Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Sailor X ❯ SX28: The Legion of Evil ( Chapter 28 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Sailor X #28 The Legion of Evil

By: John Brengman

Edited by: Thomas Schell

Before the Fall of the Silver Millennium

While the story of Queen Beryl and her invasion of the Moon Kingdom is
well known, the evil Queen and her four generals could not have
accomplished the chaos they did without additional help. With much of
Earth under her control, Beryl created several warriors from the very
elements, and used these warriors in the final push to conquer Earth.

After the conquest was complete, the generals turned their attention
to the Moon Palace while the elemental warriors mopped up resistance
and ravaged the populace.

With the last of her strength, Queen Serenity saved the royal court,
sending them into the distant future to be reborn in a time of peace.
Her act of cleansing also saved Earth. As Beryl and her forces her
being sealed in the Negaverse, the elemental warriors were encased in
shards of crystal and buried in the Earth.

Her strength gone, Queen Serenity laid down among the wreckage as her
life seeped away from her, safe in the knowledge that her sacrifice
had saved the future.

==> * SM * <==

The Present Day...

Mayon Volcano - Republic of the Philippines

Everything happened quickly...much too quickly..

First it was a mist that local villagers could easily mistake for
wispy low-laying clouds. The steam quickly increased however, soon
becoming a torrent gray smoke that belched from the mountain and rose
ominously into the sky.

Volcanic activity had become more frequent recently, not just here,
but in Asia, Japan, and in the Americas, so a normal volcanic eruption
would not take anyone in the villages surrounding the Mayon volcano by
surprise.

But this was not a normal eruption. Already the mountain had displayed
activity that would take days to build into normally. Hurried phone
calls were made to the authorities in Manila. Within minutes of the
call, a U.N. helicopter equipped with a sensor probe rose from the
tarmac at the old Clark Airfield and headed toward the scene.

The mountain continued its metamorphosis. The smoke billowing from the
summit had turned a sooty black and now and then, a fleck of molten
red could be seen as a splattering of lava was released from deep
within the core of the rumbling mountain.

The U.N. helicopter landed at a village near the mountain long enough
for a three-man team to jump off. A panic had started and these people
would help the local police evacuate people in as orderly a manner as
possible. As the helicopter lifted off, a couple with an infant braved
the man-made windstorm of the whirling rotor blades to shout a
question to the U.N. workers, who answered by shaking their heads and
pointing to the mountain. As if to confirm their answer, the
helicopter soon was airborne and it continued on its way to the
blackened skies near the mountain.

Lava now splattered from the mountain to land randomly on the rocky
ridgelines leading to the summit.

The helicopter made a wide banking turn and started to circle the
mountain. Attached to the bottom of the craft, a small cylindrical
device hummed and beeped to itself as it sampled the surrounding air
and snapped digital pictures of the volcano.

Having completed a circle around the volcano, the pilot now brought
the helicopter low and edged it toward the summit. Once in position,
he spared a look down and looked into Hell.

Steam billowed from several places within the crater of the mountain,
while black smoke drifted from some of the larger fissures. Lava ran
in rivulets and collected in pools, bubbling and frothing, adding its
own steam to the mix.

The sensor on the helicopter took all this in and the co-pilot looked
over some of the telemetry. "What the hell," he muttered.

"What is it?" The pilot asked as he looked at the screen, at the spot
the co-pilot was pointing to.

In the northwest corner of the volcano, surrounded by fire, was a
yellow oval that seemed to be reflecting the nearby light.

Just then, a gout of lava shot out of the mountain, splattering the
helicopter. The pilot had a split second to react, and he jerked back
on the control stick. The helicopter swiftly jumped upward and the
lava missed the rotors. Soon, the pilot had his craft flying through
the open air over the island jungle.

"That was close," the co-pilot breathed.

"Too close," the pilot replied. "We took some damage. We may have to
ditch the chopper. You'd better transmit what we found."

"Can you keep her in the air that long?" The co-pilot asked, a hint of
concern coloring his voice.

"I think so," came the response.

The co-pilot pressed a button on his panel, and a new light appeared
on the probe as it transmitted its data to Clark Airfield.

==> * SM * <==

The Mayon Volcano eruption was not the only bizarre incident to happen
on the planet that day.

Wisps of clouds formed over the central Pacific. Within an hour, a
typhoon was bearing down on Philippine island of Luzon. Three hours
after its birth, the coast of China east of Hong Kong was feeling the
brunt of the storm. The typhoon continued westward, and strengthened.
Two hours later, it was over Hanoi, with winds breaking the record for
the highest winds ever recorded.

The people of the coastal regions of Oregon and Washington were
familiar with earthquakes. When the first tremors were felt, people
reacted almost as if they were acting by rote.

The rumblings intensified, and then doubled in strength quickly after
that. People as far south as the Klamath region and as far north as
Vancouver braced themselves for what they thought was going to be a
strong earthquake.

They underestimated the quake's ferocity and duration. Six hours
later, geologists in the region were still picking up Richter Scale
readings of 8.5 or higher.

A tornado touched down north of Topeka, Kansas. Although the people in
the area were concerned and took steps to protect themselves, the
general consensus was that this would be a normal tornado that would
probably make the local newscasts.

The people watched with amazement as the tornado moved with incredible
slowness, destroying everything in its path. A weather plane sent up
to get readings on the tornado came back with wind speed readings that
were off the scale.

==> * SM * <==

The Luna Foundation

Crystal Palace Observatory

"Have you seen these reports?" Sandra asked as she waved a handful of
papers at Amy.

Amy looked up from the computer station she was at, and the bank of
monitors suspended in a row above her.

"Yes," she said. "Some of these readings are astounding.

"Anything else?" Sandra asked.

"Each incident has some facet of it that is not natural," Amy replied
evenly. "A volcano going from no activity at all to a full eruption,
an earthquake that lasts for more than six hours, and the wind and
velocity of the tornado in Kansas...all of these are extraordinary."

Sandra gazed at Amy for a moment as the computers hummed and clicked
in the background.

"There's more, isn't there?"

"Yes," Amy said as she glanced at the monitors. She touched a button,
and the monitors changed. On each monitor was a scene from each of the
bizarre weather phenomena. On each scene was a circular object that
seemed to meld into the surrounding scene and stand out from it at the
same time.

"That looks like an egg," Sandra said softly as she examined the
monitors.

"Artemis," Amy said, "scan all databases for matches based on the data
on the observatory data stations." She waited as the computer did its
work. A button started to flash and the computer beeped along with it,
signaling that the work was finished.

Amy pressed the flashing button and the computer cleared the monitors.
A message flashed.

ONE RELEVANT MATCH - NEGAVERSE DATABASE

EGGS OF THE ELEMENTAL WARRIORS

"An `Elemental Warrior'?" Sandra asked. "Never heard of them."

"Neither have I," Amy muttered. "Artemis, give details on the data
match."

The computer spoke:

"The Elemental Warriors were created by Queen Beryl to assist in the
conquest of

Earth during the attack on the Moon Palace. The Elemental Warriors
were designed

to be formidable opponents to the Moon Kingdom, and invulnerable to
any weaponry

of the time period.

The Elemental Warriors were successful. The forces loyal to the Moon
Kingdom were

defeated as the Moon Palace fell."

"Great," Sandra said as she finished reading. "It sounds like we're
about to have a thousand-year old rematch."

==> * SM * <==

The Philippines

The crystal egg shattered under the intense heat of the fiery volcano
and a giant human-shaped lava creature crawled from the smoldering
crater and started to trudge down the mountain.

The wind ruffled through her skirt as Sailor Mercury landed on the
sandy beach next to Sailor Neptune. The shuttle that had flown the
Sailors to the Philippines quickly lifted off and glided out over the
ocean toward its next destination.

The Sailors glanced around the peaceful scene around them, with the
ocean's waves gently washing over the white sands of the beach as the
sun baked the area with its rays.

"So," Sailor Mercury growled gruffly, not seeing any enemy to fight,
"where is the big ugly monster we're supposed to take down?"

A decidedly monstrous-sounding howl erupted from the jungle trees
nearby.

"He's that way," Sailor Neptune said as she pointed to the jungle.
"Don't worry though. It's coming this way."

==> * SM * <==

" It's coming this way!" Sailor Mars shouted as she dropped to the
ground behind a water tank in the Vietnamese city of Hanoi. A short
distance away, her mentor popped her head around the corner of a
ramshackle shed and nodded briefly.

"MARS FIRE IGNITE!" Sailor Mars yelled as the elder Mars chimed in
with "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!" The twinned attacks poured in on
the water monster and soon there was a thick layer of steam covering
the area.

"Is it gone?" Mars asked as she waved a hand through the murkiness.
Suddenly a watery hand reached from the fog and grabbed her. Sailor
Mars screamed as she was pulled into the sky.

"My guess is `no'," the elder Mars said quietly, then unleashed
another fire attack. The monster roared in apparent pain and the fog
grew thicker.

"That almost hit me!" Sailor Mars yelled.

"Well," came the shouted retort, "why don't YOU try something!"

"I will!" Mars yelled back.

The elder Mars was about to say something else when suddenly she heard
her pupil shout, "MARS PHOENIX!" She was immediately sheathed in an
angry field of fire. Screams of agony were torn from her mouth as the
fire scorched her skin. The elder Mars could do nothing except watch
and hope that her student had learned to focus herself enough to fight
through the difficult transformation. Her faith in her student was
rewarded when the fog evaporated, seared away by the heat of the
flaming bird that hung in the air between the elder Mars and the water
elemental.

"MARS FIRESTORM FLASH!" A torrent of fire erupted from the younger
Mars and speared the water monster. A cloud of steam billowed out and
Mars lost sight of it.

Suddenly a black form leapt away from the fog. It flew down toward
Sailor Mars, who had to throw herself to the ground to dodge it. The
elder Mars answered with: "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!" Her
incendiary blast slashed through the spectral form as it started to
fly away. The shadowy figure seemed to be unaffected.

As the fog flowed away the two senshi of fire looked up into the night
sky where the spectral monster disappeared.

"Where is it going?" Sailor Mars asked her mentor.

"I don't know," the elder Sailor Mars replied quietly, "but the others
will want to know." With that, the two women started to walk toward
the edge of the collection of water tanks and the road that would take
them to the airport.

==> * SM * <==

Shuttle 2 in Earth orbit...

"Sailor Moon, this is the Luna Foundation," a voice spoke over the
shuttle's audio system.

Sailor Moon flipped a switch. "Sailor Moon, reporting from Shuttle 2,"
she said.

"The other Sailors have reported in," the voice said. "The enemy
monsters have retreated, in a way. Each monster has fled their battles
using a gas-like form. Lunar sensors show that they are heading toward
a small island in the southern Pacific Ocean."

"They're trying to get away," Sailor Moon said calmly.

"Or perhaps they are regrouping for another attack," said the voice.
"The Sailors also reported that they've had to use their most powerful
attacks to drive the monsters away."

"Thanks for the info," Sailor Moon said as she turned the nose of the
shuttle downward toward the blue-green planet it was circling. "That
could be quite useful."

==> * SM * <==

"SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!"

"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!"

"MOON ZERO MAGIC!"

"MARS FLAME SNIPER!"

"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!"

"JUPITER GRAVITON POWER!"

"DEEP SUBMERGE!"

"DEAD SCREAM!"

The simultaneous attacks of the senshi arrayed against the remains of
the monster erupted from the heroic warriors and quickly enveloped the
pulsating villain. It disappeared within the swirling energies that
cascaded around it.

"We got it!" Sailor Mars shouted.

"Not so fast," Neptune muttered and the elder Mars nodded her head in
agreement. As if on cue, the monster emerged from the slowly-dying
torrent of celestial energies. The monster now was a combination of
all of the villains the Sailors had fought to this point. The head of
the beast swirled with an angry clump of fire. One arm was barely
visible, but it had swung at Sailor Mercury, and even when it missed,
Mercury was sent flying by the accompanying gust of wind.

The other arm of the creature was made of water, and the two legs
looked like piles of sod.

The creature bellowed and blew a gust of smoky air at the Sailors, who
tried to shield their eyes against the acrid onslaught.

"Damn!" Sailor Jupiter yelled. "I thought we had it too! Our combined
attacks..."

Mercury had pulled out her computer and was busy scanning the monster
as a gust of wind ruffled her hair. "There is an energy field around
the monster that dampens any single attack that hits it. Our attacks
were launched simultaneously, but they hit the creature at different
times, and the energy field was able to dampen each attack."
"What do we do?" Sailor Moon shouted over the din of the artificial
wind.

"Separately, we can perhaps get separate attacks to hit the monster at
the same time," Mercury said. "What we need is for all of our powers
to hit the monster at the exact same time. The combined energy should
overload the field surrounding the creature."

The Sailors easily put some space between themselves and the lumbering
monster and then they gathered around Sailor Moon as she brought her
staff up and held it above her head....

"MOON CRISIS POWER!"

A soft white light flowed in on Sailor Moon, and she basked in its
warm glow as it cascaded over her. When she opened her eyes, she saw
that she wore a silky white dress with gold embroidery along its
edges. The thin crown of the crown princess of the Moon Kingdom sat
lightly atop her head.

Having completed the transformation, Princes Sandra shouted, "MOON
STAFF!" A golden light flared and the Moon Staff, appeared in her
hands just long enough for her Silver Crystal to glide from the top of
the finely-crafted artifact and into her hands.

Princess Sandra raised the Silver Crystal into the air and mentally
searched out her friends nearby. The jewel in each of the tiaras that
the Sailors wore flared to life as each warrior gave a small portion
of her powers to help Princess Sandra control the Silver Crystal and
ready the attack on the monster.

After all of the Sailors had quietly acknowledged the lending of their
power, Sandra looked up and held the Silver Crystal between the
advancing monster and herself.

"You are a perversion of the pureness of the elements," she said,
"created by evil to spread chaos and destruction. Now the evil that
created you is no more, and you must join her in that oblivion! In the
name of the Moon, I shall punish you!"

The Crystal flashed an angry red, and glowed brightly like the setting
sun.

Princess Sandra concentrated on what she needed the Crystal to do and
then concentrated on her words...

"MOON CRYSTAL POWER!"

The Silver Crystal flashed, then a brilliant beam of light surged from
the crystal and washed over the energy field around the monster. Waves
of amber washed over the protective dome over the monster, then cracks
appeared. Suddenly, the dome-like field collapsed and the energy of
the Crystal flowed in on the creature. The creature let out an
agonized scream as it was simply washed away under the tide of the
Crystal's energy.

As the energy from the final attack faded, the Sailors and Sandra
collapsed in a tired heap on the white sands of the beach where the
entire battle had taken place.

==> * SM * <==

"Welcome to FOX News Sunday, I'm Charles Zellmer. In our top story,
the European Union is fractured as the government of France officially
announced that it will not sign the unification treaty backed by the
United Nations. France joins several countries in south and eastern
Europe and northern Africa in a coalition that opposes the unification
treaty, which is designed to bring the nations of the world under a
single world government in order to combat the current environmental
crisis.

The European Coalition as it is called, joins similar groups of
nations in southeast Asia and South America..."

Fanfic ©2001 - John Brengman and Artemis Publishing

Sailor X series inspired by Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon,

© 1992 by Toei Animation Co Ltd. and based on Kodansha's

manga production of "Sailor Moon", written by Naoko Takeuchi

This fanfic is freely distributed.

Release date: August 13, 2001

Edited: August 13, 2001