Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Ascension Trilogy, Book 2: Judgment Day ❯ Not With A Bang ( Chapter 7 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

JUDGMENT DAY,
Chapter 7: "Not With A Bang"

By Bill K.

It seemed like an eternity - - a grim jest to the senshi of time
- - but Sailor Pluto finally was within sight of Juuban Park, the place
where it all began. She had fought difficult odds: arctic conditions,
two separate Frost Giants barring her path at different points, and the
ominous trepidation that came with seeing a terrible vision of the
future unfold before her. Sailor Pluto was no stranger to cataclysmic
futures - - she'd seen many over the short time her power and sight had
evolved her into the senshi of time. It was part of why her mood was
so melancholy.

But to watch one of them actually come to pass, seemingly helpless
to forestall it, was almost too much.

"It is not impossible," Pluto whispered to herself, her lips
chapped by the biting cold of the air. "You have seen futures, futures
that are bright and rosy and full of hope. You have seen futures beyond
this day that are not bleak and empty. Have courage. It can all still
be made right."

She slogged on through the ice and snow, her Time Staff acting as
a walking stick to support her. The icy wind whipped under her skirt
and blew her long black-green hair.

"Do not surrender," she continued. "Do not let 'him' win."

The thought of Janus once again made her heart ache. All of this
had come to pass because she had foolishly fallen in love with him. Her
feelings had blinded her to his real intentions and allowed this harsh
situation to come to pass. Perhaps he had really loved her. Perhaps
that hadn't been just one more lie, one more truth concealed for
expediency. It didn't really matter, for in the end he had betrayed
her. Loyalty to his King and his creed were more important to him than
she was.

"Is this why you are so wounded?" Pluto mused. "Is it because he
poisoned your Princess and plunged your world into chaos - - or because
he loved something more than you?" She forced herself on. "I was
correct to mistrust falling in love. The pain is just too great."

She tried to dismiss Janus from her mind, to concentrate on the
task at hand. But Pluto found herself remembering the touch of his hand
on her cheek, and how it made her flush with excitement. She found
herself recalling the look of adoration he had in his eyes as he gazed
at her, how it made her feel special and beautiful.

Pluto stopped in her tracks. She found herself missing him, even
as she cursed him, and she found herself shuddering at the memory that
she had been the instrument of his destruction.

"No," she whispered. "Not destruction - - execution."

Atonement was required, as Janus had atoned with his very life.
She would stop this invasion, if it cost her own life. It was a small
price.

Perhaps then the hurt would stop.

Sailor Pluto shuffled through the snow and ice to the entrance to
the park. Her limbs were tired. The cold was having an effect, even on
the heightened durability of a senshi of the Crystal Kingdom. The skin
of her thighs felt numb and the Time Staff seemed twice as heavy as
normal. But she would not falter. She knew, through her unobstructed
vision of all history that all the other senshi were incapacitated save
Sailor Mercury. The fate of the world rested upon her and Mercury - -
perhaps only her. With the frigid air cutting into her lungs, Pluto
pressed on. She reached out and grasped the wrought iron gate to steady
herself and push herself forward.

Upon contact with the gate, a jolt passed through Sailor Pluto.
It was so strong that it knocked her to her knees. The Time Staff
clattered to the icy sidewalk beside her. Pluto stared, her mouth open
and her left hand clutching at her throat. Breath came grudgingly and,
if she had strength left, had no nervous system to take advantage of it.

Events poured through her eyes and into her brain, a kaleidoscope
of images from divergent futures. The bombardment of her brain was so
constant and so intense that Sailor Pluto feared she would drown, sink
into a churning sea of madness and never return. She struggled to right
herself, to bob to the surface and grab hold of something that might
anchor her to reality. She stared out at the frozen park, but didn't
see. She knelt motionless in the cold snow and didn't feel. She wanted
to scream, but couldn't find her mouth.

And then a path appeared before her. It wasn't a path to safety.
It was a path to the future that beckoned her. It seemed ominous, but
it was a clear path in a jumble of twisting and turning possibilities
and she followed it desperately.

In the second it took to follow the path to its conclusion, Sailor
Pluto knew. She knew how the future would unfold if and only if that
path was followed. It depended upon her, who had seen the path, and
upon others who had seen nothing and could not possibly know which act
would move the world toward that future and which would bar it forever.

Sailor Pluto allowed herself a calming breath. She picked up her
staff and ascended slowly, guardedly, to her feet. Entering the stilled
park, she headed for the pond and the temporal rift.
* * * *
"Are you going to make it, Luna?" Artemis asked, concern dripping
from his raspy voice.

"My pads are just so cold," Luna told him as the two cats followed
Sailor Mercury to the park. "And my fur isn't designed to ward off this
much cold. But I'll persevere, have no worries." She glanced over at
Artemis. "You'll pardon my saying so, but you look quite a fright
yourself."

"Feel like I've been walking for ten years," the white cat
replied, his breath freezing more crystals of ice onto his whiskers. "I
don't remember the lake in the park being this far away." Luna nodded
sympathetically. "Mercury, how are you doing?"

"I've been better," Mercury replied modestly, slogging ahead
through the ice and snow. The cats walked in her footprints to conserve
energy. "If you'd like, you can both ride on my shoulder."

"We're not that far gone," Luna told her.

"Don't push yourself beyond your limits," Mercury warned in her
physician's voice. "Frostbite can sneak up on you if you're not
careful."

"How much for the house call, Doc?" quipped Artemis.

Luna, though, noticed Mercury's expression as she turned profile
to check out the area on the left.

"Mercury?" Luna asked. "Are you all right? You seem troubled."

"Understandable, given the situation, don't you think?" Mercury
replied guardedly.

"Perhaps," Luna continued. "But we've all been in desperate
situations before. We've come through them."

"Yes," whispered Mercury, "because Usagi's been there. Usagi's
not going to be there for us this time. She came too close to death.
The body needs time to heal and regain strength. And it's time we don't
have." Mercury let out a sigh. "I guess I'm worrying about how many of
us are not going to come back from this one. And not just 'us' on the
front lines - - I'm worried about Mother. She's not that young any
longer and something like this could push her past her limits. And
there's Hayami: This crisis could tax even the healthiest person and
Hayami's far from the healthiest person in the world. We've only been
married eight months, Luna. I don't want to bury him, certainly not
this soon."

"Then we'll just have to stop them," Luna replied firmly. "I know
how you feel. I've things I'm fighting for as well. I've an
astoundingly precious little gray kitten waiting for me in the future
that I want to get to know better. And I've got a vision of a beautiful
kingdom ruled over by a wonderful queen who - - well, I'll just come out
and say it, who's practically a daughter to me as well. And she's going
to be the greatest, most loved ruler this world has even known! And I
will see it come to pass! No walking ice cube is going to prevent it!"

Luna's eyes hit the ground. She was always uncomfortable with
displaying her innermost emotions like that. Then she glanced over at
Artemis and saw him grinning at her.

"What are you smiling at, you hyena?" Luna bristled.

"Have I ever told you how beautiful you are when you're waxing
pedantic?" he grinned.

"OH, PISH TUSH!" huffed Luna. "I doubt you even know what the
words mean!"

"We're coming up on the portal," Mercury commented, as much to get
the cats' minds on their work as anything.

They passed around a clump of trees and saw the pond. It was
frozen over with a thick sheet of ice. The lake was so serene, like a
scene from Currier and Ives - - save for the downed helicopter on the
far bank, the wreckage covered over with a light blanket of frost and
snow. Mercury produced her computer and began scanning the lake.

"It's grown," Mercury frowned. "Of course it is; it would have to
accommodate the giants passing through. That should go without saying."

"Any ideas on how to close it?" Artemis asked.

"Temporal physics isn't really something I've studied a lot,"
Mercury said.

"Perhaps we could plug it up?" Luna suggested.

"It's a dimensional phase rift," Mercury replied. "It's not quite
the same as plugging a drain."

"Yeah, but it had to open to let the Frost Giant's through,"
Artemis said. "That alone suggests mass of some sort, doesn't it? What
if it isn't just a phase differential of energy? What if it's some sort
of physical tunnel or passage? That would infer that it could be
affected by physical means beyond energy phase transference."

"Like it's a wormhole of some sort?" Mercury questioned him.
Artemis nodded earnestly as Luna looked on, hopelessly perplexed. "But
the energy expenditure . . ."

"If they could stabilize it into a corridor of some sort, it would
level out the energy expenditure, wouldn't it?"

Frowning again, Mercury turned and focused her visor onto the
rift. She wasn't seeing what she expected to see. Instead, the
readings were consistent with some sort of stable pathway through the
fourth dimension. Unable to believe what she was seeing, Mercury
punched data into her computer to test it out. The results amazed her.

"Unbelievable," she murmured.

"I was right?" Artemis gaped.

"It's a solid, permanent corridor through time," Mercury
whispered. "Do you realize what this could mean? The past could become
as accessible to us as, as taking the train to Yokohama or Hokkido! And
the future . . .?"

"Well you've always known that time travel was possible in the
future," Luna said.

"Yes, but . . ." Mercury mumbled, her head clearly swimming.

"Uh, to the point at hand?" nudged Artemis. "Is there any way to
close that down?"

Mercury shook her head, struggling with the concepts. "I-I don't
even know what it's made of! How it's maintained - - how could I
possibly know how to close it down?"

"Well, perhaps it is possible block it up with something," Luna
persisted.

"With what?" Mercury asked. "And how long would it last?"

Artemis was about to reply, but Mercury whirled from him and gazed
back up at the temporal rift.

"Something's coming through!" she proclaimed.

"Another Frost Giant?" gasped Luna.

"That'd be my guess!" Artemis shouted. "Get to cover!"

The cats scurried for the clump of trees. Once there, they turned
back to the lake - - and saw Sailor Mercury just standing on the bank.

"Sailor Mercury!" yelled Luna. "Get to cover!"

Just then a Frost Giant appeared, climbing out of the sky
itself. A clear line separated the giant's upper torso and leg from
whatever place it came from. It was as if it were climbing out of a
slash in the very sky itself. When it was half way out, the giant
noticed Mercury below and motioned to freeze her.

"Sparkling Tsunami!" Mercury shouted, invoking her attack.

A cascade of snow and freezing rain came from nowhere and struck
the Frost Giant as it hung half in and half out of the portal.
Instantly the precipitation froze into a thick layer of ice, holding the
giant motionless and trapped in the rift. Its left side was in the
present while its right side was still in the past or at least the
theoretical corridor.

"Bravo!" called Luna as she scampered up, Artemis on her heels.

"That should dam things up," Artemis added.

"But for how long?" Mercury proposed. "Is this a permanent
solution or . . .?"

"No, it is not," they heard a voice say. Turning, the trio saw
Sailor Pluto walk up. "I congratulate you on your plan of attack. You
were correct in your deductions. However, you lack the power to
initiate a permanent solution."

"But Usagi doesn't," Luna maintained. "If we can just hold out
until she can get strong enough . . ."

"We shall receive no aid from the Princess," Pluto pronounced.
"She sleeps, in a prison of ice, and is at this moment lost to us."

Mercury's spirits fell visibly.

"Then we'll just have to free her!" Luna demanded.

"To do so, in her current state, would greatly risk her death,"
Pluto informed the cat with a maddeningly irritating even tone.

"You've seen this?" Luna snapped.

"She's right, Luna," Mercury interjected. "If Usagi is in
cryogenic sleep, she's beyond us. Cryo-sleep has to be terminated under
specific controlled conditions - - otherwise you risk the subject dying
from shock or hypothermia, particularly in the weakened condition she's
in."

Luna looked down helplessly, searching her brain for some
response. Artemis looked after her sympathetically.

"No," the black cat shook her head. "No, it can't be! It can't
be hopeless, it can't!"

Mercury didn't answer. Artemis eased up next to his love.

"There's hope," he told her. "We're still alive. That means
there's hope."

"How?" Luna demanded, on the verge of tears. "Do you have
something in your bag of gadgets and tricks?"

Artemis looked away. When he did, he caught Pluto's expression.

"You've seen a way out of this, haven't you?" Artemis charged.

"No possible response I make can mean anything positive," Pluto
evaded.

"Never mind! You just answered the question! What is it, Pluto!"

Pluto hesitated. All eyes that still could see were upon her.

"There is a reason," Pluto began, "that the past is clear to us
and the future clouded in mists."

"Don't hand me that!" snapped Artemis.

"My abilities demand certain responsibilities from me," Pluto
maintained. "The future must be protected."

"If you don't tell us, there isn't going to be a future to
protect!" Artemis roared.

Pluto glanced from the blazing eyes of Artemis to the reproachful
eyes of Luna, then to the sympathetic yet impatient eyes of Mercury.
Her expression remained stony.

"I will say only this," Pluto said at last. "As disciples of our
Princess, you must not lose faith in the future she will deliver unto
us."

As punctuation on the statement, the ice holding the Frost Giant
trapped above them broke with a rending groan. As ice chunks rained
down upon the frozen lake, the giant held out his hand and struck.

"Artemis!" Luna shrieked as she felt herself freezing. "LOVE
YOU!"

"MARRY ME!" Artemis cried back. No response came because the two
cats were frozen in twin chunks of ice.

Mercury started to run for the shelter of the trees. She stopped
when Sailor Pluto remained motionless.

"Pluto, we have to go!" shrieked Mercury. Seeing the giant was
about to strike again, Mercury turned and gestured. "Sparkling
Tsunami!"

A wall of precipitation rose up and quickly froze, forming a
barrier between the giant and the two senshi. Mercury clutched Pluto's
arm, but the senshi of time refused to budge.

"Pluto, come on! We have to regroup! Find a way to plug that
rift!" Mercury cried, tugging at Pluto. The echo of the ice barrier
shattering lent more urgency to Mercury's efforts. Instead, Pluto
shoved Mercury away.

"You must have faith, Sailor Mercury," Pluto said with an
unearthly, eerie calm. "Faith and courage. It all rests upon you and
the next actions you take."

The Frost Giant pointed at Pluto and ice began rapidly forming
around her.

"It all rests upon you," Pluto said before the ice overtook her
and plunged her into cryogenic sleep.

"No," Mercury gasped, shaking her head wildly. "No, no, no, no!"
The woman scrambled stumbling to the trees. Once there she pulled out
her computer. "Must think! There has to be a way to stop them! Think,
Ami!"

Out of the blue, she dropped her computer to the ground, then
whirled on the Frost Giant looming over her.

"SHABON SPRAY!"

A dense fog instantly covered the area. Mercury scooped up her
computer and began running in an evasive pattern. She could hear the
giant lumbering through the park. Its footfalls, though, were too close
and too loud to yet tell if it was pursuing her.

"If only one of the others were here!" panted Mercury. "I could
pinpoint some weak spot and they could take it down! But I don't have
the offensive capabilities to strike a weak spot effectively!"

As she ran, Mercury turned back and listened. The creature was
following her.

"Double back!" Mercury thought, staying quiet in case it was
tracing her by her voice. The senshi pivoted left and circled back
around to the lake. The fog meant nothing to her with her visor down.
"Did I lose it?"

Coming to a stop at the clump of trees she'd just left, Mercury
listened. The vibrations of the creature's steps shook the ground. The
noise of its leaden steps filled the air. They were louder and closer
together.

It was still following her.

With the degree of fatigue she was feeling, Mercury knew she
didn't have another "Sparkling Tsunami" left in her. Her heart racing,
Mercury suddenly hit on a plan. Using her visor, Mercury pinpointed the
location of the pursuing Frost Giant.

"Shine Aqua Illusion!"

The attack, aimed at the giant's ankles, sprayed out from Sailor
Mercury. It froze around the ankles as she planned. Losing use of its
legs in mid-stride threw the Frost Giant off balance. It pitched
forward and impacted with the thick ice on the lake. The force of the
impact shattered the brittle ice of the creature's body. Mercury's
visor could detect no further signs of life from it.

Breathing a shuddering sigh of relief, Mercury turned - - and came
face to face with another Frost Giant that had slipped out through the
nexus while she was occupied with the last one. Before Mercury could
react, the creature hit her with its freezing effect. As Mercury felt
her consciousness slip away, her last thought was that she didn't want
to die.
* * * *
August 18, 2013: It began with a simple act of human kindness. It
ended not with a bang, but with the soft whisper of a north wind over
frozen ground.

Continued in Chapter 8