Chapter 177

"Time to halt their advance.." Neo-Maverick. "Plan Seven."

Maverick nodded. The two threw small pellets into the air and blasted them with their swords. Smoke filled the air.

"What's happening?" Sailor Moon said.

The smoke cleared. And an entire line of flowers were lying in on the ground straight back through the entire lines. Neo-Maverick and Maverick stood nearby panting slightly. The flower line stopped.

"What did you just do?" Mars shouted.

"Isn't it obvious," Neo-Maverick said.

"Now's the time to push them back for good.." Sailor Uranus said. "URANUS WORLD SHAKING!"

"NEPTUNE DEEP SUBMERGE!"

The two attacks blasted apart another line.

The flowers surged forward.

"Get us five seconds!" Jupiter shouted. The two Mavericks leapt forward and swept along the flower lines trying to stop their advance.

"JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!"

"VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY AND SHOCK!"

"MARS FIRE SOUL!"

"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!"

The four attacks flew out and leveled thousands of flowers.

The two sides stood there.

"Great there's only half a million of them now.." Sailor Moon observed.

"Why don't you do your thing again?" Mars asked.

"They'd expect it," Neo-Maverick said.

"So..they can't see you.." Mars said.

"It won't work," Neo-Maverick said.

"Well I guess we've got to take on the rest the old fashioned way then.." Jupiter said.

The group all nodded.

Sailor Saturn dropped to the ground.

"My assistance is necessary I gather," she said. The group all nodded again.

The flowers formed up and charged again.

Sailor Moon couldn't help feeling the horror of the battle. She had fought alien flowers before and she had defended the city from the army. Nothing should surprise her..and this didn't..but that didn't stop her from feeling the fear. The fear that would naturally come in looking at these evil forces

She felt the strain as she fought to contain it. It had been a long time since she felt the urge to run away and hide..but right now at this moment she felt it...and what was worse..she was really starting to consider it.

No..I can't do that..I've defended Earth before, I can do it again. A horde of flowers closed in..her hands were shaking as she held out her scepter.

"Moon..Spiral...Hearts...Attack...." she stammered. The attack flew out at nearby point blank range and she saw the flowers blasted to pieces right in front of her and heard their dying screams. She shivered..but not for long as a new group rushed forward.

Sailor Jupiter liked a good fight. But this was nothing of the sort. Sure she had been outnumbered before, but most of the time she hadn't had to worry about having her energy drained from her and the fact that she was outnumbered by thousands was also a change. She'd like to think she wasn't afraid, but she knew better. In fact, even when fighting one person, she felt that fear...she knew their could always be consequences. Now there were much larger consequences..but she always fought better when she had a cause anyway, so she clenched her teeth shouted out a battle cry and brought on her energy attack.

"Jupiter Thunderclap Zap!" she shouted.

Sailor Mars was getting angry. More than angry in fact. She had had enough of evil at this point. She didn't let it show often, but she had admitted to herself that she had a small temper...that could appear at select times. She didn't believe her friends complaints that she was always getting angry though. Still right now...after fighting off hordes of Nehelenia's goons, the last thing she wanted was to have to face the stupid flowers again. Of course they didn't know what they were going to get, because with her angry, they were in a lot more trouble then before.

"Mars Celestial Fireball Surround!"

Her attacks swung out through several flowers as it focused on one group. The flowers vaporized when hit with the intense heat and a large group fell. A second group filled in.

"Mars Celestial Fireball Surround!" she shouted again in rapid succession. The second group was blown apart.

"Mars Celestial Fireball Surround!" She shouted a third time. The attackers kept coming and she keep firing back. What she didn't notice was that she was moving much faster then the others. The intense anger she felt was spurring her power even more then usual, she was attacking every second and blowing massive holes in the line. And she kept going.

Sailor Venus thought enough was enough herself. She had been the only Sailor Scout to have to fight the flowers three times..this being the third, and she never much cared for something that desecrated the beauty of flowers, by being an intensely evil scourge of the universe. Though she didn't really think about it that much. She was more concerned with avoiding the flowers attacks while still launching her own. An arm flew at her. She flipped upward.

"Venus Love Chain Encircle!" She finished before the flip ended. Her attack flew downward and hit a large group of flowers in their center. She landed and found herself under attack again. She let out a small cry and dodged out of the way looking for another opportunity to attack.

Sailor Mercury always wished their was some other way to beat these enemies then just magical attacks. Science played such a small role in most of their battles, she didn't like relying on the illogical. After all..it was very illogical for her, a timid high school girl to be able to hit enemies with waves of ice water, if there was some science involved she would have preferred to have known what it is. Right now she was still hoping to find a different way to prevent herself and her friends from exhausting themselves..but she didn't have much time to think.

"Mercury Ice Storm Blast!" She shouted and knocked away the attacking wave of flowers and letting a mist descend. She could see the flowers charging forward again blindly.

They do know where I am she thought. The fog does little good.

"Sailor Mercury I will take care of this.." came Sailor Saturn's voice as she stepped in front of her.

"You may be more useful searching for another answer," Saturn said.

"Yes...maybe," Mercury said and backed off a little ways before beginning scans with her computer.

Sailor Saturn swung her scythe around with above average speed sending a small wave of energy sliding through the flowers. A newer attack she had learned.

The flowers kept swarming. She hated them. Most of the scouts hated to have to fight them, but she hated them. How dare they impose themselves on herself and her people. What right did they have? Saturn wondered it maybe somewhere there was some sort of universal right to invade a planet, a right to be evil and malicious. Then again she had known the evil.it had consumed her once..and made her what she was, and it made her hate the flowers.

"Saturn Mist Wave!" She shouted and blew apart another attack.

After the first few deaths, there is no remorse. She thought and kept going.

Sailor Uranus tried not to think during a battle. At least not think in the normal sense. She focused on the enemies, their strengths, weaknesses, position and whatnot. Anything to help her win the battle. Anything else would just cloud her judgement. It was when she did have to think that she lost her edge...and she never wanted to lost that again. She had done it before..there had been times when the other Sailor Scouts had responded with their distracting cares and worries, human traits, yes, but not much use in battle. The Sailor Scouts took a lot of risks to help their former enemies get better...but...she had little use for it..still..after all this time..it was safer to shoot first and ask questions later...when she asked the questions first..she ended up getting burned.

"Uranus World Shaking!"

Her energy attack rippled along the ground and blasted the flowers to pieces. Her peripheral vision showed the enemies all around her and she grimaced preparing for her next attack.

Sailor Neptune also wasn't big on thinking, only on focusing on battle. She had been affected more then Uranus had over the years. The Sailor Scouts and their ways began to make sense. She realized that for all the extra trouble they may have had as a result of trying to save an enemy rather then destroy it, they had still survived. She knew Uranus knew the risks of it backfiring was still there, and the dark moon battles had lead her friend to become more intrusive then usual. She had also felt that...the need to prove that her edge wasn't gone, that she hadn't been weakened, and yet she knew that no one thought that way. Still..she felt she needed to do something...they needed to win now.

"Neptune Deep Submerge!"

Neo-Maverick swung his sword discharging it several times at once to form a wave of energy which flattened the line. He didn't like being this close to the battle..he didn't have the energy attacks the others did..and he knew that if he dived in and did one of his famous tactical maneuvers to beat off several thousand, he'd be finished in the battle. But the flowers were moving up quicker...he knew his sword attacks wouldn't hold as long...and he knew that sooner or later he was going to have to move in. That worried him..He didn't want to take that risk..he didn't know whether they were going to win this battle. And if he got knocked out early..and they lost...it wouldn't matter would it..he thought. There'd be no one left to criticize...but still..he didn't want to do it.

Maverick didn't share his counterpart's concerns. He also knew very shortly he may have to jump in and execute a similar maneuver to the one he performed on Nephlite's army now over two millennia ago. It would exhaust him..maybe hurt him badly..possibly kill him..but he knew the scouts would keep fighting until they won. He recognized the odds..but the odds had been bad before. This situation didn't disturb..him..life itself was just having the odds against you..anything that actually embodied that premise was a relief. After all..he could even these odds.

Mercury rapidly typed commands into her computer looking for biological correlations that might lead to an advantage. She had been looking into using weed killer and other such chemicals, but so far, she was coming to the conclusion that these flowers after absorbing the plants around the city had become something different. That she couldn't understand. There was no trace of the normal plant life in these flowers despite their appearances. Still maybe if they tried dumping something.

She pulled out her communicator.

"This is Sailor Mercury to the Rebirth," she said.

"Mercury..what do you need?" Aeka asked.

"Do you have any defoliants on your ship?"

"Hmm..yes..we do for some reason....you want us to bomb the flowers?"

"If you could.." Mercury said.

"All right.." Aeka said.

The UFO slid into action and dropped down towards the flowers, out of some vents dropped some particles. They hit the flowers, to no effect.

"Well so much for that idea," Mercury said.

"It didn't work did it?" Aeka said.

"No..perhaps you should just try blasting them."

"We'll need to reserve some energy but we'll see what we can do," Aeka said.

"Thank you," Mercury said and noticed the two Mavericks on the one end of the line about to be overwhelmed. She leapt into action.

"Mercury Ice Storm Blast!" she shouted and leveled another wave.

"You two okay?" She asked.

"Fine," The two answered bluntly.

"Any luck?" Neo-Maverick asked while continuing to fire.

"None..sorry..we're just going to have to fight it out," Mercury said. "But everyone does seem to be getting very tired."

"Yes..that's true," Neo-Maverick said. "I don't think we'll be able to hold this position much longer."

"What other position could we hold?" Maverick asked.

There was a cry. The three whirled. Out from the city came the army rushing forward. They raced past the scouts and right into the flowers firing and stabbing away pushing the creatures back as the flowers were caught by surprise. Energy crackled as the millions of troops clashed with the flower army. Smoke and dust began to rise. The scouts all waited catching their breath, since there was little more they could do anyway. The brawl between the two masses went on for a good twenty minutes before it cleared. The entire human army had been knocked out and thousands of flowers still remained..maybe only a thousand...but still quite enough.

"Oh no," Sailor Moon shrieked. "They couldn't stop them."

The Rebirth opened fire and blast apart another group of flowers, but they surged forward again. The scouts all tensed up again and went into action not knowing what they were going to do.

Something flew through the air and smashed into the ground. The group all gasped. A purple rose sat there. The flowers moved forward anyway. The purple rose blew apart sending white energy flying through the army of flowers. Even more were destroyed.

The group looked to see King Endymion stepping forward

"It's the king!" Sailor Moon said in shock.

"Your majesty," Uranus said. "When did you return?"

"Please..don't worry about that," Endymion said. "How are all of you?"

"Uh..we're tired.." Sailor Moon said.

"We'll fight them though..." Mars said.

"Yeah..." Jupiter said.

"Hmm..I can see the strain on your faces..." Endymion said. "Are you all sure?"

"What choice do we have?" Mars said.

"Little choice," Neo-Maverick said.

"That is unfortunately true," Sailor Saturn said.

"I admire all of your courage," Endymion said. "Now I will fight with you.."

"You should not risk yourself," Saturn said.

"Let us do it," Neo-Maverick said.

"No..you have done your share of fighting..it's time for my own."

"But if you were hurt.." Saturn said.

"I've been hurt before," Endymion said.

"Geez..that was ten minutes..it felt like seconds..I'm so exhausted," Venus said. "I hardly feel like I can even counterattack."

"We have to," Jupiter said.

The flowers raced forward.

"Maverick, now it's time," Neo-Maverick said.

Maverick nodded.

The two leapt forward once again exploding smoke bombs in the air. They charged drawing two swords each and blasting into the column. They swept through it swinging and dodging with all their skill and they emerged on the other side. Five hundred of the flowers blasted apart. The two collapsed.

"They're good at that aren't they?" Endymion said. The rest of the flowers formed up. The scouts all sighed and readied themselves.

"I think this is it," Sailor Moon said.

The flowers surged at them. The scouts all moved to power up their attacks.

Suddenly a wave of green energy flew down out of the sky and flew into the column of flowers. They vaporized leaving only a scattered few. Three figures leapt into the midst of them and finished them off. The scouts eyes widened as they looked at them.

"Alan...Ann..." Sailor Moon said.

"Fiore," Endymion said.

There they stood the three aliens, from seemingly similar backgrounds. The three turned towards them.

"I guess we arrived at a good time," Fiore said.

"Well..we're back..it took a while..but here we are," Ann said.

"Sailor Moon..you're looking as radiant as ever," Alan said. Sailor Moon blushed. The inners started laughing.

"What do we owe the pleasure?" Endymion asked.

"I heard the flowers were coming back...I didn't know how it had happened, but as soon as it did we hurried back her..we had become acquainted over time," Fiore said. "Guess we made it."

"Yes you did," Endymion said.

"Boy this place has changed," Ann said looking around.

"Well we've been gone along time," Alan said.

"Are you two okay?" Mercury asked looking down at Maverick and Neo-Maverick who were trying to get up off the ground.

"Okay..can mean a lot of things," Neo-Maverick said.

"And I doubt we'll ever fit any of the definitions," Maverick said.

The two managed to stand wobbly.

"Of course you know what this means," Neo-Maverick said.

"Yes," Maverick said.

"What?" Mercury asked.

"Nehelenia..she's on the way," Neo-Maverick said.

"You don't know that do you," Mercury said.

"Duck!" the two mavericks shouted and pulled her down as a wave of energy flew over them. They turned to see Queen Nehelenia standing several feet away.

"Hmm...I should never have doubted you.." Mercury said.

"Nehelenia!" Endymion shouted.

"Now?" Sailor Moon asked. "Not now.."

"I trust you would rather not be seeing her?" Fiore asked.

"No," everyone said and took defensive positions.

"Oh..I don't think I have much to worry about..." Nehelenia said. "Your army's gone..you're all weak.the rest of you are probably injured...this is the end."

The scouts all tensed....knowing she had a point.

CHAPTER 161 CHAPTER 162 CHAPTER 163 CHAPTER 164

CHAPTER 165 CHAPTER 166 CHAPTER 167 CHAPTER 168

CHAPTER 169 CHAPTER 170 CHAPTER 171 CHAPTER 172

CHAPTER 173 CHAPTER 174 CHAPTER 175 CHAPTER 176

CHAPTER 177 CHAPTER 178 CHAPTER 179 CHAPTER 180

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