Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Earth Scout Chronicles - Season One ❯ The End and the Beginning ( Chapter 8 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: jasonulloa 
The final battle between the Moon Kingdom and the Dark Kingdom takes place.
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.23.2003 | Pages: 11 | Words: 6.8K | Visits: 263 | Status: Completed
The final battle between the Moon Kingdom and the Dark Kingdom takes place.
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.23.2003 | Pages: 11 | Words: 6.8K | Visits: 263 | Status: Completed
Chapter 8: The End and the Beginning
Serenity was standing out on the balcony, staring at the Earth again. She
really didn’t feel like attending the ball that was going on inside. The music and
laughter from inside were barely audible. It didn’t matter for her though; she was
waiting for someone. She wasn’t sure how she knew that he would be coming; she
only knew that he was coming. That was all that really mattered anyway.
“Serenity,” a voice called out to her. She looked down from the balcony
towards the one who had called out to her. It was him, the one she had been waiting
for.
“Endymion,” she answered back. “Oh, finally you are here.”
“I have bad news, Princess,” Endymion said.
“You cannot come to the ball?” she asked, although she already suspected
that it would be something worse than that. ‘Oh, please let me be wrong....’
“If it were only that, Serenity,” he said, sadly. “Terrible things have happened
on Earth. An evil tyrant named Queen Beryl has taken over there. She has corrupted
many of my people by turning them into hideously deformed warriors loyal only to
her.
“We were forced to fight our own people, Serenity,” he said with a profound
sadness in his voice.
“How terrible,” she replied sadly, her heart broken at seeing her beloved in
such emotional pain. “I’m sorry....”
“This Queen Beryl appeared out of nowhere. No one knows where she came
from, and her warriors are incredibly strong. Perhaps even unbeatable.”
Suddenly, some of the palace guards appeared, fully armed. “Who goes
there?” one of them shouted.
Endymion turned towards them in surprise. “Listen,” he said quickly to
Serenity, “I’d better go.” He then ran off in the opposite direction of the guards, who
quickly ran after him.
“Endymion!” she called out as he ran off. “Oh, they must suspect everyone
from Earth.” ‘Under the circumstances, I could understand, but they should know
better than to suspect Endymion of being a spy.’ She glanced in the direction that
Endymion and the guards ran down. ‘I hope they don’t catch him....’
She quickly left the balcony and ran down the stairs, hoping to get to
Endymion before the guards did. As she hurried down the stairs, a hand reached out
to hers. “Princess, may I have this dance?” asked a voice similar to that of
Endymion’s. She turned to the speaker and saw him dressed in a black tuxedo and
cape, and wearing a white mask that covered his eyes. “Could be our last one,” he
said.
“I’m so happy that you came back,” she said, as he took her hand and drew
her close to him.
“I needed to have one last dance with you,” he said as he led her to the dance
floor. They began to dance.
“I’m afraid that all of this will change, Serenity,” he told her sadly. “Beryl’s
more dangerous than we all thought. She’ll more than likely be setting her sights
here very soon.”
“The Moon?” she asked apprehensively.
“Yes,” he replied grimly. “Beryl plans to take over the whole universe, and to
do that, she must first conquer the Moon. You must prepare for the worst, Serenity.”
She stopped dancing and leaned against him, absorbing the news. It was
terrible news, indeed. She didn’t know what to say. ‘No wonder Mother never told me
about this. She didn’t want me to have to worry about it. She must’ve been too busy
preparing for this to have anybody else tell me anyway.
Why didn’t he tell me this before? Was it because he didn’t want me to
worry, either? Maybe it was because he had hurried back to Earth the moment he
heard that it was being threatened. Oh, this is just so terrible. His home has been
taken from him and now my home is being threatened with destruction....’
“Your mother knows I’m not a spy,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. She
looked up at him. “She has asked me to help defend her kingdom,” he said and drew
her closer to him. They just stood there, both giving and receiving each other’s
support. Serenity felt as thought these were going to be the last moments of her life.
Perhaps they were.
They were running short on time and that was what Sailor Knight needed to
get used to his new powers. The other Scouts had been a tremendous help in giving
him a thorough, if a bit rushed, training session similar to what they had gone
through. Fortunately, he was a quick learner and the training he had had in other
areas helped as well.
He had already gotten accustomed to the speed that he could now swing his
swords. Before that, he had often ended up lying flat on his face from constantly
overreaching his mark. His strength, according to Luna, had doubled just like the
other Scouts, or so he had discovered when he leaped a little too high and far, and
ended up literally kissing the wall. The resulting headache vanished quickly, though.
Now, he was working on controlling his power, which was taking the most
time to get used to.
“Earth...,” he began, as he brought his outstretched arms and hands
together. Both of his hands had their first and second fingers extended outward. As
he slowly pulled his hands apart, a large spike of earth and stone began to form
between them. Slowly, he brought the spike around to where it was over his shoulder
with the tip pointing towards his target. “...thrust!” he finished, and threw the spike
with his right hand, while only moving the left hand out of the way. The spike flew
straight on target and hit the stone block in front of him, this time splitting it in two
evenly down the middle.
“There, I think I’ve got it now,” Knight said with a grin to the others behind
him. To his chagrin, they looked more relieved than excited. In a way, that was to be
expected, since his last errant shot had accidentally pinned Mercury to the wall by
her skirt. Luckily, she wasn’t upset with him. Surprised, but not upset. All she did
was smile a little unsteadily and say, “You missed.” He completely understood when
she and the others chose to remain behind him while he practiced using his power.
He didn’t want to repeat the same accident, or worse. “Now, I’m ready.”
“Are you sure, Knight?” Sailor Venus asked. “You’ve only been training for a
few hours.”
“I’m sure,” he replied. “Remember, I’ve already had some of the training you
all went through. All I needed was to learn how to use and control my powers. Now,
is everyone else ready?”
The other four Scouts nodded their agreement. “I’m definitely ready for a
rematch,” Jupiter remarked almost eagerly.
“Well,” Mars said as she turned to look out the window, “we won’t have long
to wait.” As one, the other four Scouts turned to see what Mars was looking at.
The Earth was suddenly covered with a dark and foreboding shadow, turning
its color from a beautiful light blue to a threatening grayish purple. A large black fog
was slowly growing around the planet and was quickly heading in their direction.
“It is time,” Luna said.
“This is it, Scouts,” Artemis said. “If you don’t stop them here, the Moon
Kingdom is finished.”
“Let’s go show them that they can’t beat us twice!” Jupiter said as she and
the other Scouts headed out the door.
“Be careful, everyone!” Luna called after them.
“Let’s hope they come back alive, Luna,” Artemis said.
“That’s all we can do for them,” she added sadly. “We’d better go sound the
alarm.”
“Sailor Mercury, wait a minute!” Knight shouted.
She came to a stop and turned to face him as he ran up to her. “What’s
wrong?” she asked, concerned.
“There’s something I have to tell you... in case... something should happen
to either one of us,” he said.
“You mustn’t think like that,” she replied. “You have to think positively.
Nothing is going to happen to any of us. We won’t lose this time. We have you to
help us.”
“Yes, I know... but, still,” he continued, reaching out and taking her hands in
his, “even with me there, something still might happen.” He slowly drew her close to
him. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“Ryoku...,” she said softly as she laid her head on his shoulder and held him
tightly. She tried to find some comfort in his embrace, despite knowing that there
was still a good chance that she, the other Sailor Scouts and everybody else might
die today should they fail. “...I don’t want to lose you, either.”
He put one hand under her chin and slowly lifted her head so that he could
see her face. Her blue eyes never looked more beautiful to him than they did right
then. He moved his head forward to kiss her, going slowly so that she could move
away if she wanted. When she didn’t move away, he finally closed the distance
between them.
“We’d better hurry if we’re going to join the others,” he murmured when they
finished. He reluctantly released her from his embrace, noticing that she was just as
reluctant to leave it.
“All right, let’s go,” she said and followed him as they went to catch up with
the others.
“Oh, Endymion, I cannot believe this is happening,” Serenity said sadly. They
had left the ballroom and were on a different balcony from the one Serenity had left.
“Queen Beryl’s relentless and she’ll destroy absolutely everything that’s in her
way to get exactly what she wants,” Endymion said, taking her hand in his. “I’ll fight
as hard as I can, but you must know I might not come back. I just hope you know
how much you mean to me.”
“Of course, I do, Endymion,” she said as tears began to form in her eyes.
“You’re in my heart, always,” he said, gazing deeply into her eyes.
“And you will always be in mine,” she answered.
Slowly, tenderly, they embraced and kissed. The tears that formed in her
eyes slowly began to run down her cheeks.
The darkness that had emerged from the Earth was now rapidly beginning to
close in on the Moon Palace. From this darkness, Queen Beryl’s warriors were
charging forward, roaring savagely.
Luna and Artemis ran through the ballroom sounding the call to arms. “We’re
under attack! We’re under attack!” Luna shouted.
“Get ready for battle!” Artemis shouted. “We need everyone we can get to
fight!”
Within moments, all of the people in the ballroom had vacated, off to find
whatever they could use in defense of their kingdom and their home.
Down on the Earth, a despondent Quartzite watched as the invasion army set
off to destroy the Moon Kingdom. ‘It’s hardly fair! All of her strongest warriors are off
to lay waste to the Moon Palace and I’m stuck here like some common guard
assigned to protect the Queen’s latest conquest!’ he thought petulantly with some
contempt. ‘The commander of the armies should not have to be treated this way! I
should be out there destroying the Moon Palace with everyone else.’
He sighed with deep resentment. No matter how much he complained to
himself, he knew he would always follow Queen Beryl’s orders. At least, until he
could find an opportunity to finally prove his worth to his Queen, once and for all!
A dark black cloud spread throughout the clear starlit sky, blocking the
perfect view of the Earth that was once one of the most treasured sights. An
ominous and foreboding shadow began to cover the face of the Moon, where no
such thing had any right to be. From out of the shadow, came the hordes of Queen
Beryl’s army.
“Look, here they come!” Knight said, pointing to his left. In that direction, the
Scouts could see the seven Shadow Warriors approaching.
“Time to even the score,” Jupiter said, pounding a fist into her other hand.
“This time we have all five Sailor Scouts instead of four,” Mars added.
“We’ll beat them this time,” Venus declared confidently.
“Are you ready for this, Ryoku?” Mercury asked Knight concernedly. “We did
rush your training a bit.”
“I’m ready, Ami. Don’t worry,” he replied confidently. “I won’t let you down. I
promise.”
“Everybody ready?” Mars asked.
“Ready!” came the unanimous reply.
As the first of the Shadow Warriors attacked, the Scouts scattered in five
directions at once and surrounded them.
“Shabon spray!”
A thick mist covered the area, reducing visibility.
“Fire soul!”
“Earth thrust!”
The powers of Mars and Knight combined to produce a flaming spike of
stone that struck down two of the Shadow Warriors.
“Shabon spray!”
“Supreme thunder!”
“Crescent beam!”
A combined attack of bubbles, lightning and light energy struck two more of
the dark creatures. When the attack ceased, one was still standing. The other one
wasn’t.
“Look out!” Venus yelled. One of the Shadow Warriors was heading straight
for Sailor Mercury from behind. She hadn’t noticed yet and it was beginning to close
in on her.
“Keep away from her!” Knight yelled, leaping at the dark creature with both of
his swords drawn.
“I’ll get it!” Mars shouted. “Fire soul!”
Knight reached the Shadow Warrior before the fireball. As he swung his
swords, the fireball connected with them, setting his swords aflame. The blazing
swords slashed right through the dark creature igniting it. It thrashed wildly for a few
moments before it finally stopped moving. He looked down at the motionless form for
a moment. “I think we got one!” he said ecstatically, pumping his arm in the air in
triumph.
“All right!” Jupiter shouted. “One down, six to go!” She aimed for the nearest
Shadow Warrior and readied her power. “Supreme thunder!”
An idea suddenly struck Knight as he threw one of his swords at the same
Shadow Warrior that Jupiter aimed for. Since it was facing away from him, the
sword struck and sunk deeply into its back moments before Jupiter’s lightning bolt
hit. The lightning bolt struck the Shadow Warrior and the sword, electrocuting the
monster inside and out. When the attack ceased, the Shadow Warrior fell face down
onto the ground, unmoving.
“Well,” Knight said, grinning, “that’s two.”
The five remaining Shadow Warriors regrouped and prepared to face the
Scouts one-on-one. The Scouts also regrouped and prepared to face the Shadow
Warriors. For a few moments, the two groups merely glared at each other, as each
Scout stared unflinchingly into the baleful crimson eyes of the Shadow Warriors.
Then the tableau was broken by an explosion of movement as each combatant
moved at the same time.
Mercury leaped to the side before one of the Shadow Warriors could pounce
on her. “Shabon spray!” she retaliated as she got to her feet. She missed the first
time, as the dark creature jumped to dodge her attack, but that was what she was
expecting. She fired a second time, this time scoring a direct hit and knocking the
Shadow Warrior out of the air.
Jupiter wasn’t having such luck. She was constantly missing her opponent,
who was moving at very high speeds. “Supreme thunder!” she tried again, but
missed by a short margin. “Aaaahhh! I’ll get you yet!” she roared angrily. “Supreme
thunder!” She missed once again, but this time the Shadow Warrior leaped at her
instead and struck a hard blow to her head, sending her flying into Venus.
Venus had just blasted her opponent when Jupiter suddenly slammed into
her without warning. “Are you all right?” she asked when she recovered from the
blow.
“Yeah, but that jerk won’t be when I get through with him!” Jupiter replied
fiercely. “Wanna give me a hand, Venus?”
“No problem, Jupiter,” Venus replied as she readied her attack. “Crescent....”
“Supreme....”
“...beam!”
“...thunder!”
The combined attack of lightning and energy smashed into the charging
Shadow Warrior, blasting it a good distance away. “That felt good!” Jupiter said.
Venus nodded in agreement.
Mars and Knight were busy dealing with their opponents, who had decided to
work as a team. As a result, the two Scouts were having a difficult time, especially
since Knight hadn’t yet recovered his other sword.
The two Shadow Warriors were heading for Knight. One tried to lunge at him,
but he leaped away. The second one got to him in midair and sent him hurtling to the
ground directly towards Mars at an alarming speed. At the speed he was going, it
was likely that he would break his neck upon landing.
Instead of leaping away, Mars leaped towards the plummeting Sailor Scout,
trying to catch him. He was falling too fast and instead of her catching him, he
slammed hard into her and they both fell to the ground. Luckily, their midair collision
caused him to slow down enough so that when they hit the ground they were okay.
They were sore, but okay.
“Ow... that wasn’t very smart,” Mars moaned, still on the ground. Knight was
just barely getting up. She had taken the brunt of the fall and was still hurting from it.
“Mars, are you okay?” Knight asked.
“Just give me a minute,” she replied.
“Thanks for saving me, Mars,” he said, smiling in gratitude. He offered her a
hand, which she accepted.
She got to her feet and returned the smile. “Now, we’re even.”
“So we are,” he said with an amused shrug.
The two Shadow Warriors were resuming their attack. Mars and Knight both
prepared their attacks.
“Fire....”
“Earth....”
“...soul!”
“...thrust!”
Their powers combined to form a flaming spike of stone, which soared
straight for the pair of creatures charging at them. It struck one, knocking it to the
side, but the other was still coming.
“Mars,” Knight said suddenly, “remember what happened when your power
struck my swords?”
“Yeah, I remember,” she answered. “Are you planning what I think you’re
planning?”
“Just aim your power at me when I give you the word,” he said and ran toward
the charging Shadow Warrior. “Now!”
“Fire soul!”
The fireball was heading straight for him, closing very quickly. Moments
before the fireball reached him, he threw his remaining sword at the oncoming
Shadow Warrior and dived to the side. The sword struck the dark creature in the
middle of its chest just as the fireball struck the sword. Just as Jupiter’s lightning
flowed through the sword to electrocute a Shadow Warrior inside and out, the fireball
flowed through the sword, setting the creature’s insides aflame, just like the outside.
Within moments, the Shadow Warrior was lying on the ground, charred and
motionless.
“That’s three,” Mars said.
Suddenly, another Shadow Warrior landed beside its fallen comrade.
Following the Shadow Warrior was Mercury. She fired her bubbles at the dark
creature, which had quickly dodged out of the way towards Knight. He was caught
by surprise and tried to dodge out of the way, but the Shadow Warrior was still on
him. The creature was closing in and he didn’t have either of his swords with him.
Before the Shadow Warrior launched its attack, Knight instinctively thrust
both of his empty hands outward, as if reaching for something. As he reached out
for his swords, both physically and mentally, they both suddenly shot into the air and
flew into his waiting hands. He was surprised only for a second, when the Shadow
Warrior made his attack. Now that he had his swords back again, he could easily
block the Shadow Warrior’s attack. He then countered with several slashes of his
twin swords, which succeeded in driving the dark creature back.
“We shouldn’t let Knight have all the fun, right, Mercury?” Mars commented
with a grin. “How about we give him a hand?”
“Ready when you are,” Mercury replied.
“Fire soul!”
“Shabon spray!”
When Knight heard Mars and Mercury fire their attacks, he leaped aside and
prepared to fire his own attack.
“Earth thrust!”
The three attacks all hit at once, knocking the Shadow Warrior a long
distance away. After the creature landed, they saw that it was as lifeless as the first
three.
“That should make four,” Knight said.
“How did you make your swords do that?” Mercury asked.
“I’m not sure,” he replied, puzzled. “I just did it. Anyway, let’s go help the
others with the other three Shadow Warriors.”
When they found Jupiter and Venus, they were busy handling two of the last
three Shadow Warriors. The last one was heading straight for them.
“Mars, you help Venus,” Knight ordered. “Mercury, go help Jupiter. I’ll take
care of this one.”
“Got it,” Mars agreed as she and Mercury each left to help the other two
Scouts.
“Shabon spray!”
A thick mist appeared and covered the area, reducing visibility. Jupiter looked
around for Mercury and saw her approach from out of the fog. “Thanks, Mercury.
You’re just in time to help me finish them off. Care to join me?”
“Certainly, Jupiter,” Mercury answered. “Shabon spray!”
“Supreme thunder!”
The combined lightning and bubbles shot straight at the Shadow Warrior, but
it dodged at the last second. The second combined blast, however, didn’t miss.
Mars and Venus were easily holding off the Shadow Warrior they were
facing, but they were having trouble actually landing an attack on it. It was moving
quickly, dodging each of their attacks easily.
“This thing’s just too fast,” Mars growled.
“Let’s give it another try, Mars,” Venus said. “Crescent beam!”
“Fire soul!”
The two attacks shot straight at the nimble creature, side by side. The
Shadow Warrior was just about to dodge the two attacks at the last moment, when
Knight suddenly leaped at the Shadow Warrior from out of nowhere. Just like before,
the powers of Mars and Venus struck both of his swords, setting one aflame and
causing the other to glow with a yellow light.
Before the Shadow Warrior could avoid the attack, Knight swung both of his
swords at the dark creature, giving it a taste of fire and light energy. It then collapsed
to the ground, lifeless.
“That makes five,” Knight said, turning to the other two Scouts.
“What happened with that Shadow Warrior you we’re fighting by yourself?”
Mars asked.
“The strangest thing happened,” Knight said. “I was preparing to attack the
charging Shadow Warrior, when suddenly another Shadow Warrior comes flying
outta nowhere and slams into the first one, before I even have a chance to attack. I
guess that second one was the one Jupiter and Mercury were facing.” He shrugged.
“Well, now we have two more to defeat,” Venus said. “We’re winning! We still
have a chance to save the Moon Kingdom!”
“You got that right, Venus!” Jupiter said as she and Mercury joined them.
“How many do we have left?” Mercury asked.
“Two,” Venus said.
“That’s what I thought,” she said, nodding to herself.
“And speaking of which,” Mars said, turning to look to her right, “here they
come again.”
As each Scout looked to where she was looking, they saw that the last two
Shadow Warriors were charging at them. “Everybody, hit them at once!” Venus
shouted.
“Shabon spray!”
“Fire soul!”
“Supreme thunder!”
“Crescent beam!”
“Earth thrust!”
The five attacks combined into one massive attack that pounded the last two
Shadow Warriors flat. Neither one got up after that. “I think that’s the last of them!”
Sailor Knight said.
“We did it! We won!” Mars shouted as they others began to shout in triumph.
The sky slowly grew darker as a cold wind suddenly began to blow from out
of nowhere. Without warning, seven dark green bolts of dark energy shot down from
the sky, striking all seven of the fallen Shadow Warriors simultaneously.
“What’s happening?” Mercury asked anxiously.
“I’m guessing that Beryl’s taking a more active role in this battle,” Knight
seethed.
Each of the seven revived Shadow Warrior converged onto one spot, where
an explosion of dark energy engulfed them. When the dark energy dissipated, a
huge version of the Shadow Warriors stood in their place.
“I don’t like the looks of that thing,” Mars said nervously.
“If we all combine our powers, we can beat this thing!” Jupiter shouted
encouragingly.
“Jupiter’s right!” Sailor Venus added. “Everybody ready?”
“Ready!” the rest shouted in unison.
“Shabon spray!”
“Fire soul!”
“Supreme thunder!”
“Crescent beam!”
“Earth thrust!”
Once again, the five attacks merged into one gigantic attack and hit the
enormous form dead center. The giant creature was unharmed by the attack. In fact,
it seemed to be amused.
“Uh-oh...,” Knight muttered apprehensively.
“PATHETIC HUMANS!” the creature laughed in a hideously demonic voice,
“I WILL DESTROY YOU!”
Screams were ripped from five separate throats as the Sailor Scouts were
blasted several feet from where they were standing.
Knight found himself sprawled on his back, slowly losing consciousness.
Trying to sit up was almost impossible. He was so weak he could only move his
head. He felt very, very tired, almost as if he wanted to go to sleep. He forced himself
to stay awake as he turned his head to look around him. He saw that the other
Scouts were sprawled out in a similar fashion, like he was. Their Scout uniforms
were scorched very badly by the blast. Looking at himself, he noticed that he had
received similar treatment and his uniform was scorched just as badly. He also
noticed that one of his swords was missing.
Slowly, he began to realize, to his shock and dismay, that the others weren’t
breathing. They had all died, and he was the only one still alive. ‘No. No! NO!!! They
can’t be dead! They can’t! How can they be dead if I’m still alive? Minako... Rei...
Makoto... Ami... please, don’t be dead... PLEASE DON’T BE DEAD!!!’
As Knight drifted further into unconsciousness, he began to realize that he,
too, must be dying. ‘I guess I didn’t make it after all. Not that it matters anymore.
They’re all dead now. At least I can join them. Wait for me everyone... I’m coming
with you....’
Slowly, he gave into the exhaustion that threatened to overwhelm him. Slowly,
he closed his eyes and joined his friends, teammates, and loved ones in death.
From among the fighting, Akiyama saw a huge shadow-like creature heading
straight for them. Looking around her, she noticed that the invaders had abruptly
retreated from the battle. Only she and her troops were still there. ‘What’s going on?
Why did they just retreat like that? And where did that thing come from?’
The huge creature focused its blazing red eyes at her and her troops and
suddenly fired a multitude of dark green energy bolts at them. The screams of her
troops filled her ears as a bolt of dark energy hit her directly in the middle of her
chest. The last thing she saw while dying was that the huge shadow-like creature
was now blasting the Moon Palace’s walls apart.
From atop the rubble, Beryl laughed while her warriors stormed the palace
ruins. “Very soon, both the Earth and the Moon will be under my control!” she
gloated. “I’ll have Queen Serenity begging for mercy!” She raised her staff above her
head, causing red energy bolts to shoot out from it. “No one can defeat the power of
the Dark Kingdom! No one!” A bright explosion of energy emitted from her staff,
wrecking the Moon Palace further. “The universe shall soon be mine!”
Serenity stood watching in horror as the palace crumbled around her. Her
home was being destroyed before her distraught eyes. She devoutly hoped that
Endymion was all right.
Suddenly, Beryl appeared above her. Serenity gasped, wide-eyed in fear.
“Well, if it isn’t the Moon Princess,” she said mockingly. “I’ll tear up your pretty little
face!” She lunged at Serenity, claw-like fingernails extended.
Before she could reach her, a rose flew through the air, its stem striking
Beryl’s outstretched hand. Angrily, she turned towards the one who threw the rose.
“Beryl, if you lay a finger on her, I’ll make you pay!” Endymion shouted angrily.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
“I am Prince Endymion, sworn to defend the Moon Kingdom against evil like
you!” Endymion said, moving protectively between her and Serenity.
“Prince Endymion?” Beryl said. “From Earth? I’ve heard of you. You have
great promise. You and that other prince, Prince Ryoku I believe his name was.
“Well, I can see why she’d hang on to you, but you’re wasting your time with
that twit. Why not join me, Endymion, and we’ll rule the Dark Kingdom together,” she
said enticingly.
“I refuse, Beryl.” he replied, his voice dripping with scorn. “There is no way
that I’ll join a repulsive, evil witch like you.”
Beryl was infuriated. “Silence!” she screamed furiously. “You will die as well!”
A giant green bolt of dark energy flew out from the huge dark creature
looming overhead. The energy bolt covered Endymion and Serenity, pulling him
away from her.
“Endymion, what is happening?” she asked, anxiously.
“Run, Serenity!” he yelled as he was being pulled away. “Just run!”
“No, Endymion,” she shouted, as she ran towards him. “I want to be with
you!”
“No, you can’t!” he shouted, still floating away from her. “Serenity, don’t!”
Taking a running leap, she jumped towards him, each reaching out for the
other. Slowly, the gap between them closed and they grasped each other’s hand.
Another green bolt blasted the two apart, each screaming for the other with their last
breath.
Running towards her daughter, Queen Serenity, along with Luna and
Artemis, arrived too late to save either Serenity or Endymion.
“Serenity! No!” she cried. “She’s taken them both!”
Luna bowed her head and cried. “Oh, no! Not the princess!”
Beryl laughed maliciously. “They are dead, the fools. Thus is the fate of all
who opposes me.”
“No!” Queen Serenity fell to her knees in anguish. “Serenity! No, it can’t be!”
she sobbed quietly. “Don’t worry, darling, I won’t let it end this way,” she said
determinedly, as she brought out the Silver Crystal and attached it to the Crescent
Moon Wand. “I won’t let them take away your future!” A red flash came from the
crystal.
“Queen Serenity,” Luna said worriedly, tears still in her eyes, “if you use the
Silver Crystal, you’ll die.”
“It’s the only way, Luna,” Queen Serenity said calmly. “I must sacrifice my
kingdom if we’re to regain our peace.” Slowly, she stood and raised the wand over
her head. “Moon healing escalation!”
Light pulsed out from the crystal, spreading everywhere. “What is this?” Beryl
exclaimed, flinching away from the energy radiating from the crystal. Glowing
spheres of light hit the massive dark creature that loomed over the palace, breaking
it up. The same energy also seemed to break up any who came from the Dark
Kingdom. All over the Moon, and also the Earth, the warriors of the Dark Kingdom
began to vanish. “You can’t do this to me!” Beryl shrieked. “You haven’t seen the last
of me! I will return and the universe will belong to me!” All at once, anyone belonging
to the Dark Kingdom disappeared.
“Your Majesty, you did it!” Luna exclaimed. “They’re gone!”
“You beat them!” Artemis added.
Queen Serenity was lying on a broken pillar. “The Silver Crystal will bring
peace if someone with a heart of good uses it,” she said exhaustedly as she
removed the Silver Crystal from the wand and held it out in front of her. “However, if
someone with a heart of evil were to use it, it could turn into a horrendous weapon.
And now, I must send them all to a new future on Earth.” She flung her head aside,
crying.
Luna was puzzled by the Queen’s sadness. “But, you saved them. Why are
you so sad?”
Queen Serenity stared blankly ahead at the stars. “Because none of them will
remember anything about this time or this place. Nothing! And I’ll never see my
sweet daughter again. Or, you two, either.” She slowly raised the empty wand. “But
this is the only way for any of you to live on.
“I have managed to seal them off with the power of the Silver Crystal, but they
may return again. Only those with royal blood can use the Crescent Moon Wand.
You must entrust this to Princess Serenity should that time come.
“I have enough power left to send everything you’ll need in the future to Earth.
Serenity and the Sailor Scouts will need your help if the Dark Kingdom ever breaks
free.”
“Yes,” Luna and Artemis replied in unison.
“All of you will be reborn on Earth,” she continued, “with no memory of the
Moon Kingdom whatsoever, but if evil forces should try to repeat what happened
here, you two will know what to do.” She raised the crystal into the air. “Now, farewell
all of you, and good luck. Goodbye, Serenity. You are in my heart, always.”
The Silver Crystal rose into the air. When it stopped, high into the sky, a
bright flash lit the sky. Bright spheres of light rose from the ground into the air, each
containing the spirits of the Sailor Scouts, Endymion, Serenity, and the rest of the
Moon Kingdom, and headed for Earth.
Queen Serenity watched as everyone headed for Earth. She knew that she
wouldn’t be able to go with her daughter, so she would arrange it so that Serenity’s
father’s sister and her family would take care of Serenity in her place. She knew that
the Tsukino family would be the best choice for Serenity.
“Be happy,” she said sadly. “On behalf of the Moon, you will be free again.
Perhaps one day, Serenity, we’ll meet again.” She then collapsed and breathed her
last. As her grip slackened, the Crescent Moon Wand fell to the ground.
“Queen Serenity!” Luna and Artemis exclaimed. The Crescent Moon Wand
stopped before hitting the ground and flashed a brilliant white light. The two cat
advisors were placed in stasis chambers, to awaken on Earth in the future.
From its position in the skies above the Moon, the Silver Crystal suddenly
shattered into seven different pieces; each a different color of the rainbow. They all
flew in different directions, each piece embedding itself inside one of the subjects of
the Moon Kingdom at random. Unbeknownst to anyone, these seven would have a
crucial role to play in the future.
As the last of the Moon Kingdom rose from the ruins to join the others on
Earth in the future, a sudden breeze stirred upon the surface of the Moon. This
breeze would be the last the Moon would ever have. The breeze stirred up dust and
debris from the abandoned battlefield, marking the death of one life and the birth of a
new one – on Earth.
Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective owners. Sailor Moon belongs
to Naoko Takeuchi and is also Copyright © Kodansha, Toei Animation, TV Asahi, Bandai, DIC,
Cloverway, Pioneer, etc. No copyright infringement is intended. This story belongs me, so I
would appreciate it very much if you would ask for permission before posting it anywhere else.
Thank you.
Earth Scout Chronicles, Kino Ryoku:
Copyright © 1999-2003 Jason C. Ulloa.
All Rights Reserved.
Serenity was standing out on the balcony, staring at the Earth again. She
really didn’t feel like attending the ball that was going on inside. The music and
laughter from inside were barely audible. It didn’t matter for her though; she was
waiting for someone. She wasn’t sure how she knew that he would be coming; she
only knew that he was coming. That was all that really mattered anyway.
“Serenity,” a voice called out to her. She looked down from the balcony
towards the one who had called out to her. It was him, the one she had been waiting
for.
“Endymion,” she answered back. “Oh, finally you are here.”
“I have bad news, Princess,” Endymion said.
“You cannot come to the ball?” she asked, although she already suspected
that it would be something worse than that. ‘Oh, please let me be wrong....’
“If it were only that, Serenity,” he said, sadly. “Terrible things have happened
on Earth. An evil tyrant named Queen Beryl has taken over there. She has corrupted
many of my people by turning them into hideously deformed warriors loyal only to
her.
“We were forced to fight our own people, Serenity,” he said with a profound
sadness in his voice.
“How terrible,” she replied sadly, her heart broken at seeing her beloved in
such emotional pain. “I’m sorry....”
“This Queen Beryl appeared out of nowhere. No one knows where she came
from, and her warriors are incredibly strong. Perhaps even unbeatable.”
Suddenly, some of the palace guards appeared, fully armed. “Who goes
there?” one of them shouted.
Endymion turned towards them in surprise. “Listen,” he said quickly to
Serenity, “I’d better go.” He then ran off in the opposite direction of the guards, who
quickly ran after him.
“Endymion!” she called out as he ran off. “Oh, they must suspect everyone
from Earth.” ‘Under the circumstances, I could understand, but they should know
better than to suspect Endymion of being a spy.’ She glanced in the direction that
Endymion and the guards ran down. ‘I hope they don’t catch him....’
She quickly left the balcony and ran down the stairs, hoping to get to
Endymion before the guards did. As she hurried down the stairs, a hand reached out
to hers. “Princess, may I have this dance?” asked a voice similar to that of
Endymion’s. She turned to the speaker and saw him dressed in a black tuxedo and
cape, and wearing a white mask that covered his eyes. “Could be our last one,” he
said.
“I’m so happy that you came back,” she said, as he took her hand and drew
her close to him.
“I needed to have one last dance with you,” he said as he led her to the dance
floor. They began to dance.
“I’m afraid that all of this will change, Serenity,” he told her sadly. “Beryl’s
more dangerous than we all thought. She’ll more than likely be setting her sights
here very soon.”
“The Moon?” she asked apprehensively.
“Yes,” he replied grimly. “Beryl plans to take over the whole universe, and to
do that, she must first conquer the Moon. You must prepare for the worst, Serenity.”
She stopped dancing and leaned against him, absorbing the news. It was
terrible news, indeed. She didn’t know what to say. ‘No wonder Mother never told me
about this. She didn’t want me to have to worry about it. She must’ve been too busy
preparing for this to have anybody else tell me anyway.
Why didn’t he tell me this before? Was it because he didn’t want me to
worry, either? Maybe it was because he had hurried back to Earth the moment he
heard that it was being threatened. Oh, this is just so terrible. His home has been
taken from him and now my home is being threatened with destruction....’
“Your mother knows I’m not a spy,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. She
looked up at him. “She has asked me to help defend her kingdom,” he said and drew
her closer to him. They just stood there, both giving and receiving each other’s
support. Serenity felt as thought these were going to be the last moments of her life.
Perhaps they were.
They were running short on time and that was what Sailor Knight needed to
get used to his new powers. The other Scouts had been a tremendous help in giving
him a thorough, if a bit rushed, training session similar to what they had gone
through. Fortunately, he was a quick learner and the training he had had in other
areas helped as well.
He had already gotten accustomed to the speed that he could now swing his
swords. Before that, he had often ended up lying flat on his face from constantly
overreaching his mark. His strength, according to Luna, had doubled just like the
other Scouts, or so he had discovered when he leaped a little too high and far, and
ended up literally kissing the wall. The resulting headache vanished quickly, though.
Now, he was working on controlling his power, which was taking the most
time to get used to.
“Earth...,” he began, as he brought his outstretched arms and hands
together. Both of his hands had their first and second fingers extended outward. As
he slowly pulled his hands apart, a large spike of earth and stone began to form
between them. Slowly, he brought the spike around to where it was over his shoulder
with the tip pointing towards his target. “...thrust!” he finished, and threw the spike
with his right hand, while only moving the left hand out of the way. The spike flew
straight on target and hit the stone block in front of him, this time splitting it in two
evenly down the middle.
“There, I think I’ve got it now,” Knight said with a grin to the others behind
him. To his chagrin, they looked more relieved than excited. In a way, that was to be
expected, since his last errant shot had accidentally pinned Mercury to the wall by
her skirt. Luckily, she wasn’t upset with him. Surprised, but not upset. All she did
was smile a little unsteadily and say, “You missed.” He completely understood when
she and the others chose to remain behind him while he practiced using his power.
He didn’t want to repeat the same accident, or worse. “Now, I’m ready.”
“Are you sure, Knight?” Sailor Venus asked. “You’ve only been training for a
few hours.”
“I’m sure,” he replied. “Remember, I’ve already had some of the training you
all went through. All I needed was to learn how to use and control my powers. Now,
is everyone else ready?”
The other four Scouts nodded their agreement. “I’m definitely ready for a
rematch,” Jupiter remarked almost eagerly.
“Well,” Mars said as she turned to look out the window, “we won’t have long
to wait.” As one, the other four Scouts turned to see what Mars was looking at.
The Earth was suddenly covered with a dark and foreboding shadow, turning
its color from a beautiful light blue to a threatening grayish purple. A large black fog
was slowly growing around the planet and was quickly heading in their direction.
“It is time,” Luna said.
“This is it, Scouts,” Artemis said. “If you don’t stop them here, the Moon
Kingdom is finished.”
“Let’s go show them that they can’t beat us twice!” Jupiter said as she and
the other Scouts headed out the door.
“Be careful, everyone!” Luna called after them.
“Let’s hope they come back alive, Luna,” Artemis said.
“That’s all we can do for them,” she added sadly. “We’d better go sound the
alarm.”
“Sailor Mercury, wait a minute!” Knight shouted.
She came to a stop and turned to face him as he ran up to her. “What’s
wrong?” she asked, concerned.
“There’s something I have to tell you... in case... something should happen
to either one of us,” he said.
“You mustn’t think like that,” she replied. “You have to think positively.
Nothing is going to happen to any of us. We won’t lose this time. We have you to
help us.”
“Yes, I know... but, still,” he continued, reaching out and taking her hands in
his, “even with me there, something still might happen.” He slowly drew her close to
him. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“Ryoku...,” she said softly as she laid her head on his shoulder and held him
tightly. She tried to find some comfort in his embrace, despite knowing that there
was still a good chance that she, the other Sailor Scouts and everybody else might
die today should they fail. “...I don’t want to lose you, either.”
He put one hand under her chin and slowly lifted her head so that he could
see her face. Her blue eyes never looked more beautiful to him than they did right
then. He moved his head forward to kiss her, going slowly so that she could move
away if she wanted. When she didn’t move away, he finally closed the distance
between them.
“We’d better hurry if we’re going to join the others,” he murmured when they
finished. He reluctantly released her from his embrace, noticing that she was just as
reluctant to leave it.
“All right, let’s go,” she said and followed him as they went to catch up with
the others.
“Oh, Endymion, I cannot believe this is happening,” Serenity said sadly. They
had left the ballroom and were on a different balcony from the one Serenity had left.
“Queen Beryl’s relentless and she’ll destroy absolutely everything that’s in her
way to get exactly what she wants,” Endymion said, taking her hand in his. “I’ll fight
as hard as I can, but you must know I might not come back. I just hope you know
how much you mean to me.”
“Of course, I do, Endymion,” she said as tears began to form in her eyes.
“You’re in my heart, always,” he said, gazing deeply into her eyes.
“And you will always be in mine,” she answered.
Slowly, tenderly, they embraced and kissed. The tears that formed in her
eyes slowly began to run down her cheeks.
The darkness that had emerged from the Earth was now rapidly beginning to
close in on the Moon Palace. From this darkness, Queen Beryl’s warriors were
charging forward, roaring savagely.
Luna and Artemis ran through the ballroom sounding the call to arms. “We’re
under attack! We’re under attack!” Luna shouted.
“Get ready for battle!” Artemis shouted. “We need everyone we can get to
fight!”
Within moments, all of the people in the ballroom had vacated, off to find
whatever they could use in defense of their kingdom and their home.
Down on the Earth, a despondent Quartzite watched as the invasion army set
off to destroy the Moon Kingdom. ‘It’s hardly fair! All of her strongest warriors are off
to lay waste to the Moon Palace and I’m stuck here like some common guard
assigned to protect the Queen’s latest conquest!’ he thought petulantly with some
contempt. ‘The commander of the armies should not have to be treated this way! I
should be out there destroying the Moon Palace with everyone else.’
He sighed with deep resentment. No matter how much he complained to
himself, he knew he would always follow Queen Beryl’s orders. At least, until he
could find an opportunity to finally prove his worth to his Queen, once and for all!
A dark black cloud spread throughout the clear starlit sky, blocking the
perfect view of the Earth that was once one of the most treasured sights. An
ominous and foreboding shadow began to cover the face of the Moon, where no
such thing had any right to be. From out of the shadow, came the hordes of Queen
Beryl’s army.
“Look, here they come!” Knight said, pointing to his left. In that direction, the
Scouts could see the seven Shadow Warriors approaching.
“Time to even the score,” Jupiter said, pounding a fist into her other hand.
“This time we have all five Sailor Scouts instead of four,” Mars added.
“We’ll beat them this time,” Venus declared confidently.
“Are you ready for this, Ryoku?” Mercury asked Knight concernedly. “We did
rush your training a bit.”
“I’m ready, Ami. Don’t worry,” he replied confidently. “I won’t let you down. I
promise.”
“Everybody ready?” Mars asked.
“Ready!” came the unanimous reply.
As the first of the Shadow Warriors attacked, the Scouts scattered in five
directions at once and surrounded them.
“Shabon spray!”
A thick mist covered the area, reducing visibility.
“Fire soul!”
“Earth thrust!”
The powers of Mars and Knight combined to produce a flaming spike of
stone that struck down two of the Shadow Warriors.
“Shabon spray!”
“Supreme thunder!”
“Crescent beam!”
A combined attack of bubbles, lightning and light energy struck two more of
the dark creatures. When the attack ceased, one was still standing. The other one
wasn’t.
“Look out!” Venus yelled. One of the Shadow Warriors was heading straight
for Sailor Mercury from behind. She hadn’t noticed yet and it was beginning to close
in on her.
“Keep away from her!” Knight yelled, leaping at the dark creature with both of
his swords drawn.
“I’ll get it!” Mars shouted. “Fire soul!”
Knight reached the Shadow Warrior before the fireball. As he swung his
swords, the fireball connected with them, setting his swords aflame. The blazing
swords slashed right through the dark creature igniting it. It thrashed wildly for a few
moments before it finally stopped moving. He looked down at the motionless form for
a moment. “I think we got one!” he said ecstatically, pumping his arm in the air in
triumph.
“All right!” Jupiter shouted. “One down, six to go!” She aimed for the nearest
Shadow Warrior and readied her power. “Supreme thunder!”
An idea suddenly struck Knight as he threw one of his swords at the same
Shadow Warrior that Jupiter aimed for. Since it was facing away from him, the
sword struck and sunk deeply into its back moments before Jupiter’s lightning bolt
hit. The lightning bolt struck the Shadow Warrior and the sword, electrocuting the
monster inside and out. When the attack ceased, the Shadow Warrior fell face down
onto the ground, unmoving.
“Well,” Knight said, grinning, “that’s two.”
The five remaining Shadow Warriors regrouped and prepared to face the
Scouts one-on-one. The Scouts also regrouped and prepared to face the Shadow
Warriors. For a few moments, the two groups merely glared at each other, as each
Scout stared unflinchingly into the baleful crimson eyes of the Shadow Warriors.
Then the tableau was broken by an explosion of movement as each combatant
moved at the same time.
Mercury leaped to the side before one of the Shadow Warriors could pounce
on her. “Shabon spray!” she retaliated as she got to her feet. She missed the first
time, as the dark creature jumped to dodge her attack, but that was what she was
expecting. She fired a second time, this time scoring a direct hit and knocking the
Shadow Warrior out of the air.
Jupiter wasn’t having such luck. She was constantly missing her opponent,
who was moving at very high speeds. “Supreme thunder!” she tried again, but
missed by a short margin. “Aaaahhh! I’ll get you yet!” she roared angrily. “Supreme
thunder!” She missed once again, but this time the Shadow Warrior leaped at her
instead and struck a hard blow to her head, sending her flying into Venus.
Venus had just blasted her opponent when Jupiter suddenly slammed into
her without warning. “Are you all right?” she asked when she recovered from the
blow.
“Yeah, but that jerk won’t be when I get through with him!” Jupiter replied
fiercely. “Wanna give me a hand, Venus?”
“No problem, Jupiter,” Venus replied as she readied her attack. “Crescent....”
“Supreme....”
“...beam!”
“...thunder!”
The combined attack of lightning and energy smashed into the charging
Shadow Warrior, blasting it a good distance away. “That felt good!” Jupiter said.
Venus nodded in agreement.
Mars and Knight were busy dealing with their opponents, who had decided to
work as a team. As a result, the two Scouts were having a difficult time, especially
since Knight hadn’t yet recovered his other sword.
The two Shadow Warriors were heading for Knight. One tried to lunge at him,
but he leaped away. The second one got to him in midair and sent him hurtling to the
ground directly towards Mars at an alarming speed. At the speed he was going, it
was likely that he would break his neck upon landing.
Instead of leaping away, Mars leaped towards the plummeting Sailor Scout,
trying to catch him. He was falling too fast and instead of her catching him, he
slammed hard into her and they both fell to the ground. Luckily, their midair collision
caused him to slow down enough so that when they hit the ground they were okay.
They were sore, but okay.
“Ow... that wasn’t very smart,” Mars moaned, still on the ground. Knight was
just barely getting up. She had taken the brunt of the fall and was still hurting from it.
“Mars, are you okay?” Knight asked.
“Just give me a minute,” she replied.
“Thanks for saving me, Mars,” he said, smiling in gratitude. He offered her a
hand, which she accepted.
She got to her feet and returned the smile. “Now, we’re even.”
“So we are,” he said with an amused shrug.
The two Shadow Warriors were resuming their attack. Mars and Knight both
prepared their attacks.
“Fire....”
“Earth....”
“...soul!”
“...thrust!”
Their powers combined to form a flaming spike of stone, which soared
straight for the pair of creatures charging at them. It struck one, knocking it to the
side, but the other was still coming.
“Mars,” Knight said suddenly, “remember what happened when your power
struck my swords?”
“Yeah, I remember,” she answered. “Are you planning what I think you’re
planning?”
“Just aim your power at me when I give you the word,” he said and ran toward
the charging Shadow Warrior. “Now!”
“Fire soul!”
The fireball was heading straight for him, closing very quickly. Moments
before the fireball reached him, he threw his remaining sword at the oncoming
Shadow Warrior and dived to the side. The sword struck the dark creature in the
middle of its chest just as the fireball struck the sword. Just as Jupiter’s lightning
flowed through the sword to electrocute a Shadow Warrior inside and out, the fireball
flowed through the sword, setting the creature’s insides aflame, just like the outside.
Within moments, the Shadow Warrior was lying on the ground, charred and
motionless.
“That’s three,” Mars said.
Suddenly, another Shadow Warrior landed beside its fallen comrade.
Following the Shadow Warrior was Mercury. She fired her bubbles at the dark
creature, which had quickly dodged out of the way towards Knight. He was caught
by surprise and tried to dodge out of the way, but the Shadow Warrior was still on
him. The creature was closing in and he didn’t have either of his swords with him.
Before the Shadow Warrior launched its attack, Knight instinctively thrust
both of his empty hands outward, as if reaching for something. As he reached out
for his swords, both physically and mentally, they both suddenly shot into the air and
flew into his waiting hands. He was surprised only for a second, when the Shadow
Warrior made his attack. Now that he had his swords back again, he could easily
block the Shadow Warrior’s attack. He then countered with several slashes of his
twin swords, which succeeded in driving the dark creature back.
“We shouldn’t let Knight have all the fun, right, Mercury?” Mars commented
with a grin. “How about we give him a hand?”
“Ready when you are,” Mercury replied.
“Fire soul!”
“Shabon spray!”
When Knight heard Mars and Mercury fire their attacks, he leaped aside and
prepared to fire his own attack.
“Earth thrust!”
The three attacks all hit at once, knocking the Shadow Warrior a long
distance away. After the creature landed, they saw that it was as lifeless as the first
three.
“That should make four,” Knight said.
“How did you make your swords do that?” Mercury asked.
“I’m not sure,” he replied, puzzled. “I just did it. Anyway, let’s go help the
others with the other three Shadow Warriors.”
When they found Jupiter and Venus, they were busy handling two of the last
three Shadow Warriors. The last one was heading straight for them.
“Mars, you help Venus,” Knight ordered. “Mercury, go help Jupiter. I’ll take
care of this one.”
“Got it,” Mars agreed as she and Mercury each left to help the other two
Scouts.
“Shabon spray!”
A thick mist appeared and covered the area, reducing visibility. Jupiter looked
around for Mercury and saw her approach from out of the fog. “Thanks, Mercury.
You’re just in time to help me finish them off. Care to join me?”
“Certainly, Jupiter,” Mercury answered. “Shabon spray!”
“Supreme thunder!”
The combined lightning and bubbles shot straight at the Shadow Warrior, but
it dodged at the last second. The second combined blast, however, didn’t miss.
Mars and Venus were easily holding off the Shadow Warrior they were
facing, but they were having trouble actually landing an attack on it. It was moving
quickly, dodging each of their attacks easily.
“This thing’s just too fast,” Mars growled.
“Let’s give it another try, Mars,” Venus said. “Crescent beam!”
“Fire soul!”
The two attacks shot straight at the nimble creature, side by side. The
Shadow Warrior was just about to dodge the two attacks at the last moment, when
Knight suddenly leaped at the Shadow Warrior from out of nowhere. Just like before,
the powers of Mars and Venus struck both of his swords, setting one aflame and
causing the other to glow with a yellow light.
Before the Shadow Warrior could avoid the attack, Knight swung both of his
swords at the dark creature, giving it a taste of fire and light energy. It then collapsed
to the ground, lifeless.
“That makes five,” Knight said, turning to the other two Scouts.
“What happened with that Shadow Warrior you we’re fighting by yourself?”
Mars asked.
“The strangest thing happened,” Knight said. “I was preparing to attack the
charging Shadow Warrior, when suddenly another Shadow Warrior comes flying
outta nowhere and slams into the first one, before I even have a chance to attack. I
guess that second one was the one Jupiter and Mercury were facing.” He shrugged.
“Well, now we have two more to defeat,” Venus said. “We’re winning! We still
have a chance to save the Moon Kingdom!”
“You got that right, Venus!” Jupiter said as she and Mercury joined them.
“How many do we have left?” Mercury asked.
“Two,” Venus said.
“That’s what I thought,” she said, nodding to herself.
“And speaking of which,” Mars said, turning to look to her right, “here they
come again.”
As each Scout looked to where she was looking, they saw that the last two
Shadow Warriors were charging at them. “Everybody, hit them at once!” Venus
shouted.
“Shabon spray!”
“Fire soul!”
“Supreme thunder!”
“Crescent beam!”
“Earth thrust!”
The five attacks combined into one massive attack that pounded the last two
Shadow Warriors flat. Neither one got up after that. “I think that’s the last of them!”
Sailor Knight said.
“We did it! We won!” Mars shouted as they others began to shout in triumph.
The sky slowly grew darker as a cold wind suddenly began to blow from out
of nowhere. Without warning, seven dark green bolts of dark energy shot down from
the sky, striking all seven of the fallen Shadow Warriors simultaneously.
“What’s happening?” Mercury asked anxiously.
“I’m guessing that Beryl’s taking a more active role in this battle,” Knight
seethed.
Each of the seven revived Shadow Warrior converged onto one spot, where
an explosion of dark energy engulfed them. When the dark energy dissipated, a
huge version of the Shadow Warriors stood in their place.
“I don’t like the looks of that thing,” Mars said nervously.
“If we all combine our powers, we can beat this thing!” Jupiter shouted
encouragingly.
“Jupiter’s right!” Sailor Venus added. “Everybody ready?”
“Ready!” the rest shouted in unison.
“Shabon spray!”
“Fire soul!”
“Supreme thunder!”
“Crescent beam!”
“Earth thrust!”
Once again, the five attacks merged into one gigantic attack and hit the
enormous form dead center. The giant creature was unharmed by the attack. In fact,
it seemed to be amused.
“Uh-oh...,” Knight muttered apprehensively.
“PATHETIC HUMANS!” the creature laughed in a hideously demonic voice,
“I WILL DESTROY YOU!”
Screams were ripped from five separate throats as the Sailor Scouts were
blasted several feet from where they were standing.
Knight found himself sprawled on his back, slowly losing consciousness.
Trying to sit up was almost impossible. He was so weak he could only move his
head. He felt very, very tired, almost as if he wanted to go to sleep. He forced himself
to stay awake as he turned his head to look around him. He saw that the other
Scouts were sprawled out in a similar fashion, like he was. Their Scout uniforms
were scorched very badly by the blast. Looking at himself, he noticed that he had
received similar treatment and his uniform was scorched just as badly. He also
noticed that one of his swords was missing.
Slowly, he began to realize, to his shock and dismay, that the others weren’t
breathing. They had all died, and he was the only one still alive. ‘No. No! NO!!! They
can’t be dead! They can’t! How can they be dead if I’m still alive? Minako... Rei...
Makoto... Ami... please, don’t be dead... PLEASE DON’T BE DEAD!!!’
As Knight drifted further into unconsciousness, he began to realize that he,
too, must be dying. ‘I guess I didn’t make it after all. Not that it matters anymore.
They’re all dead now. At least I can join them. Wait for me everyone... I’m coming
with you....’
Slowly, he gave into the exhaustion that threatened to overwhelm him. Slowly,
he closed his eyes and joined his friends, teammates, and loved ones in death.
From among the fighting, Akiyama saw a huge shadow-like creature heading
straight for them. Looking around her, she noticed that the invaders had abruptly
retreated from the battle. Only she and her troops were still there. ‘What’s going on?
Why did they just retreat like that? And where did that thing come from?’
The huge creature focused its blazing red eyes at her and her troops and
suddenly fired a multitude of dark green energy bolts at them. The screams of her
troops filled her ears as a bolt of dark energy hit her directly in the middle of her
chest. The last thing she saw while dying was that the huge shadow-like creature
was now blasting the Moon Palace’s walls apart.
From atop the rubble, Beryl laughed while her warriors stormed the palace
ruins. “Very soon, both the Earth and the Moon will be under my control!” she
gloated. “I’ll have Queen Serenity begging for mercy!” She raised her staff above her
head, causing red energy bolts to shoot out from it. “No one can defeat the power of
the Dark Kingdom! No one!” A bright explosion of energy emitted from her staff,
wrecking the Moon Palace further. “The universe shall soon be mine!”
Serenity stood watching in horror as the palace crumbled around her. Her
home was being destroyed before her distraught eyes. She devoutly hoped that
Endymion was all right.
Suddenly, Beryl appeared above her. Serenity gasped, wide-eyed in fear.
“Well, if it isn’t the Moon Princess,” she said mockingly. “I’ll tear up your pretty little
face!” She lunged at Serenity, claw-like fingernails extended.
Before she could reach her, a rose flew through the air, its stem striking
Beryl’s outstretched hand. Angrily, she turned towards the one who threw the rose.
“Beryl, if you lay a finger on her, I’ll make you pay!” Endymion shouted angrily.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
“I am Prince Endymion, sworn to defend the Moon Kingdom against evil like
you!” Endymion said, moving protectively between her and Serenity.
“Prince Endymion?” Beryl said. “From Earth? I’ve heard of you. You have
great promise. You and that other prince, Prince Ryoku I believe his name was.
“Well, I can see why she’d hang on to you, but you’re wasting your time with
that twit. Why not join me, Endymion, and we’ll rule the Dark Kingdom together,” she
said enticingly.
“I refuse, Beryl.” he replied, his voice dripping with scorn. “There is no way
that I’ll join a repulsive, evil witch like you.”
Beryl was infuriated. “Silence!” she screamed furiously. “You will die as well!”
A giant green bolt of dark energy flew out from the huge dark creature
looming overhead. The energy bolt covered Endymion and Serenity, pulling him
away from her.
“Endymion, what is happening?” she asked, anxiously.
“Run, Serenity!” he yelled as he was being pulled away. “Just run!”
“No, Endymion,” she shouted, as she ran towards him. “I want to be with
you!”
“No, you can’t!” he shouted, still floating away from her. “Serenity, don’t!”
Taking a running leap, she jumped towards him, each reaching out for the
other. Slowly, the gap between them closed and they grasped each other’s hand.
Another green bolt blasted the two apart, each screaming for the other with their last
breath.
Running towards her daughter, Queen Serenity, along with Luna and
Artemis, arrived too late to save either Serenity or Endymion.
“Serenity! No!” she cried. “She’s taken them both!”
Luna bowed her head and cried. “Oh, no! Not the princess!”
Beryl laughed maliciously. “They are dead, the fools. Thus is the fate of all
who opposes me.”
“No!” Queen Serenity fell to her knees in anguish. “Serenity! No, it can’t be!”
she sobbed quietly. “Don’t worry, darling, I won’t let it end this way,” she said
determinedly, as she brought out the Silver Crystal and attached it to the Crescent
Moon Wand. “I won’t let them take away your future!” A red flash came from the
crystal.
“Queen Serenity,” Luna said worriedly, tears still in her eyes, “if you use the
Silver Crystal, you’ll die.”
“It’s the only way, Luna,” Queen Serenity said calmly. “I must sacrifice my
kingdom if we’re to regain our peace.” Slowly, she stood and raised the wand over
her head. “Moon healing escalation!”
Light pulsed out from the crystal, spreading everywhere. “What is this?” Beryl
exclaimed, flinching away from the energy radiating from the crystal. Glowing
spheres of light hit the massive dark creature that loomed over the palace, breaking
it up. The same energy also seemed to break up any who came from the Dark
Kingdom. All over the Moon, and also the Earth, the warriors of the Dark Kingdom
began to vanish. “You can’t do this to me!” Beryl shrieked. “You haven’t seen the last
of me! I will return and the universe will belong to me!” All at once, anyone belonging
to the Dark Kingdom disappeared.
“Your Majesty, you did it!” Luna exclaimed. “They’re gone!”
“You beat them!” Artemis added.
Queen Serenity was lying on a broken pillar. “The Silver Crystal will bring
peace if someone with a heart of good uses it,” she said exhaustedly as she
removed the Silver Crystal from the wand and held it out in front of her. “However, if
someone with a heart of evil were to use it, it could turn into a horrendous weapon.
And now, I must send them all to a new future on Earth.” She flung her head aside,
crying.
Luna was puzzled by the Queen’s sadness. “But, you saved them. Why are
you so sad?”
Queen Serenity stared blankly ahead at the stars. “Because none of them will
remember anything about this time or this place. Nothing! And I’ll never see my
sweet daughter again. Or, you two, either.” She slowly raised the empty wand. “But
this is the only way for any of you to live on.
“I have managed to seal them off with the power of the Silver Crystal, but they
may return again. Only those with royal blood can use the Crescent Moon Wand.
You must entrust this to Princess Serenity should that time come.
“I have enough power left to send everything you’ll need in the future to Earth.
Serenity and the Sailor Scouts will need your help if the Dark Kingdom ever breaks
free.”
“Yes,” Luna and Artemis replied in unison.
“All of you will be reborn on Earth,” she continued, “with no memory of the
Moon Kingdom whatsoever, but if evil forces should try to repeat what happened
here, you two will know what to do.” She raised the crystal into the air. “Now, farewell
all of you, and good luck. Goodbye, Serenity. You are in my heart, always.”
The Silver Crystal rose into the air. When it stopped, high into the sky, a
bright flash lit the sky. Bright spheres of light rose from the ground into the air, each
containing the spirits of the Sailor Scouts, Endymion, Serenity, and the rest of the
Moon Kingdom, and headed for Earth.
Queen Serenity watched as everyone headed for Earth. She knew that she
wouldn’t be able to go with her daughter, so she would arrange it so that Serenity’s
father’s sister and her family would take care of Serenity in her place. She knew that
the Tsukino family would be the best choice for Serenity.
“Be happy,” she said sadly. “On behalf of the Moon, you will be free again.
Perhaps one day, Serenity, we’ll meet again.” She then collapsed and breathed her
last. As her grip slackened, the Crescent Moon Wand fell to the ground.
“Queen Serenity!” Luna and Artemis exclaimed. The Crescent Moon Wand
stopped before hitting the ground and flashed a brilliant white light. The two cat
advisors were placed in stasis chambers, to awaken on Earth in the future.
From its position in the skies above the Moon, the Silver Crystal suddenly
shattered into seven different pieces; each a different color of the rainbow. They all
flew in different directions, each piece embedding itself inside one of the subjects of
the Moon Kingdom at random. Unbeknownst to anyone, these seven would have a
crucial role to play in the future.
As the last of the Moon Kingdom rose from the ruins to join the others on
Earth in the future, a sudden breeze stirred upon the surface of the Moon. This
breeze would be the last the Moon would ever have. The breeze stirred up dust and
debris from the abandoned battlefield, marking the death of one life and the birth of a
new one – on Earth.
Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective owners. Sailor Moon belongs
to Naoko Takeuchi and is also Copyright © Kodansha, Toei Animation, TV Asahi, Bandai, DIC,
Cloverway, Pioneer, etc. No copyright infringement is intended. This story belongs me, so I
would appreciate it very much if you would ask for permission before posting it anywhere else.
Thank you.
Earth Scout Chronicles, Kino Ryoku:
Copyright © 1999-2003 Jason C. Ulloa.
All Rights Reserved.