Jadeite
summoned forth the power of the Flame Diamond once again.
        The intoxicating power felt like the white-hot flames it
summoned, burning away in Jadeite's spirit.  For a moment, Jadeite
struggled to maintain control, and came far too close to eliminating
himself in an orgy of destruction.  But he managed to tame the wild
power once again, and with a loud cry he released his largest firebolt
yet.
        The white beam sped towards the Dragon, its sheer heat causing
the air to shimmer and the ground beneath it to liquefy.  Mordrangar
summoned what protective magics he could, but they failed him, as the
firebolt stuck the Dragon of the North midway between its brown eyes.
          Rearing back and releasing another roar of pain, the Dragon
ceased its assault, giving Jadeite a moment to rest.  But only a moment,
as a few seconds later the molten rock that lay in between the two
combatants rose into the air and flew towards the ruler of the Dark
Kingdom, propelled by Mordrangar's power.
        Panicking, Jadeite reacted instinctively, summoning a wall of
flames in between himself and the threat.  However, this instinct failed
him, as the magma passed through the flames, becoming even more
dangerous as the fire raised its temperature to new heights.
        This time it was Jadeite's turn to scream, as the wave of molten
rock slammed into to him, searing his flesh and introducing him to new
meanings of the word pain.  The Flame Diamond fell from Jadeite's
nerveless fingers, quickly rolling out of sight.  An ordinary human
would have died instantly, but Jadeite as far from normal.  Nonetheless,
it was still a potentially crippling strike.
        Behind the former General, a loud chorus of groaning rock
heralded the opening of a rapidly widening chasm.  The river of magma
flowed into the abyss, carrying Jadeite along with it.  Jadeite barely
managed to grab the lip of the chasm, preventing himself from falling to
his doom.
        This was only a momentary reprieve, as the chasm quickly began
to close as rapidly as it had opened, putting Jadeite in danger of being
crushed by tons of solid rock.  Had he been unwounded, it would have
been a trivial matter to escape, but the dark lord was hanging on the
consciousness by a measure even slimmer than that with which he was
hanging onto the canyon wall, and was in no condition to summon the
strength necessary to escape.
        The Dragon smiled as he neared the closing abyss, savoring the
imminent destruction of the man who thought he could replace Beryl.
With this victory he would gain more strength than ever, and even the
other Dragons united would be unable to challenge him.  One by one, they
would submit, and with each triumph his power would grow.
        Behind the Dragon, a small figure stepped out from behind a
large boulder.  An overbold member of Mordrangar's army stepped forward
as well, and was swatted aside like a tiny insect.  The figure raised
one taloned hand.  "Shadow Bolt!"
        A beam of pure darkness sped from the youma's hand and impacted
on the Dragon's flank.  Mordrangar whirled around with surprising speed,
facing its new opponent.  "You wish to challenge me again, 'General'
Nyxan?"
        Nyxan smiled, another bolt of dark energy growing in its hands.
"Not particularly."  The youma Overlord released his attack, then
vanished.  The bolt of shadow did little more than irritate the Dragon,
but the firebolt that arrived from the opposite direction did more
damage.
        Mordrangar turned around once more, to face the barely
recognizable form of Jadeite, who had taken advantage of Mordrangar's
momentary distraction to recover his wits and escape from the chasm.
His face was a mass of burns, and his clothing was nearly nonexistent.
However, thanks to the General's powerful magic, the wounds were already
beginning to heal.  Jadeite smiled, and prepared his counterattack.

***********************************************************************

        The smoke had cleared.  The youma were gone, destroyed or
returned back to the twisted hell they originated from.  Now, however, a
new battle seemed to be about the begin.
        Three Senshi and two Champions stared at each other across the
cafe.  The silent staring that seemed to precede all such conflicts
stretched out, neither side willing to be the first to attack.  The few
bystanders remaining conscious were fleeing the battleground, though the
cafe's owner, Allana Farrell, remained huddled against the back wall,
paralyzed with fear.
        "We don't need to fight," Zeus said.  "Not now."
        "Why not?" Sailor Pluto began, only to be silenced by a glare
from Uranus.
        The blond Senshi glanced at the Champions, then nodded,
sheathing her Space Sword.  "All right," she said simply.
        Pluto gave her a worried look, but Neptune merely nodded and her
own Talisman vanished.  At this, Zeus smiled and took a step back.  It
looked as though the new policy of avoiding conflict with the Senshi
would actually bear fruit for once.
        What happened next was probably an accident.  Aphrodite's sword
made a slight movement, one that was, in retrospect, nearly certainly an
unintentional action or the beginning of lowering it.  But, at the time,
suspicious minds were able to see it as the beginning of a treacherous
attack.
        "Deep Submerge!" The quick attack sent the unprepared Champions
slamming into the wall.  This preemptive strike was followed a moment
later by a World Shaking.
        Zeus struggled to his feet, face set into a grimace.  The Senshi
obviously could not be trusted, if they couldn't even hold a truce for a
handful of seconds.  "Thunder Bolt!"
        The blast of lightning did not hit the Senshi, but it forced
them to take cover behind an overturned table.  Behind this, they would
be safe for the moment, until they could launch a counter-assault.  Or
so they thought.
        "Excuse me, ladies," came a rather pleasant voice from behind
them.  The three sets of eyes soon latched onto the form of a man clad
in aqua plate armor, with the symbol of Neptune displayed on the
breastplate. "Tidal Wave!"
        Though they were battered by the attack, the Senshi quickly
regrouped while the Champions recovered and formed a battle line.
        "Poseidon," Zeus said with a smile.  "So Hermes managed to
Awaken you?"
        "Not exactly," replied the newly discovered Champion.  "I'll
tell you later.  We have business now."
        "Right," Zeus said with a nod, and the three Champions returned
their attention to the Senshi.
        But the Senshi were now ready for them, and they easily avoided
the Champion's attacks.  Pluto rolled to the side, beneath another of
Zeus's bolts of lightning, and readied her staff.
        "Dead Scream."

***********************************************************************

        Uji was in a state of mild shock.  He had known that something
was up with Sachiko, but this... this was impossible.  But he had seen
the evidence with his own eyes.  Three simple words, and Sachiko became
a Champion.  He didn't recognize her armor, so he assumed she was a
recent recruit.
        It quickly became obvious that they were nearing the scene of
the battle, what with the fleeing crowds and such.  Uji now really
wished he had not left his camera behind.  He shoved his way through the
crowd, wondering why he was not joining them in fleeing.  There was
nothing he could do at the scene of the battle.
        But something inside him, perhaps that "photographer's instinct"
some of the paper's more regular contributors spoke of, told him that he
absolutely had to get a clear view of the battle.  Uji blinked as he got
his first glimpse of the battleground.  The Crown Cafe was barely
recognizable, its whole front shattered.  Bodies were everywhere, though
whether they were dead or unconscious he could not tell.  He sincerely
hoped the latter would prove to be the truth.
        He glanced about, quickly noting Sachiko's form, hiding behind a
pile of rubble from whatever was in the room.  He nodded as she suddenly
raced to another set of cover.  She was obviously trying to sneak around
behind someone... or something, without her presence being noticed.
        Uji frowned and began to thread his own path through the rubble.
Even though he couldn't photograph anything, he had to know what exactly
was going on.  A few moment's crawl later, he was cautiously peeking
over a pile of rubble that had probably been the front wall of the
Crown.
        Inside the cafe, the Champions and Senshi were facing off.  And
there was another new Champion!  Uji wondered where they were all coming
from.  He thought he spied a glimpse of Sachiko's armor across the room,
but it was impossible to tell for sure.  He was considering moving to
try and get a better view, when something else attracted his attention.
        "Dead Scream."
        It was as though a dam he had never known existed had been
destroyed.  Everything was suddenly so clear.  New memories were open to
him, memories of an ancient time, of another civilization.  Power flowed
through and around, a dark power that was his to command.  And with
three words, similar to those with which Sachiko had shocked him a brief
time ago. he summoned that power to battle.
        His armor was black like the void of space, relieved only by the
bone white sigil that declared his planet.  A grim smile appeared on his
face as Hades rose, sword in hand, and joined the battle.
        At some point since he had last looked, Medea had attacked, and
now the Senshi were surrounded, searching for a escape route.  Hades
fought the urge to laugh at the expressions of dismay that appeared on
their faces as he rose.
        The other Champions made space for him in their ranks, and the
five warriors were certain that soon their foes would fall.  And with
the most dangerous Senshi save only Serenity herself and Saturn out of
the equation, victory would be near assured.
        But they would never know, as at that instant the familiar
sirens of the police sounded outside.  Voices called for the combatants
to emerge with their hands up, but none of them had any intention of
following that order.  However, neither did they have any desire for a
conflict with the police.
        A silent message passed between the warriors on both sides, as
well as a silent agreement.  The Champions quickly departed, and were
soon followed by the Senshi.  This battle would have to wait for another
time... but it would come.  It would come.
        And, forgotten behind the cafe's counter, a shaking Allana
Farrel slowly calmed herself.

***********************************************************************

        Mordrangar growled as Jadeite's firebolts spattered harmlessly
off his scaled hide.  "Your efforts only delay your defeat, human.  You
are nearly dead, and I am completely unharmed.  Beg for mercy, and maybe
I will grant it."
        Jadeite took a few steps forward, until he stood only a few feet
from the Dragon.  "Mercy is for the weak," he replied.  "Inferno!"  A
raging whirlwind of flame obscured the former general for a moment,
forcing the Dragon back, but when the flames died down, Jadeite had
fallen to one knee from the effort.
        Mordrangar stared down at his opponent for a moment.  "Then...
you will die."  He opened his fanged mouth wide, and prepared for the
final strike.  A torrent of acid spewed from the Dragon's mouth, hissing
and steaming as it was exposed to the air for the first time.
        Beneath the Dragon, Jadeite smiled, and with a new burst of
strength summoned forth another wall of fire, this one far more
successful than the first.  The acid exploded into flame as it struck
Jadeite's defensive magic, sending both combatants flying.
        Mordrangar was first to recover, shaking his head.  "Fool!  I
will destroy you!"  The very earth heaved beneath Jadeite, sending him
flying once again.
        Jadeite smiled, and, feigning unconsciousness, used a tiny bit a
magic to adjust his flight path.  His opponent laughed as he noticed the
direction of Jadeite's travel, and opened his mouth wide once more.
The eyes of both armies were now fixed on the struggle, which now seemed
about to end.
        At the last possible moment before he fell into Mordrangar's
maw, Jadeite acted.  He shot upward like an arrow, a sword of flame
forming in his hands.  Mordrangar had a moment to realize his mistake
before the fiery blade plunged into his right eye.  Mordrangar's head
shook from side to side rapidly, as the Dragon attempted to dislodge
Jadeite.  The Dark Kingdom's ruler was not moved however, and channeled
the last elements of his power through his blade... and into the Dragon.
        The explosion sent Jadeite into the air once more, and left the
right half of Mordrangar's face a bloody ruin... and the Dragon dead.
The serpentine corpse shuddered a few more times, then slowly faded into
nothingness.  Jadeite rose to his feet, and was soon joined by Nyxan and
Ishamanar.  The now unchallenged king raised his fiery sword high.  His
magically amplified voice echoed throughout the entire battlefield.
"Surrender... or be destroyed."
        The forces of the Mountains of Desolation hesitated, and then
one by one they lowered their banners and dropped their weapons.
Jadeite's army surged forward, shouts of victory filling the air.
Jadeite himself turned towards his Generals, and smiled as his sword
vanished.  "Victory," he half-whispered, savoring the word.
        The war in the Dark Kingdom was over.

***********************************************************************

Authorial Random Ramblings

1) This story is now officially more than half over.  Just so you know.

2) As always, kneel and worship before those brave souls who choose to 
preread my horrible, horrible writings. They are: Angus MacSpon,
Chaeotica, 
and my ever-loving sister Rebecca Nowack.  Or, if kneeling and
worshipping 
isn't your thing, just read Angus's excellent fanfics, and pester him
about 
the next chapter of Sailor Moon 4200.

3) Please do C&C this, if you read it!  It's muchly appreciated!

4) Previous chapters, as always, can be found at Fanfiction.Net or 
http://www.geocities.com/anowack/
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