Fatal Fury Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Sailor Rifts ❯ Chapter 44: Nigh, The Final Confrontation ( Chapter 44 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Sailor Moon/Rifts Crossover (Revised Edition) By Simon Woodington

Chapter 44: When It Ends, Obvious Shall It Be. Or, the Final
Confrontation

'Neo Senshi maintain your positions!' Ayla commanded with
ill-confidence in their waning strength. Masurani grunted as she made
a corpse of another shadowling by impalement.

'Not as,' she deftly gave a smooth, upward sweep with her staff, the
energy of it slicing three creatures into sections. '...Easy as it...'
she blocked the swiping strike of a dark blade, '...looks!'

'Hai,' Haisha agreed, fighting back a sneeze as much as nimbly ducking
and weaving around several strikes before slashing furiously with her
fiery samurai blade. 'We're...' she paused an instant to sneeze
harshly. 'Weakening, and the CSM is losing their ground. We're only
outnumbered three-to-one, but we're still outclassed. They've gotten
stronger!'

'Odd to admit weakness Phoenix-chan!' Naritha stated with a rough
voice and only hinted humour, knowing the seriousness of their
situation.

Haisha could only frown, frustrated. As the circle tightened, each
warrior seemed to feel their control slipping, angry, hurt, and
accepting somehow they had done what they could.

:Damn, she's forgotten!:

She watched the five member fighting group recede while the enemy
surrounded them, pressing their advantage even while bickering amongst
itself. Her eyes narrowed in scrutiny. She winced, watching Haisha
collapse, to be caught by Masurani who seemed to call something. The
ill girl nodded slightly.

:No! It's not her fault! She's not taking the seed because I didn't
give her any for her team!; she noted, cursing her own foolishness.
She hefted the heavy, two handed blade (which she held with only one),
and promptly disappeared.

Haisha saw the blade descend, and knew she had not the strength to
deflect it.

But it never landed. Abruptly, the shadowling was reduced to pieces
before dissolving with a familiar low-pitched hiss. The other two
dozen surrounding creatures were destroyed similarly.

'Ayla?'

She was adorned in a deep purple cat suit with thick, white gloves and
boots, an orange sleeve raised collar overcoat, an iridescent silver
pendent, scabbard upon her back, and a dagger strapped to her left
calf.

Ayla blinked at the sudden change in her aunt.

"You look so different! Um..."

"Older? Look, don't worry about it now. Take the seed! I've got more
for the rest of your senshi. A promise is a promise."

She reached into a previously unnoticed pouch and retrieved several
seed while Ayla consumed hers. Her reddened, blurry eyes came into
focus, the heavy grey mist of fatigue lifted from her mind as her
wounds lightened, and all but faded completely.

'Wow,' she breathed, amazed beyond belief as she exercised her
newfound speed, briefly disappearing. 'I feel incredible!'

She nodded before approaching Masurani, who arched an eyebrow at Ayla,
breathing deeply, on the edge of baby-like weakness.

'These things are conditional,' she warned, proffering a seed to the
hesitant young woman. 'You'll get your strength back more than
twofold, but there's a price.'

'For that I'll take my bloody chances!' she declared, swallowing the
seed and reveling in the instant rush of power that flowed through her
being. She snarled eagerly, flaring an angry white aura about her
body.

'Let's take 'em!'

As they recovered, the others nodded agreement.

'Frick, I can breathe!' Haisha laughed. 'I don't know what that did,
but now my head is only throbbing a little!'

Naritha growled, raising her arms from which an impressive arc of
energy spiked.

'We end battle now!' she declared, summoning the pair of energy-based
gauntlets which she had previously lost due to her weakness. 'Uraki
lose now!'

Jisuruka caused a pool of dark light to consume them, bringing gasps
of shock to the five other young women.

'What are you doing Sailor Mortalis?' Ayla demanded.

'The first thing that came to mind,' she stated. 'You want us to get
to the crystal so we can toast it, right?'

'Yes,' she began suspiciously. 'How will this help?'

'Look,' Haisha gestured, gazing at the confused looking shadowlings as
they milled about the dark cocoon of energy. 'They can't see us!'

'Right. I knew I could do this, I just didn't have the power for it.'

'What?! We have other powers?' Ayla started, looking aghast. Haisha
looked puzzled, regarding her mystified leader.

'You mean you don't...' she shared a smirk with Naritha. 'Sol, our
crystals will do anything we tell them to! Just get creative! You'll
know if you've got the chi for it.'

'Vampire!' Naritha cried, eyes wide with fear.

'W-what?!' Ayla stammered, sure she had heard the last recent
weirdness.

'You!' she pointed, glaring at Zia. 'Say nothing, but need chi to
survive! You chi-vampire!'

Ayla whirled upon her dear relative with an expression of total
disillusionment.

'Naritha wouldn't lie,' she growled. 'She almost doesn't know how!
What does she mean!?'

Zia bowed her head as she spoke.

'That was my cost,' she admitted. 'That's what taking the seed did to
me.'

'Why didn't you say anything? I trust you, it...'

'Of course it would have made a difference. Are you sure you would
have trusted me anyway?'

Ayla glanced at Naritha.

'Not evil, Sol-chan. She loves too much to hurt, you or us.'

'Then why did you react like that?'

Naritha bowed, embarrassed.

'Never felt power of hers before! In nature of kind scared me! Dark
hunger in soul frighten me.'

Mortalis spoke, breaking the tension.

'I can't hold this for much longer! If we're going to destroy that
frippin' crystal, let's do it!'

'Take us there, Mortalis. Haisha, I want you to figure out how to
penetrate its shield. I'll take care of shattering it.'

'Hai, Sailor Sol.'

Ayla turned on Zia again, anger still burning within.

'You knew this would happen. You know my senshi almost as well as I
do. Why didn't you just tell me?'

Zia hesitated before issuing words forth, for there seemed so little
to say.

'I guess I screwed up by underestimating you. I wasn't sure if you
were prepared to put so much faith in me. Especially after leaving you
and your mother the way I did, and after being away for so long.'

Zia fell silent, and Ayla read in her face why. :That's all there is
to it:

'I still love you Zia-san,' Ayla professed. 'Even though it creeps me
out. I still trust you. It might have taken a while, but you've always
told me the truth, even when I didn't want to hear it. I will always
love you.'

Ayla drifted forward and hugged Zia tightly, who responded in kind.
After a warmth sharing moment, they parted, and Ayla offered another
insightful comment:

'I know you why you were away. My grandmother, Lia, teaching you
Dragon Claw style? You know she's not the only one in my family to
have mastered it.'

Zia offered Ayla a questioning glance, confirmed by a curt nod.

'I received my sixth degree black belt not long before becoming a
KnightsMage.'

Zia whistled, impressed.

'So it skipped a generation? I was wondering. Your Mama-san took
Tai-chi instead.'

'So that's why grandma got so upset when we talked about that!'

Zia nodded.

'Well, it took me four years, and I'm only third degree black.
Technically you could be my sensei.'

'Four years?! It took me almost four times as long to reach that
point! So, sure... If I didn't count your higher power level and half
dozen other mastered forms,' Ayla stated, rolling her eyes with a
sarcastic grin.

'Higher! Not by a long shot!'

She set the woman with a curious expression.

'What do you mean?'

'If what I sense is right, then your power has more than quintupled! I
don't know why... or how, but...'

Ayla grinned, flaring her aura to a deeper, severe looking red. The
four others hovered away slightly, giving Ayla ample space.

'So this is just the tip of the iceberg...' she hissed with a
death-seeking grin.

'Holy flippin' hell!' Masurani whispered, her eyes locked on the
incredible power source she felt from her recently comparatively weak
friend. 'What the heck are we gettin' into...?'

---

'Most impressive, Tsukino Usagi, Queen of the shattered Moon Kingdom.'

'It's not...'

'It IS!' Galaxia retorted. 'I saw to that personally!'

The group of warriors shuddered in the dim purple light which had come
to surround them out of the darkness following the destruction of
Uraki-Ayo Ginzui.

'Why tell us what we already know?' Ami demanded, stepping forward.
'It no longer matters!'

'Oh really? Tell me why.'

'Because we are here.'

There was a drawn out laughter. Natole gave a lingering gasp, dropping
to his knees. There was a flicker as Ami rushed to him, and he was
gone.

'Do you really believe that? "I will win because I am here." A fool's
arguement, surely!'

'Natole!' Ami cried, falling on her knees in the place he had last
resided.

'I will take everything you have.'

Ami shuddered, eyes wide, her body fading away as the purple light
retreated.

'Amiii!' Usagi cried, her voice receiving no reply. 'No!'

Usagi gripped tightly to Mamoru, who in failing to bring light to
their surroundings, became an even more secure anchor in their plight.

'Obviously you overestimated your power,' the voice glowered. 'You
have all overstayed your welcome.'

Then, like the flickering violent power of lightning, Galaxia struck.
As she did, the final surprised images of each seemingly unbeatable
warrior bore permanent places in Usagi's consciousness. As did the
voices in their last echoing cries. Weeping and seeking desperately
the source, a hole was rent in her soul as the presence she so dearly
desired was suddenly removed.

'Mamoru! Noooo!'

'You are a fool, child!'

The purple light returned, displaying Usagi hanging in the air, curled
up against herself, her tears slowly subsiding as one thing came to
her: She was alive.

'You can't kill me, can you...' she muttered faintly, raising her
head.

Silence.

'Why not?'

A crimson beam struck her abruptly, sending her tumbling against a
wall, in which she carved a niche. She spat blood, elbowing herself
out of the wall.

'Ugghh,' she groaned.

'You simple, stupid child. Are you disillusioned enough to believe
yourself immortal? You can die. You will die.'

The next struck her left wing, shattering the delicate bones within,
so that she collapsed upon the ground. She lay there no longer than an
instant, dragging herself to her feet.

'Why are you taking your time?' she winced, holding her shattered arm.
'Why not wipe me out as you did my friends?'

'Because I wish you to experience the pain I have known!'

As her other wing splintered under the force of another strike,
Usagi's mind clicked upon something familiar. Pain. And yes, how she
had experienced it. How chaotic her life had been during their
struggle in the alternate Earth...

---

Haisha trembled and shook as the dark tendrils of force roared through
her body, her hands laid upon a shield only visible were they met. Her
head tossed back, eyes aglow with a white light, before she closed
them and pulled away.

'Now!' she commanded.

Ayla raised her glowing arms, her aura spiked about them as she neared
the twisting black hurricane swirling about the Vortex crystal. The
other senshi kept a path clear for Ayla, beating back any shadowling
that neared, dispersing them easily now.

:Naritha! Guide me!:

Squinting and pushing her hands in front of her, she made as if to
dive into the surface of the crystal. With a cheer from the other
senshi, she plunged past the ward of dark force which had previously
blocked them from their target. She flew forth, nearing the shimmering
surface of the great nexus of energy, and with an earth shuddering
rumble, disappeared into its surface.

'Sailor Sol?!' Masurani gasped after passing moments of battle.

The rumbling returned, the power of it threefold, startling warrior,
senshi and shadowling alike, who halted, gazing motionlessly at the
monstrous capsule of chi. Haisha blinked, gazing at the potential
victory, and determined to act upon it.

'Senshi! Strike while the enemy is distracted! Full force!'

Masurani grinned.

'She asked for it! Sailor Titan - Blazing Force Henshin!'

Her body became a living extension of her greatest energy expulsion,
glowing with a furious light as she struck down the opposing force in
multiples of tens. Naritha ushered similar numbers of shadowlings back
to their dimension with large bolts of energy surging forth from her
gauntlets.

'Sailor Seraph - Banish Storm!'

Haisha would have laughed at this pronouncement, except for her own
focus, and its effectiveness. The sudden snow which descended caused
any shadowling which came in contact with it to burst into dust
immediately. By the time she had decided upon a course of attack, it
no longer seemed necessary.

'No!' Zia exclaimed. 'Ayla hasn't succeeded yet! They're still
coming!'

'Cripes! Sailor Phoenix - Molten Firebirds!'

Dozens upon dozens of winged creatures of seething flame swarmed
across the sky, picking at the shadowlings and reducing their numbers.
Haisha glanced at Mortalis, who had yet to contribute her attack.

'Sailor Mortalis - Holy Warrior Henshin!'

It was then their attitude towards the strange, clone warrior was
forever altered. Her armor assumed a flawless white, and the form of a
classic knight, while in place of war hammers was a gleaming
broadsword of forged mystic silver, a shield of white and crimson, and
an aura of near blinding presence. Individually, she destroyed
hundreds of creatures in mere minutes, a white blur from even Zia's
enhanced perspective.

:Why are you taking so long Ayla?!; Haisha thought worriedly. The
rumbling had become a form of white noise, until it increased, and
finally shattered with an earth shuddering roar. A rain of shimmering
crystal dust permeated the air.

'Now it's only what's left!' Masurani cheered, even though she still
beheld another five hundred or so creatures yet to be laid waste...

---

'Grrraaaaah! No!'

:The Neo Senshi have succeeded!; Usagi felt. The weakening of
Galaxia's aura was so dramatic, that she sensed she may yet have a
chance.

'Fight me!'

The midnight haired figure glared at Usagi, amazed by her lack of
retaliation, and that of defense.

'No. I won't fight you. You are wrong about the Moon Kingdom,
Galaxia,' she murmured, leaning heavily against a stone pillar, one
eye swollen shut, her kimono torn and falling from her bruised and
slashed body.

'There is nothing! The rubble of your life upon the Moon was blown to
dust centuries ago! If you believe anything else, than you are idiot!'

'The kingdom lives, the joy, the love, and hope. All of it, the great
castle which I spent the years of my youth with Queen Serenity. It
lives within me. Within my heart and soul. If there is something I
have learned over the last years of exile, it's that home is where you
make it, where ever you may be. Home is where you love, live, and
hope! I have renewed hope because of the faith others have put in me,
and the love, and friendship they have given. You cannot kill that. My
friends, like the Moon Kingdom, will never die, so long as I remember
them.'

Even from the great distance between them, Usagi could feel the harsh
scowl upon Galaxia's fury distorted visage.

'You have no friends... no future, and during your deserved exile you
suffered so greatly! How can you still have this determination?!'

'Because I cannot let you win.'

'Then fight me. You cannot defeat me otherwise.'

'No. I will not.'

'Fool!' she cackled. 'Then you will die, Tsukino Usagi! And everything
you hold dear will perish with you!'

Even as she was tossed against the floor by a further damaging blast,
her mind reached out defensively, striking into Galaxia's
consciousness. Within, was...

'Usagi-san!' chirped a tiny, female voice. That of a child, some
three, four years of age. Physically, at least. She wore a uniform
like that of years past, white suit, blue skirt, red bow. It was all
so familiar, even for the time in distance passed. 'You must help. You
must fight!'

'Why? Who are you?'

The little girl regarded her seriously.

'I am her,' she pointed, to the seemingly frozen Galaxia. 'I am a
shard of her soul. She is too weak to bind me anymore!'

'I don't understand,' she whispered, gasping out in agony as her leg
described the bone which had been slivered to fragments. 'What does it
mean?'

'You are going to save us. You see, a long time ago we fought Chaos,'
she blinked. 'Even the best Senshi in the universe could not win
against it. Except us. There was no other greater senshi in the entire
universe. We faced it. In order to win, we absorbed Chaos into us. It
was too much! Too much! It took us over! We turned against our allies,
stealing their power, making it our own. It was intoxicating. So we
let those who wished to serve us gather more power on our behalf. We
destroyed the other senshi. Every last one.'

'Like my friends!' she breathed shallowly.

The small girl nodded.

'You must fight! It is the only way to defeat Chaos!'

'I can't! I can't even stand!' she started, shaking violently. 'I
don't have the power...'

'Enough!' Galaxia snapped. Instantly Usagi heard the link between the
two, the age difference in the same voice. 'There is nothing she can
do! She will die, and fulfill her destiny!'

:It's not about power...; a distant, older female voice said.

:What...?:

'FIGHT!!'

'Ughh!'

:It never was:

:I know you!!:

'What?!?' Galaxia started, falling short as she prepared another surge
of violent force. Slowly, Usagi began to rise from the ground,
hovering erratically.

'You are Sailor Galaxia!'

'You are a fool, child!' the woman retorted, but did not laugh.

'You wanted me because I was the only one strong enough...'

'Rrrraaaagggh!!'

'Fight Usagi!' the girl chimed, fading away as the blast washed over
Usagi, pulling her out of the air and slamming her into another wall.

For a ponderous, fearful swatch of time, Usagi was motionless, her
body a swirling pit of agony, her mind clouded and dispersed. It
wasn't until she recalled the sacrifice of her dear, loving, and loyal
friends that she willed herself move, even though doing so summoned
more pain than being struck again by Galaxia.

'To...' she spat crimson. 'To save you!'

With that, Usagi rose, a familiar power surging through her body. It
had taken time, but what healing power she provided others, was
available to her. In a wash of turquoise it restored her to the state
of their initial encounter, sans a wealth of internal chi. With
determined eyes, she summoned a glass shield, and leapt towards her
far removed target. The first crimson blast of unholy fury was parried
by no more than a naked hand, while those in wait landed upon the
shield, leaving nothing so much as a scorch mark.

'The child lies!' Galaxia stormed, causing the cave to shudder and
rain stone missiles as Usagi neared. 'She is but a child, and does not
understand! There is nothing you can do!'

Usagi pressed on, having covered half the distance towards her. It was
obvious now. With so much energy expended, she could only manage
simple dark force blasts. Moreover, her will was not behind them!
Ultimately, she landed before the woman, who was gorgeous despite her
dark nature. Usagi banished the shield and took towards her, easily
dodging her sluggish defensive movements and laying her hands upon her
shoulders.

Somewhere within, a woman of identical form, yet deep red hair and
countenance of light gazed upwards, and smiled.