The Negaverse
7/4/00
A
scream arose from some worker along with a crash and spatter of sparks.
Jekter didn’t even bother checking this time. He was long sick of building
the damn machine. So much time had been wasted, too many worker drones
had been injured or killed. He was thuroughly tired of the whole mess.
All this caution, caution, caution! He couldn’t stand it anymore. Flute had been all wrong on how to approach the invasion. They were stuck here and it was all his fault!
If they could get this stupid portal creator working, they could return. But building materials were few and far between. Parts had to be molded from what they could find. The metals were not always high-quality and the excessive stress placed on them tended to be destructive.
“Jekter, my boy.” Flute called him over the communicator.
“Sir?” the young warrior answered.
“How is it coming?”
“We just lost another worker, but I think it might be approaching completion.”
“Good.” Flute smiled, “As soon as it is operable, I want to test it.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Will that be hard?” Rei asked.
“Considering the thing weighs about twelve tons,” Tom shrugged, “yeah.”
“How are we gonna pull that off?”
“Well, have you ever pushed a car without gas?”
“Yeah, my friend Serena forgot to fill the tank of her Volkswagen Rabbit once.” the temple maiden remembered, “I remember having to push that. But the car weighed less than a ton.”
“Okay, well since the tracks do all the steering for us and steel on steel has less static friction than rubber on ashpault,” the older man began calculating, “It’s still gonna be pretty damn hard.”
“Aw, that’s way harsh.” Reiko slumped her shoulders. Then, the lightbulb in her head lit up. “How about a pully system? If we get some cable and maybe a motor to crank the pulleys, we could do it.”
“Or even a hand crank like a comealong?”
“Yeah.” Rei clapped her hands once, “I was at my friend Amy’s lake house once and we had to move the dock in. It was pretty tough work with just her and me but we did it.”
“Excellent idea.” Tom said, “C’mon, let’s do it.”
“You guys remember what we did last year?” Lita asked as the three of them waded atop the building that held the Starlight Asylum in place.
“Yes,” Amy smiled, “We were in Washington D.C. going to the celebration there.”
“Yeah,” Serena was now remembering, “Was that not totally wierd when Darien found his own name on the Vietnam Memorial Wall?” They all laughed a little, then realized who they were talking about. “I miss him so bad, you guys.”
“And Mina.” Lita added.
“And Rei.” Amy smirked.
“Why am I such a bad leader?” Serena asked, wading over to the door on the freighter’s side and climbing out to dangle her legs and her pigtails in.
“You aren’t a bad leader, Serena.” Amy consoled her, “We just had a very powerful enemy this time. We all know that some day we may have to make the ultimate sacrafice for our world.”
“I would find it an honor to die for my planet.” Lita said. “When I do, I’ll go knowing that I did my best, that maybe others will live. I’m sure Mina and Darien felt the same way.”
“What about Rei?” Amy looked over at Lita, “She just up and left.”
“Rei’s a hothead who couldn’t find her ass with both hands and a flashlight.” Serena growled. “She just abandoned all of us. Some team player!”
“Oh, come on, Serena.” Amy shook her head, “She was just following her instinct of survival.”
“Or is it just that her hate for me has finally come out?” the meatball-head slammed her fist downhard enough to hurt, “I knew she hated me ever since she met me and I knew she’d find any excuse to make me look bad! Oh, I hate her!” After her rant, she folded her arms and twisted her face into a pout. There was suddenly an awkward silence.
“Sure Ams,” Lita smiled, “See you later.”
It consisted of a control station and a ring shaped generator about twelve feet in diameter. A ramp led up to the generating ring so that the army might enter at the portal’s widest point.
Jekter, satisfied as one so frustrated could be, tapped his communicator. “Sir, I believe it is working.”
“You were sure last time.”
“I know,” Jekter sighed heavily, “but this time I’m posative.”
“Very well,” Flute said after a moment. “Send Electrichead through as a test. Tell him to seek out and destroy the Sailor Scouts. And Jekter...”
“Sir?”
“Make sure he does it slowly, my boy.”
“Will do, sir.” the young man turned his comm of and turned his head to give orders. “You! start the generating cycle. I want a portal in five minutes.”
It felt odd not being in Washington or by the pool for the Fourth, but Amy couldn’t complain. She was alive, though her metabolism had sped up a little and she was rapidly losing the once healthy swimmer’s figure. Her waist had thinned, poking her ribs out more than usual, and her bustline sagged just slightly. Also, her arms and legs had lost their muscle. Make no mistake, she could still swim circles around a shark, but she was starting to look underfed and gawky.
After a while, she lost all interest in the book and began thinking about Greg. She hated thinking about him because she missed him so much. That empty feeling in her chest would come back every time, but she tried not to cry. Like now, she was usually successful at keeping her tears at bay, although there were times when she couldn’t keep from choking up.
“I loved him,” she told herself, “And I miss him, but he wouldn’t want me to be sad, would he?”
Only those with a deathwish would be out in this heat with various gangs and factions. There were crazy people walking around with blood in their eyes. Most had firearms or other weapons, many of them hand fashioned, to defend their territory with. Just an hour ago, he had seen two groups of wild-eyed pistol wavers beating the mess out of eachother. Humans were just plain...
What was this? That girl on the boat matched up with...Sailor Mercury? If she was there, then Sailors Moon, Mars, and Jupiter would also be nearby.
Electrichead smiled.
“What in Christ..?” Amy’s dark blue eyes snapped open and she sat up to look at the flash-burn still crackling with electricity. She stood up to inspect it further when her chair was carried off by another bolt of energy. Her eyes were drawn to the source, a purplish creature with yet another shot charging on it’s finger.
Amy was a little too far from her star wand, so all she could to was run inside. “Serena, Lita, we have a problem!” the blue-haired Scout shrieked as she raced inside and down the stairs to her room. She grabbed her wand and literally bumped into Serena in the hall.
“What is it, Amy?” Serena caught Amy for once.
“Trouble.” Amy told her, “Get your locket.”
“How’d they find us?” Luna asked.
“Me,” the aquabelle admitted, “I was up on deck and they managed to identify me.”
“How many are there?” the next question came from Jupiter.
“Just the one.”
“No challenge.” Sailor Moon said confidently, taking the Moon Sceptor from the small of her back and holding it ready. They all stood silent in the dark engine room, listening as the Negamonster approached.
“Too bad we don’t have Venus or Mars to snipe at it.” Mercury slid her visor over her eyes.
“We’ll just have to deal with it.” Jupiter whispered, “We three have managed on our own.”
“When?” Sailor Moon kept quiet like everyone else.
“I don’t know.” the tallest Scout responded, “Back when we last fought Beryl. The memory’s still hazy from those days.”
Sailor Mercury cocked her head. “Why are we whispering?”
The moon princess was halfway ready to respond when the door smashed open and three bolts of white lightning shot through. All three Scouts hit the deck, taking cover behind the large turbine engine.
Sailor Jupiter was the first one to stand up. “Jupiter Thunderclap zap!” and the ball-shaped bolt of electricity sizzled through the air. The shot must have scored, for there was an angry shriek and some return fire.
“Shine Aqua Illusion!” Sailor Mercury hurled the freezing water toward the door. The entire bulkhead froze solid, creaking, crackling, and ultimately buckling from the ice’s preassure.
The electrically charged demon hurled a lightning bolt her way. Too slow to dodge, Mercury was hit right in the chest and hurled backward, her suit blackened.
“Take this you static scuzzbucket!” Sailor Moon aimed the Moon Sceptor and let an activation go. The creature bolted left and returned fire. Sailor Moon, too, was then thrown from her feet.
“I find it awfully shocking the Negaverse should send someone after us now.” Artemis approached her as she shook her head to clear it. The moon princess’s only response was to smack him in the back of the head for the bad joke.
“Guys, are you okay?” Jupiter called after sending another Thunderclap after Electrichead.
“I’m okay.” Sailor Moon repsonded, “But Mercury’s a little winded.”
“I want you two to get out of here.” the lightning Scout ordered.
“But Jupiter...” Mercury began to protest.
“I mean it.” Sailor Jupiter shouted, “I’ll cover you.” It was painfully obvious that the two others didn’t like this one bit, but they nodded.
“Mercury Bubbles...” the aquabelle called for her old weapon as she stood up, “blast!” The single energized bubble procreated into hundreds and a heavy mist settled. Using this chance, Sailor Mercury and Sailor Moon dashed across the room to the exit. The cats followed on their heels.
“So you think you’re pretty good with electricity, huh?” Sailor Jupiter stood up, “Okay, bad boy, let’s see what you got.” The monster only answered her with its fiercest charge yet, throwing the tall Scout into the turbine shaft. One of her ribs snapped audibly and she could have sworn a dozen capilaries burst. Still she managed to regain herself and call for a thunder dragon.
“Wait!” Sailor Moon stopped, picking through her uniform and withdrawing the foot-long cylendar Amy had given her when she turned seventeen, “What if I used this to help Sailor Jupiter?” She pressed the button and the cylendar telescoped out to become a double-bladed bo.
“But you haven’t practiced enough with it.” Mercury took her by the wrist much the same way she had been grabbed by Serena at the electronics store some months before. The meatball-head got the picture and followed the shorter girl. As they ran along, Artemis stopped.
“Artemis, what are you doing?” Luna asked.
“I can’t go with you.” the white cat answered in his scruffy voice, “I have to help Sailor Jupiter.”
“But you could die.”
“I know.”
“Then we fight together.” the black one joined him. Shoulder to shoulder, the pair of felines raced back to the engine room.
Nothing seemed to work on it. Sailor Jupiter had hurled everything she had at the creature and still nothing had hurt it. She was bruised and burned, and her left ankel was broken. All she could do was hobble around now and fling her thunderclaps with poor aim in a mist that refused to burn off this time.
“Surprise, Sailor Brat!” the monster appeared out of the fog and knocked her sideways with an iron rod. She shrieked as she fell. Once down, he kicked her in the side, bowling her over. He then brought the rod down on the small of her back.
Suddenly Sailor Jupiter realized that her broken ankel didn’t hurt and longer. The blow hadn’t been very painful either. She realized as the bar smashed down painlessly on her left leg that her spinal cord must have been severed. She was paralyzed.
“You had enough yet, miss expert?” Electrichead growled as he raised the bar to hit her in the head. Blunt trauma would be slow and painful, but Jupiter only glared at him. The monster smiled, apparently pleased at this last futile effort in defiance, and cocked the iron rod, ready to swing.
“For Mina!” a cry raised and with a yowl, Artemis leapt up and slashed the negamonster’s cheek, leaving deep rents in the flesh. Suprised, Electrichead dropped the bar and instinctively grabbed his face.
Luna and Artemis put themselves between the writhing monster and Sailor Jupiter. The cats’ backs were arched and their claws ready to strike.
“Sailor Jupiter, the fuel lines.” Luna cried. So the cats had planned this to be their last battle too. The ensuing fireball from the explosion would totally destroy the ship, as Amy had said, but at least the negamonster would go with them.
The brown-haired valkyrie sucked up a breath and then crawled forward, trying to ignore the painful noise behind her as Artemis’s skull was shattered and then Luna was broken against a peice of machinery.
As footsteps approached her, she reached out to touch the fuel lines. “Jupiter Thunder crash!”
“I think they went back to help Sailor Jupiter.” Mercury said. Just then, a loud roar and an increadible tremor knocked the Scouts from their feet. A flash of red-orange light slashed up from the stern of the Starlight Asylum. Another crash and ball of fire told them both that the ship was explosively combusting. And very quickly.
“Run!” Sailor Mercury helped the moon princess up and the two began dashing toward the bow. The explosions, however, seemed to be moving faster than the both of them. As the reached the bow railing, Mercury placed her hands around Sailor Moon’s waist and using all her strength, threw her overboard before making the leap herself. It was far worse than when she jumped from the chopper. The flames where right at the soles of her blue boots this time.
The pair splashed hard in the water and ducked under as a fireball rushed inches over the water’s surface. After it retreated, the Scouts came up.
“Lita!” Sailor Moon screamed as she looked back at the flaming hulk that had once been their home, “Luna! Artemis!” For a moment, the princess awaited a response she knew would never come. “Oh God.” she turned back to Mercury, who embraced her just as she collapsed into tears.