|
"SPACE SWORD BLASTER!!"
Sailor Uranus propped herself up, half standing, half slumping against a
Communication desk. Her wheat-blonde hair was caked in semi-dried blood and
was plastered to her forehead, drenched in sweat. Her Space Sword gleamed
dangerously like a diamond, white and reflective, next to the dark,
navy-blue silk of her skirt.
The silver-tinged power bolted out of her bejewelled talisman, scattering
colours like a prism. It careened towards the attacker, a slicing blade of
energy, scattering earth and metal. The energy exploaded, concealing the
enemy in a cloud of dense smoke.
Silence hovered tensly in the air like a phantom. Sailor Pluto coughed and
widened her stance, green-toned hair flicking around her thighs as she
inhaled and exhaled jerkily. A train of blood trickled over her tiara and
her liquid-dark eyes traced the fumes of smoke that billowed like a cloud in
the night sky, dark and opaque.
The cloud filtered towards the ground, becoming thinner and increasingly
transparent.
All that was left of the enemy was a scorched crater, steaming noiselessly,
as the embers danced and died, the colour escaping. The ground in the crater
sheened black with carbon, reminiscent of a forest fire.
"Oh my God!! Uranus!! Pluto!!"
The manic voice of Sailor Neptune burst out from behind the sealed door as
she hammered upon it.
"Neptune!" Uranus called. "We're all right!"
A choked sob was muffled behind the door and the hammering ceased. Pluto
turned on the spot and smiled gently at Uranus. Uranus smiled back, flicking
her hair back from her face. "Aren't we always?"
Pluto sighed and rolled her eyes, placing the end of her Garnet Rod on the
floor.
Uranus made her way over to the door, wincing secretly at the wounds she had
obtained.
Thank God Hotaru's here. She'll heal us up quicker than you can say Uranus
Planet Power, Make-up.
Uranus slid down the door, closing her eyes and sighing. She rapped lightly
on the door with the back of her knuckles.
"Hey, Michiru? You there?"
Uranus heard the ruffle of material as Neptune slid to the floor. A light
knock followed.
"I'm here, Haruka. Are you okay?"
Haruka smiled to herself and fingered the hilt of her Sword.
"I am now."
All Michiru could do was sigh. The relief was to much. She grasped her
Mirror and gazed into it. She saw herself, marine-green hair soiled and
unkempt and her ivory skin smeared with Hotaru's blood. She blink backed a
few stray tears, threatening to pour down her face. Her teal eyes were red
and puffy. She half-smiled. She looked like a little girl who just had a
tantrum over some mundane occurrence. But what could be mundane in the life
of a Senshi?
An image of Haruka on the other side of the door rippled in the mirror's
surface. She, too, was stained with blood and her lip was cracked, shining
with blood. Her steel-grey eyes where ringed with purple bruises and her
talisman shimmered like the surface of the ocean, through the coating of
ichor.
Neptune gasped as her hand flew to her face.
"No your not! You're hurt, Haruka!"
Haruka stretched backwards and rested her head on the door.
"I've seen worse."
Michiru knew it wasn't worth chiding Haruka when she was in one of her
I'm-stronger-than-you-know moods.
"How's Pluto? She's okay isn't she?"
The image of Uranus melted into one of Pluto. She stood, with her head down,
as if sleeping. She was leaning heavily upon her Garnet rod, possibly do to
the lesion on her leg. Her black skirt was tattered and various coloured
liquids splattered her skin, seeping on to the white material of her fuku.
"Yeah. Setsuna's a tough kid."
It started slowly at first, as Neptune's eyes scanned the surface of the
mirror and focused upon the smouldering crater. She could sense the
formation of evil, running like a chill down her spine.
"How's Hotaru?" Uranus inquired. "She's a little quiet. No puns on the Scout
of Silence, please."
Neptune's throat tightened and she gripped the handle of her mirror. It
shook in her hand.
Behind Pluto, her hair had begun to shift and flow, as if in a wind, but the
room was completely sealed, allowing no motion of air.
"Neptune?"
"Uranus!? Are there any fans in that room?"
"Huh? No. Why?"
Neptune couldn't answer. Her tongue felt thick in her mouth and bolts of
adrenaline surged down her legs like fire.
>From behind Pluto a neon pink swirl of energy had begun to form. It poured
and flowed like the smoke from a genie's lamp. From the same origin, fumed a
dark swirl of blue. It spiralled like a helix, wafting and waning, mixing
and separating.
Pluto remained silently standing, eyes closed and body drooping, her back to
the fumes.
Behind her the smoke concentrated into shapes more recognisable. Humans.
Arms, legs, heads, morphed out from the smoke, two people made of shadows,
born of pink and blue. Gradually, as if stepping out from behind a curtain,
the features began to form and colours began to adjust.
The woman from the pink emerged first, followed by a man from the blue.
"PLUTO!!!" screamed Neptune, her throat overcoming it's paralysis.
Setsuna's eyelids flicked open and she span around, eyes wide with panic.
Uranus stood up and ran towards her fellow scout.
"Pluto !! Get down!"
The woman of pink stared at Pluto for a second, head cocked to one side with
a child-like interest. Pluto edged back, gaping up at the hovering woman.
".....not again..." she whispered, gripping her Rod.
The woman giggled and raised her hand, eyes shining brightly. She grinned,
white teeth shining. A static cloud of pink flowed around her hand.
"Bye bye!!"
She opened her mouth and screamed, little fang-like teeth gleaming and a
deep red tongue curling upwards. The sound wavered and reverberated. Like
light out of a cloud, a ray of energy burst from the pink site and slid
smoothly through Pluto's chest, colliding with a flash of light, spraying
her hair backwards, like a wave. The Scout of Time was pushed off her feet,
a gaping wound in her torso. She smashed into the ground, mouth held open.
On her back she stared at Uranus, eyes fading and losing their focus. Her
Garnet rod lay at her side, flickering red like a dying flame in the wind.
Both Uranus and Neptune screamed.
"Pluto! Get up!! You have to!"
The pink woman giggled.
"Silly girl! I said Bye bye!"
A second beam of light, more intense than before, crashed into Pluto. Her
lifeless body slid along the marble and landed at the feet of Uranus and all
she could do was watch as Pluto's body disintegrated into nothingness.
Uranus stared at the woman, hatred bubbling over like a volcano. The woman
stared back sweetly, eyes probing and without a scrap of venom.
Her long cinnamon-blonde hair fell over her shoulders and plummeted down to
her ankles in waves of pure gold. It's texture was smooth and thick, flowing
like water, glinting in the starlight.
Her skin was a pale sugar-pink, firm and silky. It's sheen matched that of
her tresses, coated in a slight film of perspiration. Her lips were the
colour of ripe cherries and glistened next to the two small, sharp fangs
that protruded over her mouth. Her eyes shone out like diamonds, bright,
crystalline and clear, like blue angels.
An apple-red tongue snaked it's way out of her mouth and moistened her lips.
She smiled, her fang-like teeth bared.
She glanced at her male counterpart, who hovered silently.
"Go." She sniggered impudently.
He sneered at her
"No. I'm not leaving to you're own devices, Dextra."
She flicked a sylphlike hand nonchalantly.
"Naughty, Alexander! I want these ones! There are more elsewhere."
The boy shrugged and delved into metamorphosis, Man to smoke.
"Fine. If you think you can handle them by yourself."
She grinned as Alexander faded away in transportation. Dextra refocused on
Uranus.
Haruka stared at the stunning woman. She was dressed in genie-like garb.
Opal-coloured briefs, made from silk, sat high over her thighs and ran into
transparent material, that ended in silver cuffs around her ankles. Her
small feet were bare and her toes wriggled playfully.
Her slender midriff was exposed and her bust was held firm by a bikini top,
matching her trousers. The transparent fabric extended from the bikini and
covered her arms, the silver cuffs this time curving around her wrists.
She slid to the floor silently.
"Oh my God!! Uranus! Get out of there!!" Neptune screamed.
Uranus held Dextra's gaze, yet called out to Neptune.
"Neptune! Get out of here!"
"I'm not leaving you!"
"I said go!"
There was a hesitant silence, followed by the rapid click of retreating
boots.
"Haruka! I'll get help! I'll come back for you!"
Dextra closed her eyes and smiled, childlike and angelic. She cocked her
head, gold ringlets shimmering, and eyed the door over Uranus's shoulder.
She stepped forward and made her way towards it. Haruka barged in front of
her, arms out-stretched as in a barrier.
"No you don't! first you go through me!"
Dextra stopped, smile curving upwards into a snarl.
"Invitation accepted." She gestured towards the doorway. "Shame I am
fighting an opponent who is incomplete."
Uranus drew her Space Sword.
You have no idea, you damn demon. No idea at all!
|
