Chapter 10
Invasion

The Negaverse
10/10/00
        “The army is assembled sir.” Jekter reported, “We are ready to go.”

        “Good.” Flute smiled, and led Jekter out of his chamber. Below him, the army of snake-like warriors stood at attention. On command, they saluted as one. Flute was pleased.

        As he passed his red eyes over them allslowly, he began to speak. “I know you have all been impatient for this moment to arrive. I will admit that it was partially due to my own cautions about invading. Forgive me for this, but it was the only way to ensure victory.

        “As I look across this magnificent group of warriors, I know that each of you has put in more effort than I could have asked from you. You have all grown strong and skilled during your training. I have faith that you will suceed.

        “My warriors, it is time for you to do that for which you where created. It is time to invade. Jekter!”

        “Sir?”

        “It is time to go forth.”

        “Give the word, sir.”

        “My boy,” Flute raised his arms triumphantly, “the word is given.”

Los Angeles
        There was a great crackle in the night sky, causing Amy to look up. She could see nothing out the rain-spattered window and she thought it might be lightning, but for some reason she wasn’t so sure this time. The sky glowed faintly even after another peel of thunder.

        Inquisitively, the blue-haired genious stood up and walked to the window. What she saw made her draw a sharp breath. In the sky, a great gash had been torn. White light poured out of the jagged tear in time-space and glowing objects flowed down into the still-standing Starlight Tower.

        Immediately, she picked up her mini computer and began scanning. The readouts brought a queasy feeling to her stomach (or did she need to puke again?). “Oh...no.” she breathed.

        As she turned around to get Serena, she realized her feet were not getting any traction on the carpet. She looked down to see herself floating along with every other object not secured to the floor. Using anything she could, she propelled herself through the doorway and managed to get downstairs to Serena.

        “What the hell is this?” she blonde girl asked. She looked funny floating there. Amy was still not used to her missing her meatballs and pigtails.

        “I think the Negaverse is invading again.” Amy reported.

        “What?” Serena went wide-eyed in disbelief, “No way, Ams. They haven’t done anything since...” she didn’t have to say when. It had been the day Lita was killed.

        “You said it would be possible for them to find their way back, right?”

        “Yeah, but when my mother did it, it took Beryl a millenia to find a way out.” Serena said, “It took them, what, six months.

        “Actually, six months and a day.” Amy corrected.

        “Whatever.” Serena chided, “Look, we need to do something.”

        “In this state, there isn’t much we can do.” Amy shook her head, “And besides, there’s only the two of us. There are lots and lots of them.”

        “What?” Serena said dryly, “No figure for that?”

Elsewhere
        Rei found it funny that she was clinging to the street sign on the same corner where she had been standing when the enemy first attacked those many months ago. As a mater of fact, she watched the same street lamp that had pinned her legs down float away toward the jagged hole in the sky along with more rubble and even some people. She wanted to get her power wand and transform, but the instant she did that, she’d fly off with every one and everything else. She was left to hold on and watch as the world was invaded.

        As she watched, several streaks of light flew down into the starlight tower, which was the tallest building still standing. Rei surmized that they must intend to use it as a base of operations.

        “It has to be the same group that tried to take over back in April.” she told herself.

        Suddenly, she felt the pull of gravity.


        Amy and Serena dropped seven feet to the floor, slamming down hard on the carpet. When Amy looked up again, the rift was gone.

        “They’ve finished.” she told Serena, who was shaking in pain on the floor. “Come on.”

        “What now?”

        “I want to get a closer look at the tower.”


        He couldn’t believe it. It was her. How she had survived this long was a mystery. He reached down and picked her up to carry her inside what remained of their home. He lay her on his bed and instantly began checking for injuries. A pair of ribs just beneath her breast gave way to pressure. He pressed again, and once again they retreated a little to his fingers.

        “Reiko?” Chad called to her. “Rei, wake up.”

        “Oh.” she said, rubbing her head, “Chad.” she tried to stand, but he pushed her down.

        “Don’t get up. You’ve been hurt.”

        “Where?” she tried to get up again, “What are you...ow!” and she slammed back down as a burning filled her chest.

        “I was gonna say your ribs, Rei.”

        “How many?”

        “At least two, maybe more.”

        “Where?”

        “Here.” And he pressed the place again. Rei shrieked in agony and removed his hand. She swallowed hard before smiling.

        “How long have I been out?”

        “Just a few minutes.” Chad said, “What the hell’s going on out there anyway?”

        Rei wondered if she should play stupid. But Chad wouldn’t do anything. All he might say about her being a Sailor Scout might be “whoa, cool.” Maybe she could just delete that part...

        “Does this have anything to do with you being Sailor Mars?” he asked, point blank.

        Rei stared wide-eyed at him. “How did you know?”

        “Do you remember last year when that crazy woman attacked the temple. I wasn’t totally out cold, ya know.”

        The Raven haired girl throught for a moment. “Yeah, that was Catsie. So you knew?”

        “Yeah, but I never wanted to tell you because I was afraid you’d be mad at me.”

        “No Chad,” Rei, shook her head, “Not at all.” She sat up, this time unabated. “Now if you want to know what’s going on, sit down. This’ll take a while.”


        Sailor Mercury lost her footing on the mound of rubble and fell. She twisted so as not to land on her belly and rolled down the mound. She came up on her knees, brushed her bangs out of the way, and stood up.

        “Mercury, are you okay?”

        “Um, yes.” she acknowledged and sprinted forward, continuing on her mission. The wind was blowing hard and cold across Mercury’s body, making her eyes water. She had a pain in her ankle, skint knees and elbows, and a cut on her forehead, but she kept on going. Only when her breathing became raspy did she worry about the baby. Then she stopped to catch her breath.

        “Are you sure you’re okay?” Sailor Moon asked her friend.

        Mercury rubbed her hand along the still tiny tummy. It would be another two months before she began to show much. She was still breathing hard, but otherwise she felt okay.

        “Tell ya what, we can walk it.” the moon princess said. “It’s not that far and we need to conserve our energy for the fight.”

        “Sure.” the aquabelle sighed, “I hate being a burden.”

        “You’re not a burden, Ams.” Sailor Moon aimed her blue eyes at the other Scout. “You’re just...”

        “Watch it.” Mercury warned with a smile.

        “...pregnant.” Serena finished.

        “Not funny.” and the water scout slapped her leader on the shoulder.


        Rei could sense them both. They were walking now, but they were going toward the tower, possibly to investigate. She wanted to go to them and help. They would need her. She looked up at the mesmerized Chad. The look on her face said everything.

        “Come back and visit.” he said. She nodded quickly, then dashed out the door. Her chest burned with every breath but she couldn’t mind that now.

        “Mars Star Power!”


        “Hush!” Mercury held up her finger for Sailor Moon to be quiet. The aquabelle had her visor down over her eyes. The image was magnified six times, and she could see the snake soldiers taking up guard positions already. “Too bad we don’t have a sniper.” Mercury snapped open her computer and began scanning. They were all around the enterances. And patrols were going up and down the streets. She scanned upward along the tower. At the top, the power reading went off the scale and the computer began whining.

        “What is it?” Sailor Moon asked, “What’s wrong.”

        “I’m not sure...” Amy tried to quiet the wildly beeping electronic device.

        “Your tiara crystal is flashing.” the moon princess pointed out. The water scout ripped off her tiara and discovered that indeed it was flashing brightly in rythem with the computer beeps. Sailor Mercury shot a glance at her friend and noticed that the moon tiara was reacting in the same way.

        “It’s the Pluto Star Crystal.” Mercury read the computer screen aloud.

        “Pluto Star Crystal? You mean Sailor Pluto is up there? She’s behind all this?”

        “No.” Mercury shook her head, “Someone must have killed her and took it.” She tapped the keyes again with her fingers. Her eyes went wide. “Ave Maria. It’s gotten a whole hell of a lot more powerful. It’s being amplified by something. My God...”

        Not far, they heard a scream. It was more like a plead for one’s life. The two Sailor Scouts gave each other a glance and got up.


        Sailor Mars hurt. The muscles in her legs had long gone into anaerobic mode and were producing lactic acid, which caused dull pain and cramping. Her ribs were punishing her for the deep breaths, sending a searing pain along her side that not longer made her want to scream, but was still noticable. The october chill bit at her, evaporating the sweat from her face, arms, and legs. She had removed her red high-heeled shoes and was now running over gravel and asphalt barefoot, the shoes in her hand banging against her hip. There was definately glass in her foot. She could feel the blood sloshing and the piece of debris push deeper each time she stepped down.

        She stopped to pull it painfully out of her foot and continued running. She couldn’t stop long enough to bandage the wound. She had to keep going.


        “Mercury Ice Bubbles freeze!”   Sailor Mercury threw the proliferating bubbles at the two snakemen standing over a man and woman. The negaverse monsters dodged, one of them fell down and Sailor Moon picked him off with her sceptor. The other dove for cover behind a crumbled wall and began shouting some high-pitched gibberish into a wristcom. He popped up again to throw a barrage of shruken before fending off a shot from the Moon Sceptor.

        Mercury was able to dodge away from the tiny throwing stars, but Sailor Moon wasn’t so lucky. A shruken sliced into her leg and stuck there, throwing her off balace. She fell hard, jabbing the little metal weapon deeper into her leg. Gritting, she yanked it out and then fired again with the sceptor. Mercury was already in the pirouette of her Aqua Illusion. The icy blast froze the asp warrior as he prepared to hurl another handful of shruken. The sceptor blast then shattered him into millions of pieces.

        “That all?” the moon princess asked.

        “I think so.” Mercury answered. Just then, a black shape flashed before the aquabelle’s eyes, and the tips of her blue-black bangs rained down from her head. “What the hell?” and she took hold of the hair and looked at its freshly cut ends.

        “Mercury,” Sailor Moon said, pointing to a shruken stuck into the wall, “I think it’s time we beat a hasty retreat.”

        Mercury gave a sidelong glance to one of the snakemen now emerging from the allyways and corners all around them. “I think I agree with you.” Mercury nodded ruefully. The two scouts stood back to back, facing the platoon of negaverse minions. The first one charged Sailor Moon, and using its momentum against it, she tossed it to the ground. Another ran at Sailor Mercury, staff ready to impale her. With a sidestep the water scout took hold of the metal weapon and threw her opponent into a wall.

        “You still have your birthday present?” Mercury asked the moon princess.

        “Yep.” And she drew it from a pouch in her uniform. At a tap of the button, the ends telescoped out. She then twirled it before her threatiningly. Another warrior charged her swinging its staff. She fended the attack off and jabbed the asp in the chest. “You know they’ll all come after us in a minute.”

        “Yes.” Mercury responded tersely, “You ready?”

        “Like hell.”

        As the group of warriors prepared to rush the Scouts, twelve fiery rings blasted down from the sky, cutting into the concrete and scattering the evil soldiers. Following this was a barrage of well-placed fireballs. Many of the asp warriors fell, but a few managed to escape. The Scouts, vexed, didn’t pursue.

        “Wow.” Sailor Moon said.

        “Yeah,” Mercury nodded, “Deus ex machina.”

        “What?”

        “I’ll tell you later.”

        “It means,” a familiar voice piped up, “a moment when the author of a story, play, or movie gives the protagonists an easy way out of a tough situation. Literally from Latin ‘God from the Machine.’” Sailor Mars hopped down from her perch and approached Sailor Mercury. “Well, did I get it right?”

        “Close enough.” Mercury smiled. She reached out to embrace her friend. “Mars, I’m so glad to see you.”

        “Me to. Both of you.” and she then exchanged hugs with Sailor Moon. “I missed you guys.”

        “Thanks for saving us.”

        “Oh, it’s no problem.” Mars smiled, “I’ve had to do it plenty of times before.”

        “Oh, shut up!” Sailor Moon laughed.

        “You guys,” Mercury said, “we better get out of here before more of them show up.”

        “Good idea.” the moon princess said, “C’mon.”

Chapter 11: Return Of The White Rose
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