ACT 03 - " Sakura Fubuki (Cherry Blossom Storm)"
Dr. Xadium (drxadium@DEATHTOSPAMgate.net)
January 30th, 2005
Naoko Takeuchi is hereby thanked for her involuntary contribution to this fanfic. Euri is credited for the creation of the Satellite Senshi deployed in this fic along with Indigo. Sailor Q is credited for her characters, Miki Kaze (Sailor Quinox) and her satellite senshi as they appear in this fic. RATED PG-13
THE PLANET CHAR, 3057.
"They sayeth she knoweth everything about a man... that when she doth looketh at a man, she seeth into his very soul. Perhaps she is a Psi-Cop. A foul demoness who scrys the mind."
He was a tall man, with long, gaunt features and a bald head framed by two tufts of elegantly combed white hair. His tone was grave and stentorian, his manners impeccable. He wore the black clerical uniform and blood-red collar of the Neo-Evangelions. At his side he carried an Orange Book, their sacred text, within which was concealed a Golden dagger, its blade dipped in poison. He was known only as "Pastor." A Space preacher, he was also known as the Quadrant's most lethal assassin.
His companion, by contrast, wore the grey silk suit and green-silk shirt of the Interplanetary Zaibatsu Yakuza clan. An inveterate drinker and womanizer, this seedy scum was the fly on everyone's wall, an informant who could tell you anything you wanted to know... for the right price. He was known simply as "Salmon".
""No way man... the most powers she's got in the mind department are mind-blocks. But hella strong ones. Mysterio found that out the hard way. Word is she's a genuine authentic Sailor Soldier. Like the ones in the Terran System. Some think she's a member of the Sailor Corps."
The odd couple were sitting at a table in the back corner of Garibaldi's Greasepit, a nondescript haven for the criminal element in a no-name town in the middle of a forgotten continent on a backwater planet. They were here because Salmon had information Pastor needed. Data on the elusive and mysterious "Sailor Galaxy V," the woman he had been hired by the Orion Syndicate to kill.
"Sailor Corps?" Pastor asked, frowning. "Thou meanst the Sailor Soldiers who hadst lost their homeworlds to Galaxia, had nowhere to return to upon their resurrection, and who thence madest a new home at Galaxia's base, Sagittarius Zero Star, deigning to become a new force of justice in the Galaxy?
Salmon nodded, taking a spoonful of spoo--a white, globby, featureless substance that tasted oddly like Swedish meatballs--and eating it. "Yeah, that's the theory everyone's going under. But it's bunk. Any child could see that. The Green Lanterns protect their turf too damn well. Last member of the Sailor Corps to come this way was sent home with a green boot up her backside."
"But she taketh the title 'Sailor'," Pastor pressed. "There must to be something to this."
"You know what I think?" Salmon asked, sipping some blood wine. "I think whoever started this 'Sailor Galaxy' thing was just some do-gooder who wanted to get her jollies running around in a cape, miniskirt and mask, and then when her legend grew, a bunch of imitators took over. It's the only to explain why she's been tooling around this quadrant for the last 90 years or so."
"Maybe she has friends in the Green Lantern Corps," a bubbly, attractive red-headed waitress said, leaning down to place some more drinks on the table.
"None of your business, hun, now scram," Salmon said rudely, shoving a 5 credit note in her cleavage.
"Or maybe she happens to be extremely long-lived," the waitress said, her tone becoming icy as she pulled the note out and pocketed it. "Maybe she's half-human on her mother's side."
"Hah like that Spock guy?" Salmon slapped the waitress on the behind. "You're cute dame, but this is a private conversation. Maybe we can... 'talk' some other time."
"But we're the only ones here," the Waitress replied, her tone smooth and cool.
Salmon looked around askance. It was true. Everyone else, even the bartender, was gone.
"Heh," he replied, licking his lips, a lewd look in his eye. "Maybe we can 'talk' now, then."
"Actually, no," the waitress said, her tone suddenly becoming incredibly confident. "You'll be doing all the talking, whilst I listen." She smiled brightly.
"The hell?" Salmon asked, suddenly realizing he couldn't move, except for his face.
"A low-level Temporal lock," the waitress said, still smiling. "Everything's locked down in time except for your head. Don't struggle too hard... you might break something."
She looked down at Salmon's waist and winked.
"Bitch," Salmon spat.
"All a man needs... is a clear head..." Pastor proclaimed gravely. "Amen."
The next second, Pastor's head exploded in a burst of flame.
"WHAT THE FRACK?!" Salmon exclaimed, a look of terror on his face. The waitress just smirked.
"Oh, that would be my portable HADS-R System. Hostile Action Displacement / Redirection System."
Salmon just looked at the waitress mutely, unable to find the words.
"A trick I learned from my late father. He's the one who *wasn't* human, you see. It's a nifty hack. Anyone trying to do harm to me has their projectile-- or in this case, what I suppose must have been an eye-mounted laser-- intercepted and redirected back at them two seconds before they launch the attack. Quite nasty, really. I'd applaud Pastor's ingenuity, but unfortunately it seems to have already gone to his head."
"But..." Salmon began hesitantly.
"Yessssss?" the waitress asked sweetly.
"But..." Salmon reiterated, gulping. "Wouldn't that cause a paradox of sorts? I- I- I mean, if the shooter's stuck by their own bullet two seconds *before* they shoot at you, wouldn't it possibly prevent the weapon from being fired in the first place?"
The waitress sighed and shook her head. "Everybody and their brother thinks they understand time. Leave it to the *experts*, would you? Would it make you feel any better if I told you it uses a local chronostatic time-bubble to refine and adjust local events so as to avoid a larger-scale grandfather paradox effect?"
Salmon just stared at her, numbly. She smiled.
"You know, Sal... may I call you Sal? Good. So much nicer than 'Salmon', don't you think? None of the nasty connotations about swimming upstream and all that. Sal, you should really be glad I have the temporal lock on you."
"W-Why?"
"Because I suspect that without it, you'd be in desperate need of a diaper change about now."
"Y... you don't scare me..." Salmon lied. Badly.
In a flash of light, the red-haired waitress was replaced by a blond-haired girl in an orange, white and blue sailor suit, wearing a blue facemask with orange trim, and a crescent moon on its front.
"FRACK!" Salmon's look indicated that when the temporal locks were removed, he was definitely going to need a change of clothes. "IT'S YOU!"
"Now, Mr. Salmon... you're going to tell me everything you know about a Terran woman named 'Yuuko Arimura' and her connection to the Orion Syndicate."
"H-He was the one with the contract from the Orions!" Salmon moved his head as much as he could towards the still smoking and flaming head of Pastor.
Mentally, Sailor Galaxy V cursed. That was the problem with HADS-R. It kept you safe, but at the cost of trigger-happy informants or people who might have been convinced to stand down. Granted, since HADS-R only reaction upon the sensing of a potentially lethal shot, it was more useful than not-- but she had just cost herself a potentially valuable lead. Still, nothing to do but make Lemon Meringue Pie out of Lemonade...
"But word on the Interweb says you're the man who can get people what they want..." V continued.
"I'll never turn into a stooge!" Salmon said defiantly.
"Salmon Ozymonix, from the Planet Chappax. You have three wives in three star systems, none of whom know about the other. You have ten illegitimate children."
"Eight..." Salmon corrected.
"Oh right, you don't know it yet, but #3... the cute brunette... she's got twin buns in the cupboard."
"Are you saying you're going to rat on me to the wives?" Salmon mocked.
"When you were five years old you stuck some icy hot gel down the underwear of the school bully who was beating you up. The bully never found out who did it, but he's a well placed member of the Betazed Triad. I'm *sure* he'd LOVE to know who did it."
"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?!" Salmon almost screamed in a girlish voice, sweating profusely.
"Your soul... is mine." V replied. In truth, as she did before every interrogation, Sakura just did some well-placed spying on her targets using her TARDIS, learning everything she could about them-- all their habits, faults and foibles-- bringing that data into play for psychological advantage. It was a trick that worked extremely well. As it would here.
"Look, I don't know much, but I can talk to some people..." Salmon began slowly.
"I know you will," V replied. He would try to run, no doubt about it. But after one or two more run-ins with her at even his most secret hideouts, he'd tell her everything she wanted to know. They always did.
There was a stillness in the room for a heavy second, as the weight of Salmon's realization concerning his new fate as Sailor Galaxy V's stoolie settled in. V simply stared sternly at him, impressing her features into his mind so that he would never forget this moment. The moment he had ceased to be the master of his own destiny.
A shrill beeping from her wrist communicator shattered the almost intimate moment.
Salmon blinked, and the next second, he was back in the crowded, bustling bar, the charred and crackling body of Pastor sitting next to him, and a warm liquid stain filling the front of his pants.
THE PLANET DUST, 3057
It was an aptly named backwater world, the place known as the last gasp of the human empire. The place where the progress of man had simply decided to stop after its marathon expansion across the galaxy. Once a bustling mining world, it was now a dirty, grimy, unkempt little shanty-town of a colony where law was optional and order unheard of. It was here that Sailor Galaxy V now stood, face to face with Space Commissioner Mortimus Gordon, head of the Terran Authority's rather obsoletely-named Triplanetary security service.
"I see you've made it here in record time again, V," Gordon said flatly, his imposing baritone voice cutting through the air like a buzz saw through butter. "I only just called you minutes ago."
"I live to serve," V said dryly, subtly mocking the indoctrination song of the Triplanetary Corps. She despised being tethered to this human, having to help him solve petty crimes, but she needed his networking and resources. No one knew more about the Orion Syndicate than Triplanetary-- as it was their job to stamp out the vice, drugs, and corruption the Syndicate loved to spread on all the civilized worlds. And the Orion Syndicate held "Eudial" Arimura, the woman who had slaughtered her parents. Thus, she reasoned, through Mortimus, she would gain the Syndicate. Through them, Eudial, and then through her...
V's thoughts were interrupted as Gordon tapped her on the shoulder, pointing the way to a crime scene. "Normally, I wouldn't bother you with this, V, but--"
"Spare me, Gordon," V replied tiredly. "Of course you would. 'Bolian ambassador loses his hairpiece? Call V. Klingon Poet gets Laryngitis? V will solve it!' Honestly."
"It's not my fault you know more about the various alien cultures in this galaxy than even our best agents," Gordon replied unapologetically. "It's my job to seek out, cultivate and exploit resources like you."
"How nice to know I'm needed," V exhaled.
"The feeling is mutual," Gordon replied, nonplussed. "We both know that once you get what you want, I'll never see you again. That V stands for 'Vengeance', after all."
V stopped in her tracks. "Victory," she insisted. "It stands for Victory."
"Tell that to the Orion syndicate flunkies who've had their arms and legs broken, or their minds scrambled, or the 'wannabe' hitmen who ended up being shot by their own weapons. You don't care who you have to go through to get what you want, nor the cost of doing so. It's only the fact that you haven't killed anyone who didn't deserve it that prevents me from hauling you in myself."
"It must wound your noble sprit to do business with a reprobate malcontent such as myself," V said darkly.
"You shame that uniform," Gordon snapped. "The Sailor Warriors stand for something. What do you stand for, hmm? You're not like the others. You don't stop evil where and when it happens. You pick your targets, carefully and coldly. You're going after something specific. What is it? What do you want? "
"Never ask that question," V snapped back. "Be grateful you have my assistance at all. Now what is it you want of me?"
Gordon shook his head, hearing the implicit "insect" at the end of that query. There was no question that V outstripped him in terms of intellect and experience, but yet she lacked some kind of inner maturity to temper those things. She was putting up with him as a means to some kind of end, and they both knew it. But the mystery of her motivation would have to wait. He had something more pressing to deal with.
"Believe it or not, V, I did call you in for a reason. I thought of calling in the Sailor Corps, but they're too interested in posing and making pretty speeches to be of any use to me." He pointed to the crime scene. Dozens of bodies lay splattered on the ground, holes torn through their midsections. Viscera and blood was everywhere. The stench was unbearable.
V activated her respiratory bypass system as she walked closer to the scene. It wasn't that she couldn't breathe normally, but with this backup system working, her keener sense of smell was completely stunted. She coldly regarded the bodies, which were laid out in a semi-circular pattern.
"They fell like dominoes," she clinically observed. "Some kind of high impact projectile tore through them in series, ripping the guts right out of them. It seems to have followed a curved trajectory... a nice shot..."
The last words trailed off as V saw the source of the devastation. In the center of the semicircle, her body twisted and crumpled on the ground, half-her head shorn off by a hard, glowing ball, was a Sailor Senshi. To be precise, one of the Asteroid Senshi, "Ves-Ves."
"I see you recognize her," Gordon said, nodding.
"One of the inner retinue of 'Small Lady' Neo-Princess Serenity III Tsukino Usagi," V nodded.
"She came into town seemingly completely normal, but when she saw the Earth Security force, who were here just to guard a shipment of Gold Pressed Latinum from First Federation bank, she flipped out and slaughtered them all, before clutching her head and crying out about the 'voices in her mind', after which time she slammed that ball of hers into the wall and sent it flying right back into her skull, cracking it like an egg."
"Murder-Suicide," V mused.
"I think it has something to do with the coming coronation," Gordon said worriedly. "And that's why I need you on the case. The gods help us if Serenity III is assassinated. No one knows what the Plutonian Epoch's response would be."
"Something silent but violent, I'd imagine," V mused.
GRAINY FILMSTRIP FOOTAGE
Narrator: WELCOME TO GALACTIC NEWSREEL! IT'S TIME FOR HISTORY 101 as we look back at the history of our glorious empire as it prepares to move forward into a new era!
In the year 2002, the Earth suffers a brief natural disaster as the malevolent Elios, holding both the Silver and Golden Crystals, covers the planet in ice. [ See Suburban Senshi Season 1 finale] Sailor Moon and her inner retinue of solders fight back, the soldiers giving up their super transformations to turn Moon into her final form of Neo-Queen Serenity, a.k.a. Serenity II. Their battle was so intense it opened up a temporal rift, sucking Moon, her four inner soldiers and her boyfriend, Tuxedo mask almost 1000 years into the future. The ice vanished, and life went on as normal for people of the 2st century.
Narrator: In 2897, just as her daughter Usagi (Serenity III) was born, Serenity II used her powers to tame a world ravaged by war and disaster, establishing the Imperial Capital of Crystal Tokyo and allowing the planet to rebuild in peace and prosperity. Not everyone appreciated having their darker sides purged by her silver crystal, however, and two years later, in 2899 a renegade group of humans under the banner of the Black Moon chose exile to the barren 10th planet of Nemesis rather than be subjects of the new Silver Millennium. [ Sailor Moon R ]
In the meantime, the rest of the planet re-industrialized rapidly, and began to resent the monarchical control of the somewhat impulsive and impetuous Serenity II. But given her vast power, they could do nothing about it. Neo-Japan prepared to make war on Crystal Tokyo, and awaited their best opportunity to make a first strike.
In 2904, just five years after they left Earth, the Black Moon declares war. A series of poison gas attacks decimate Crystal Tokyo, and a swarm of UFOs begin pounding the city. It's all the Sailor Soldiers can do to hold the keep their Queen alive. Neo-Japan sees their chance and begins attacking the outskirts of the city, fortifying their positions in the suburbs of Neo Tokyo 7. The battle rages on for the better part of a year. In 2905, Serenity III, only 8 years old, slips back in time, and with help from the past, defeat the Nemesian forces. After the past senshi leave, however, Neo-Japan's forces surround the Imperial Capital and issue an ultimatum-- Cede power to the World Government and become just another independent state, or get nuked off the face of the planet. They choose survival, and Crystal Tokyo becomes a tourist trap city, funding itself by becoming a theme park parody of its former self. [ Sub Senshi Act 20, deprecated ] The soldiers still care about their duty to the planet, however, and in 2908 Serenity II sends Pluto back in time on an important mission, and then sends her daughter, aged 11, to make friends with Tomoe Hotaru and save Earth of the past. [ Sailor Moon S ]
In 2910, Serenity III returns home, but at 13, her mother is paranoid about her hormones and possible Electra complex regarding her father. Serenity II, to avoid the hassle of having to help her daughter study for entrance exams, has her and all other children in the Silver Millennium worlds "home schooled"-- but by tutors, not parents--as she wants more time with her Husband. Serenity III goes with a priest, Elios to the imperial stables for her "education," dropping her IQ by 50-100 points. [ Sakura's Tale Act 2 ]
Decades later, in 2999, two time travelling terrors from the past, Haruka Ten'ou and Jedite, arrive in a Time Machine in Crystal Tokyo, and nearly wrecking the city. In a shocking scandal, Princess Aino of Venus walks out of the imperial court and decides to go live in the past once again, tired of being bossed around. Paranoid, the Queen uses starseed-extracting technology to hold her remaining soldiers at Bay. [ Sub. Senshi Episode 20, deprecated, Sakura's Tale Act 0 ]
Five years later, in 3004, Jedite, Tomoe Hotaru and Serenity III return to Crystal Tokyo, precipitating a full-scale clash with Serenity II which reduces the city to rubble. [ See Sakura's Tale Act 0 ] Serenity and Endymion apparently commit suicide rather than face punishment for their bad behaviour. Serenity III decides to rule the city in their place. This lasts one week, as the few citizens of the Crystal Tokyo that are left tire of her lecherous ways and kidnap her. Led by a squad of planetary Knights from the Silver Millennium worlds, they ensure she is kidnapped and forcibly subjected to mind-correction. But her libidinous power was too strong, and she escaped back to 2004. At the end of the year 3004, Neo-Tokyo 7 stood ready to raze the ruins of Crystal Tokyo and redevelop it into a shopping complex. In 3005, however, Sailor Pluto located the ex King and Queen of the city, trying to pass themselves off as ordinary citizens of Neo-Argentina. Forcibly repatriating them to the city [ Sakura's Tale Act 0 ] she went back in time, collected three of the Inner Soldiers and Serenity III [ Suburban Senshi: the Movie ] and brought them forward, using their power to establish herself as the Lord Protector of the Realm in Serenity III's stead (the monarch being too interested in men of the past to want to rule) with Endymion as her consort and Serenity II as the Royal Maid. Using her formidable temporal powers, she drove back the forces of Neo-Tokyo 7, and reestablished the city as the Imperial Capital, beginning the era of the Plutonian Epoch.
Now, it is the present day, 3057. Hidden behind a temporal shield, no one knows what improvements or fortifications Lady Pluto has made to the city. All we know is, that after offering the Sailor Soldiers of the future key places in her court, which they she stands ready to lower the barriers this upcoming weekend, as the young Serenity III finally prepares to step forward and embrace her destiny as ruler of Silver Millennium, freeing the Lord Protector to be with her man for the rest of time. Join us, won't you? It's sure to be a BLAST!
(the reel skips)
Narrator - GALACTIC NEWSREEL! Worries about the security of the coronation, which is just three days away now, continue, as the suicide bomber who hit the head offices of Jupiter Mining Corporation on Titan has been revealed to be one of the Sailor Soldiers attached to Serenity III's personal guard.
JUPITER MINING CORPORATION HQ, TITAN - 3057
"Her goal wasn't to destroy the building," Sailor Galaxy V muttered, stepping carefully across the debris and body parts that covered the area. "That was at best a secondary effect of her suicide. Like the incident on planet Dust, she slaughtered the visiting Earth security personnel and then took her own life. It just so happens she did it by channeling all her planetary power into her body and releasing it in one go... like a miniature atomic bomb."
"At least the other one had the decency to shoot herself in the head," Commissioner Gordon said dryly.
"sic transit Jun-Jun," V said under her breath. As Gordon turned to look at her, she was already gone.
"I hate it when she does that," he sighed.
Sakura sat in the dimly lit interior of her TARDIS, dressed in her usual quasi-victorian garb-- tan slacks, a cream-colored shirt and double-breasted, buttoned up leather vest. She leaned back on a deactivated panel of her TARDIS' console and pondered the situation. Two of the Asteroid Senshi had gone mad, killing Earth security before ending their own lives. Obviously, if they were being manipulated, it was clear someone was trying to prepare them for an assault on Serenity III. But this was too obvious. If that *had* been their plan, surely they would have realized that the authorities would be onto it by now. Still, that just meant they'd shift to other tactics. But who were "they" to begin with? Possibly, quite possibly, all the asteroid senshi had been tampered with. Two were dead, but as far as anyone knew, two yet lived. Perhaps their minds held the key to the puzzle.
Sakura got off the console and turned around, reactivating the panel and searching through some datafiles. It amazed her that she was even able to access Gallifrey's datasystems. As far as she knew, she was a renegade still. But, their lapse was her gain. Punching in some data, she was able to pinpoint where one of the "Amazoness Quartet"-- well, "Duo" now-- was. Rapidly pressing a few more buttons, she smiled as the TARDIS console's central column began to rise and fall, the ship taking her to where Cere-Cere was calmly eating her lunch.
UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
"Those damned Senshi are defective! They're going off too soon!"
Eudial sighed. This is why she hated working with lackeys. They all suffered from a chronic lack of vision. Even this one, which was odd.
"So what?!" She boomed.
"We'll never be able to kill Serenity III this way!! The Senshi will know what we're up to!"
"Of course they will," Eudial said with a smile. "And they will be so focused on the plan they know, that they'll miss the plan they don't."
CRYSTAL TOKYO, INNER SANCTUM, CRYSTAL PALACE
"I don't like this," Sailor Uranus said, wiping off the blade of her rapier-like Space Sword. "Suicide bombing Senshi? I mean, those kids were always nuts, but this is too much, even for them."
"Rei-san and the Dream Division are trying to divine more," Saturn replied, spinning her glaive experimentally. She needn't have said anything. The whole palace was resonating with the Zen chants of Rei and 50 other miko, who were in deep meditation, along with rei.bot, down in the sub-levels of the palace.
"It makes sense that the Asteroid Senshi would be targeted," Mercury noted coldly. "They were isolated from the rest of us, having not much to do, considering that Chibiusa-cha...err, her majesty chose to stay in the past rather than here."
"I can't bring myself to call her that," Sailor Jupiter said, punching and kicking at the air. "She's a spoiled brat with a hormone problem."
"Yeah, well you didn't have to live with her for years," Uranus said, jumping in front of Jupiter and starting to spar with her. "She was a pain in the ass, let me tell you. Even got me and Michi to adopt her."
"She got some of my satellite Senshi to do that too," Jupiter grunted as she fought back. "Mainly because she wanted at their fiances or husbands."
"She's conniving and dangerous," Mercury chimed in.
"Perfect personality traits for those destined for statecraft," Saturn observed casually, looking at the golden ring on her left ring finger.
"Indeed," Pluto said regally, striding in, wearing the imperial gown of Crystal Tokyo. All the senshi knelt before her in deference to her position.
"But even the most wayward child can become the most noble of leaders," Pluto observed as the others rose. "Small Lady was corrupted by her lackadaisical parents and her exposure to Elios. But she has spent many years meditating under my care."
"That's because you waited till she finally decided to come back to the future for good and locked her in the basement for 50 years," Uranus noted dryly.
"Yes," Saturn concurred. "No one has seen her in all that time. Conspiracy theories abound that you intend to replace her with a Doppelganger because the real one died in the 21st century at the hands of some overly-well armed mercenaries."*
* see Sporehunt
"Small Lady will be ready to assume the mantle of power," Pluto replied with an enigmatic smile. "Mercury has been working with her, educating her and repairing her defective Psyche."
"And removing that pesky Electra complex that keeps her going after the husband you stole, too I bet," Uranus joked as Jupiter took the opportunity to slam her in the gut.
"GRAH" Uranus dropped to the ground, panting.
" I have every confidence in his skill," Pluto replied.
"Setsuna-momma, are you sure about that, or are you perhaps being a bit clouded in your judgment by your desire to retire to Neo-Vatican City with Endymion-sama?" Saturn smiled wryly.
Pluto chuckled and was suddenly gone.
"Typical," Neptune snorted with disdain.
Down in the caverns underneath the Palace, visions began to form in Hino Rei's mind. Horrible visions of death, carnage and... Sakura Xadium Aino.
BLUE PARROT CAFE, RISA
Cere-Cere smiled and stretched, calmly walking down a sandy beach. She loved Risa, with its perpetual warm-weather climate and friendly natives. She hadn't regretted moving there once in fifty years. There were precious few distractions. No "Sailor Business" to worry about, no need to keep up with the other three nutty members of the Quartet and most of all, no Chibiusagi to guard--or as was more often the case--escort to strip clubs or pleasure palaces under the cover of darkness. Yup, this was the life. It also made for a welcome distraction from the thoughts of the two funerals she would have to be attending soon. Two of her sisters-in-arms, dead and disgraced.
"Omigosh Omigosh!" The voice was high-pitched, almost squeaky, and very annoying. Cere-Cere turned to see its owner, a bubbly and not-too-bright looking brunette, running towards her at full speed, stumbling and tripping as she went. Cere-Cere felt something odd from the girl, but dismissed it as just the smell from the unwashed nerd's body.
"Oh, great, Sailor Otaku." Cere-Cere mumbled, trying to put on her best movie star grin. "Hi there!"
"Oh hi hi hi hi!!" the brunette in baggy jeans and a camo-print T-shirt yelled, tripping and almost falling into Cere-Cere's arms. "My name's Maggie Mayfair, and I'm just like, oh, your BIGGEST FAN EVAR!!! I mean I've cosplayed as you, and I even made up my own Sailor name! I'm--" she posed. "Sailor Magellan, satellite soldier of the planet Venus!"
Cere-Cere frowned. "Umm, I hate to say it, but Venus *has* no natural satellites. Magellan Castle is an orbiting palace."
"Well that's why she's a cyborg, silly!" Mayfair said with a girlish giggle.
"...yeah." Cere-Cere shook the cobwebs out of her head. "So you're a fan of mine, huh? That's cool. Most people worship the 'big ten' Senshi... well... nine, now."
A dark look crossed over Maggie's face for a second. "Anyway! Anyway! I was wondering if we could talk, and I dunno, maybe I could buy you a chocolate parfait or something?!"
"Hey, anyone who wants to buy me food is OK in my book." Cere-Cere grinned and the two girls walked down the beach, Maggie blabbering a mile a minute, tripping over herself a bit too much.
She's trying too hard, Cere-Cere noted darkly. Everything about the kid was too over the top. She may be fooling the amused onlookers with her dog-and-pony show, but she wasn't fooling her, a trained Sailor Soldier. Whoever this person was, she was doing her damndest to seem innocent and inoffensive. Maybe this was the approach taken with the other two Asteroid Senshi. Get them off guard, then brainwash them or something. Well, it wasn't going to happen to her, no sir. She'd play this girl like a cheap game of billiards and get the information she needed to avenge the others.
"So... umm... like you guarded Serenity III way back when?!" The girl started hesitantly. "Wow... to guard a queen..."
Here it comes, Cere-Cere mused. She's making her move. Well I won't let her get me somewhere alone. "Shall we sit here?" She smiled brightly and pointed to an empty table in the midst of a very crowded thoroughfare.
"Sure!" the girl said brightly, but the flicker of irritation on her face told Cere-Cere all she needed to know. Got you..
The duo sat. Cere-Cere did her best to try and find out more about "Maggie", and similarly the girl kept trying to pump her for information about her attitudes concerning Chibiusagi. It was a delicate and incisive verbal joust, too long and drawn out to be of any use retelling here. Eventually, however, it became clear to both combatants that neither was fooling the other.
"All, right kid," Cere-cere exhaled, exasperated. "Tell me who the hell you really are and what you want."
"Who I am is not important," Maggie said, her voice suddenly cold and hard. "But it's obvious to me now that you don't want to harm the Queen."
"Of course not, you idiot!" Cere-cere snapped. "She's like a big sister to us! A lecherous idiot of a sister, but I'd throw myself in front of a bomb to save her life. It's my duty and my desire!"
Maggie's features softened a bit. "Listen to me then. I have reason to believe you're in danger. I don't know from whom, but someone has been mentally manipulating the other Amazons..."
Was this a double-bluff? Cere-Cere wondered. Was she pretending to be an ally just to lower my defences and then spring a trap on my later? Well, there was only one way to be sure, and that was to play along.
"I can believe that," Cere said flatly. "But why would you care, 'Maggie'?"
"As you have no doubt surmised," Maggie replied, "That's not my name."
"Heh," Cere-Cere replied. "Then who are you, exactly?"
"The name is Sakura," she began slowly, as Cere-Cere's eyes widened. That would be either Sakura Kino-Junior, the daughter of one of the Jupiter Knights, or...
"Sakura X. Aino," the girl completed. Cere-Cere tried not to stare. It was Venus' kid! The one who had gone missing! She--
Cere-Cere felt the side of her head. It was like her brain was exploding!
Sakura noticed the change in reaction, and tensed up. "Cere-Cere?"
"Sakura... help...." Cere-Cere stood up, her eyes flashing between bright and dark. "Something's... wrong.. with...."
Sakura quickly pulled out her pocketwatch and began dangling it in front of Cere-Cere's eyes. "See the watch? See how it spins? Focus on it, and the sound of my voice..."
Cere-Cere seemed to calm a bit as she focused on the watch, but then a Starfleet security officer walked by.
Cere-Cere screamed, an explosion of light coming from her body as she transformed into her Senshi form.
"Oh, no." Sakura leapt to her feet and transformed into Sailor Galaxy V.
"Look mommy! Sailor Scouts!" A little girl squealed as her mom bopped her on the head for saying that word.
The awestruck crowd's coos of admiration quickly turned to shrieks of fear, however, as Cere-Cere launched a billiard ball at the policeman, ripping him in two with the force of its impact.
"Stop this!" V exclaimed. knowing in her hearts it was already far too late. Cere was getting ready to do herself in.
Starfleet security personnel quickly converged on the area, phaser weapons drawn, ready to take out Cere-Cere.
"Step away from her, V!" One of the guards yelled.
Sakura had a choice to make. Either step aside, and let Cere-Cere die, or save the murderess, and make the police her enemy.
Taking a stand, V stood before Cere-Cere. "This woman is being manipulated. I'll take responsibility for her."
"We can't let you do that, V. She killed a man. MOVE ASIDE!"
V couldn't let her lead go. This girl was the key to everything that was happening. She had to be preserved. "Calm down, Cere," She whispered, hoping to Rassilon the senshi still had sense enough to listen.
Unfortunately, a feral growl was already coming from the Senshi. She was preparing to strike, and everyone knew it. Before V could do anything, she ducked sideways, intending to assault the Federation security squad. They responded by dropping dead, phaser-burns in their chests.
"Gods... the HADS-R!" V felt weak kneed. She hadn't turned it off! The Security forces had sealed their own death warrants when they had shot in her direction to get at Cere-Cere!
"SHE KILLED THEM!" the little girl screamed. "Sailor Galaxy V KILLED the policemen!!"
As more federation personnel arrived, Sailor V locked the fuming Cere in a temporal stasis bubble and jumped out of the area, her reputation destroyed.
SAKURA'S TARDIS
"Sakura... kill... me..." Cere-Cere pleaded.
"Not yet," Sakura replied coldly. Her features softened as she watched the girl struggle against the implacable temporal lock. "We both have miles to go before we can... rest."
"It's in my mind!" Cere-Cere screamed. "I can't fight it... let me kill it!"
"I might be able to save you.' Sakura replied firmly.
"You just want what's in my head, Sakura Xadium Aino!" Cere-Cere growled demonically, the light now totally gone from her eyes, foam leaking from her mouth. "You'll be dead soon!"
Sakura looked at the sad visage of the now totally overwhelmed Cere-Cere, hardening her resolve. "Will I, now?" Her tone was like ice.
"This trap is as much for you as her, Sakura," Cere Cere cackled. "And I know you! So Ethical... so moral... there's only one way you'll find out what you want to know and you... wait. Wait, what are you doing?!"
"I won't do it?" Sakura asked coldly, pressing her fingertips to Cere-Cere's forehead. "Was that what you were going to say?" She tensed up and prepared to ravage Cere-Cere's insane mind telepathically, a gross violation of every ethical code she had ever been taught by her father and the Time Lords at the academy. But the stakes were too high. Time was running out, and Cere was dead anyway.
Sakura blasted into Cere's mind, shattering its weak mental defenses like panes of sugar glass. She ignored the Byzantine mindscape, charging like a silver bullet towards the core of what was the Possessed Cere's mind. Flashes of images bombarded her. Life in the amazon with the other girls. Deception by Nephelenia. Battling the Sailor Soldiers. Seeing her mom through their eyes. What a valiant and honorable fighter. Mom would be so ashamed if she saw the tactics her daughter was employing. No. Mustn't get distracted by a spurious catharsis of morality. There was work to do. Continuing to parse memories. Redemption. Service to Serenity III. Being kidnapped, bound, injected, mentally pummeled. By someone... a redhead... glasses... Eudial! Kill... Serenity III. Yes. That was the plan. Kill! Serenity III! Kill! Erase the bitch from history and make her mother cry tears of blood!!
Sakura fought to prevent the brainwashing from overcoming her as well. It sought to entangle her... to overwhelm her mind. They twisted and twined around hers, wrapping around them tightly, suffusing them with darkness. It was winning.
CRYSTAL PALACE, LOWER CATACOMBS
Rei's blood froze in her heart as she Saw Sakura's thoughts, the chanting of the other 50 miko droning in the background of her mind. Dark and twisted, they were. Hatred. Vengeance. Spite. A desire to kill... the Queen! Sakura was planning to assassinate the new Queen!
As much as she didn't want to believe it, Rei leapt to her feet, the action causing some of the weaker-minded miko to break their concentration for a moment. Rei admonished them. "There is a plot to kill the new Queen! Focus your thoughts on her!" She glared for a moment at rei.bot, who was meditating in the corner. Did that one know? Whose side would she be on when the time came?
SAKURA'S TARDIS
Sakura grunted as she fought the evil presence back, casting it from her thoughts with violent fury. Eudial had obviously done her work well, insinuating a piece of her mind into Cere-Cere. Intermixed with thoughts about killing Serenity was a more personal grudge... one that focused on her, personally. Eudial hated *her* for some reason. But why? This crazed tortured mind was too damaged to tell her. She needed to examine one that was untriggered. The one from the last remaining Amazoness, Para-Para.
Sakura began to pull out of Cere-Cere's mind, but was stopped by a plaintive, crying voice. "Wait."
She turned and saw the broken, half decomposed body of Cere-Cere... the last spark of her once bright soul, standing before her.
"Please..." Cere-Cere groaned. "Kill me."
Sakura knew, just from the mind-touch, that there was nothing she could do to salvage the once noble leader of the Asteroid Senshi. She nodded curtly and vanished, once again stirring to life in her console room.
"BITCH!" Cere-Cere fumed, spitting at Sakura.
Sakura solemnly saluted Cere-Cere, then pressed her fingers to the girls' forehead once more. But this time it was for no Mind-link.
"CRESCENT BEAM!"
Cere-Cere was no more.
Because of the temporal lock, Cere-Cere's body stayed in place, while her head simply vaporized in an explosion of golden light. Blood sprayed out all over the TARDIS, coating the walls, the console, and half of Sakura in a sticky. crimson sheen. Sakura looked at her haggard reflection in the steel chromium walls and nodded. Half-clean, half steeped in blood. The symbolism was apt. This was her fate, her destiny.
Stepping over to the TARDIS console, she moved the vessel into a near orbit of a star about to go supernova. Placing Cere-Cere's remains in a platinum coffin, she shot them into space, watching as they were absorbed by the last dying gasps of the mighty star. She saluted once more, and turned away from the viewscreen, her features hard. Now she would find Para-Para.
"Did you even try to save her?" A latent portion of her personality demanded. She was the bubbly, happy child. The one who loved exploring, meeting people and having fun. The one who had come up with her old life rules, the annoyingly bubbly "1- Always have fun! 2- Smile lots! 3- Always make friends!". "Or were you too eager to move on and find those people who killed mommy and daddy?"
"Quiet," Sakura snapped, mentally. "I've no time for this. She was beyond hope, and we both know it."
"Mommy and Daddy would have tried until the last second," Chibi-Sakura continued. "you didn't even blink once before deciding to walk out on Cere-Cere."
"Adults need to make snap decisions!" Sakura insisted, her livid exclamation a stark contrast to the calm, reasoning mind-voice of her child-self.
"I don't know who you are anymore," Child Sakura said flatly, retreating back into the mists of Sakura's mind.
"I am the hand of vengeance," Sakura said, shivering and forcibly refocusing her mind on setting the TARDIS co-ordinates to Crystal Tokyo. "After that... it doesn't matter what I am."
CRYSTAL PALACE, IMPERIAL THRONE ROOM
The throne sat empty, a lone moon stick lying on its plush purple velvet seat to mark the impending arrival of its new wielder, Serenity III. The Sailor Soldiers and a cadre of Satellite Senshi and assorted planetary Knights were mulling about in the court, the shadow of the empty throne looming over their hearts and minds. A constant murmur filled the air, as the excitement began to mount for the coronation which was now only 24 hours away. Not everyone shared their enthusiasm, however.
"Dammit Rei, are you on crack?!" Uranus hissed under her voice.
"What did you say to me!?" Mars balled up her fists. She wasn't afraid to sock the more-powerful Uranus one in the mouth for that.
"Neko's kid is gonna go after Chibiusa?!" Uranus shook her head. "You saw wrong."
"I don't 'see wrong'!" Rei shot back. "That was her mind I touched, before she closed it off! Then I saw glimpses of her... *killing* Cere-Cere! And we ALL saw the news footage from Risa!"
"Something is amiss here," Saturn mused. "It's not in her character to act like this..."
"But we know she's been hacking into our data archives," Mercury protested. "Trying to find out our security arrangements."
"I never heard this!" Mars snapped fiercely. Even though she had technically been leader of the inner senshi ever since Venus had "defected" to the past and then stayed out of sight with her family, she had never really taken up the role with zest until she had heard of Minako's passing. Now she ran the inner senshi like a precise military unit. A lapse in intelligence this great under her watch was unthinkable! "Let me see the records!"
"Deleted," Mercury replied quickly. "Using my own key. She's an exceptional hacker. I didn't think it worthy of mention because I only store false data on publicly accessible nets."
"Very wise," Mars replied, shaking her head. "But in future I wish to be informed of any security breaches, no matter how minor. Clear?"
"Understood."
"She could have snapped when her parents died," Jupiter said, shaking her head. "I know when I heard Minako-chan had died, I---" Her voice trailed off and cracked.
"No one has really seen her these last few decades..." Neptune said slowly. "We don't know who she is any more."
"misunderstanding" rei.bot intoned quietly, not even bothering to emphasize her words because she knew the reaction they would bring.
"Quiet, you!" Mars snapped. "Why are you even here, you freakish golem!?"
The CRACK of a hard slap could be heard as rei.bot (holding back GREATLY) slapped Mars' face, leaving an instant red mark. The Miko turned to leave. A few of the more zealous knights and satellite senshi pondered getting in her way, but one glare from her electric-blue eyes and they all fell back, making a path for her.
"Man," Uranus protested, pointing to the departing Miko, "If *she* wanted to she could kill us all. We wouldn't be having this discussion right now."
"She is obscenely powerful, yes," Neptune concurred, "But she also has a weakness. She reacts just like we do. She has emotions just like us. That humanity can be twisted, and predicted."
"As much as I hate her," Mars mused, "I don't think we have to worry. She is a miko, like me. I've seen her sprit. There's no malice there... well, no more than any person would have."
"So we guard against her and Sakura," Saturn protested, "And then what? What if they come here?"
"Then they die here," Mars said flatly.
LABORATORY, UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
"She's after me," Para-Para said slowly, soullessly. "Following me everywhere. I'm barely a step ahead of her. She will be here any moment now." She bowed. "I am sorry, Mistress."
Eudial adjusted her glasses. "Perfect."
"Mistress?" Para-Para asked, uncomprehendingly.
There was a quick slash, and Para-Para lay dead on the ground, her throat slit.
A few minutes later, the door to the lab opened, and Sailor Galaxy V stormed in. "YUUKO ARIMURA!" She yelled. "WE HAVE UNFINSIHED BUSINESS!"
The pool of blood and the severed head at her feet told V she was too late. Shaking her head, V knelt down and picked up an coronation imperial security card, the sharp edge of which had obviously been the murder weapon. Written on it in blood was, "Catch me if you can ^_~".
"Dammit!" V exclaimed, making for the Imperial palace at full speed.
From a catwalk high above, Eudial laughed. The stupid girl had had her target within reach, but was so blinded by thoughts of revenge that she neglected to even inspect the lab, and was now going to blindly rush right to her death. Perfect payback for foiling her plans on so many other occasions! She cackled stereotypically and waited for the good news to come in. She had no intention of going anywhere near the palace and risking her life needlessly. Her role for the syndicate in that matter would be fulfilled without her presence, and Sakura Aino would get what was coming to her.
CRYSTAL PALACE, GREAT HALL
The "Big Seven" Sailor Senshi-- Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Quinox-- stood before the royal throne, which had been moved into the great hall. Pluto, for her part, stood beside the throne in her role as Lord Protector of the Realm.
Ever since Venus' death, the long-standing debate and controversy over whether Quinox was even a legitimate planet and worthy of inclusion in the ranks of the mainline Sailor Team had been quickly forgotten, and she had stood Shoulder to shoulder with the others. Each of them looked out over the great hall, where distant family and dignitaries from 12 of the 13 planets in the Solar system had all gathered under their banners in a semicircular crescent moon, forming a kind of human rainbow. There were the bright blue uniforms of the Earth delegation, the pearly white robes of the Lunar Colony vestals, the Deep Blues of the mercurians, the Fiery red of the Martians, Grass Green of the Jovians, Royal Purple of the enigmatic Saturnians, Golden-Yellow of the Uranites, Aquamarines of the Neptunians and the bright green of the Quinox. Even a few black-clad Nemesians were on hand in a gesture of peace, albeit under heavy scrutiny. These people were, in the main, not survivors or descendants of those who had perished under metallia's attack 10 thousand years ago. 99% were human colonists, who, having learned of the true past of the solar system, chose to re-embrace the old ways of the people who had lived on the planets. The more modern Federation colonists considered them antiquarian throwbacks for the most part, but there was no doubting that their mystic science was profoundly powerful and worthy of the respect ofttimes bourne from fear.
Only one wedge of the crescent was empty. The glittering golden presence of the Venusian Delegation, which usually struck awe and wonder in all who beheld them, was absent. The planet was still in mourning, and so sent merely a message of congratulation. Without even a satellite senshi to its name, Venus was all but removed from the proceedings. And, the Senshi noted sadly, if the one member of the Venusian royal line did dare to show her face, she would probably be killed on sight. Surrounding each of the delegate parties was an array of Satellite Senshi, or Planetary Knights (or both). Mars' group also sported a new addition-- 50 miko who were being trained by Rei herself-- proto-senshi of weak physical power, the last legacy of the shattered world between Jupiter and Mars. She called them the "Dream Division" because their role was to protect the world from attacks on the Astral and Etheric planes, as well as monitor the course of the future for any ill portents that might arise.
The "Big 7" senshi stepped away from the throne area and took the head positions of their delegations. On an unseen signal, they dropped to one knee in union, the clacking of their knees touching ground and the shuffling of flesh and fabric the only sounds in the great hall. A leaden silence filled the room. Here, history was about to be made.
A lone male voice cried out. "Announcing her Majesty, The High Royal Princess, Lady Tsukino Usagi the Second!"
The crowd did not murmur. There was a slight noise made by the turning of heads, and slight associated movements, but still, there was heavy silence, broken only by the sound of sharp footfalls reverberating across the palace.
Thick.
Thock.
Thick.
Thock.
Thick.
Thock.
The footfalls grew louder, and closer. She was coming, the girl who would be queen-- the woman who had not been seen for 50 years, the last holovid of her being that of a squirming little girl desperate to latch onto the leg of Makoto's husband, the lead Knight who had had her hauled off for re-education. There were many who thought the idea of coronating *that* was a mistake of comedic proportions.
Thick.
Thock.
Thick.
She was just outside the hall now. Even the most die-hard skeptics gasped a little, their curiousity taking hold of their cynicism. For good or ill, they had to know... what had she become?!
There was the sound of a curtain being pushed aside, and in she strode.
Tall, majestic, slender and beautiful, she stood before them, pink hair done up in dual ponytails, ovoid buns at their summit. Gone was her baby fat, and her ofttimes leering expression. This woman's gaze was clear, cool, and serene. Truly worthy of the name "Serenity." In a previous life it might be said she looked like the infamous "Black Lady"-- but in truth she surpassed even that measure of description. What she had always sought to gain through tricks with her Ginzuishou and fancy holographics, Nature had finally provided, and more. She was, in truth, the new goddess of the Moon.
The crowd could be forgiven for gasping in awe.
THE WALLS OF CRYSTAL TOKYO
Sakura cursed her impulsiveness as she reached the crowds packing against the city walls. Crystal Tokyo, while no longer the capital of an Earth empire, was as important to planet as old Vatican City had been centuries before. In hindsight, she realized, a much more logical plan of action would have been to use her TARDIS to just get into the palace, but now it was too late. Eudial herself was going to carry out the plan. She had to be stopped before Serenity III was killed.
Sakura found a secluded spot and took out her mother's old Crescent Compact, holding it aloft. "MOON POWER!" she called out. "TURN ME INTO AN IMPERIAL GUARDSMAN!"
Sakura's form shimmered, and she took on the appearance of an imperial guard.
"Excuse me!" she yelled. "Coming through! Urgent business to attend to!"
Her uniform clearing the way, Sakura made it to the city wall. Inwardly, she hoped Eudial hadn't just slipped her an inactive security card, hoping she would trigger an alarm and be caught by the guards. She hadn't had time to check the encryption-- hell, she'd barely had time to wipe off the BLOOD on it. Taking a deep breath, she inserted the card into the reader, and watched the little screen above it.
MIZUNOMICS PORTALS 5.0
INDENTICARD CHECK: SCANNING
SCANNING....
SCANNING........
SCANNING...........
Sakura winced, hearts beating fast, trying not to look nervous in front of the two somewhat overly curious guards (who were actually admiring her figure rather than her situation, but she didn't know that). If it beeped now, the game was up.
IDENTITY CONFIRMED. HAVE A NICE DAY.
The reader chimed pleasantly, and Sakura gave her best grin, striding into the palace.
She hadn't gotten two feet before her uniform vanished, replaced with her typical outfit.
"Damn and blast!" She exclaimed. "Anti-disguise systems, I should have known!"
She really wished she had had time to download the schematics for the palace. She had never even been here as a child. Her mother, rei.bot, YangGirl and many others had kept her safely away from the paranoid Serenity, who would have loved nothing more than to impress a child of Venus into the ranks of her animamate senshi.
"Serenity..." Sakura snapped her fingers. Ducking into a corner, she took off her leather vest, and dropped her pants. Her Victorian undershirt billowed down to her knees. Pulling the orange bow from her hair, she let her golden locks fall down. Ripping her bow quickly, she made two thin loops of cloth, and proceeded to do up her hair in odango. Pulling a Swiss army knife from her discarded vest, she flicked open the blade and cut off the middle of her bangs. While not looking as close to the ex-queen as her mom did, she was close enough. Her eyes were brown though.. but that could be covered.
Sakura pulled out some sunglasses from her vest, kicking the well-worn gift from her father into a corner. "Stay there," she quipped, donning the sunglasses. She was preparing to do her mom's ultimate joke act, one that she had seen many times as a child. It was known as the "Drunk Usagi." She did her best to think of an embarrassing physical situation, and blushed deeply.
Using the kata for Drunken Monkey kung-fu she had learned on a trip to China, Sakura wobbled and weaved into the hallway just behind the great chamber. Guards immediately ran towards her, but froze when they saw what they perceived to be a disheveled, drunk off her rocker, and quite annoyed, ex-queen. While it had been years since she had been in power, the memory of her last reign was still enough to give anyone in the imperial service the willies.
"HAY U... MAHN..." Sakura said as drunkenly as she could, weaving towards the guard but always careful not to get too close just yet. "WARE IS MY DAUGHTARS' KORONASHUN AT?"
"Right over there... your highness," the guard said, pointing to the main doors and bowing his head to avoid eye contact.
Sakura smiled inwardly. Imperial guards were all alike. So bound to duty and honour. "DEW U NAHT BOU, TO YOURE IMPERIAL HOSTE?!" She screeched. "BOU-- BOW WOU! AHAHAHAHAHAA! RUFF! RUFF RUFF!"
The guards did their best not to groan. If they had had any doubts this was Serenity II, those were dispelled now. They had seen this scene often enough. Dropping to their knees, they looked down as she walked right by them, and slapped them on the butts. (At least to them it felt that way. What she had done was slap them on the butts to disguise the sensation of pocketing their portable lasguns.) Also ironic was that the sight they had been so used to seeing-- that of a drunk Usagi-- had really been the sight of her mom playing as drunk Usagi, mainly doing so to gain a small measure of revenge for being pressed into service as the imperial decoy.
Sakura took another deep breath and slowly opened the doors to the great hall, closing them and lasgunning the lock shut. She was committed now. There was no turning back.
"My lady Serenity," Pluto began dropping to one knee, and offering up the moon stick. "I--" Her head jerked to the door as she felt a ripple in the fabric of timespace.
Mars' miko in the Dream division gasped and turned to face the door just as Sakura cast off her sunglasses and undid her hair with a whip of her head. "EUDIAL! THE GAME IS OVER!"
"Eudial?!" Uranus exclaimed.
"It's her!" Mars snapped, as the planetary knights clustered around their planets' delegates in defensive formation. "She's come to kill the Queen! Take her down!"
"Kill the queen!?" Sakura mouthed. "No, wait! I--"
The room erupted into blinding, impressive flashes of multicolored light as the satellite senshi, who up until now had been in civilian form, burst into their transformed states, forming up around their respective leaders, who were glowing with their planet power.
For her part, Serenity III merely stood impassively, watching the scene, with Sailor Pluto standing in front of and slightly below her, Time staff at the Ready.
"I guess there's no helping it!" Sakura yelled. "VENUS COSMIC POWER, MAKE UP!!"
In a blast of light, the last child of Venus transformed into Sailor Galaxy V. She unsheathed her sword, Arataka. It's steel blade glinted in the light.
"It's not glowing with holy power..." Saturn mused.
"Proof of her corruption!" Mars yelled. "Phobos! Demios! Break and attack! Dream Division, you know what to do!"
Sailor Phobos and Demios launched themselves forward, and Sakura held her sword aloft.
"I don't want to do this!" Sakura yelled. "There's more going on here than you understand! I have to get to the queen! NOW!"
The Mercurian Knights and Jovian Knights joined ranks and began to advance on Sakura.
"Stand down, Sakura-chan!" Miki Kaze, Sailor Quinox said. "You're my best friend. We grew up together. Don't make me destroy you!"
"There's an assassination plot!" Sakura yelled as she prepared to tangle with the first wave of knights.
"We know. And you're the assassin!" Mars exclaimed. "FLAME SNIPER!" A searing arrow of flame shot towards Sakura, who neatly knocked it aside with her sword. The resultant explosion, however, knocked her sideways, and into the knights. Swords clashed, and Blood began to spill. Sakura found it hard to strike non-lethal blows, but did her best to, anyway. The HADS-R system she had had was gone, tucked away in her vest outside. She was vulnerable and vastly outmatched.
"She's trying not to kill them," Saturn noted. 'Haruka-poppa--" she began.
"I can see that," Uranus said, running a hand through her shoulder length hair. "Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel," she snapped, referring to her satellite senshi. "Form up with me. We're going to get those knights off her back."
"We what?!" Umbriel asked, shocked at the idea of betraying a direct order from the imperial guard commander. The last time that the Satellite Senshi had rebelled--"
"ARE YOU WITH ME OR NOT?!" Uranus barked. Gone was her usual jocular, suave manner. Now she was hard as nails, and twice as sharp. On the battlefield, she was all business.
"Ma'am! I mean, Sir, yes sir!" Umbriel saluted and flanked Uranus as they formed a wedge formation, charging the knights from behind.
"Titan!" Saturn exclaimed, "With me! We support the rear of the arrow!"
"Against... the others?!" Titan asked, apprehensively, noting that the Jupiter, Mars, Quinox and Mercury divisions were now preparing to attack Uranus' forces.
"Yes, against the others." Saturn sighed and pulled out her Glaive. "Sakura-chan, I hope my faith in you is not misplaced. SILENT WALL!!"
Saturn blocked the others from engaging Uranus' rear flank, and Titan used her sand-based attacks to mire the Quinox forces down.
"What the HELL is going on?!" Mars exclaimed, watching the hall break down into Chaos. "Quinox division! Bombard that Silent Wall! Being it down!"
"Sorry Sir!" Sailor Quinox reported with a salute. "Quinox Brigade and all associated satellite Senshi are evacuating the non-coms from the field! Sir!"
"Good work," Mars replied dimly, knowing full well Quinox had placed her friends out of a situation where they'd have to attack Sakura.
For her part, Sakura and the Uranus Senshi were faring well against the Jupiter and Mercury Knights. Sakura could see, however, that that was about to change, since the Jovian Senshi themselves were gearing up for battle.
"Io, Europa, Callisto, Ganymede," Jupiter barked. "If we combine powers we can overload the Silent Wall. Io, I want you to use an Obsidian--"
"Sir!" Io interrupted, saluting. "I've known Sakura-chan for a long time, sir, and I don't think she'd come all this way and make her presence known if she was planning to kill her, sir."
Europa looked at Io in almost shock. Talking back to the boss like that in the middle of a fight... "Sempai..." she started.
"Is that what you really think, Io?" Jupiter locked gazes with Io coldly, both women sizing each other up.
"It is, sir!"
"Heh," Jupiter chuckled. She'd had her doubts, but to hell with it. It was the least she could do for Minako-chan, god rest her soul. "All right! Io, Europa, We'll handle Mars and company! Ganymede, you and Callisto see about stalling Neptune's squad. They're pounding Uranus' flank pretty hard."
"Neptune pounding Uranus," Io said dryly. "Some things never change."
"You have... NO IDEA," Jupiter sighed with exasperation, as the four went their separate ways.
"This isn't a battlefield, it's a brawl!" Mars exclaimed, as Uranus' forces began physically flinging senshi and knights to the side as they, along with the Jupiter and Saturnian forces, tried to clear a path to the throne. The Neptunian and Martian squads were virtually immobilized, and Sakura was now leaping atop people's HEADS to make her way to the Queen!
"MERCURY MECHANIZED BRIGADE!" Mars yelled. "TO ACTION!"
"Oh, s[BLEEP]t!" Uranus exclaimed. The MMB was the terror of Crystal Tokyo. 40 foot high gundanium mechanized armour units, lumbering and crashing through anything in their path.
"Mako, 'Taru, we need to stop those bastards in their tracks or we are toast!" Uranus elbowed a soldier in the face, dropping him. "I wonder why Mars hasn't moved the dream division..."
Serenity III stood before her throne impassively, barely blinking an eye as the massive superbrawl unfolded in her court. Pluto stood before her, the last line of defense should Sakura come. And come she would.
"It's all I can do to keep the Mercury Knights off us!" Saturn exclaimed. "I though Jupiter's defection would help, but we took out most of her knights beforehand!"
The wheezing, cranking, pounding mechs made their way into the court, casting a dark shadow over the fight, which largely stopped for a moment.
"Throw down your arms, rebels!" Mercury exclaimed from over a loudspeaker.
"Overcompensating much?" Uranus yelled just as Neptune snuck up behind her, dropping her with a chop to the neck.
"Michiru-momma, why?" Saturn demanded.
"I think Haruka's making a mistake," Neptune said flatly. "I'm trying to save her from herself. We failed to protect the Queen once, we won't do so again."
Sakura ran, jumped and hopped over people's heads, trying to make her way to Serenity III. Her eyes locked with Pluto, and she knew that soon they would collide.
The Mercury Mechanized brigade cut a path through the brawling senshi, batting aside electrical attacks, smashing obsidian walls, and tossing bodies around like rag dolls. Implacable, invulnerable and unstoppable, they made for the last vestiges of the fighting forces, who were taking refuge under Saturn's silent wall.
"Can this thing take a direct hit from all of them?" Sailor Io asked Saturn tersely.
"It could, if I was at full power."
"Tell me you're at full power?" Io asked dryly. "Please?"
Saturn chuckled. "When this is over, remind me to buy you some sake."
"You don't drink, Hotaru-san."
"I'll make an exception in this case." Saturn smiled, the smile fading as she turned her attention back to the lumbering mechs.
With a massive explosion, the left side palace wall crumbled to dust. The mechs turned to face the new disturbance.
There
She
Stood.
Electric blue eyes blazing, her ki aura boiling the air around her, rei.bot stood defiantly, giving the mechs a "come on" hand gesture.
"DREAM DIVISION!" Mars yelled. "NOW!"
All 50 miko from the dream division began chanting, astrally attacking rei.bot, invading her mind. rei.bot tried to counter them by raising her spirit barriers, but their holiness would not be stopped by an equally holy force. She could have stopped them by channeling so much power into it that their souls would literally be burnt out, but she did not wish to kill. So she took them on, battling in her mind, where, unlike on the physical plane, she was outgunned and outnumbered. She dropped to her knees with a crash, eyes darting back and forth as she engaged in psychic battle. If she lived, she mused, she would ask sakura to build her some other form of psionic shielding.
"r-chan!" Sakura exclaimed, turning her head away from Pluto for a moment.
"AS HEAD OF THE IMPERIAL GUARD, I LIFT THE TABOO!" Mars yelled. "TIME STOP!"
"We are f[BLEEP]ed!" Uranus exclaimed just as she froze in place. Pluto had come along far enough in power to use the Taboo attack without killing herself. The only taboo now was a legal one.
Sakura stood before Pluto, her leg raised in midair, one foot on someone's head, frozen in place. After a few seconds, however, she wobbled a bit and was forced to stand with both feet on the hapless generic soldier's head. "Heh," she laughed nervously. "Thought I could fool ya."
"It didn't affect you," Pluto mused.
"Well, it did tickle," Sakura said, dusting herself off. "Now, from what I understand, you can only stand there and hold that little attack, right? So who did you enable to move to take me on?"
"Me," Sailor Mars said coldly, brandishing twin daggers, lashing out at Sakura, enfolding the Arataka.
"I'm innocent, you know..." Sakura grunted, trying to hold back the flaming blades. "Someone is trying to kill her." She nodded to the Queen.
"Liar," Mars hissed, pressing her advantage. Unlike Sakura, she had husbanded her strength, and was pushing the younger girl down easily. With one knife she slashed Sakura's left shoulder. With the other, she slashed her hand, causing Sakura to drop her blade. "You may have fooled the others, but not me. I'm just glad Minako-chan wasn't here to see this,... disgrace." A tear formed in her eye.
Sakura's eyes flashed, and with strength reserves fueled by her Gallifreyan biology, she pushed back to her feet and grabbed the knives by the blade, ignoring the scalding heat, and wrenched them from Mars' hands. Tears were streaming from her eyes as she screamed, "DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT MY MOM!!!"
The force of her scream was so loud it caused Pluto to break her time stop, and the fighting resumed below.
Mars backed up a step, overcome by the wash of raw grief and sorrow coming from Sakura. This wasn't the mind of a murderer. It was the mind of a grieving child who had never lost her guilt, who had let it eat her up from the inside all these years... alone... and afraid, despite her outer bravado. Whatever she had seen in Sakura, it was gone now. Mars began to shed tears involuntarily, thinking of her own mother. In a flash she understood the girl perfectly. Throwing caution the wind, she drew Sakura to her and hugged her, the two warriors sobbing and crying in each other's arms.
"Well I'll be damned," Jupiter said with a smile as the fighting died down, and everyone watched the scene unfold.
"I don't understand," Saturn said, frowning. "She said there was an assassin out to kill Serenity. If so, then where is the assassin?"
"She got it wrong," Mercury said coldly. "There never was an assassin out to kill Serenity."
At that instant, Serenity III pulled out her Ginzuishou and blasted everyone in the room with blinding white energy, causing them to scream in pain.
"Serenity... was the assassin." Mercury smiled, and hopped off her Mecha.
"I.... misunderstood..." Sakura said weakly, blood trickling from her mouth. She thought back to what she had heard in Cere-Cere's mind.
Kill! Serenity III! Kill! Erase the bitch from history and make her mother cry tears of blood!!
"I... was the bitch..." Sakura wheezed. "Eudial... was after me..."
"Not just you, dearie," Ami said cheerfully, kicking Sakura in the side, and then Mars when she tried to cover the girl with her own broken body. "All of these bitches, for what they did to the noble and Glorious Witches 5." She turned to mass of Senshi and Knights down on the ground. "You small fish don't mean anything to me! I offer you the chance to flee with your lives!"
Sailor Io staggered to her feet, battered and bruised but not broken. "We stand... with our leaders."
"Yes!" Sailor Ariel concurred, as the other satellite senshi rose to their feet.
"Ami-chan..." Jupiter asked with hurt in her voice as Sailor Ganymede helped her to her feet. "Why?"
"Ami's not all here right now," Ami replied with a smile. "You see, I, Eudial, the first and greatest of the Witches 5, went back in time and reprogrammed some of Viluy's flesh-eating nanites. When she attacked dear Dorkury here with them, some burrowed into her skin and up to her brain, planting within her the seeds of obedience. Obedience to me. I used her to brainwash that Serenity brat, making her normal again, but also my creature. And now, she will destroy you all! AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!"
Ami's body dropped to the floor, limp, blood coming from her nose. Serenity III recommenced her attack as Mercury crawled over to the others, Saturn taking a gamble and healing her.
"We've got to help the others," Mars said to Sakura, "Venus."
Sakura froze at that name. "I'm... not her."
"You carry her planet's protection," Mars said softy as she raised herself painfully to her feet.
"It is time to shed the mask," Pluto concurred. "Carry on your mother's legacy."
Sakura slowly got to her feet, still in her Sailor Galaxy V costume. Nodding, she closed her eyes, and in a blast of golden light, stood before them in the uniform of Sailor Venus.
"So I guess this makes me boss," Sakura joked.
"Don't be crazy," Mars snapped, but lightheartedly. "You're the new kid on the block."
Sakura smiled.
"So show me what you've got, new kid," Mars continued.
Sakura held the arataka aloft, and for the first time in a long time, it glowed with a holy blue light. She had found herself.
"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Sakura yelled, leaping forward and smashing Serenity III's hands with the flat of the blade, knocking the Ginzuishou aside.
"Fool," Serenity III said softly. "Think me defenseless without my crystal?" Spinning rapidly, she pulled out an umbrella. Luna-P floated up behind her. With a savage strike, she locked blades, Umbrella to katakana. "you cannot stop Black Lady Serenity!"
Sakura did her best to counter the lock, but was being pushed down. Uranus and Neptune leapt into action, trying to jump Serenity from behind. The pink-haired princess responded by violently twisting to the side, hurling Sakura into their path. All three went down in a heap.
"SILENCE GLAVE SURPRISE!"
"CHRONOS TYPHOON!"
"MARS FIRE SNAKE!"
"JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!"
"AQUA MIRAGE!"
"OBSIDIAN CRUSH!"
"DEEP SUBMERGE!"
"VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!"
"TORMENTING BLIZZARD!"
The Senshi-- and their satellite counterparts-- blasted a massive combined attack against Black Lady Serenity. She laughed and popped open her umbrella, spinning it and using it to reflect the attacks in all different directions. The Senshi scattered as the massive energies rebounded on them.
"Nah-ah," Black Lady Serenity said with a chuckle, executing a perfect leg sweep and knocking Mercury on her back as the senshi tried to grab the Ginzuishou. She smiled and picked it up, blasting Mercury with its power. She then turned it on the others again.
"[BLEEP]ing godmoder," Uranus coughed, doing her best to weather the blast.
"Enough of this," Saturn muttered, standing upright and moving her hands around in a strange pattern. "Face the destructive powers of Saturn! SATURN KAMEHAMEHA!"
A torrent of jet-black power lashed forth from her palms, striking the Ginzuishou, which shone with all the colors of the rainbow. The powers collided and balanced, with Saturn's losing ground.
"Everyone! Lend me your support!" Saturn called out. All the other senshi concentrated and poured their power into her. Her energies increased, but it still was not enough.
"Dammit, it's not enough," Jupiter grunted, as she poured forth all her power.
"You know what?" Uranus groaned. "We powered that damn space rock up, right? Way back when Neko became Eternal Sailor Moon? So why can't we make like Rage against the Machine and TAKE THE POWER BACK!"
"Brilliant!" Mercury concurred. "Everyone! Concentrate on pulling your power away from the Ginzuishou!"
Jupiter nodded and concentrated. The rainbow of prismatic colors in the crystal lost its green.
"It's working!" Saturn exclaimed. "I can feel it!" She concentrated, and felt her power go up even as the Ginzuishou's diminished. The other Senshi followed suit, and slowly but surely, their powers grew, and the crystal's waned.
"Your turn, Venus!" Ami exclaimed, noting that the crystal still glowed with a golden light. "Pull it back!"
"I-- I did!" Sakura exclaimed, in shock. She had... and yet the crystal still shone with the power of Venus. But that... that meant...
She had no time to ponder the ramifications of that, as Serenity screamed, concentrating even harder, pouring her will into the crystal and overpowering the Senshi again.
"Dammit, she's going to kill herself at this rate!" Saturn yelled out in grief. "Chibiusa, STOP!"
"It's no good," Mars said, shaking her head. "We need help."
"But everyone who can be here, is here," Neptune said darkly.
Just then, a beam of golden light lashed forth from somewhere behind the senshi, slamming into Serenity. Another, dark vortex of energy followed up on the beam, smashing into the crystal, knocking it out of Serenity's hand.
The Senshi turned, and let out a sigh of relief as they saw Jedite and Artemis, in his human form, standing in the doorway.
"You're back!" Saturn exclaimed with joy, forgetting herself and running towards her husband.
Jedite flitted away and reappeared in front of Serenity, pressing his gloved hand to her head as he forced his way into her mind and began purging the evil within it.
As Artemis and Hotaru embraced, Sakura smiled. The crisis was over.
THE NEXT DAY
'Thank you all, for protecting this kingdom and saving us," Serenity III said, her voice noble and regal, as she stood before the kneeling Senshi , Artemis, Sakura and the Satellite Senshi. "You are all our precious friends, and we swear to do as honourable service to you as you have done to us."
"It was our Duty, and our Pleasure, M'Lady," Uranus said, trying her damndest not to break out laughing at the fact that she was calling the "Spore" Mi'Lady. But those days were long gone now.
"If I may be excused, Mi'Lady," Sakura said after a moment, detransforming and standing. "There are pressing matters to which I must attend."
"Wait, Sakura Xadium Aino of Venus. Pray, stay here, and take your rightful place at our side as the rightful Princess of Venus."
"My liege, I cannot," Sakura said, her bangs covering her eyes.
"May we ask why?" Serenity asked softly.
"Because," Sakura replied, lifting her head to reveal hopeful, tear-filled eyes, "I have reason to believe the rightful Princess of Venus-- my mother-- yet lives."
NEXT TIME, ON THE CONCLUSION TO SAKURA'S TALE
Pan Galactic Gargle blasters for all! w00t!
LINER NOTES From Sailor MewTwo:
What is up with Mars? If Uranus-tachi act like that everyone yells, but when /Mars/ does it... Geh.
Answer: The reason for this is, Mars was closest to Usagi, and the de facto leader of the princess' imperial guard. (Minako was the real leader of the inners, but spent her time acting as Royal Double). So Mars had total battlefield control. The outers were not initally part of the equation, having elected to stay in the past. When Pluto staged her coup, she offered the Outers (who were living on Venus with Minako since just before they knew Usagi was to arrive in the future) Imperial guard positions. So in terms of Seniority, Mars was higher-placed, and thus deferred to. And in this instance, everyone was united in trying to protect the new Sovereign, so her attitude was not out of place. (And you will note, for Once Uranus takes the NON slash and burn approach).
Although it annoyed me (having seen Sakura's side of the story), I actually agreed with Mars to an extent. It just all seems odd to me.
Answer: Nothing wrong with agreeing with Mars here; Everythong she did was correct, her intelligence (military) was just faulty. She happned to touch Sakura's mind at the exact wrong time... and feeling those feelings as she did from a first person POV, no amount of talk could sway her. [Plus, at least in the R season, it was shown that she and Chibiusa were always very close]. Also, though it's subtle, Ami was feeding her disinformation (she says Sakura hacked in and took data; Sakura later is shown wishing she *had* done so)