Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Pretty Soldiers ❯ Act 32 - mugen neuf : [Mushozoku Chitai] Ni ( Chapter 32 )

      It wasn't easy to run down what once could have been a road, with its cracks and crevasses already overgrown. Especially when one has a considerable handicap in being rather short-legged, making the constant jumping and climbing a bit of a pain. And entirely, when one is carrying a heavy sketchbook, pencil bag, and collapsible easel upon one's back.
      The sky had already gone the ominous blackish green of an oncoming hurricane, though one could clearly see that it didn't extend any further than the Delta. It was like a mushroom, growing large and heavy over the reclaimed land, with jagged streaks of lightening. Frighteningly as well, the ocean had pulled back, revealing its dirty, refuse cluttered bottom, a sure sign of an oncoming tsunami.
      Chouko Iretsu thought it was absolutely marvelous.
      Hopping to a reasonably level patch of concrete, he stared up with eyes that had once been sightless and looked assessingly at the ruined tower of Infinity. The greenery had overtaken the once-clean, straight walls, warping and cracking them into some forgotten relic of an earlier time; windows glittered, broken, a multitude of crying eyes. At least, that was the poetic explanation in his head, a beautiful song to describe what was in fact a terrible injustice. No one had to tell him that this could be the peril of the world again; so many signs had been strewn in his path like pearls.
      He was beginning to discover that not only had his beautiful princess restored his eyes, but she had given him a prophet's sight; a lingering kiss for his loyal servitude. It was not unlike the dreams that had shown him the memories of his previous life, though he now went forward instead of back. And these last weeks had been filled with them, of rising water and ruin, of a scythe so sharp as to pierce the world and rend it asunder. Monsters on the television, which had had taken to watching despite his aversion, terrible and ugly.
      And of course, the greatest proof of all, of his princess and her court skipping classes, whispering in huddled lunchtime groups. Once more, they would save the world.
      This time, he planned to capture it.
      Once more he leapt and ran, heading for a building closest to the ruined triad of the condominiums surrounding Infinity; he knew that somehow, those three destroyed towers would be the boundaries for whatever the school would release. His post would have to be close enough for a clear view, but far enough away to be safe; it would be something of a problem if the scribe died before carrying forth the report.
      It was the coffee shop Minako and Alex had visited not a day previous; now, it was no longer even plainly a shop of any kind. The sign had fallen down into the street, broken glass in a mix of colours strewn everywhere, the door hung half off its hinges, and every window was now fragmented and jagged. He stepped carefully inside to find the tables fallen over, mugs and plates and glasses in so many pieces that it was like walking on dead bugs to get to the front counters. The smell of coffee wasn't even appealing anymore; it had sat on the burners, undoubtedly forgotten in the evacuation, and left to boil away.
      Crunching and crawling over the mess, he searched for the staircase that led to the rooftop café he had seen from the street. Manager's offices, restrooms, storage, even the refrigerated units he found, the last still full of reasonably cold food. He rescued a large jar of maraschino cherries - he loved the candied sweetness - and headed out to circle around the building instead.
      Of course, he found the stairs in barely a minute's walk, facing the bay. One or two steps had fallen out, the railings a bit warped, and the entire thing really dangerous and rickety, but he jogged up anyway. After such a long life of darkness and worry, never knowing if the next step he took could put him into danger, the shaking and possible collapse of the stairs barely even interested him. He stepped off and onto the roof, which provided an excellent front view of Infinity, as seen between two of the condominium towers, and which still had one table and several chairs still standing.
      Quickly he set up his easel and sketchbook, opened to a fresh page. All of the other pages were an interesting dictation of his remembrance of figure and form, the skills of a previous life he'd been unable to use without sight in this one. His acquisition of such was so amazing that his parents had considered it yet a second miracle from God, along with his eyes. And though he did care about them, he found it irritating that they insisted on trumpeting the fact at every gallery showing since then, as if it meant so much more for his art or talent. He wanted to tear those pages out, but he couldn't; no true artist could easily destroy any kind of art.
      He suspected they were too busy even now preparing his next show to wonder where he was, or even that the city was in danger.
      Ah, well. They'd probably just take it as another sign, and die gracefully.
      Thoughtfully he selected a soft gray pencil out of his bag for the foundation of the sketch, easily erasable. He sharpened it just a tad more, just enough for a real good point, and began to draw the first of the three towers.

      Mercury was alone, and not a bit miserable for it.
      The school had indeed - and 'had' was an excellent operative word - been a wonderful example of what money and the right kind of initiative can do. If it hadn't been a hideout for an insane group of alien invaders, she would have tried to enroll herself, if only for access to such amazing workshops and technology.
      And she could argue a tiny, tiny part of her that was upset that she could not have such a life, that she'd been woken up from what was a lovely illusion. Seeing clearly, she'd watched Viluy's ghost dissolve into thin air, melting into holes. The wires had retracted from her skin painlessly, a spell with no true substance; her mind regurgitated everything it had been given, purged as though a harmful virus had invaded.
      Here again, she was forced to run and fight.
      Spinning on a heel, she activated her goggles and looked up. Like x-ray vision, the floors unfolded above her head; by the numbers, she estimated she was on the 13th floor. High above, she could see movement, a faint glow of aura. She peeled back her glove to reveal her communicator, intending to make sure, only to find that it had been broken. And she'd bet that the others had the same problem. That is, if they even carried the damned things; half of the time, the girls forgot.
      Noise; the clattering of shoes down the hall. She turned to face it, scanning with her goggles, only to see a flash of red, and a clear entry on the left side of her eye: Mars, soldier of, identity: Hino Rei, along with the usual personal information. "Mars!"
      "Mercury! Thank the kami you're safe as well; have you found anyone else?" the dark-haired shrine girl queried as she came close enough, slowing to a jog. All she received was a curt shake of the head. "Do you know where we are?"
      "The 13th floor, by my guess. I can see someone high above, on the last floor." She indicated this with a tap of finger to her goggles, looking up again. "Too far to tell. Do you have your communicator with you?"
      Mars sighed, smiling in a darkly amusing way, and peeled back her glove to show her companion what she'd already guessed; broken. The spells that the witches created must have been immense in their electrostatic discharge, or some similar energy to so completely disrupt and stop their Silver Millennium technology. "What else can we do?" she sighed, pulling her glove back into place.
      Mercury looked around, brow furrowed in thought. The building's electricity was obvious out, which meant any intercom systems would be useless without the power to turn them on. Phones as well. Unless she could build a simple generator unit that could power the entire 56-floor tower, they had no options but to find the other soldiers. "We have to find the others, of course. And with the powerful no doubt at the top, I'll bet that would be Sailor Moon I can see; so we go down."
      As if to prove her point, she looked down at the floor, focusing on the previous twelve, and saw, clearly, an aura of gold, and a further aura of green. Everything past that was black, thick as tar, and unrelenting. "I can see Venus and Jupiter both on the first floor. If we take the stairs, we'll be there rapidly."
      "Easy for you to say, Mercury, with those comfortable boots." The red-clad soldier sighed, and her fellow soldier could see her rolling her foot inside of her high-heeled shoes, clearly pained. Despite herself, she had to smile.
      Though she could see with her goggles on, the darkness was becoming acute inside of the building; so she released them as Mars lifted a hand, summoning a small flame. Ghostly were the shadows thrown on the walls as they walked, heading for the same stairs that Sailor Moon and her party had taken right on past them. The doors were still propped open as they went through and down, though a moment was taken for Mars to pull off those ghastly heels.
      "I hope Chibi-Usa's alright," the blue-haired genius remarked after a while. Pluto had not entirely explained what she had planned to do to preserve the small child's life, and it had sounded faintly dubious. With every minute counting - and who knew how long the witches had immobilized them with those spells? - they had little time to hope that it had worked.
      Thoughtfully, the dark-haired shrine girl nodded. She had no visible appreciation for the future princess and her temperament, with her piggish eating habits and somewhat thoughtless actions, though she was respectful enough. But she also understood how a child growing up in an icy world, their survival sometimes in doubt, could want to eat as much as possible; who knew what the future would be, when she went back? And she could also admit - in her weaker moments - a bit of jealousy for those thoughtless, carefree times, wishing she could have done the same in her youth. But her father had been too cold and stern, her grandfather kind but expecting her to follow the rules and his teachings.
      It was just the same as when she'd first met Usagi, and had been appalled that such a childish, selfish klutz was in fact their leader, when she shouldn't have been trusted to take out the garbage. She wouldn't make the connection, her cool professionalism (or what thought was) certain that it was in fact Chibi-Usa's unique irritants that put her off, instead of a simple switch of target. But she was learning; and slowly, as she'd accepted Usagi, she'd accept Chibi-Usa. Seeing the child on the brink of death, so very pale and still as her own mother had been beneath those hospital sheets, had already made her sympathetic. "She will be. Meiou-san seems to know what she's doing, and none of them presented a somber face to us. Surely, all is well."
      First floor, and she slipped her heels back on carefully, Mercury waiting respectfully in the doorway. Until, that is, a streak of gold knocked her back, all but assimilating her, as Venus squealed, "Mercury! You're all right, you're ok!"
      Mercury made a noise that was probably agreement, but came out somewhere between a choke and a squeak. Mars cocked an eyebrow, folding her arms as she watched the long-haired blonde squeeze their friend to near death; then, delicately, she coughed. Unsurprisingly, Venus turned to see her, finally releasing Mercury, and cried, "Mars! You're ok too!"
      "Venus, we're all fine, don't go so crazy!" a voice called down the corridor: Jupiter. The three turned to see the tall brunette, holding what looked to be a dying rose in her hands, rather sadly cupping her hand around its petals. "We'll always be ok."
      "Hai; we seem to either survive together, or die together," Mars remarked mildly, which, in any normal circumstance, would have been morbid. Facing the prospect of yet another decisive battle against an enemy willing to destroy everything, it was merely commentary.
      Jupiter sighed, tipping her hand to release and scatter the fallen petals, once soft pink and alive, now browned and wrinkled. "So much despair….an entire garden of joy, dead as the soul of the school. Such a loss. I could have lived forever in that happiness."
      "Which is just what the enemy would have you do," Mercury said softly, rubbing her gloved palms together, as though she were cold. "Living in an illusion until we died…"
      All four reflected momentarily on the thought; they had been interesting illusions, to be sure, so real they had not even fought the witch who had created it. It had been so easy for them to be captured; they would have definitely died happily if the spell had not been broken. Did they desire normal lives so much?
      "Of course not!" Venus exclaimed as if the question had been asked, "we've chosen to follow this destiny to the end. Normal life may tempt us, but we have our duty; and surely, we would have finally resisted those illusions!"
      It was a heartfelt statement, complete with a decisive pump of her fist. And it was also in what sounded like faulty stereo.
      They froze, staring at one another like idiots. Then, they heard that second voice again, just as far away and unreliable, and their heads slowly rotated to find the source. "Ghosts?" the long-haired blonde muttered.
      "Auditory hallucinations, perhaps, an after-affect of the spell," Mercury offered, looking around with her goggles.
      Both ideas were fairly ridiculous, and rendered useless the moment they found it; a shiny gray vent above their heads, part of the air duct system that ran throughout the building. It was so clean it looked brand new. Without asking, Jupiter hoisted Mercury - who was, despite personal taste, the lightest, as Venus had more muscle on her, if less height - up close to the vent, so she could call out, "Sailor Moon? Pluto? Uranus, Neptune?"
      "….Mercury?" someone, sounding like Pluto, replied, tinny, after a long minute.
      "Pluto! Are you all safe?"
      So many floors up, Pluto exchanged a wry smile with her four companions, though their princess seemed anxious. At least her friends were all right, or Mercury would have said something first, knowing how she was so easily worried. They must have broken the spells too soon for any of the witches to do lasting harm. "We're all fine, Mercury!" Moon yelled into the vent, which was situated on the floor in a corner crowded with bookcases. It had been a crazy half-minute as they had searched for the source of Mercury's voice.
      "What do we do now?" Mars questioned, not entirely towards the group upstairs. And it was a viable question; they were downstairs, their princess and their 'heavy hitters,' so to speak, were upstairs. Did they meet in the middle? Go separate ways? Just blow shit up and run and hope for the best?
      Venus appeared to be thinking hard, pressing her fist against her lower lip. She was in the position now of leader, with them all under battle conditions and in uniform; and she needed to come up with the plan, not anyone else. Otherwise, their princess would get it into her head that they needed a ten-point committee again, which was fine in civilian times, but not when they were ass-deep and sinking. "Uranus, Neptune; could you find Tomoe-san's laboratory?"
      The aqua-haired beauty turned a startled face towards her partner. Uranus had a similar shocked expression, though it became calculated, thoughtful. With a barest flick, she glanced towards their princess, who had her back to them; in that second, a wealth of information was conveyed. Neptune nodded slowly. "Hai, Venus. It would be relatively simple."
      "Then you four go to Tomoe's house and find him and stop him." Even Mars seemed a bit taken aback by Venus's cold, firm tone, though she was merely being logical. Tomoe had to be an enemy, there was enough proof to demonize him, and to have him running freely around the Infinity building or anywhere else was a risk. Even without being a Death Buster, being a mad scientist unconcerned with ethics was a danger indeed. "The four of us will go to the secret basement and try to find sensei."
      Pluto asked hesitantly, "Are you sure, Venus? With so many possible dangers awaiting you down there…"
      "She's positive, Pluto; after all, she's supposed to be our leader, ne?" Uranus cut in coolly, catching a pair of startled magenta eyes; again, with that sideways glance, she relayed what she had to. The dusky-skinned brunette nodded once in agreement. Again, Sailor Moon was unaware of their game, though she was growing increasingly nervous of the perceived weight of their stares against her back. "We'll go as quickly as possible, Venus."
      "Be careful. We'll leave the access door wide open for you to find." Gesturing for Jupiter to set Mercury down, Venus stepped back from the vent. She seemed resigned; the four of them were undoubtedly about to face the worst danger of all, without the help of their princess or the three stronger outer system soldiers. And yet, this was the plan. It seemed simpler in her head.
      Jupiter hissed as quietly as possible, "What kind of plan was that? We're facing the worst danger!"
      "Far be for me to complain about your estimation of our strength, but Jupiter's right. Why don't we all go to find Tomoe-san? Why split us up?" Mars added in an undertone. "Surely all of us together is far superior."
      Surprisingly, the blue-haired genius beat her to the punch. "It's simple enough, minna," Mercury said sternly, as if lecturing a group of children, "Venus knows where the secret basement is located. Also, we are, despite our egos, weaker than Uranus and Neptune and Pluto; and they are the best protection for Sailor Moon. This sends us ahead, to discern any weaknesses, and even to possibly rescue Alex-san, while keeping the main object of their desire -"
      "Sailor Moon," Jupiter murmured.
      "Iie; the Ginzuishou," Mars sighed, realizing the brilliance and utter futility of the plan.
      "-far enough away and in safer hands," Mercury finished, as always ignoring the interruptions as if they'd never happened.
      "Of course, the strongest enemy could be with Tomoe-san as well, that woman Hotaru turned into. Then you've sent us on a fool's errand," the dark-haired shrine girl pointed out, even as Venus walked past her, headed towards the basement stairs.
      Jupiter sighed, shaking her head as they followed their blonde leader towards certain doom. "When does it ever work out that way? We'll certainly find her down there, guarding that treasure."
      The long-haired blonde lifted a pointer finger, summoning enough power to light their way.

      "Why does everything evil block any and all of our attempts to communicate with them? It never fails!" Artemis glared at the obstinate screen, which showed nothing but static, and a few barely recognizable buildings. Even though they were only blocks away, the warped space and/or magic was doing a serious number on their surveillance. Not to mention his gorge; the rising and waning nausea was driving him mad.
      The aftershocks had stopped, but that didn't mean the worst was over. If anything, the system was able to recognize the environmental danger surrounding them, and had verified, though means he couldn't guess, that the earth was serious unstable. A fault didn't even exist beneath the Delta proper, but one had opened up in the past hour, and was growing wider by the hour; the ocean had receded, a sure sign of even worse trouble if they survived the quake. And the constant ignorance of physics happening outside was just the icing on the seventy-foot monstrous confection everyone referred to.
      Luna was still off in Alex's bedroom, either arguing with or consoling Diana, as she'd been for the past hour. Their kitten was still distraught, almost dangerously, at the state of her princess, and had even tried to escape, intent on running all the way to Juuban to be at her unconscious side. It was not a good situation. She was simply too young to shoulder such a traumatic burden, and even having her mama and papa with her wasn't helping. Especially when said mama and papa were ignorant as to the fates of their own girls, who were facing the danger head on.
      He sighed, scratching at a persistent itch behind his left ear. "Computer, please, try again to communicate with them! You're high-tech alien programming, you should be able to hitch on a security camera for the love of the kami…." His tail began to lash madly as it searched, his irritation growing worse. What he wouldn't give for a nice can of tuna right around now, maybe with a small sprig of parsley. Something fancy.
      Either the girls didn't have their communicators, or the magic had destroyed their signals, because the computer said, in that annoying voice, "Negative. No sympathetic connection. Negative."
      "Nyiaaaow!" Fighting a very strong urge to gut the entire system, he turned on his paws and leapt down, planning to tell Luna to try her luck; anything was preferable to this. But he stopped as the noisy static died down, and the computer finally, finally! said, "Positive connection. Channel open."
      Mercury stopped in her tracks as a close-up of a furry white face loomed within her goggles; she had an unpleasant view of the plaque and unidentifiable bits between his teeth that just would not go away on any pet. No matter how many 'anti-plaque' pet biscuits Aino-san kept buying for him. "Artemis?" Her pause had also halted everyone else; though Venus led them, lighting their way, she was second, scanning for any potential problems.
      "Mercury! Thank the kami, I was beginning to get worried. Don't any of you have your communicators?" the white feline queried, leaping back up onto the chair with a careful lack of claws. All he could see was a strange, lens-shaped view of a grimy, dim hallway, and Venus staring back at him from a few paces ahead.
      "Well, yes, but we were caught in an illusion by the witches; their spells disrupted our communicators entirely. I believe the only reason my goggles were unaffected is because they seem completely tied into my magic as a sailor soldier, and function solely by the allowance of my body." The others, unable to hear Artemis and his questions, gave her a mixed bag of questionable stares as she simply gestured at her goggles to let them know how they were communicating.
      He himself blinked a few times, mulling it over in his head before finally gaining reasonable understanding. It certainly would explain why their communicators had been disabled; they functioned as Silver Millennium technology, independent of whomever used them, just like any modern day watch with a battery. Mercury's goggles, however, seemed to be a tool born of her planetary powers, and he had never seen her use them without transforming. They couldn't be used by anyone else but the soldier of Mercury. "I see. Are you all ok?"
      The blue-haired genius nodded, then, realizing he wouldn't exactly see the gesture, said, "Hai. We've been separated from Sailor Moon and the others. Venus has sent them to Tomoe-san's laboratories while we search the hidden basement."
      "Who is 'we'?"
      "Myself, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars."
      Artemis's ear twitched as though shaking off a fly. He'd ask Mercury just what his golden soldier thought she was doing, going off half-cocked into the lair of the beast, but the problem was that he already knew. Just as she'd reasoned, Venus was sending their princess far away from the source of evil, while giving them the chance to strike the first blow and hopefully weaken them. And though he wished otherwise, he knew Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus were collectively stronger and better suited to guard Sailor Moon at this time of crisis.
      Hearing a noise at the door, he peered around the high back of the chair to see Luna escorting a watery-eyed Diana, so dejected that even her cute little bell didn't ring a note. Even her sleek fur seemed disheveled and flat. "Artemis, have you finally contacted them?" the black cat asked, nudging her daughter along and managing, with one mighty back kick, to persuade the door to shut behind them.
      "Yes, he has, Luna," Mercury said primly.
      "They've decided to face the strongest enemy alone, while Sailor Moon and the others are off finding Tomoe-san," Artemis relayed, scooting over as both cats leapt up to share the seat, spinning them around in an annoying, lazy circle.
      As they spun, Luna frowned. "Who is 'they'?"
      "Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars."
      The blue-haired genius stood rather patiently as the cats quickly argued over the finer points of the plan, somewhat glad she was the only one hearing it; if everyone else had gotten in, they'd be standing around all night. As it was, Luna seemed belligerently opposed, apparently taking the same tack as Mars and Jupiter had, arguing that it was ludicrous to send the four weaker soldiers to face the strongest enemy. Artemis was stubbornly defending his soldier, pointing out essentially the same ideas Mercury had, though he added one last surprising fact; Moon needed the talismans to fill the Sacred Chalice if the very worst happened. It just made more sense to keep those four together.
      And she hadn't thought of that, not at all; she wondered if Venus had. Because their princess had called forth the Sacred Chalice seemingly on her own, which was fine, but she needed to use the power of the talismans to achieve the restoration of the land. If the four guardian soldiers failed, and the woman Hotaru had become succeeded in her plan, whatever the hell it was, Sailor Moon could be left with no other alternative. She had already died once to stop the evil from destroying Earth, and a second time she had the help of her daughter and the future Ginzuishou. Merely her power alone might not be enough.
      Finally, she sighed, gesturing for Venus to continue walking. "Artemis, Luna, we've already decided to go forth. No matter what, we'll always protect that important person, so close to our heart. If that means we walk first into the den of the lion, we'll do it."
      "Even though it's a possibly meaningless gesture," Mars added, not entirely sure what was going on behind Mercury's goggles. "We'll do it. We have to."
      "Stop being such a worrymole, Artemis! We'll come out of this perfectly fine. Nothing stops a sailor soldier once they've set the course!" Venus laughed, turning the corner.
      "That's a worry 'wart,' Mina-no, don't even bother telling her that, Mercury," Artemis hastily amended, realizing how stupid he sounded. Luna eyeballed him, still looking angry that he was agreeing to this ridiculous plan. Diana, despite her melancholy, actually giggled a bit at her father's correction.
      The view from the goggles was increasingly annoying as Venus led them along corridors so dark that it seemed as though they'd never seen the light of day, backtracking once she realized it was a wrong turn, walking past a particular classroom three times. She was an excellent leader, willing to sacrifice herself before anyone else if she had to, but she was also an atrocious judge of direction, as everyone was finding out rather painfully. It was only when Jupiter suggested they take a left turn instead of the right they'd been trampling repeatedly, and tripped over a fallen wall index telling them where they were, and where everything else was, that they finally found the basement.
      "I knew I shouldn't have taken that right turn at Izumo," Venus finally lamented as she was shown the error of her trailblazing. Having never indulged much in cartoons, Mars just shook her head, not understanding in the least; Mercury and Jupiter had never seen a translated Warner Bros. Cartoon and so figured she was perhaps trying to be personally funny. None of them, due to the cultural nuances lost in translation, realized that the company had changed an entirely famous punch line, and so her remark had far less significance than if she quoted the original, being in another country entirely. "This place is like a maze in the dark. What was that silly thing from Greek mythology, Mercury, that twisty maze thing that they locked the cow in?"
      "You mean the Minotaur in the labyrinth?" Mercury ventured, an eyebrow twitching at the thought of a bloodthirsty Holstein.
      "Hai, hai. Isn't this almost like it? Only with an evil twisted villain at the end." As she opened the door and began the walk down, she added, "Watch the stairs, minna."
      An excellent warning, as they found the railings to be half-gone, the stairs themselves missing several steps in places, and the rest cracking under their weight. "Even if we leave this place standing, it'll still probably fall down just from the earthquakes," Jupiter noted, running a hand over a large jagged fault running up the wall. "Thank the kami there's no students left here."
      The normal basement floor was just as bad, a crack zigzagging parallel with the foundation, revealing the mud beneath. Mercury cocked her head, touching a hand to her cheek thoughtfully as she listened to a subtle sound, realizing finally that she was hearing the rush of several thousand kilos of water. "The pipes have broken," she said, her eyes roaming across the expanse of the floor. "Everything is running back to the ocean. Possibly, if they run over the secret cavern, it could cause an eventual cave-in. The soil would be waterlogged beyond capacity and collapse inward."
      "Then we have to move quickly. We go in, we search for sensei - it won't be hard, there were only two large rooms - and we get out. Mercury, you can sense the flowing water?" Venus was busy digging the mound of dirty laundry out of the way again as she spoke, shirts and pants flying everywhere. Mars provided their light with a small spinning fireball hovering above her palm, casting their shadows in strange dancing shapes against the walls.
      Jupiter picked up the rest of the little hill in one large arm full, tossing it all aside as Venus paused in mid-scoop, eyeing her jealously.
      "A very excellent question, Mercury," Luna murmured in consideration.
      The blue-haired genius pressed her hand against the floor, unmindful of the dust; for such an immaculate school, their basement was filthy. How indicative. "Hai; just like that first time, at the art gallery. When I fought Beruche. I can hear it following its course, free of pressure."
      Even though it constituted a security risk, the door that Venus had cut open had been rather lopsidedly closed, making it easy for them to lift the slab and toss it aside. Apparently, they still had no concerns about wayward students finding it. Taking a moment to dust off her hands, Venus said, "Good. When we make our escape, I want you to concentrate and divert all of the water to the cavern. I want it caved in as quickly as possible. Our attacks are too hot, they'd turn it all to glass."
      "That's my Venus," Artemis said proudly.
      "I'm surprised you remembered that from science class." Mars gave the long-haired blonde a considering look, apparently pleased.
      "Science class…? It was on last week's episode of 'Dreaming Immortality,' when they were escaping the god's wrath!"
      Luna snorted, at which Mercury unexpectedly flushed and turned away. "Sou yo, that's your Venus."
      The view tilted and grew darker as the soldiers dropped into the under-underground tunnel; the flicker of Mars's fireball barely illuminated their way, as if the shadows had gone mad and taken everything back. Venus cast her own light, again taking the lead as they followed the roughly hewn path. As they came to the junction, Jupiter queried, "Where does that go to?"
      "Tomoe-san's secret laboratory. This is why, as well, I decided we should go first; to escape, we can use that door, and meet up with Sailor Moon-tachi." The long-haired blonde didn't even stop, simply motioned up the way towards the far door, and continued onward. She knew what lay beyond it, and if their luck held, they'd be seeing it soon.
      Emerging into the gigantic cavern, Mercury's slow, appraising look gave the trio of cats an excellent panoramic view of the place, with all its damp, dank corners. The tumbled down Grecian pillars surrounding the arch of the second door were particularly interesting. A few looked newly knocked down, clean bone white instead of dirty, long-buried bits. As well, the pool with the insanely contrived fountain decoration was a strange touch. "Fish," Diana murmured after a long moment and a hungry stare, "they're leaping fish."
      "So they seem to be," Mercury agreed in an undertone, looking up to survey the ceiling; already it looked soggy, a few parts so wet that they had begun to drip mud and pebbles onto their heads and the floor. "But as to their significance, I could hardly guess."
      "This looks like a room intended for worship. The doorways are too ornate, the fountain as well, for merely a hiding space." Luna pawed her whiskers as the blue-haired genius relayed this information to everyone else's ears, cerulean blue narrowed in consideration.
      Mars nodded, rubbing her bare arms as if she'd caught a chill. "Hai; I can feel it in the air. But there are two rooms, minna; this was not the particular room of worship, but of evil, of black magic intended to harm. Can't all of you feel this evil?"
      Jupiter nudged what looked to be a broken chest with the toe of her boot. "Like a heaviness in the air. But it's mostly the tingle of power, ne? The Magus Kaolinite or her Witches 5 using magic spells, filling the room to the brim."
      "Then this was the room of magic, and that second door must lead to the room of worship," Mars said firmly, pointing towards the banged-up framework around the doorway. They couldn't see into the darkness; it was thick as mud, even to Mercury's goggles. Not even a hint of what lay inside.
      "It leads to the room where that weird statue Pharaoh thing is." Venus rubbed her arms much as Mars had been doing, remembering the amazing pain as it had captured her, trying to swallow her spirit. Its cruel nature. "We have to check it out. Such a malicious evil, it should be destroyed."
      This time as they entered, Venus motioned for Jupiter to take point beside her, aiming her index in readiness; the tall brunette mimicked her, calling power to her hands. Mercury crab-walked sideways behind them, watching both rooms with the range of her goggles; Mars walked backwards, aiming through the doorway back where they'd come from. From what Venus had described, this was a possibly dangerous situation; they needed to be sternly on guard.
      "Be careful, minna," Diana whispered, though only one of them could hear her.
      The tall seed statue seemed inert, not betraying a hint of the identity that had attacked the long-haired blonde, though it gave off a soft glow. Through Mercury's goggles, it seemed fractured, latticed over and over with threads of power that were so weak it couldn't have lit a touch lamp. "Is it…sleeping, perhaps? I can't read any hint of power from it," she reported, calling up an ultraviolet scan.
      At its foot lay the tall red-head, slightly crumpled as if in sleep, one arm long at her side and the other draped across her ribs. In that hand was the twinkle they'd spotted, the barest glint of light shining off the golden curve of Chibi-Usa's heart-shaped brooch. "Sensei!" Venus whispered.
      "Is it possible; the Ginzuishou? Have they left it behind?" Artemis stared, a cold pit forming in his stomach, as Mercury's goggles caught the golden brooch and held fast; it betrayed no sign of power inside, as dead as the proverbial nail.
      "This has to be a trap," Venus added, snatching the words out of Luna's mouth. "Mercury, can you confirm anything?"
      A square appeared around the tall red-head in Mercury's vision, flashing; an x-ray was taken, information writing itself on her left lens as her goggles compared it with a group of statistics on her right. All of it apparently dated from the Silver Millennium, as it was telling her - and by proxy, the three felines - some very interesting information that she had not ever known personally to enter. Finally, it agreed; the body in question was a young Earth female, height one metre and eighty-one centimetres, sixty-five kilograms in weight, internal temperature 36.1 Celsius. Hair copper red, eyes dark blue, light skin tone, European ancestry. Unique muscle and skeletal structure. One match: Crystal Guardian.
      "It's Alex-san, but the Ginzuishou…I can't sense anything, but its unique properties and magical bond with Chibi-Usa may mean it will remain dormant until it returns to her. We won't know until we opened the brooch."
      As if these were the magical words, the brooch fell open on its own.
      Empty.
      "It's too very bad Magus Kaolinite was defeated," an amused voice said, echoing around them off the rough walls. "She was an excellent judge of your character. You came immediately for your friend, like the loyal sheep you are."
      The only exit behind them disappeared. Immediately they turned as one to watch it vanish, dissolving into the rest of the shadowy wall. On the other end, the three cats cringed as the screen lit up with warnings, indicating massive power levels; from what they could read, the girls must have been swimming in the stuff. "Mercury, what's happening? Is it Master Pharaoh 90?" Artemis demanded.
      "I don't know!" she cried, scanning the wall frantically, trying to search for the door. They would have to blast their way free.
      "Crescent Beam!" Venus shouted, sending the attack out of view of Mercury's goggles; they could hear its impact, the falling of rocks onto the ground, but no irate scream. She had missed. "Show yourself! Whoever you are, you witch, taking over Hotaru-chan's body! The soldier of Venus will not tolerate such a possession!"
      Mercury moved her head, looking over the cleared space in front of the statue as a woman stepped into the faint light. It was Hotaru, but not Hotaru, the adult she was destined to have grown into, smiling a malicious grin at them all. "Yare yare, such authority. The sailor soldiers are a force indeed." She raised her hand with a sharp flourish, as if conducting an orchestra. "Unfortunately, in the presence of the Master's true partner, you're as insignificant as those who have been sacrificed for the greater good!"
      The shadows moved around them, snaking across the floor. Suddenly, they were everywhere, wrapping tight and solid around arms and wrists and legs, firmly gagging their mouths so they couldn't call out their attacks. Their entangled feet wriggled several centimetres off the ground as they were lifted up, stretched out like laundry to dry. Despite the tensile strength of the rope, it felt remarkably soft and unusual, almost like….hair?
      Laughing, the woman held out her other hand, unfolding her fingers to reveal a most beautiful treasure; the unmistakable light of the Ginzuishou in her palm froze them in place, staring dumbly. It had become the lotus, a budding flower in her hand, and its power was remarkable. "Small Lady's Ginzuishou," Diana moaned, gasping hard; her bell shook musically, sounding far happier than she.
      "A special light, so close to the power of our own remarkable crystal," the woman sighed, tilting back her head. "A marvelous light; Master Pharaoh 90, witness this! For your partner, the first spoils!"
      She swallowed it whole.
      Everyone jerked, struggling, unable to even coherently snap off a rebuttal; all they could manage were some aggravated mumbles and moans. Jupiter was straining so hard that the blue-haired genius could see blood staining the white of her gloves around her wrist bindings; Venus was wriggling her fingers, unable to attack. None of them could even call the slightest hint of power, the source of which became quickly obvious as the statue began to glow bright.
      [Mistress 9, I sense that brilliant light inside of your utilized body. As well, the stars of four strong planets; have you finally achieved success?]
      "Success is hardly the strongest word for our oncoming domination! Because of this, I've lured these four sailor soldiers, to bear witness to you, my Master, and as well for you to drink of their strong, powerful souls!"
      They writhed, feeling the hair-rope pulling tighter to hold them completely immobile. The woman laughed again, her eyes becoming twin nebulae as a black star took shape on her forehead. "And now, I'll take those powerful souls! No longer am I that weak being, but Mistress 9 about to be reborn into a glorious new world!"
      Unable to stop it, the trio of cats stared, horrified, as the ghostly hands plunged into the chests of the four guardian soldiers; and then, they could no longer even bear witness, as the computer said, "Connection lost. Signal disrupted. Try again?"

      Crawling down the sides of a 56-story building was definitely a workout, but not one that was destined to become popular anytime soon. Besides the sheer drop and the smooth walls and the tall window ledges, there was also the problem of lawyers becoming involved, because no expensive business ever wanted idiots getting themselves killed and suing their company. Luckily for them, this was not a problem. It was just a ridiculously difficult climb.
      It was especially hard when one of the group was notoriously anti-athletic, and especially weak in the upper arms, soldier's strength included. As well, she was beginning to realize that she and heights just didn't get along, and the best for all involved would have been to part terms. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen for at least thirty floors. "Are we there yet?"
      "Trust me, hime-sama; we'll tell you when we get there," Pluto said, trying her level best not to snap, for the twentieth time. Below, she heard Uranus snort.
      The slow going was made worse by the fact that the building had simply not been built to withstand becoming the epicenter of a dimensional warp. Several jutting ledges had crumbled in places, and many more fell apart once they attempted to place their weight onto them. Though the vines were a surprising help more than a hindrance, they were neither long enough nor strong enough to simply slide down. Many of them broke off in their hands, evidenced by the smears of somewhat unhealthy green marking their palms. "I just wish we could fly down. Wouldn't that be nice, to have wings? Like birds or angels," Sailor Moon sighed, reaching to pull free her hair again from a particularly rough vine.
      "Avenging angels, aren't we? As sailor soldiers, all we're meant for is protection of the kingdom. That includes your normal routine of vengeance." The tall sandy-blonde sounded amused, most likely imagining herself with a set of fluffy white wings, like those poor robed asexual angels she had seen in paintings.
      "Well, the soldier of sky, the god of heaven, is most definitely my first choice to wear those lovely wings," Neptune remarked next to her partner, pitched however low enough for only her to hear.
      Uranus smirked, most likely about to remark about the possibilities of feathers and their uses in the bedroom, when she felt a chunk of something heavy hit her in the head. Right in that spot where it absolutely hurts the most. As well, the ground began to heave again, more pieces raining down as they were shaken free, and she yelled instead, "Another aftershock!"
      "Iie; I think this one's another earthquake!" Pluto shouted back, wriggling down quickly to their princess's side to grab her wrist tightly, prepared to hold her weight if she fell. Crystal blue turned towards her as they both shook, wide with panic. Fighting enemies was easier than this; at least she had a chance to stop them. Nature was an entirely different creature.
      From so high up, they could see the jagged rip opening up in the concrete, leading directly to Mugen Gakuen's elegant front doors. They shook harder, digging their fingers and toes in, flinching as every piece of broken concrete fell past them, only to hear Neptune's sudden scream of "Uranus! Uranus!"
      Both of them turned to see the tall sandy-blonde tumble through the air, falling limply. Her eyes had rolled back up in her head, and they could see the spreading patch of crimson marring the crown of her skull. From such a height, no matter how she hit, she'd be either killed or so badly maimed she would've wished for death. "Uranus, wake up!" Neptune screamed again, reaching out towards her rapidly falling lover. In such a situation, neither remaining soldier doubted that she wouldn't jump off next. "HARUKA!"
      So Sailor Moon did it first, wrenching her wrist free and kicking off the building.
      Pluto found herself holding the air, and tried to grab for her as she shouted, "Hime-sama, what are you doing!? Hime-sama!"
      "I'm not letting anyone die; not in such a way! Not now, not again!" the odango-haired blonde whispered fiercely, holding her arms tightly against her side, body shaped like a bullet as she'd seen on TV of skydivers. Uranus was tumbling like a spread leaf, catching the air to slow her down, mercifully, just a bit; and it was not a long way to the ground. She had to reach her quickly, or they'd both be decorating the pavement.
      She knew her power was awesome, and that it had lifted her perilously high above the ground in the euphoria of her holy stone's rebirth. That had been a spontaneous trick, one she had no idea to duplicate; but she was going to try for it. "To save her, and everyone else, I have to be strong. I've made so many miracles! Surely this is possible!" She reached forward and grabbed Uranus in a hug, snuggling her cheek against her breast. "I don't want anyone to die again."
      The ground was coming up fast.
      And then she felt the presence of another, and she looked up to see Pluto, and Neptune, their eyes wide, their tiara stones glowing with power. It was thick in the air, like a comforting pillow or a blanket or something just so entirely wonderful and warm, slowing them down. All three of them glowed, their power buoyant and gentle, and, she realized with wonder, shaping into luminescent wings at their backs. They fluttered lazily like true wings though none of them controlled the motion, so gently lowering them until their toes touched the ground, safe and sound.
      The taller Uranus sagged against Moon until Neptune pulled her back and into her arms, cradling her head against her shoulder. All they could hear was her murmur of "Haruka, Haruka," as she rocked back and forth, her unconscious lover taller than her as well, but she held her upright by sheer will.
      "She really does love her," Pluto murmured as she and Moon stepped back respectfully, "the moment you leapt off, she tried to follow. I finally compromised by going with her." Her lips quirked as she recalled the split-second decision. "She said it didn't matter; she'd fly, if she had to."
      "And she did, didn't she? We all did; she loves her, so very much. And Uranus loves her as well, no matter which way the wind may blow." The odango-haired blonde bit her lip unconsciously, recalling that night; to her, it had been obvious that Haruka truly did love Michiru, no matter their gender. But it was also just as obvious that Haruka felt it was a relationship based solely on their status as sailor soldiers that made it work; otherwise, Michiru would have flitted off, leaving her entirely alone in a world that probably wouldn't understand. To her, she had no choice, even if she felt so comfortable and complete with the aqua-haired beauty it was akin to losing an arm if she left.
      Uranus groaned, lifting a hand to her head. She looked around, storm cloud grey fuzzed and confused, even more so at seeing her surroundings. Experimentally, she stamped her boot on the ground, peering down carefully at it. "How…aahh, kuso-o, my head hurts."
      "Baka," Neptune sighed, pulling her hand back before she touched the gash and re-opened it; already her soldier's power was rapidly healing it.
      "Next time, duck." That was Pluto, who smirked as Uranus turned an unfocused look on her, trying to be annoyed. All she received for her trouble was Dr. Pluto instead, who came over to peer closely at her skull, and began holding up her fingers in front of her eyes, asking how many Uranus saw. Even though she was interested in majoring in multi-coloured physics, she was also taking nursing classes on a whim, which was looking to be useful in her situation.
      Their princess smiled, rocking on her heels as she watched them fuss over the tall sandy-blonde, who was now loudly arguing that it would've been better if she had gone splat, then she wouldn't have to deal with them babying her. Neptune replied that it was rather difficult to love a splat, especially without the important limbs and joints required for a blissful relationship; so why not take that back? So she did, throwing up her hands, and telling Pluto that for the love of the kami and all their shades she was perfectly fine, no little bump on her skull was going to stop the soldier of Uranus.
      So Pluto shrugged, and agreed, "Hai, hai. After all, your skull is quite thick and dense. Hardly impenetrable." She smiled serenely as the tall sandy-blonde twitched an eyebrow, wondering if she was supposed to take it as a compliment; or a critical complaint.
      Sailor Moon giggled behind her hand, not going getting the gist of the joke, but recognizing it as one, and half-turned to hide her gesture. She paused in the midst of her last chortle, and looked up at the brick wall surrounding the Tomoe labs; not only had they fallen almost directly where they had planned to eventually end up, at the half-hidden back gate connecting the school grounds and the laboratory yard, but….
      Experimentally she poked at one of the holes dotting the wall like a checkerboard, wriggling her fingers through the perfectly rectangular opening; it was shaped exactly like a brick. Crouching to peer through, she could see the dented and scraped building wall behind it, looking as though it had been bombarded by bricks shot at high velocity. But no holes; apparently, Tomoe-san was a firm believer in the willow tree instead of the sapling, and had built the laboratory to withstand some serious damage. "How very unusual," she said, mildly surprised.
      "We seem to be right on course," Pluto remarked behind her, and she whirled up and around to see the dusky-skinned brunette standing thoughtfully at her back right. "From here, we'll be at the enemy's mercy once again."
      The aqua-haired beauty gently parted some cherry tree branches a few metres away, revealing the gate; though the trees were obviously planted for cover, the wild tangle of vines and thorns was new. They had grown into the brick, entangled around the metal to firmly hold it shut, as though something so simple could stop them. "I wonder how the magic of the Death Busters and the warp has been causing all of this foliage to grow so spontaneously. Surely this is a calculated phenomenon."
      Uranus snorted, ripping away one of the thinner vines. "Nothing a good dose of pesticide can't fix. It's just a distraction." She stepped back, pulling her sword seemingly out of nowhere. "And nothing a strong blast of power won't cure."
      "Uranus! We're not to let the madman know we're coming!" Neptune gave her partner a critically stern eye, folding her arms.
      "We can simply clear away the vines by hand; the property damage will come later, once we destroy everything. Neptune's right; we need to be subtle," Pluto chided, and as if to demonstrate, pulling off a vine herself.
      "Yare, yare," the tall sandy-blonde sighed. With another gesture, she sheathed the glowing blade in that particular subspace pocket she'd removed it from, and strode forward to help them rip.
      Sailor Moon fingered one of the tree branches as she fidgeted, denied the opportunity to help them by Uranus's stern glance; apparently, such labor didn't benefit their shining princess. So she played with the branch, shaking free some of the soft pink blossoms that were at least a week early in bloom. Catching them in her hands, she thought of Chibi-Usa; had she ever sat beneath the cherry trees, celebrating the return of springtime? She would have to take her to the park, maybe make it a party with everyone. After all, that's what friends - mothers - did.
      Tossing the blossoms up into the air, she smiled, letting them shower her with subtle scent and colour. She heard a cough, and she turned to see the three of them watching her, their gloves stained further green, ankle-deep in vines. They looked tired; worn down, perhaps, was the best description. Uranus and Neptune had been fighting this enemy on their own before anyone had stepped in to help, giving up their lives entirely; had they ever really known happiness since the daimon appeared? And Pluto, who had so recently awakened, used to fighting as a soldier in memory only, her body unused to this rigor she had been thrust into so quickly.
      But watching her, they were smiling.
      Even in the midst of what constituted no-man's land, ground zero for the possible end of the world, their princess was finding joy in the simplest things. None of them would have bothered to consider the cherry tree as something pretty when they had a job to do; if it were in their way, they would have blasted it into considerably less prettier pieces. But there she was, playing with the shivering blossoms like a child.
      "Ne?" she asked, wondering what they were still smiling at her for.
      Neptune sighed, though it was not a sad sound; more, perhaps, regretful. "It's wonderful that you can find happiness in such simple ways, hime-sama," she answered, Caribbean blue flicking up to see the canopy of pink over her head. "If we had been allowed the same easy life, perhaps we could do the same. But our ways are harder; we've seen too much."
      "I've seen a lot as well. That's what makes every bit of happiness worth finding," the odango-haired blonde said, a bit sternly. "No matter what! Everything can be a cause for joy, because you make it. As sailor soldiers, we have a duty to protect this planet, and how can you not see what wonders exist, what will live to flourish and grow because we've won those battles? I don't believe a sailor soldier can carry such emptiness in their heart, not at all."
      She lifted her chin, as if daring them to contradict her.
      When they didn't - after all, what could they say? 'No, being a sailor soldier means ridiculous melancholy, unhappiness, and vast amounts of depression'? - she looked away and through the gate, which had, after being freed of its tangle, been forced open. "Ne, who's going first?"
      In the end, they had Uranus do it, because she was itching to sink the space sword into the first nasty creature they came across anyway, and having what constituted an actual weapon was also a plus. Sword out, she walked straight through the gate and towards the grey steel door set into the wall in front and to the left of said gate, which was unsurprisingly closed. Locked too, they found out, once they reached it and twisted the knob.
      So the tall sandy-blonde kicked it down, and leapt forward, expecting a fight.
      Nothing.
      "Quite a security system the man has," Pluto remarked into the stony silence.
      Uranus held her defensive pose for a minute longer, before standing straight with a rather fierce, "Chikusho! What the hell kind of mad scientist doesn't have any sort of security? Not even a damn daimon!"
      Behind them, the aqua-haired beauty pulled out her mirror. "My mirror sees nothing, still. Even the witch's magic extends this far. There's no telling if Tomoe-san could have something else awaiting us."
      "And why wouldn't he?" Sailor Moon queried rather intelligently, "after all, he would surely know we're coming. For Hotaru-chan, we have to find out the truth."
      The trio exchanged looks of mixed derision and determination. Finally, Pluto said, "It doesn't matter. No matter what, we'll defeat his monsters, and then, the man."
      "Sou yo."

       The world was so strange when you were a ghost. Everything had a different glow, as if the colours of the wheel had been expanded and modified to include the supernatural. Even with the sky so darkly ominous, the world was beautiful.
      Maybe it was just her newly gained perspective, however.
      One she was loath to give up.
      "Ne, Saturn-sama, why is this happening? Why did you take my hand and save my spirit from that awful woman?" she asked softly as they flew, weightless, hand in hand. Far behind her she could sense her body, a tenuous link that told her that Mistress 9 still inhabited it and was on the move. It was something like an ache to know that her body was essentially her enemy.
      Saturn looked back at her with fathomless amethyst, narrowed in what seemed to be perpetual calm contemplation. She was lovely, so pretty and elegant; Hotaru couldn't even believe this was her own image. It seemed ridiculous. "Because I chose to," she said at length, her words even and steady, as if she'd had practice. "That alien is not us. You are me. And you've endured too much in this short lifetime."
      Then she smiled, and even that was a curious thing; it wasn't entirely cold, but not entirely warm, either. Smug, perhaps, but not even that explained it. "It won't matter soon. The glaive will be lowered; we will stand on the precipice and watch it all end. And then we will be in solitude again, once more a single being in a single world."
      Hotaru stared, brow wrinkling as she realized what Saturn was saying. "You'll truly destroy the world? But why? The sailor soldiers have come to stop papa and Kaoli-kun, and the world will no longer be in danger!"
      "It doesn't matter. This is fate. It is both ruin and destiny. Everything leads to this particular climax." They passed through the dirt and rubble, sinking into a room of horrors: stinking, bubbling liquids in tubes, misshapen bodies floating in larger glass chambers, diagrams of human dissection on the walls. "This is your fate and mine."
      "Iie! Fate never determines everything! I won't accept that!"
      There was laughter, shrill and obviously male.
      Professor Tomoe was madly in love with his craft; it was all he had left, after his precious Keiko had died. Mixing a particularly noxious chemical in one of his vials, he watched in fascination as the tiny fetus inside began to spasm; it was barely mature enough to resemble anything less than a blob of flesh. "Marvelous, marvelous. And this is my miracle! I've done God's work, I've created new life! Everything had been given to me in the wake of disaster and tragedy."
      Unaware of his daughter's presence, he turned to smash the fragile vial against the wall as he hurled it, rather like an exuberant partygoer smashing the crystal glass in celebration. "I was always too gentle with my work because of my precious Keiko. Always she'd call me away to dance and sing and love and be happy; the scientist in me was withering, dying! And then, I finally had the chance to conduct a wonderful experiment, an attempt to create a truly superhuman being. No mutated mistakes of birth, but fully crafted, lovingly so!"
      The fire had been a freak, ridiculous accident. Hotaru could remember the stifling smoke even now, clogging her lungs, stealing her breath; her mother's hand, so tight around her own, had let go. She had never seen her again in life. She'd fallen down into a painful darkness, a two-month coma from what she'd been told later on, only to wake up feeling cold…so very cold. Uncomfortably stiff and slow. Her father, looking down at her with an expression of apathy she would grow used to in the years to come, had said, "Ohayo gozaimasu, Hotaru. How are you feeling?"
      Apathy, and a crystalline eye…
      "Whatever my mistake then, God punished me by taking away my precious Keiko; but Hotaru, ara, Hotaru…broken, but perfect for my plans. In initiating her life as a superhuman, I would be also saving her from death. But I was not entirely finished when the lightning struck, the world warping around us to allow those alien beings to arrive!" Ranting out loud to an audience of no one - except for two ghosts that he was unaware of - seemed to be normal for him; he was even gesturing along with his words. Of course, whom else could he tell this to? Kaoli-kun didn't care. Hotaru was a self-committed prisoner in her room. Tell it to the wind.
      She had not been awake to see the aliens who had taken refuge in their bodies, the invaders who formed the catalyst for the Death Busters and the Witches 5. For that, she was grateful, but her link to her body, and in turn to Mistress 9, was giving her those memories; and she shivered. The rip opening up in space, dropping creatures that didn't even look remotely bipedal normal, unable to survive properly on Earth as they were. Kaoli-kun had been forcibly initiated, a simpering lab assistant who practiced textbook pagan spells; the daimon gave her the power she wielded now, a strength and assurance she had never had.
      Tomoe had not fought. He had offered. Bargained.
      Another had been placed, in dormancy, inside of Hotaru. Mistress 9. The rest of the aliens had gone into the same dormant state to survive, waiting for their new allies to find human bodies for them, and to figure out a way to engineer their eventual domination. Tomoe now had an entirely wonderful experiment on his hands, and he was loath to give it all up; what did he care of ethics, or morals? His wife's humanity was long gone to the grave. All he had now was the pursuit of science.
      "Papa," she whispered, unable to remember what he looked like when he truly smiled. When he did, it was never in happiness, but smug satisfaction.
      Saturn was still as a statue next to her, holding her glaive at parade rest. "It will all be over soon. Even your papa will be able to rest."
      Hotaru nodded, crying out suddenly at the next breath at the sudden…not really pain…but…a full-to-bursting sensation back in her body. "Kami-sama…!"
      "She's swallowed it. I can sense the power; she's swallowed the princess's Ginzuishou," Saturn said mildly, turning her head as if listening to some music faraway. "Already she's begun the next stage of initiation; soon, she will no longer need our body, and will discard it."
      "Discard it!?" Raven-hair whipped around in a flurry as she turned to face herself, expression still set in ridiculous placidity. "That's my body! My flesh! For her to use it for such evil means…I won't allow it any longer!" With a determined kick of her legs, she forced herself across the distance and back into the empty, unfriendly caverns of her body's mind; it was so easy she almost didn't believe it. But that was to be expected; her body knew her spirit. It wanted her back, properly.
      Still alone in the darkness, she turned 'round to see a brilliant twinkling light.
      Next to her, Saturn appeared gracefully, apparently unconcerned with Hotaru's rapid flight and her fit; it was almost as if it just didn't matter to her, not when she was wholly convinced she was going to destroy everything anyway. "She's taken the princess's soul; that bright shining star. She swallowed it fully. What do you plan on doing?"
      She asked this as if they were just a couple bored kids at the local coffee shop, just a hint of curiousity in her voice. Hotaru opened her mouth, then shut it, tight-lipped; what could she do, indeed? Somehow she received the impression that getting Chibi-Usa's soul back was useless without also giving her back the Ginzuishou, and how could she do that? Ghosts couldn't pick up something so solid.
      The light floated closer to them, bobbing like a balloon. As it neared, they could hear what sounded like high fluted whispering coming from it, a soundtrack going twice as fast. Also, a pair of white hands reached out, intent on grabbing the light.
      Hotaru flung herself forward, gathering the brilliance into her arms just before the hands could snatch it away, skipping backwards awkwardly. And it was such a warm soul; she laughed before she could help herself, feeling the joy and happiness that was Chibi-Usa all around her. She realized that the whispering was the swirling of her life's memories, and as she looked down into it, she could see the most beautiful palace, made out of shining crystal. How was such a place possible?
      "Step away," Saturn said coldly, and she looked up in surprise to find the purple-clad sailor soldier standing in front of her, glaive raised in defense. Then she looked past her to see, with a dawning horror, herself again. An older self, dressed in a long skirt and plunging top, and hair to the floor. Mistress 9.
      "Oh, I don't think I will. You see, I've won this body; I'm stronger than you-whomever you are, if I may be so bold as to ask."
      Saturn spun the glaive over her head in an amazing show of skill, bringing it around to swing and settle with the blade directly against the other's throat. "Step away. Or I'll show you the falseness of your words. I may do it anyway, as you are an enemy, opposing our shining princess."
      Mistress 9 laughed. "Yare, yare, such strong words! I thought I killed you, Tomoe Hotaru, for I have no more use for your weakling spirit; I supped long, and nourished myself at the cost of yours. But now I see I was mistaken. Somehow, this secondary spirit has saved you. How interesting that you harbored her inside of your body, an invader, just like me."
      "Iie! Not an invader, but myself, a long-ago form. My birth was a mistake; she stands there as the perfect body between us." Hotaru crept back further, cradling Chibi-Usa's spirit in her arms like a sleeping babe. "And it will be her face you see at the end! I may die in protecting these precious spirits, all of them you may eat viciously, but she'll survive."
      "How perfectly ridiculous. Neither of you are stronger than me; human weaklings. Now give me that shining light!" the eldest of them shouted, reaching forward with arms that grew impossibly long, twisting around Saturn.
      It didn't matter. With another perfectly executed move, she spun around to bring the blade of her weapon down through each arm, bisecting them neatly; the severed pieces dissolved into ash as Hotaru froze. Lifting the glaive again, Saturn repeated, "Step away."
      Snarling, Mistress 9 did.
      She then relinquished control of her self-image, and disappeared from sight.
      "Such a terrible, terrible alien," Hotaru whispered. "I can't allow this to continue. Even if it means my death."
      "It may," Saturn agreed, slowly lowering her weapon. "But you will live within me. Our body may die, but once I am called forth properly, we will have a new form to finish this. Then, your memories will be mine, as I sleep within Saturn, forever."
      Hotaru turned away, looking down into Chibi-Usa's spirit. The world shook, and it was not her fault at all.

       "What a terrible smell," Neptune remarked.
      Professor Tomoe Souichi sniffed, pushing his glasses up higher on his nose. "I'll have you know that I bathe regularly, as the conditions of this body require it."
      "Gomen nasai, Tomoe-san, but I was speaking of your particular…ah…'projects,'" she corrected him, eyeing the daimon standing next to him.
      And they were particularly nasty; freshly out of the nutrient baths he had concocted to incubate them in, newly born into the world, and completely self-reliant, they resembled steaming piles of dog shit, truthfully. The watery kind. They had no need for human bodies anymore, and so stood before them in their true forms, what were probably babies of their race. "I'm almost afraid to ruin the glossy finish on my sword," Uranus sighed, though she had not relaxed her defensive pose.
      "I'm sure the Master will appreciate such cleanliness, as I'll present those fierce weapons to him as trophies. Soon, he will be arriving, after all, and his loyal servants should present tributes to his power." He held up his arms, laughing strangely, a pitch too high for comfort. "Welcome to my laboratory, sailor soldiers! Once my daimon satiate their newborn hunger, this place will be a sterile graveyard for your bodies. No longer will I dabble in the science of the superhuman, but I will create them from whole cloth! I will be as a god!"
      "But what about Hotaru-chan?" a weak voice queried from the back, sandwiched between two soldiers in blue, and one in funeral black. "Will you discard your own child just as easily?"
      Tomoe cocked his head at her, like a curious puppy. "Hotaru? She was a weak body, no longer of any use to me but as a living example of our glory to come. A vessel, for the strongest of us all below the Master. Her childhood belongs to the dust."
      He gestured limply with a pale hand spattered in unrecognizable fluids. "Daimon, attack! Satisfy your newborn hungers!"
      The daimon sprang, moving in a fluid unison belying their shape and size, mouths open wide to bare their knifelike teeth. Equally unhesitating, Uranus swung the space sword down in a sharp slicing motion towards the creatures, shouting, "Space Sword Blaster!"
      At her side, Neptune lifted her hand, palm open to gather her power. She shaped it as she called out, "Deep Submerge!"
      For terrifying creatures, they were amazingly weak, and stupid; they continued to run, even as the double attack smashed into them, rending them apart. Their remains hit the ground, quivering and useless, but Tomoe, surprisingly - or unsurprisingly, as he was a certifiable mad scientist - laughed again. "Are those your powers? How surprisingly weak! Daimon! Come forth to avenge your brethren!"
      Out of the corners of the lab came the simultaneous sounds of breaking glass.
      Instinctively, the three formed the triangle around Sailor Moon, who was staring at the pale-haired scientist with something close to pity. He had thrown his head back, exultant, as the freed daimon swarmed around and past him, his arms raised in triumph. Somewhere in there, she believed, existed the man who had held his little girl with love, who could smile at the sight of rainbows and tell bedtime stories.
      Though perhaps not. Grief so sharp as to wound could change anyone…could change a loving, if slightly self-absorbed, father and husband into a calculatingly immoral monster.
      Dimly, she became aware of the fighting going on around her, of more daimon appearing to take up the slack of their fallen comrades. As well, she recognized the slump in Neptune's shoulders, the quiver in Uranus's arms as she swung her sword again. No doubt Pluto was beginning to feel the strain as well; they had already fought daimon in human form, Cyprine and Ptilol, half-climbed and half-fallen from a tower, and now they were being steadily worn down. It wouldn't take very long; even a soldier's stamina couldn't take the repeated strain.
      But they did it, they blasted away every single drooling creature, and remained standing at the end, defiantly. "Are those your daimon? How surprisingly weak!" Uranus mimicked, holding her sword up with a definite shake to her arm, though her aim was still undoubtedly impeccable.
      "Hai, hai. A pity, really. I've only just modified them to survive on this world without the aid of a human body. It won't soon matter, of course, this world will soon become the Master's second star, but it was a glorious task!"
      "Your Master's second star? Just as Kaoli-kun said…but why? Why do you seek to destroy Earth?" Neptune queried.
      Tomoe tapped his cheek idly, utterly placid as he stood ankle-deep in the remains of his fledgling daimon. "Tomoe Souichi seeks nothing but knowledge. He cares nothing for the Earth and its tiny lives, because he has been given a greater mission. The tools to continue his work." Then, frighteningly, he smiled, and it was a wide joker's grin that seemed to stretch into infinity, a hollow where his teeth should have shown.
      "But I desire a new world. Your planet was adequately placed; it called to us across the galaxies. We arrived first, preparing to make way for our Master, who was still trapped so far away. Opening the portal, we'll make his path easier, and he will come to crush this tiny little world, third around the yellow star, and place ours here." As if to accentuate his point, the ground shook again, ominously. "Already it's begun! The warp will open wide, to allow the Master, Pharaoh 90, to initiate everyone into a new world! And Tomoe Souichi will be remembered as my loyal vessel, as the compliant body of Germatoid!"
      "Iie…! Tomoe-san, don't do this! Everything destroyed…your daughter, Hotaru-chan, as well?! Is that how your heart has hardened?" The odango-haired blonde's pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears as Tomoe's body shook, bulging grotesquely as if something wished to get out.
      He smiled blissfully. "Tomoe Souichi no longer matters."
      And the daimon emerged from his corpse, twisting and writhing free.
      Just like Kuromine Kaoli, Tomoe Souichi was discarded, bodies no longer useful to the cause of the Death Busters. They couldn't even recognize him in the mound of flesh that remained on the floor once the daimon - Germatoid - stepped away, towering even higher than Kaolinite. Spikes of various sizes ran along his, its, shoulders, and a black five-point star was visible on his, its, forehead, glowing malevolently. Again, this particular daimon was bipedal, most likely the advanced species, the first arrivals of course.
      He was also much faster than Kaolinite. In a blur of speed, Germatoid struck out at them, throwing Neptune and Uranus aside, clawed hands out to clamp onto Sailor Moon's brooch. She screamed in utter agony as his fingers closed tighter, digging into her flesh through her uniform. "And here is the light close to the source of our life!" he crowed, lifting her aloft by one arm. "Magnificence I shall present to the Master!"
      "World Shaking!"
      The attack slammed into him from behind, and he staggered, teeth bared in a snarl. Sailor Moon kicked her legs helplessly in the air, her hands occupied with holding tightly onto his arms, lest he shake her brooch free and she fall, no longer a soldier but Tsukino Usagi. But it hurt so much…she felt faint, ready to pass out. "Tomoe-s-san," she gasped, crystal blue fading into a duller sheen of pain.
      That was when she fell.

       "Not gone! Not gone in the least, the little nuisance, the irritating flea!"
      [Mistress 9, be patient. Soon, I will arrive. Soon, this world will become our second star. That body will be discarded as useless.]
      She whirled, fixing the statue with a furious eye, though her Master couldn't see it, and therefore punish her for insolence. "This is unbearable! That such a weak creature could survive…how? How is it possible?" Regarding the four floating stars behind her, she swallowed them angrily as if such an act would make her feel better. It did fill the void of power she'd given up to the Taioron Crystal, and, through association, the Master. "It must be that secondary spirit, that…that other girl, bearing that particular weapon! She saved her!"
      A particular weapon, deadly in the hands of its wielder. Why did that pester her so badly, that curved blade? As if there were something else about it to recall… She bit her lip, an unconscious human gesture, then bit harder in anger at doing it.
      There was a whisper of sound at her back, and she turned.
      Perfect for the right hook that collided with her jaw, spinning her body completely around and onto the floor, sprawling.
      "Why hello, he-ello, little bird," a voice crooned, faintly groggy but recovering, having slowly come out of the sleep spell after Kaolinite's death.
      Looking up, Mistress 9 stared at the person standing over her, arms folded across her chest, clad in the dirty skirt and suit jacket she'd put on a day ago. Copper hair long escaped from the braid fell around a bemused face; lapis lazuli eyes bore the only sign of anger. "Long time no torture."
      "You…how is this possible!?" the raven-haired woman spat, vaguely recognizing the taste of her body's blood on her lips. And a sudden spasm of fear, as she looked into a growing storm; until now, no one had hurt her, nor touched her in this way. She could die in this body, and she had no doubt that the tall red-head would not hesitate to do it. "Master Pharaoh 90, help me!"
      The statue shook.
      Engorged with the energy of countless trapped souls, the spell near completion, there were no more barriers. Both of them stared in shock as the statue, holding the power of the Taioron Crystal, shattered into a million pieces as if it had been simply smashed. Out of its remains lifted an amorphous cloud of shadow, with familiar nebulous eyes, growing larger and larger. "Merde," Alex groaned.
      [Mistress 9, I have finally broken through! The spell is in its final phase. Within the hour, this will be our new home, this Omega Zone.]
      "Sou yo, Master Pharaoh 90! This is the end of our long journey!"
      The entire cavern was trembling under the strength of the earthquake Master Pharaoh 90's arrival was causing, rocks and boulders falling everywhere. Alex held up her arms, concentrating, as the debris bounced off the air mere centimetres above her head, and those of the four guardian soldiers. But if the entire place caved in…she swore again, looking towards Mistress 9, who was laughing at her Master's trickery.
      "The end of the world as we know it, and I'm definitely not feeling fine," Alex muttered under her breath as her mind took up the chorus. "I take it this is your evil plan? Killer earthquakes and a Big Bad Puff o' Smoke?" she yelled over the noise, grunting as a particularly large rock hit.
      "Of course not, but does it matter to you in particular? Soon, you'll merely be food for the daimon!" Mistress 9 gloated, clapping her hands as Master Pharaoh 90 gathered himself and shot upward through who knew how much packed earth and stone, smashing up to the surface with the force of a rocket.
      Everything beneath them was cracking, breaking up under the stress; salty bay water sprayed up, soaking all of them within seconds. The raven-haired woman flew up, reaching for her Master, as the biggest geyser exploded under their feet and threw them up and out, onto the concrete walkway in front of Infinity. Alex twisted, barely managing to land decently after being tumbled around, and ran to slow down the fall of her allies, also not a very easy task. They were small and slender, but muscle weighed a lot more than the scant fat on their bodies.
      The blackness spread, pulling apart the concrete like ribs on a cadaver. But the tall red-head ignored it - she couldn't do anything on her own, not against something like that - and shook the closest, Mars, sharply. "Mars! Sailor Mars!"
      Nothing. Her head rolled limply on her neck like a broken flower. Alex slapped her once, sharply, then released her gently when she didn't sit up and scream at her. Not a good sign. What the hell had that demon bitch-woman done to them? She checked for a pulse and frowned; it was erratic, slower than it should have been.
      Behind her, she could hear both Master and Mistress laughing over their triumph. It was an annoying, teeth-grating noise, but she ignored it as well, focusing on Jupiter. She closed her eyes, listening with her mental ears to a silence that was not supposed to be there; no static, no thoughts, nothing. Lights off, no one home.
      And then of course, when she was actually using that particular power, she was practically deafened by a scream that ripped through her mind, driven by exquisite pain. She fell back onto her ass, letting out a startled shout as she clapped a hand to her skull, a gesture that was useless when the sensation was inside her head. "Usagi," she whispered, rolling back onto her feet.
      She had to leave them. Her princess was in danger, and that superceded everything else. Not that she wanted to, not when she wanted nothing more than to wring that bitch-woman's neck and demand she fix whatever she'd done to them. Turning, she centered her gaze on the low rise of the Tomoe laboratories.

      Pluto stared helplessly as the creature held up their princess, her eyes alight with suffering. Though she had aimed her rod for a strike, she couldn't risk hitting Sailor Moon, which, in her current position, she was sure to do. And the daimon knew it, even as he shook under another repeat of Neptune's attack. All he had to do was bear the fury of their powers until they completely tired, then slaughter them as he used her as a shield.
      Then the brooch's clasp broke, and Tsukino Usagi fell from the daimon's claws.
      She landed in a crumpled heap, blonde hair streaming like spilled gold across the floor, and didn't get up. Which was a terrible shame, as she was unable to witness the sudden circle of heat above her head, a neat, perfect hole burning right through the ceiling tiles. Through it dropped the tall red-head, the center of a pillar of living flame. "You," she hissed.
      Germatoid looked up at her as she stared at him, with a growing fury, her eyes…no longer blue. She could hear Neptune's startled oath as she ripped the brooch from the daimon's hand with her telekinesis. "I…have had…a very…very…bad…day," she snarled, catching the broken heart with one hand and releasing a blast of flame from the other.
      Germatoid smelled very bad when burning. He howled, only to get smacked again by flames, and again, each one harsh enough to toast the metal tables around him. Then he was sent flying across the room, smashing into the metal racks holding Tomoe's old test tubes, and the sound of glass mingled with Pluto's shout of "Dead Scream!"
      "Space Sword Blaster!"
      "Submarine Reflection!"
      Usagi opened her eyes as the last scream echoed into oblivion, staring dazedly into…into…. "Alex onee-chan?"
      The tall red-head smiled, breathing hard; the smile touched her eyes, even though they had changed so strangely. A small trickle of blood had leaked from her nose. "I'm touched. Come on, sit up…" She levered her up to see Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto standing around them, smiling in what looked to be relief. "I wish I could say you can rest now, but that isn't possible."
      In her hand was Usagi's heart shaped brooch.
      "Master Pharaoh 90 has been freed."
      Taking it back, she held it tightly to her chest.
      "Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury…their spirits have been stolen."
      She trembled only slightly at what was about to happen.
      "We need Sailor Moon. We have to save this planet."
      "Whatever it takes, hime-sama."
      "No matter what, we'll use our power to defend our world."
      "Our beautiful blue planet. We'll sacrifice ourselves if we need to."
      No more sacrifices. They didn't know it yet, however; nothing of her promise to keep them safe and happy. After all, a queen looked after her kingdom and kind, made sure they were in good spirits and never wanting. No one should ever have to die, in that world.
      Not even Hotaru. Or Chibi-Usa. She held her heart, and smiled.
      She'd lead them towards that joy.