Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Death and Rebirth ❯ Death and Rebirth 17 ( Chapter 17 )

Death and Rebirth

Chapter seventeen:

Juban, afternoon:

The eight remaining senshi, Tuxedo kamen and the animals were all gathered around the manhole Sailor Saturn had climbed down about an hour ago.

"I still don't understand why you had to wait," Artemis protested, "You should've called us earlier. Who knows what they've been doing to Minako!"

"Artemis!" Luna scolded, "All of us are worried, don't take it out on Kashaku-san." The white cat sighed and lowered his head.

"You're right Luna-chan. Gomen nasai Kashaku-san."

"I understand your anger Sir Artemis, and I blame myself as well." The guardian shook his head. "As to why I waited, lady Saturn ordered me to. When I went to you at the hospital, it was because the warrior told me to, and having lady Saturn search for him with her mind was told as a suggestion. While on this realm, I have no choice but to obey orders, and I am limited to guide and suggest but not command. I already broke these rules more than once, and I dare not do it again." He turned his attention towards the senshi. "My ladies, are you ready to go?"

"Hai," Sailor Mars answered, "And don't worry, we'll be back before you know it."

Sailor Moon was the last to climb down the stairs. "Ugh. Couldn't Hotaru-chan think of a better way to reach the tower?"

"Hey, she's gone after Carlos-kun, ne?" Jupiter pointed out, "I'll bet that if Tuxedo Kamen was the one being held, you wouldn't care how much you'd have to go through reach him either, nor I if it was Andre-chan."

"Hai," the princess admitted, "Mercury, can your computer find out where she's gone?"

"Nothing, this new cloaking technique of hers eliminated all trace." The water senshi deactivated her visor. "There aren't even any tracks on the floor."

"Then we'll have to split up," Mars suggested, "Lucky for us she could only chose one out of two paths."

"There are two paths here, but we're surely to find more as we go down the tunnels." The anguish in Pluto's voice made tremendous contrast with her usual demeanor. "But splitting up is the only choice we have. (Sigh) I just hope we find them soon enough."

"Let's get going then," Tuxedo Kamen announced, "Mars, Neptune and Uranus shall go with Sailor Moon. The rest of you, follow me."

As each group ran its own way, one thought ran through the wind senshi's mind.

It's my fault, it's all my fault.

*****

Whirlpool Compound:

Kara knocked on the door. "Paul, are you in there?" There was no answer so she decided to let herself in. Just as she thought, the room was empty. The mocha-skinned woman sighed and threw herself on the bed. The amount of thoughts in her head was overwhelming. Damn you Karasu! Couldn't you just kill me instead of telling me that? The boy couldn't have just lied, not about something like that. But she had no proof that told her otherwise. Her cycle was still two weeks away from completion, and the last time she had been intimate with Allen was less than a week ago. That would mean that she was only a few days pregnant, much too early to show any symptoms or to use a home-test. A trip to the doctor might be able to eliminate all doubt, but it was also a sure way for her lover to find out and she didn't want him to know yet. But she needed someone to talk to, and that someone was Paul.

Since the whirlpool gang was been created, the dark martyr had become her favorite of the bunch. At first she mocked his strict sense of honor, but his determination and zealousness convinced her in the end. While Willy, Chris and Blaze kept trying to make a move on her, he respected her as a woman and as leader. And when she teased or tried seducing him playfully, he scolded her like he would a little sister. At that moment she realized that she had always taken those facts for granted.

"Can I help you, Kara?"

The woman arose with a start and found Paul at the door. "Or are you just leaving?"

"Actually, I was looking for you," she responded, "Did you hear the news? We were finally able to capture the karasu."

"So I've heard. But that's not why you're here, is it?"

"No it isn't," the black-haired woman snorted, "Umm, Allen's going to be very busy all day and I want to go out. I'd like for you to keep me company today." He stared at her for a while.

"I have things to do as well," he finally said.

"And what do you have to do?" Kara demanded as she got to her feet, "Exactly why the hell are you acting so damn mysterious? Snooping around, asking questions, meeting with the guards and doctors. Do you have any idea what Allen will do to you if you go too far?"

"Does it matter to you?" the black man asked calmly.

"Yes-" She interrupted herself. He had raised a point. Why would an insane woman care about the fate of another person?

Before she met Allen, no one had cared about her. She was born female in a world run by men. No one cared for the little girl she was, only the body she possessed. She'd been used and abused in so many ways by so many people; her stepfather and his drunk friend, coach Jones, the first boy she ever had a crush on and so on. That's why she chose a life of promiscuity and later on murder; it was an easy escape for her pain. No, her feelings had never mattered to anyone. Why shouldn't the opposite also be true?

"Yes, Paul, it matters to me. What happened to you?" Quietly, Paul headed for the door.

"I really don't know," he said with a curious smile, "perhaps the same thing which happened to you." He left her alone with her thoughts.

"Yes, it matters to me," she repeated softly, "…my friend."

*****

"Another dead end," Venus said, "I told you we should've asked the soldier to repeat his directions before you knocked him out and stuffed him into the air shaft."

"Hey, I'd like to see you trying keeping your cool after being carved up by a bunch of eggheads." Karasu retorted, "Besides, Saturn here's the one who forgot the way."

"I was hurrying in order to save you, remember? Besides, I've already thought of a plan to reach the exit," Saturn added, sure of herself. Her companions raised an eyebrow at her. "We're in an underground base, ne? All we have to do is find some stairs or an elevator and go up." Venus sweat-dropped, that sounded like something Usagi or herself would come up with.

"One thing's for sure," Karasu quipped, "your brains are not the reason I like you."

"Fine, let's see you come up with-What did you say?"

"Uh, umm, er, I…What are we standing around here for? Let's get going!" He hurried away and Saturn was left blushing. The senshi of love stepped up and tapped her friend's shoulder.

"You're getting to him," she whispered into her ear.

"Please don't start."

"Hey muchachas!" the warrior called out, "I found a door." The girls walked over.

"And what good will it do?" the silent senshi asked, "It's got a combination lock."

"But I've got this." The boy pulled a card out of his coat. "I took it from that nerd along with his pants, I thought it would come in handy." He ran the item through the slit and the door opened. "Wait here while I check it out." He walked in slowly, drawing out his katana. "I can't feel anyone, 'course, they could be using cloaking gizmos."

"I don't think there is anyone, it's pitch dark in here," Venus said as she entered, "But quite large judging from the echo. And what's that smell?"

"Well, I definitely didn't go through here, so we should go back to the corridor," Saturn commented as she followed. Once inside, the door slid shut again. "Then again, it's someplace else we can look." She searched for another card-slit but found none. "By the silence, we're stuck."

The trio went further into the room. Even after their sight had adjusted, they had to walk slowly and close together. The darkness wasn't so bad, the thing that unsettled them was the weird smell, plus a strange noise that was heard now and then.

"Look, I don't care if the lights reveal our location," Venus complained, "I know the dark's keeping us hidden, but if were able to see where we're going, the faster we'll get out of here."

"I second that," Saturn said, "Wait here while I go back and try to find a switch."

"Saturn."

"Karasu, I'll be fine. It's not that far to go." A little unsure, she went back down what she believed was the right way. "There's something in here!" she exclaimed suddenly.

"Nani?"

"I touched the wall and it drew back. There's something in here and it's alive."

"Impossible," Karasu said, "I would've felt it." Everyone kept quiet and paid attention. The noise did sound like something crawling around.

"Well I'm too tired to play guessing games." The violet haired girl raised her hand and sparks began to swirl around it. "Shield your eyes." She threw the glowing orb upwards and it exploded, illuminating the entire room and irritating the skeleton drones that covered the walls.

"Great move Witchey-boo."

"Shut up and fight! Silence glaive surprise!" As soon as one side of the room exploded, Sailor Saturn turned around and cleaved three drones that were coming from behind. Karasu no shi leaped away from the other two and began to slice away with his katana. One of the bugs stabbed him in the chest, unfazed, he stuck his hand into its eye and crushed its brain.

"Crescent beam!" Venus' golden beam bounced harmlessly off the drone. "Kuso, I'm too tired!"

"Then stay low. Silence Wall!" The barrier surrounded Venus, a dozen drones crashed against it and started clawing it. The silent senshi was ready to make a lot of noise, she slammed the flat of her glaive on the floor and it began to vibrate. "Saturn shockwave!" A bright, violet ripple went through the insects, annihilating them.

Karasu rushed over and along with Saturn, started to behead more bugs. The undead warrior glimpsed at the girl and noticed she was breathing heavily. The results from the fight last night, not sleeping, and healing him and Venus were beginning to show. To make matters worse, there were hundreds of drones still left to go!

"Ebon shears! Saturn, get into the shield, I'll take care of these things!"

"Nani? I'm not letting you face these things alone!"

"You're too tired! Leave me to them, NOW!"

"Don't you tell me what to-KYAA!!" Her distraction allowed one of the drones to claw her shoulder from behind.

"HOTARU!! URK!" Karasu had his throat skewered by a talon. Venus saw more drones approach her friends and jumped out of the silence wall.

"Venus love and beauty shock!" The blast affected a large number of the bugs and the senshi collapsed. All three heroes were down and surrounded. Desperate, the silent senshi pushed herself up and raised her weapon. "Silence glaive-"

"Drones, stop!"

Once the command was shouted, the scenario switched from chaos to calm. Puzzled, Saturn turned to find out who'd done this. She became even more puzzled when she saw a member of the whirlpool gang.

"You're lucky the drones are preprogrammed to obey us," Paul said with a grin, "Otherwise, neither of us would be here." Karasu got up and made a gurgling noise. With an annoyed grumble, he pulled the claw out and waited for his throat to heal.

"Sí, well you're not lucky at all." He charged towards the black man with the katana at the ready and stopped right in front him. "There's something different about you," the warrior commented in a dark voice.

"It's because of you," the dark martyr replied in a similar tone, "You did something to me when we fought. But I still don't know whether to be spiteful or grateful."

"Gomen, I'm sure your conversation is quite interesting," Venus interrupted tiredly, "But would you mind discussing somewhere else that's not here?" One of the drones was standing much too close to the blonde.

"Certainly, follow me please." As they left, Karasu went closer to Saturn.

"Are you all right?"

"It was just a scratch, easy to heal," she answered while rubbing her shoulder, "But what are you going to do about Paul? You don't trust him, do you?"

"Of course not, and I want to take care of him now. But something in my head tells me I already did."

*****

"Did you two have any luck?" Neptune asked through the communicator.

"Ie, we've reached a dead end," Mars answered, "We're catching up with you in a minute." She closed communication. "Sailor Moon?"

"Mars, do you think we'll be able to find Mina-chan and the others?"

"Of course we will," the raven-haired senshi replied in her usual tone for such questions, "we just have to look harder."

"Let me rephrase the question. Do you think Hotaru-chan will allow us to find them?" The fire senshi blinked at the princess. "She is using her Silent shadow you know."

"Usagi, she's using it to hide from our enemies, not us."

"Then why did she sneak away this morning?" They started running. "Both of us know the outer senshi still keep to themselves most of the time. But Hotaru-chan has always been different, closer to everyone. I would've at least expected her to tell Setsuna-san."

"It may be because of Carlos-san, though not in the wrong way. I risk sounding like you, but he's become very important to her." The Moon princess snorted at that last comment. "Plus Uranus' attitude mustn't have helped much either."

"Hai, and I'm also worried about Haruka-kun, now that you mention it."

"Really, how come?"

"She was trailing behind us as we ran down the first tunnel."

"Che! Odango head, what's so weird about that?" Sailor Moon answered with another question.

"Since when does Sailor Uranus stay behind?" Mars nodded silently, she looked up and noticed they were approaching the outer senshi.

"Let's concentrate on finding our friends, okay? We'll worry about the rest later."

"They're coming," Neptune said as she tapped her wrist, "I suggest we walk now, they'll be able to catch up and we won't risk missing any details." Uranus was leaning against the wall, staring emptily at nothing. "Uranus?"

"Hai," the sand-blonde said tiredly. They walked slowly for a while before speaking again.

"Uranus, what's wrong?"

"I'm just worried, that's all," she answered hastily.

"You're beyond worried," the ocean senshi insisted, "You're not acting like yourself at all. Now, what's wrong?" Uranus didn't answer, so Neptune let another minute pass quietly. "What happened back at Hikawa?"

"Nothing." The aqua-haired senshi stood right in front of her and gave a piercing gaze. "(sigh) I was angry because that armored bitch caught us and I blamed Hime-chan for choosing to go after Navarro. She insisted on defending him, and baka that I am, couldn't understand why! I lost my temper and struck her, very hard." Neptune's eyes widened in shock, Uranus noticed. "Go ahead, whatever you're going to say, I deserve it."

"Haruka, my love, you are a baka and what you did was much worse than a mistake." She placed her hands on the wind senshi's shoulders, "But adopting this sort of behavior and not doing anything makes you a much bigger fool." Neptune heard footfalls, Sailor Moon and Mars were nearing. "We're going to find our Hime-chan, so pull yourself together, for her sake." Uranus raised her head and gave a grateful smile.

"Domo arigato Michiru."

"You love her, ne?"

"Hai," the wind senshi answered sincerely yet unsure.

"Concentrate on that."

*****

Paul was doing a good job leading the group. They did take a slight detour to pick up his pigeon, but it felt as if they were actually going somewhere. The atmosphere around them, however, was too tense. After all, this man had murdered a large number of people and the one who let the drones loose at Seiryu. Venus decided to strike conversation amongst her friends, something that didn't have to do with him at all.

"Umm, say Karasu I'm curious. Where did you get that katana? Its really something."

"Hai," Saturn agreed, "The drones' skin is hard enough to stop bullets, even our senshi attacks have trouble cracking it. That sword is able to slash them effortlessly." The warrior drew out his weapon and appraised it.

"I never thought about it, but you're right. Those people back at the warehouse, I cut those metal bonds as if they were yarn. And that big rat outside wasn't hard to stab at all."

"And that thing had though skin," the blonde pointed out, "So where did you get it?"

"Actually I just glimpsed and found it at that very warehouse."

"Found it?" Saturn asked incredulously, "You were able to use that thing to stand against me and the Silence Glaive. How could you have just found it?"

"Hey, it could happen," Venus said, "Are you going to name it, Karasu?"

"Qué?"

"Name it, all famous swords have a name. Take Excalibur, Tizona or Matarina for example."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about it for a while." Karasu sheathed his katana and gave the girls a scary grin. "Seventh Sin." The senshi halted as the warrior kept walking. The senshi of love raised an eyebrow at her younger friend.

"Seventh Sin?"

"If I know Karasu no shi well enough," Saturn observed, "wrath."

"This is one of the service tunnels," Paul called out, "it leads straight to the outside. Some areas of the wall are very thin, so let's try to stay silent."

"You're Paul, ne?" Venus asked, "Do you have a reason to be helping us? If you are, that is."

"I am helping," Paul insisted, "And I do it because I've had enough of Poe's manipulation."

"Just like that?" Karasu challenged, "I find that hard to believe." The boy lowered his head and scratched his chin. "But you're not the same person I fought back then, how come?"

"Didn't you look into my head and mess my thoughts during our battle."

"I saw your belief system, but little else."

"Now I'm curious," Saturn called out, "Paul, maybe we'll be less tense around you if you tell us everything."

"Fair enough." The black man cleared his throat and began his tale. "I was born and raised in Nebraska, in the country. I had many things back then: a large house, open spaces, caring parents, a cheerful grandfather, we even owned a horse ranch."

"And you had a pony when you were a kid," the love senshi guessed, "sounds like a fairy tale life."

"It was for a while, but it all changed when I turned six. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, my grandfather and some of his workers were taking care of a horse with a broken leg." The three teenagers stopped suddenly with looks of surprise and disbelief. "I cried as he explained why he had to do it. That it was suffering and had to be put down." He stopped and leaned against the wall. "It's more than obvious that I didn't understand."

"So you went out, found people who you considered to be in pain and…" Saturn paused to steel herself. "What happened afterwards?"

"To make a long story short, Poe found me and used me as a tool. He used lies to make me believe that I was saving people from their suffering. To blind to see that he, through Kara and the others, created that sorrow."

"And too stupid to realize you increased it," Karasu observed. Paul glared back at him. "Kashaku told me once that our actions are like ripples in a pond, you never know how far they can reach. Did you ever stop to think of all the people you affected by killing just one individual? Friends, family, children. Do you know how it feels to lose a loved one?"

"Do you hate me that much?" Paul spat, "Does my own pain cause you such enjoyment?"

"My sister died at your hands," the undead warrior said with calm anger, "I don't care how repented you are, I will never forgive you. And as for your pain," his eyes became darker, "We're murderers, you and I, pain will always be our companion." Karasu walked away without another word. Paul stood still as the senshi went past him, only Saturn paused for a moment.

"We?"

"Karasu is not one to forgive easily," the violet-haired girl ran her hand down her side, "not even himself."

*****

A purple-haired woman and an indigo-haired man, both Hawkins' assistants, were heading towards Blaze's room.

"I still can't believe Poe-sama and the whirlpool gang were able to bring one of the senshi," the man said, "Heck, I still can't believe they're more than an urban myth."

"The same goes for Karasu no shi," she replied, "And if I were you, I'd be more worried about him."

"Hai, I remember what he did to Takata." They arrived to the room. "After you."

"Ie, I don't want to be the one who interrupts that hentai in whatever he's doing in there." The man shrugged and opened the door. "Ara!" A blast of heat came out of the room and hit their faces. "What the hell is he doing?"

"I'll find out, wait here." The man went inside cautiously. The woman waited nervously, biting her thumbnail. "Get over here quick!" he called out almost immediately. She ran inside, door closing behind her, and nearly fainted when she saw Blaze's smoking body.

"Who could've done this? The senshi?"

"Ie, that's very unlikely." He tried to get closer to the redhead in order to examine him, but it was like trying to get close to a bonfire. "This is useless, we better go get-YAAH!" His sleeve caught on fire. In fact, the temperature in the whole room rose considerably. "Let's get out of here!" He tried to put out the flames, but to no avail. She ran to the door and tried to run her card-key through the slit, the plastic melted inside.

"Ie!" She started to pound on the door as her hair ignited. "Help us! Somebody get us out of here!" No one could hear her. And as the heat increased, there would be no more sound in a moment.

*****

Allen Poe scavenged around the room, he didn't want to stay here longer than necessary. This particular storage area wasn't as secure as the rest of the compound, and man with so many dark secrets has a reason to fear such a place. But he had no choice, he needed an item no one else would be able to recognize. So it's understandable that he breathed relief when he finally found said item.

"Who would have thought that after all this time," Allen told to artifact he held, "you'd be what I'd need in the end?" The door slid open at that moment, it was Hawkins.

"Mr. Poe sir, I managed to find the profile on Hotaru Tomoe. I'd thought you'd like to make her your next objective after completing this project."

"You thought right as you often do. It will be interesting to find out how Souichi's daughter turned out after all that's happened to her. You do remember who's responsible, don't you?"

"With all due respect sir, that is to be blamed upon the whims of a young heart." The scientist took a deep breath. "I know you will make me say this, so I will. Souichi and Keiko were some of my best friends. And yes, I wanted Keiko to be more than such."

"A lovely match," the warlock said sarcastically. "But then I showed up, gave my offer and said that only one could have the position you now hold."

"A position I needed badly, sir." The mad doctor scratched his chin. "But I still don't understand how those two survived the explosion."

"Your plan may have failed Hawkins, but sabotaging his project did manage to impress me." The longhaired man chuckled. "Who would have thought that the likes of you would go as far as to eliminate so many? Just to get rid of one rival." He dug his hands into his pockets. "And yet I still wonder. What was your reaction when you learned Keiko had been killed in the explosion?"

"I already knew she was there," Hawkins deadpanned, "I acted according to logic. She and her daughter were no more than expendable casualties."

"SILENCE GLAIVE SURPRISE!!"

The explosion blew Allen and his lackey away. When they managed to rise and the dust had cleared a bit, they saw Sailor Saturn and Karasu no shi standing there with the Silence glaive and Seventh Sin at the ready.

"You," Saturn growled, her eyes flaming violet, "you were the one."

"Somehow, I'm grateful for hearing this," Karasu told Allen as his eyes obtained a hellish blackness, "It gives me another reason to kill you." Sailor Venus and Paul stood behind the pair, far behind. Allen Poe said nothing, calmly, contrasting with Hawkins' shaking, he rose and spoke.

"Well Paul, I'm glad to see you finally found your spine. And you, senshi of Saturn, what do you accuse Hawkins of?"

"Look at my face and figure it out."

"Saturn!" Venus shouted, but it was too late, Hotaru had revealed her identity. Hawkins' eyebrows rose, Poe merely nodded.

"I remember now, your late father showed me a picture of his family once. I'm genuinely surprised that such a sweet girl turned out to be the senshi of destruction, even with all that darkness I saw in you." Hawkins gulped, when said senshi narrowed her amethyst-eyes. Poe stood straight and stepped towards his enemies. "Anyway, you two have given me new knowledge about yourselves, and you have obtained knowledge about me. Will you use it?"

Both dark-haired teens gave out battle cries and charged. Karasu slashed at Poe with a downward motion. The warlock avoided easily, and as the boy continued forward, he hit his jaw with a haymaker.

"Your rage empowers you, but you let it blind you." Karasu received a roundhouse kick. "Pathetic beyond the end." Suddenly, Allen felt weak and stumbled, the undead warrior took the chance and backhanded the man.

"What's the matter? Is your age finally catching up to you?" Poe tried to clutch his chest, and that's where Karasu's first punch landed.

Hawkins wasn't as graceful, but managed to avoid Saturn's glaive. Still, he received a kick in the face.

"A casualty? Is that what Momma meant to you!?" the silent senshi screamed, "You killed all of us that day! Poppa was cheated into giving up his soul for me. And all he obtained was to put me through hell!" Hawkins managed to grab something and throw it at the girl, hitting her in the chest.

"In my opinion, brat, you should show gratitude towards me, I ended up saving your miserable life. Or who do you think helped your father install those cybernetics of yours?" He'd stuck his finger into the wound. Saturn growled and struck the mad doctor with the flat of her weapon, knocking his glasses away.

"For every wire you put into my body, for every second my mother suffered, I'm going to-" Hawkins spun and spit at Saturn, just managing to hit her arm. "KYAA!" She saw her skin begin bubble. "Nani?" She turned again and gasped at discovering her opponent possessed large, green, segmented eyes. He spit acid again as a second pair of arms tore out from his lab-coat, this time Saturn managed to raise her silence wall on time. One of Hawkins' eyes saw his leader in trouble.

"Duck sir!" Poe rolled away and the mutant drone spit at Karasu, hitting him square in the chest.

"YAAH!"

"Karasu!" Two strong hands took hold of her arm.

"Lend me your anger." The girl felt something being drained out of her. With renewed strength running through his body, Poe flung the girl against Karasu with all of his might. The force she was thrown with made them hit the wall. Saturn moaned as she tried to get up, but now both her arms were hurt. The black-haired man walked up to them shaking his head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a shame. I was hoping to learn more from you Mr. Navarro, but I already have what I need; and you Miss Tomoe, you could've been useful, weren't you so dangerous." He raised his hands and formed a dark orb. "So I guess the two of you must die now," he said sympathetically, "Believe me, I'm very sorry."

"Not so fast!"

Poe turned his head and saw Paul rush towards him. The black man jumped from behind Hawkins and stepped on his head for the extra height needed to deliver a flying kick to the warlock. He scored a perfect hit, even if he didn't manage to get him off his feet, so he grabbed him by the cloak and threw him over his shoulder. His foes taken care of, he rushed to aid the young ones.

"Are you all right, little one?"

"Hai, arigato. Karasu?" The undead warrior's regeneration powers had finally beaten the acid.

"I've had enough from these pendejos." He walked up to the fallen ones and put his hands in position. "Ebon-"

Suddenly, the floor shook violently, the whole compound actually!

The increasing energy Blaze's carcass was generating had finally passed critical level and exploded.

Hawkins was the only one who could react adequately. He grabbed his leader and leapt towards the door, Karasu tried to catch up but the ceiling collapsed in front of him. Once they managed to exit the room, Poe pressed the emergency button and a reinforced steel sheet shut the door.

"Hawkins, order the evacuation! I'll find my scrolls and go after those four."

"Yes, Mr. Poe, sir."

"Ebon shears!" More stone fell to cover up the hole he made. "Chingada, We're getting nowhere!"

"Let's get out of here!" Saturn screamed, "The whole place is coming down!" All three ran to join Venus in the tunnel. Smaller explosions and more tremors continued.

"The tunnel looks solid enough," the blonde senshi noted, "We better get to the outside as soon as possible."

"You do that," Paul agreed, "I'll head back and distract Poe, he won't let us go so easily."

"I'm going with you," Karasu said.

"No you're not," the black man responded.

"Poe is my target! I'm if you think I'm taking the chance of letting you join him-"

"Shut up and listen!" Paul ordered in a loud voice, "Look behind you." The undead warrior did so and noticed how exhausted the senshi were. "They won't be able to make it without your help. And there's another reason," he put his hand on the boy's shoulder, "All these years I thought I was doing good, but in truth I did nothing. If I had just opened my eyes a little, realized what I was really doing, yours and a lot of families would've had a much better fate." He got down to his eye level. "What happened to you was my fault for being so blind. I owe this to you." The dark-haired boy kept silent for a minute.

"Poe is very powerful," Karasu said at last, "Distract him, but don't confront him in a straight battle." He held his open hand towards the man who had once been his foe, "Good luck." Paul shook his hand then went over to Venus. She was holding the birdcage with his pigeon inside. "If it's not to much to ask, could you take care of him?"

"Hai." With no more words to be exchanged, he left.

"Will he be all right?" Saturn asked worriedly as she approached her friend.

"I'm not really sure, but he does have a point. He has as much right as I do to exact vengeance upon Poe. And," he turned to look at her, "its more important to get you out of here." They both went over to Venus and helped her on her feet. There was still a fair distance to go.

*****

The intense explosion was heard and felt all around. Obviously, it was felt in the sewers as well. Tuxedo Kamen shielded Sailor Pluto from the falling rocks while Jupiter did the same with Mercury. The water senshi activated her visor immediately after the first tremor.

"There's going to be a lot of aftershocks, but I can still pinpoint where the explosion occurred." Mercury punched buttons into her computer. "That way!" Everyone ran in the indicated direction, Pluto in the lead.

"Mercury, are you sure that's where we're going to find Minako and the others?" the Earth prince asked.

"Actually," Jupiter answered, "considering how loud that explosion was, we better hope they're not there." The heroes came to a screeching halt when they saw what was coming ahead. "And we shouldn't be here either!" A wall of fire was heading towards them.

"Into the water!" Pluto shouted. They all dove. The heat could still be felt as far as they'd submerged, and when they go out, steam was coming out of the filthy surface.

"Well, at least the smell is gone," the thunder senshi quipped. "Matte, Pluto!"

"My Hime-chan is in there! I'm not going to wait!"

*****

Allen Poe used a spell to transcribe all of his annotations concerning Karasu no shi into one scroll.

"There. Now to see what else I can salvage from this wreck."

"Couldn't we just get out of here?" Chris was only repaired halfway, one arm still missing, "You've got your damn thing, your bitch is already outside." The warlock glared at his subordinate. "To hell with everyone else." The next tremor almost knocked both black-haired men off their feet.

"As amazing as it may be Chris, you're right," Poe observed, "Pick those up and follow me."

"There might a problem with that plan." The cyborg and the warlock turned to the voice.

"All the way from the tunnel to here in such little time? You should be in the Olympics Paul," Poe joked, "Did you at least leave the senshi at a safe place?"

"The senshi?" Chris was very surprised and then very angry. "You're a rat now!?"

"All the contrary, I'm correcting a betrayal."

"Whatever, all that matters to me is that I have an excuse to do this!" He extended his talons and charged. The moment Paul had Chris almost on top of him, he stepped aside and pulled a small knife out of his sleeve. The robotic madman convulsed when the weapon was stabbed into the base of his column. It was there that Chris recharged his energy, and his most vulnerable spot. He fell to the floor twitching. Allen just stood there and watched the whole thing with his hands held behind himself and a bored expression on his face.

"Well, he was too troublesome for this situation, and he can be easily repaired or replaced." The warlock turned to the dark-skinned man, "I'd like to thank you for this favor Paul. Would you like a bonus?"

"No jokes Allen," the black martyr warned, "I'm not going to let you do it, not anymore."

"Do what? Pull your strings?" Poe chuckled, "You're confused my dear Paul, you wanted to kill those people."

"I wanted to help people, I wanted to end all sadness! You used me as a tool!"

"Did I force you? No. You had no desire to help Paul, only to kill. I just made it easier to you to quench that desire" Paul began to tremble. "You're a murderer like any other, all that 'free the suffering' philosophy was a poor excuse. You don't want to help people, you just want to kill them." Paul shot a furious stare at Poe; the latter kept talking before the former had a chance. "Am I lying? Ask yourself. What do you want to do now?" The black man opened his mouth but no sound came out. "You want to kill me. Not because I'm weak, saddened or hurt; just because."

"You are the murderer!" Paul exploded, "You manipulated and ended peoples' lives in your unholy quest to extend your own!" He was on the edge of insanity. "I wanted the chance to do good in this world and you stole it! Now I'm stealing your dream!" He charged with all of his fury. With a bored look in his face, Allen merely sidestepped from the attack and countered with a hook to the stomach. Paul spit a mouthful of blood and fell on the floor unconscious. The warlock checked his hand and noticed that he wasn't tired.

"Amazing how much resentment you can find in children nowadays." He grabbed his former employee and carried him over his shoulder. "You have a purpose Paul, but you are easily replaceable. You're just alive so I can save some time."

*****

"Where close to the exit," Saturn announced, "I can feel it." Karasu was close behind carrying Venus on his back. The blonde was tired but still conscious. She'd tied the birdcage to her back using the ribbon from her fuku.

"You know, you're quite a strong kid," the love senshi noted, "Maybe stronger than Mako-chan was at your age."

"Sí, just make sure you're not the one who makes me-" The ceiling started to fall right on top of Saturn! "Hotaru!" The undead warrior sprinted and pulled his friend away from danger. Both teenagers ended up lying on the floor, breathing heavily with a mountain of debris in front of them. "Are you okay?"

"(Gulp) Hai, arigato Karasu."

"I'm okay too," Venus grunted. The younger ones turned and saw their companion getting up and rubbing her behind.

"Uh, perdón," Karasu said sheepishly. Giggling, Saturn got up and inspected the damage.

"We won't get out without using our powers." She noticed the cracks above, blasting away would be a bad idea. "Maybe we should try to teleport."

"No can do," the love senshi said, "That mad doctor told me a barrier which absorb magic surrounds this place."

"Not anymore," the warrior corrected, "it's broken, I can feel the people outside."

"Then let's do it." The trio held hands. "Saturn and I are too weak Karasu, we're going to need your help to do this."

"And what am I supposed to do?"

"Just close your eyes," Saturn answered, "We'll take what we need." They all closed their eyes. Energy started to gather around them as small continuous explosions were still heard. They couldn't tell that one of the explosions was from Sailor Pluto's death scream opening the wall.

"Hime-chan!" the time senshi shouted. Saturn blinked and her eyes widened.

"Pluto-" A final explosion and the tunnel collapsed completely! The mocha-skinned senshi saw the large stones fall upon her daughter and friends! Tuxedo Kamen pulled her away before she could rush in and foolishly endanger herself.

"Pluto, get a hold on yourself! You can't do anything now!"

"Let me GO!" She broke free from his grip and pounded desperately against the now blocked threshold. "HOTARU!!"

*****

Quoth the raven:

Most of you may know about Excalibur, but not the other swords I've mentioned. Tizona belonged to El Cid Campeador (The Champion Cid), one of the greatest heroes in Spanish literature (Spain not Mexico). Matarina, well, it belongs to a Mexican comic book hero called: El Bulbo (The Bulb).

As for wrath being the seventh deadly sin, I'm not sure of the official order, but I do know that wrath is the last sin that appears in the movie "SE7EN". Besides, "Seventh Sin" is the best sounding name.