Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Ascension Trilogy, Book 2: Judgment Day ❯ Chapter 1

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

THE ASCENSION TRILOGY, BOOK TWO: JUDGMENT DAY
A Sailor Moon Fanfic
Chapter 1: "They Walk The Earth"

By Bill K.
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Sailor Moon and all related characters are (c)2003 by Naoko Takeuchi/
Kodansha and Toei Animation and are used without permission, but with
respect. Story is (c)2003 by Bill Kropfhauser.

As always, for those only familiar with the English dub:

Usagi=Serena
Ami=Amy
Rei=Raye
Makoto=Lita
Min ako=Mina
Haruka=Amara
Michiru=Michelle
Setsuna=Trista
Mamor u=Darien
Chibi-Usa=Rini

Finally, Haruka and Michiru are NOT cousins.
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Th e apparition moved from Juuban Park with steady deliberation.
It lumbered and the ground shook as it stepped. It was forty meters
high and massive. A solid mass of ice given animation, it was a living
glacier cast in the form of a humanoid. Water vapor condensed around
it, falling on the area as a cold rain.

"It's headed for the city!" Jupiter gasped. Pushing past her
fellow senshi, the mistress of electricity took off down the street, her
objective the park. Quickly the others followed.

"What is that?" Luna demanded as she ran along side Mars' heels.

"It's made of pure ice!" Mercury said as she ran, her visor giving
her data. "It has a skeletal frame underneath, also made of ice.
Circulatory system matches general humanoid construction."

"That thing has blood?" Artemis asked.

"Ice water," Mercury corrected him. "What a curious life form.
It has to be a mystical being, because the physics involved would be
impossible otherwise."

"Ice water in his veins, huh?" Venus remarked. "Sounds like a
cool customer."

"And in keeping with the prevailing theme," Mercury added. "Nordic
myth spoke of a race of beings called Frost Giants that spread cold
wintry conditions and ruled over those lands."

"Well he's not ruling this land," Jupiter scowled. "And that
thing's not going to threaten my kids!"

The senshi raced down the street, their movement barely noticed by
fleeing civilians. As they covered the distance in too slow a time, a
police car raced past them on its way to the park. Panic was beginning
to spread like fire through dry leaves. They turned the corner onto the
street that led to the park. The Frost Giant was even bigger up close,
impossibly big and imposing.

"Try to keep it contained to the park!" yelled Artemis.

Jupiter took the lead, as she so often did. Racing down the block
until she was twenty meters from it, Jupiter stopped.

"Jupiter!" Jupiter yelled, "Aurora Cage!"

Volts of electricity sprang from her hands, leaping up at the ice
monster with great eagerness. The charges linked, weaving themselves
until they formed an electrical cage around the Frost Giant. The giant
reacted with puzzlement when confronted by the unfamiliar obstruction.
It leaned into the mesh of the cage, then pulled back as the mesh
sizzled and popped at it.

"That's got it so far!" Mars cheered. "Hey, officers! Get
everyone cleared away! We'll handle this thing!"

The Frost Giant responded with a rumbling, inhuman roar of
petulant frustration. Hunching its shoulders, the giant pushed against
the electrical barrier. Where it touched, the mesh sparked and spat
angrily, showering everyone below with embers as plumes of steam rose up
from the caged giant.

"It's trying to escape!" Luna shouted.

"Jupiter, can you hold that thing?" Venus asked.

"Trying!" grimaced Jupiter.

With a violent shove, the Frost Giant pierced the electrical
field. Once sundered, the electric field rapidly dissipated.

"Try this on!" Venus said, eyes twinkling with the thrill of the
challenge. "Exploding Golden Kiss!"

The force exploded into the chest of the giant, knocking it back a
step. The giant regained its balance and brought up a hand aimed in the
direction of Venus.

"Look out!" cried Mercury. "There's an energy build-up around
that hand! It's going to project something! Everyone scatter!"

The four senshi bolted in opposite directions, instinctively
knowing where the other would go. The police were not so lucky. The
two officers were caught in a massive arctic blast that instantly froze
the water vapor in the air into a thick slab of ice. The car, too, was
covered by the ice, as was the entrance to the park and the surrounding
street.

"Oh my word!" Luna gasped. "Mercury, are they still alive?"

Mercury checked her visor. "One of them is dead! The other is
showing minimal life signs consistent with cryogenic hibernation!"

"Never mind that!" barked Venus. "That thing's on the move!"

The giant stepped out onto Tenth Street, its every step shaking
the city. Once out onto Tenth Street, the giant began pointing at shops
in the area. Each building received a massive blast of cold, freezing
the street, the building and everything inside.

"Let's see what I can do!" Mars said, glaring angrily. "Fiery
Perdition!"

Sailor Mars let loose a blanket of flame aimed at engulfing the
ice giant and, if not destroying it, disabling it. The giant, though,
parried with another blast of cold that held the firewall at bay. Mars
bore down, trying to force her fire past the waves and waves of cold.
Her flame was further battered by the driving snow formed by the effect
of the bitter cold on the water vapor in the air.

Finally Mars could maintain her attack no longer. The fire died
away and only her own nimbleness allowed Mars to escape being frozen.
The others regrouped around her as Mars leaned against a wall.

"That's one tough monster!" gasped Mars.

"Yeah, it took three of our strongest attacks and barely stopped,"
Jupiter marveled. "I'm not ready to quit, but I'd think we need a
change of tactics."

"And quick!" Artemis added. "That giant's already frozen the
whole block!"

To punctuate the warning from Artemis, a deafening creak pealed
through the icy city block. The sound was of wood and concrete pushed
past its capacity and loudly shearing. The senshi turned and saw a
perfume shop collapse in on itself.

"What happened?" gasped Mars.

"The weight of the ice must have been too great for the building's
frame to hold," Mercury explained.

"You don't suppose there were people in there, do you?" Venus
asked.

In response, Mercury summoned her computer and scanned the
wreckage. The look of abject horror on her face was all the
confirmation they needed - - there were victims, but none that could be
saved.

"Maybe we better evacuate the other buildings?" Jupiter asked.

"There's no time for that!" Luna proclaimed. "You have to stop
that monster! The police and fire departments will have to handle
evacuations! I realize it may seem cold, even cruel, but it's
necessary! We must focus our efforts!"

"OK, how?" asked Mars.

"The cohesion of ice is not very strong," Mercury reasoned.
"Given the mass of that creature, a blow of sufficient intensity should
shatter it. Or perhaps a lesser strength blow aimed at a stress point."

"Can you find a stress point?" Venus asked.

"I can try," Mercury said. She began punching commands into her
computer. But in mid-string, she stopped, staring in wonder at her
computer. Slowly, in shock, she turned back to the park. The others
looked with her and saw what had brought this state of amazement onto
her.

"It just got worse," mumbled Venus as another Frost Giant
descended onto the frozen lake from the temporal portal above.

Her head reeling, Mercury turned back to the first Frost Giant and
resumed scanning. Out of nowhere an obstruction popped up and Mercury
felt hands grip her shoulders to steady her. She looked up into a full
bust accented with a blue bow.

"Steady, Mercury," Sailor Neptune said with a confident smile.
Sailor Uranus and Sailor Pluto flanked her. She turned to the other
inner senshi. "You keep after this one. We'll take the one in the
park." The inners nodded, Mercury with a slight blush.

"Be careful," warned Artemis. "It can project intense cold from
its hands."

"Right!" Neptune nodded as she, Uranus and Pluto headed for the
park.

"Have you found that stress point yet?" Venus prodded.

"Oh! Um," Mercury sputtered, shaking herself. "Yes! The torso
is the thickest part! Avoid that and aim for the head and limbs!"

"Got it!" Mars said, racing off with Jupiter.

"Remember, you have to generate sufficient force!" Mercury called
after them.

The outer senshi raced into the park just as the second Frost
Giant had made shore. Overhead, a news helicopter circled the giant,
taking a live feed that was currently running on TV Asahi. The giant
looked up at the circling copter and swung at it in annoyance, barely
missing the craft.

"We've got civilians to protect!" roared Uranus. Her hand shot up
into the air and geo-force collected in the palm. "World Shaking!"

The globe of geo-force sped across the ground and exploded into
the Frost Giant, rocking the monster backwards. When it regained its
balance, the monster turned to them and roared in defiance.

In response, Uranus threw another geo-force blast at it. The
Frost Giant staggered backwards, lost its balance and tumbled to one
knee.

"That's got it!" Uranus cheered. "One more good blast should
finish it off!"

But the Giant was quicker. Its hand came up and suddenly the
three outer senshi were struck with a blast of intense, numbing cold.
The trio staggered back in the face of the cold. Neptune, feeling frost
forming on her face and legs, acted quickly.

"Deep Submerge!" she howled.

Instantly a wave of water sprang up between them and the Frost
Giant, threatening to engulf the giant. But his blast of intense cold
quick-froze the water into a wall of ice eight feet thick and forty feet
high. The helicopter circled in for a close shot. Though her attack
had been thwarted, it had served its dual purpose. There was now a
barrier between them, temporarily shielding the three outer senshi from
the numbing blast of the Frost Giant.

Neptune sank to her knees, clutching her torso as she shivered.
Instantly she felt Uranus next to her.

"You going to make it?" Uranus asked, deeply concerned.

"So cold!" gasped Neptune. "Don't worry about me. Just take that
thing out!"

Uranus nodded. Despite feeling the effects of the bitter cold on
her own body, Sailor Uranus ran for the edge of the barrier. Sailor
Pluto flanked her as she ran. At the edge of the barrier, Uranus
summoned another geo-force and let it fly.

However, the Frost Giant was not caught unaware. As it was about
to be struck by the blast from Sailor Uranus, it let loose another wave
of cold that struck Uranus. The geo-blast knocked the monster back down
to one knee.

Uranus was thrown back onto the ground. She began to stiffen as
ice formed around her rapidly cooling frame. Grimacing, the senshi
tried to force herself up, trying to avoid falling to the attack.
However, her body was too cold. She could barely feel it, let alone
make it function.

"Dead Scream," came the barely audible reply from Sailor Pluto.

A sonic blast struck Sailor Uranus. It blasted her up into the
air, then let her plummet back to the ground where she landed limply.
But the blast achieved its intended purpose, in that all the ice forming
around her shattered and was blasted away. Pluto cautiously came up
next to the fallen warrior and knelt down next to her.

"Are you capable of continuing?" Pluto asked.

"Between you," gasped Uranus, "and that thing? Give me a minute."

"You shall have your minute," Pluto replied, standing and
brandishing her time staff as she faced the Frost Giant.
* * * *
"Exploding Golden Kiss!" roared Venus.

The shockwave ripped down the street, exploding cars and a
hydrant, before tearing into the legs of the Frost Giant. The Giant
staggered, but maintained its balance and turned toward the annoyance.

"Venus, you're doing more damage than the Frost Giant is!" gasped
Artemis.

"Everybody's a critic!" scowled Venus. "Did that do anything?"

"Yeah, it made him mad!" Jupiter yelled. "Head's up!"

The senshi lunged for safety as a frigid blast headed for them.
The spouting hydrant instantly froze over and the street was coated with
a thick sheen of ice. Satisfied that the annoyance was dealt with, the
Frost Giant turned and began lumbering off toward the business district,
leaving ice and frozen buildings in its wake.

"After it!" Artemis yelled.

"Oh, sure!" griped Venus. "I bet you've never tried to run on a
sheet of ice in high heels!"

"I'm going to try for the head!" shouted Jupiter.

Jupiter ran ahead, displaying a confidence and dexterity on the
ice that Venus could only envy. She opened up a gap between her and her
partners, closing in on the giant lumbering along oblivious to her. As
she ran, she summoned the lightning rod from her tiara.

"Supreme Thunder!" she roared.

Lightning seemed to lance down from the heavens and jump onto the
rod atop her tiara. Jupiter contracted into herself, taking in all the
electricity she could absorb, then expelled it in one gigantic deadly
bolt. The bolt struck the back of the Frost Giant's head. Ice chucks
flew from it as the giant pitched forward. It caught itself at the last
moment before it fell, then turned once more to the annoyance.

"It was a direct hit!" fumed Jupiter. "What is this thing made
of? How are we supposed to kill it?"

"Sparkling Tsunami!" Jupiter heard Mercury call out just before
the Frost Giant was engulfed with water. The water quickly froze around
the giant, which was Mercury's attack anyway. It didn't need the
giant's help, but the giant only made it freeze faster.

"Did that get him?" Venus asked, running up gingerly so she didn't
slip and fall.

"He seems to be trapped in the ice," Mercury said, scanning the
huge berg with her visor. "Ironic, in a way."

"Boy, you'd think ice would be the last thing to fight that
monster with," smiled Sailor Mars, joining up with the group again.

"Actually I was counting on the Frost Giant reacting the way it
did," Mercury told them. "Its first and only defense seems to be to
freeze whatever attacks. By reacting that way to my freezing wave of
water, all it did was make the trap around it thicker."

"But will it hold?" Luna asked.

"It depends upon how much pressure the Frost Giant can exert
against the ice holding it," reasoned Mercury. "It seems to be holding
for now."

"OK, how do we kill it?" Jupiter asked. "Attack the stress
points, like you said?"

"I'm not certain we can, now. We can't use any attacks against it
without sundering the ice it's trapped in. We may just have to find a
way to send it back to Knorr like that."

"Well this thing is dealt with for now," Venus told them. "Maybe
we should head back to the park to see if the outers need help."

Their first warning was a hiss that seemed to grow in strength,
like the sizzle of water on a griddle cranked up to full blast. Then
the icy cocoon around the Frost Giant exploded outward as the giant
twisted and flexed its frosty torso. Huge chunks of ice went flying.
One crashed into the street near Mercury, Venus and the cats. The shock
of the impact threw them back. Each lay stunned on the icy street. The
Frost Giant kicked loose from the ice that had held it, then turned and
headed once more for the business district.

"Mars!" Sailor Mars snapped, her hand at her side. "Flame
Sniper!"

The flaming bow and arrow formed in her hands. Remembering
Mercury's admonition to try to sunder the Frost Giant at its weak
points, Mars took careful aim for the back of the giant's head. Her
shaft zipped through the air and impacted with the monster's head just
at the neckline. Clouds of steam rose from the wound as the flaming
arrow bore into the thing as far as it could before dying into embers.
The giant pitched to its knees from the impact and the pain it endured.

"You got it down!" shouted Jupiter. "I'll try to keep it down!
Supreme Thunder!"

Another blue-white bolt of electricity leaped at the Frost Giant
like a vicious wolf. The bolt bit into the thigh of the giant and
chunks of ice exploded out from the limb. What ice remained had
hairline cracks in it. Seconds passed and Mars had another arrow
notched and loose. The blazing arrow impacted into the head, throwing
more steam up as it burrowed into it. The Frost Giant flinched like it
was struck with a huge ball bat and threatened to topple onto the
ground.

Both Mars and Jupiter were prepared to strike again when, in
desperation, the giant swung its arm behind it. A wave of arctic cold
slammed into the two senshi. Mars and Jupiter howled in agony as the
wave stripped the warmth from their bodies and sent them hurling
backward into the street. Each woman skidded to a stop on the ice and
lay there shivering. Mars felt someone cradle her. She looked up
through recovering eyes and saw it was Venus.

"You OK?" Venus asked.

"Feel like I just went skinny-dipping in January!" gasped Mars,
her teeth chattering.

"Now there's a mental image," smirked Venus.

Too cold to scowl, Mars silently summoned the fire to her. The
warmth of the fire flooded through her like hot soup on a cold day and
she let out a grateful sigh.

"I'm better now," Mars told Venus as she sat up. Looking around,
she saw Mercury ministering to Jupiter. The lanky senshi was huddled on
the street, shivering and pale. "How is she?"

"She's going to need some time," Mercury said. The woman looked
around for something to cover Jupiter with.

"Come on." Mars felt a tug on her arm and realized it was Venus.
"Let's go get this thing."

"Right behind you," nodded Mars, pulling herself to her feet.

"Then you can tell me where that whole 'skinny-dipping' slip came
from," Venus smirked.

"Shut up!" scowled Mars.

Tracking the Frost Giant wasn't difficult. All they had to do was
follow the path of ice and frozen buildings, cars and people. Several
buildings had already crumbled from the weight of the ice or had huge
gashes in them due to a careless step of the giant. Mars and Venus
could see they were entering the business district. It was an island in
the city filled with high-rise office buildings, each building filled
with people who up until a little while ago had been working at their
jobs. The few that exited the buildings in blind panic were quickly
frozen. As the two senshi closed the distance between them and the
Frost Giant, they readied themselves to launch their attacks.

"Hey, Mars!" Sailor Mars heard Venus call out. "Isn't that your
dad on TV?"

Mars turned to the giant digital television screen that decorated
the side of the Sony building. Instantly her featured twisted into
burning hatred. Towering thirty feet in the air four stories above the
sidewalk was the face of Dietman Tetsuo Hino, Secretary General of the
ruling Liberal Democrat Party and acknowledged unofficial leader of the
Japanese Diet.

"Citizens of Japan," the graying but still obscenely handsome
politician said in the firm, clear voice that for so long seemed to
demand obedience from the Japanese people, "the city of Tokyo is under
attack. Forces of unknown origin have invaded the city, spreading
destruction and disaster in their wake. Evacuation of all non-essential
citizens has begun. Please do not panic. Civil Defense forces have
been mobilized in accordance with the surrender agreement with the
United States. We are also receiving assistance from U.S. forces
stationed in Japan. I am asking you to remain in your homes or in your
businesses until Civil Defense Evacuation teams can get to you. The
streets must be clear for emergency traffic. All non-essential travel
is banned until further notice. If you are not part of the Civil
Defense forces, do not go out."

"Everybody stay home and cower, right?" sneered Mars through
gritted teeth. "You're in charge as usual, is that it?" Violently she
swung on the Frost Giant lumbering down the street headed for downtown
Tokyo. Her hand snapped to her side. "MARS!" she snapped venomously.
"FLAME SNIPER!"

The fiery bow and arrow again materialized in her hands. Mars
took a second to aim and let fly with a shaft. The burning arrow
cleaved the air at almost supersonic speed, then split the head of the
Frost Giant in two. The giant wobbled for a moment, then fell backward
into the side of an office building, careening onto the street.

Her eyes burning with rage, Mars turned back to the image of her
father on the television screen and then spat on the ground.



Continued in chapter 2