Author: Greg
========== The Shadow: Pt. 3
Jupiter and Mars untransformed for the time being.
Serena remained in the shadows as Luna, Artemis, Rei, and Lita struck up a conversation.
"How's it going?" ventured Rei.
"I'm afraid it's not going very well," answered Luna, "We have
been very unsuccessful in all our attempts to leave this place."
"Hmm, where is this?" asked Lita.
"Luna and I don't really know," Artemis sighed, "We've done a lot
of speculating, but that's only because we haven't had much else to do.
What's your story? How'd you get here?"
"Well, Mina was around the corner when you were abducted. All three of us, Ami, Lita, and I, happened to run into her at the same time. She told us what happened. After some productive discussion, we decided
to meet at my temple and inquire of the fire. It came to life and
brought us to the Negaverse to rescue you. Unfortunately, Lita and I
were caught from behind by some great all of energy. It seems to have
sent us here. How long have we been sleeping here?"
Luna answered, "We really can't say, time has no meaning here."
"Kinda' like a dream, eh Luna?" responded Lita.
"Yes, almost exactly like a dream."
"Hey! Wait a minute! Luna, where's Serena? We were supposed to
rescue her too! Not very thoughtful, is she? We come crashing down like
that and she pulls a no-show." Rei testily stated.
"Well, I'm afraid that there's a problem."
"Like?"
"It appears that Serena has amnesia."
"WHAT?!"
Rei jerked her head up to survey the area. Serena tried to hide
deeper in the shadows, but Rei spotted her before she had even thought
about it.
"Serena! Get over here! NOW!"
Serena slowly walked forward, very wary of Rei's temper.
"So! You think that just because you get amnesia, you get out of
your duty? You think that you can just hide in a corner and let everyone
else do the work for you?! Well you've got another thing coming!"
Rei grabbed Serena's shoulders and shook her.
"Now is NOT the time for you to forget everything! There is far
too much at stake for you to selfishly pull this stunt!"
Artemis stepped forward, just as warily as Serena had.
"Now Rei, it's not her fault."
"I don't care if it's her fault, she did it!"
Rei stepped away from the shaken Serena and turned around.
"I'm sorry, Serena. It's just that- I don't know."
Serena started to quietly sob to herself. Lita walked up to her
and put her arms around Serena's shoulders.
"It'll be alright, Serena. Don't you worry. I'm sure Ami and
Mina can get us out of here."
"Do you really think so?"
"Of course!"
"Thanks," Serena sniffed, "Thanks a lot. Hey, Rei? It's alright. I understand the kind of pressure you're under."
Rei turned back to face Serena, "I'm sorry, Serena. Thanks for
understanding. I never realized how difficult it must be for you to not
remember anything. I'll try to help. After all, that's what we're here
for, right? Granted, we were kinda' caught ourselves, but we can still
try to get out of here."
Artemis spoke, "I'm afraid it's not that simple. Luna and I've tried everything we could come up with, but as you can see, it hasn't
resulted in much."
Lita stepped away from the now comfortable Serena, "We can do it."
A moan interrupted their parlay from the shadows. Lita dropped
into a defensive stance while Rei started running toward the sound.
"Rei! Stop! It's me, Ami!"
"Ami!" exclaimed Rei, skidding to a halt, "What are you doing
here?"
Ami slowly pulled herself to her feet, untransformed already.
She had a serious look on her face and tried to cover up the pain that
was there with it. She failed.
"I've got some bad news..."
----------
Darien had followed the party of three up into the tower. He
remained in the shadows, which isn't a difficult thing to do in the
negaverse. He watched in horror as events unfolded. He saw Mina walk
forward and grasp the dark crystal. He saw the terrified realization
bloom on Ami's face. He heard her scream and its abrupt end. But the
worst part, the part that had sent shivers down his spine, had been when
Mina turned to look at her. Her eyes had been grey, flat, and dull. Her
trademark blue had been dissolved by the evil crystal's power. He was
terrified. He saw Trailblaze draw out all of Ami's energy in an
instant. She had fallen to the floor as though dead, the only betrayal
of life was her slightly rising chest.
Now more was happening. Rage began to flow through Darien as
further events unfolded. Trailblaze beckoned to Mina, and she stepped
forward out of the invisible field that had surrounded the crystal- with
it still in her hand. Trailblaze walked up to her once she had left the
field and stood immediately behind her. Then Trailblaze stepped into her. The grey of her eyes was replaced by fire, a flame that danced and laughed. Mina's face was no longer expressionless.
"This was even easier than I had thought. Now, time to take out
the trash."
The body that had been Mina's made some familiar motions, and a
black portal appeared.
"Good-bye, 'friend'," smirked the evil Venus that used to be
Mina. Ami slid feet-first into the portal. Darien sprinted around to
the other side of the portal, his movement hidden by the sound of the
sliding Ami. Remembering the promise he had made to himself previously,
he entered it from the side opposite the evil Venus. He would find the
Scouts and rescue them all, for now they all needed it.
----------
Ami explained everything that had happened which hadn't been explained yet. She nearly broke down when she described the face she had
seen on Mina's body.
"But Ami," inquired Lita, "How could all this have happened so
quickly? Rei and I only just got here."
"I'm not sure, but I think that time has little meaning in the
negaverse, at least it's not as important as it is in our universe.
There could have easily be different time flow or even a changing rate
of time flow in this pocket of the negaverse."
As Ami spoke, light appeared above the heads of those present.
Everyone looked up, because light was practically non-existant in this
place. The most interested was Artemis. Two seeming holes had appeared
in the blackness above them, and the rays of light from the two holes
focused on Artemis. Suddenly both he and the light phased out.
"What was that?!" shouted a very frightened Serena as a second set of lights appeared above Luna.
----------
Darien was surprised at the destination of the portal. He had
landed in a bare, featureless room, and everyone that had been missing
was lying on the floor in nice, even lines- sleeping. He walked up to Artemis first and shook him awake.
"Artemis? Wake up, Artemis!"
Artremis' eyes slowly opened to let the light in the room
penetrate his sleep-clouded mind.
"Hmm? What's going on?"
"Good! You're OK! Now, where's Luna? There she is!"
Darien walked up to each person in turn and shook them awake,
saving Serena for last.
He wasn't sure why he did it, maybe it was an innate sense of the
dramatic. Whether it was or not, though, didn't matter because he did.
----------
Serena watched stunned as she saw each of her "new" friends
disappear one by one. First Artemis, then Luna, then Ami, then Lita and
Rei. What was happening? Finally the light appeared one last time above
Serena's head. She looked up, closed her eyes, and waited.
----------
Slowly Serena opened her eyes. Darien watched breathlessly as
she did so. She blinked twice and focused her eyes on Darien.
"Darien!" she whispered, and threw her arms around his neck,
pulling her face into his chest.
Darien looked at Luna and Artemis in a pleading way, he knew she
hadn't seen him for a while, but what warranted this reaction?
Luna and Artemis were stunned also, but for a different reason.
"She said 'Darien'!" muttered Artemis.
"I think I understand," said Luna,"Remember whenever she slept
and we woke her she begged to sleep in? It was our proof that she still
had her memory somewhere deep inside her. Just now she woke up again
from a deep sleep. Perhaps she remembers now!"
----------
When Serena first woke up, she was confused. The last thing she
remembered was looking up at the light and closing her eyes. Now she was opening her eyes in what seemed to be a different world. She blinked
once. She looked up and saw something of a familiar blur. She thought
she knew that face. The name Darien flew through her mind. She blinked
a second time in surprise. Then she realized that it was -his- name.
Her eyes focused on the face she suddenly remembered so well.
"Darien!" she blurted, and buried herself in his chest.
Serena didn't remember anything else, but she knew she loved
Darien and Darien loved her. She remembered their mutual love and the
rough times it had been through. It was quite possibly the sweetest
revelation she had ever had. She started to silently cry into his
shirt.
As she wept, she felt his gaze fall upon her. She slowly took
her face from his chest and looked him in the face. The tears in her
eyes reflected the light in the room as stars would in the night.
"I love you, Darien."
Serena dug her face back into his chest and continued crying.
----------
The shadow was pleased with Trailblaze's success. He happily watched as Trailblaze occupied the body of the girl Mina. Why had she
withdrawn into herself like that? The possession of her physical being had taken practically no effort. The shadow grinned as it saw the evil
Mina open a protal to the front of the castle and enter it. His good humor was short-lived.
Almost immediately after the entering of T'Mina into the portal,
he felt a sudden "lacking". It was as if a part of him had just been
pulled away. He realized what it was with surprise. His dream-prison
was empty. The safe- guards he had placed on it to prevent the positive
energy of the Scouts from amassing suddenly realized a total lack of
purpose. There was no longer any positive energy to suppress, so they
had promptly eliminated themselves. Thus, the source of the shadow's
empty feeling.
Somehow the Scouts had escaped. The shadow almost felt the
gnawings of fear, but it was an emotion totally alien to him in nature.
He knew what it was and had seen it in others. He'd never experienced it
first hand. The shadow wasn't afraid. His confidence in himself did not
allow for fear.
----------
T'Mina flicked "her" wrist. A black portal appeared, one that
seemed blacker even than the ones before it.
"And now it's time to make my exit."
"She" walked into the portal and almost instantly appeared at the
other end. "She" stepped back out of the portal and into the most evilly
glorious vista in the negaverse. Wind whipped "her" hair about "her" as
"she" stood on the peak of the tallest mountain in a huge range of
glamorous pinnacles. It was eternally night up here, and the proof
permeated every molecule of the area. Even T'Mina flinched in fear and
awe as "she" stepped out of the portal. "She" started to approach the
equally awesome castle that was located here. It was vast. Made of a
material that resembled black marble, yet was immensely more evil, more
awful- blacker. The smooth, flawless walls were reflective, yet seemed
to suck in any light that approached them. The castle was almost a
black hole unto itself.
These walls T'Mina approached with the fire flaring in "her" eyes. Each gust of wind seemed to cause them to flare even higher. Then
"she" entered the castle.
T'Mina approached the odsidian gates of the castle. As she
walked forward, a voice- like the crackling of thousands of
dead leaves- entered her mind.
"Make haste. There has been a... complication. I'll open
the gates for you."
T'Mina approached the obsidian gates of the castle, the
black light of the dark crystal shining between her fingers.
She stood just outside the circumference of the circle
immense, opening gates formed. They were silent in their
movement.
"Why don't I take a portal to you?" inquired T'Mina.
"I wouldn't recommend questioning me, T'Mina. How do you
think the person who freed our prisoners got into the castle
in the first place? They knocked?"
"I'm sorry, master," shuddered T'Mina, "It appears I have
failed in one way or the other."
"Don't grovel. If I'd wanted a dependent, whimpering,
brainless servant, I'd have summoned something else. You
have a brain, T'Mina, and now you have the power to go with
it. Just come to me on-foot."
"Immediately, master."
The gates stopped moving. The evil wind whipping her hair
around her body, T'Mina entered the castle. The gates
closed behind her, as silently as when they had opened.
----------
Serena cried into Darien's shirt until there were no tears
left. Even then she sobbed for what seemed like hours.
Finally she lifted her head. No sound had intruded on this
emotional moment but the sound of her crying. Now it
stopped and silence reigned.
Serena stood up from floor, Darien stood up next to her.
She swayed, but quickly caught her partner's shoulder to
right herself.
"Well, Darien. I suppose we should be off to fight the
negaverse."
Ami lead the party of seven (including Artemis, Luna,
Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mercury, Darien, and
Serena). They walked through the halls of the castle as
quietly as they could. Serena, though a natural clutz,
managed to be the quietest due to the sneakers she was
wearing. Rei, on the other hand, was having the time of her
life trying to stop her heels from clicking on the floor.
Untransforming was out of the question as they might run
into a nega-villain around any and every corner. It did,
after all, seem to be the shadow's base. The fortress was
oddly silent around them, however. It was as though life
had never passed through these halls. The walls watched
with awe as something new and foreign passed by them.
Silently. The clicking of Rei's heels and the soft pat-pat
of Serena's sneakers slowly tried to drive everybody to
insanity. Finally Lita broke the silence.
"So where are we going?"
Ami was the first to answer, "This castle is unlike
anything I've ever seen. It seems that every hall that
would logically lead to the command center just veers in the
opposite direction once we're out of sight of the entrance.
That's why we're now taking every path that would seem to go
in the wrong direction."
"So where's it getting us?" asked Rei.
"Closer to the Command Center," Ami stated confidently. "I
hope" being her subvocal muttering.
Suddenly Lita stopped walking.
"What is i-" started Serena.
"Shh!" hushed Lita, holding her arm straight out with the
forefinger extended toward the ceiling.
Everyone immediately stopped breathing. A soft
could be heard in the distance, echoing off
the walls. Everyone knew that click. The all looked at
Rei, and then her motionless feet. The
unmistakable clicking of high-heels. A very special pair of
high-heels. Mina's pair of high-heels. And they were
getting louder. She was coming.
Rei took charge. She issued orders in a stage whisper
because it was obvious T'Mina already knew that they were
present. The stage whisper provided an easy means of being
heard, yet a mass of indistingushable sound to the
approaching foe.
"Serena. Do you remember being Sailor Moon?"
"No." frowned Serena.
"Then go back around that last corner we took. I don't
think you're ready for combat yet. Darien, we don't know if
they know about you, but if they don't then it would be a
waste to blow the element of surprise here. Don't show,
even though it may look like we need you, go with Serena and
protect her. Artie, Luna, follow him. Mercury, Jupiter.
The buck stops here. Here we shall draw the line, and hope
that victory is in our grasp. Get ready."
The smooth walls provided little or no seclusion, so the
three scouts stood out in the open, just after the last turn
that T'Mina would take to reach them. The clicking grew
closer.
----------
T'Mina walked through the halls of the castle, pondering
the unfortunate turn of events. She had let someone or
something through the a black portal into the prison where
the captured beings' bodies were being held. Whatever it
was had awakened them and they were all ready to fight,
again. T'Mina's careful planning and elimination of them
had made no difference. They remained free, or at least
were free again. Suddenly T'Mina heard a voice. Then
another and even more! They were in the castle.
T'Mina changed her direction to take her by the escaped
Scouts. It would be interesting to see what this body was
capable of. She picked up her pace slightly and heard a
sudden halt in their conversation. So. They had heard her.
Not that it mattered, they'd have known she was there soon
enough. She heard some loud, indecipherable whispers from
one person and then silence once again reigned. T'Mina
stepped around a corner- and arrayed before her were, in
their respective order, Sailors Jupiter, Mercury, and Mars.
T'Mina smiled.
----------
The tension felt by the three Sailor Scouts rose as the
approaching heels grew near. And then, far too soon yet far
too late, T'Mina stood before them.
And smiled.
T'Mina's smile had no kindness in it. It was colder than
Midwinter's Eve, and toothier than a dentist.
"Hello, Scouts."
Rei looked at T'Mina and saw her for who she was
immediately. The blaze in her eyes were as evil as the
castle around them.
"Mars Fire Ignite!" shouted Mars as she placed her hands
together with extended forefingers. A circle of fire grew
through her point of concentration from a tiny flame to a
blazing inferno and launched itself at T'Mina. T'Mina
quickly dodged to the side and smiled the same cold, toothy
smile.
"Jupiter Supreme Thunder!" shouted the enraged Sailor
Jupiter. An antennae grew from her band and summoned
flashes of lightning to it. Jupiter directed a scatter of
lightning bolts toward Mercury who, with a quick "Shabon
Spray!", grabbed the lightning in her bubbles and hurled
hundreds of small balls of lightning at T'Mina. T'Mina
stood her ground this time. The hundreds of balls of
lightning crashed around and into T'Mina. The resultant
explosion was enough to force the Scouts to cross their arms
in front of their chests to prevent themselves from being
blown back into a wall.
When the explosion subsided, they hopefully looked up.
T'Mina smiled. And this time she spoke. In a quiet
whisper, "My turn."
A small, black symbol appeared next to Mina's head, her
point of concentration for her weakest attack. She pierced
to symbol with her finger and pointed it at the Scout that
had started the fight.
"Crescent Beam!" A small shimmering of darkness appeared
around her finger, and suddenly a shaft of pure black shot
out of it. Rei dodged to the side, but just barely. She
grasped her arm where the beam had grazed her. It turned an
ugly purple-blue almost immediately. Rei could almost
imagine the light in her body combating the dark from the
attack before her mind shut itself down to avoid the pain in
the sweet world of the unconcious.
T'Mina smiled.
Next she turned her attention to Ami. Ami almost stepped
back from the intensity of the gaze T'Mina turned on her.
T'Mina raised her other arm above her head and opened it.
The dark crystal rose an inch above her palm and flashed,
bathing the entire hallway in its evil light. Ami fell to
the ground, incapacitated. Lita managed to remain on her
feet, though her face betrayed the pain she had endured in
doing so. As T'Mina closed her palm about the crystal, Lita
lept forward with the intent eliminating T'Mina with extreme
prejudice, but she fell short of T'Mina. T'Mina emanated an
amused presence.
"Ahh, Jupiter. You're the only one left? That's really
too bad," T'Mina laughed.
"Perhaps you're wondering why no matter how much you try,
you can't physically harm me. Ha-ha, I see the hate in your
eyes, but also the genuine love. You can't make yourself
harm me because you'd be harming your beloved friend Mina.
I pity you in your weakness."
T'Mina extended her left arm toward Jupiter, fist closed.
"Say good-bye, Jupiter."
T'Mina opened her hand, exposing the dark crystal. It
floated away from her palm to within a yard of Jupiter's
face. Then it flashed. Jupiter was thrown like a rag doll
into the wall behind her, imprinting her body on it before
she fell to the ground, barely concious.
"A pity. I had so hoped for a real fight. Mayhap next
time we meet, no?"
T'Mina left the three beaten Scouts with a smile.
----------
T'Mina was not made nervous by the three Scouts. She had
every confidence in her ability to defeat them without a
second thought. Just the first thought caused her to grin
in anticipation. She scanned from right to left and noticed
a concentration surrounding Mars. So that was where the
first attack would originate. When the inferno launched
itself at her, she easily dodged to the side, avoiding the
attack with ease. Almost immediately after this she saw the
other two Scouts building their power. They weren't as
fast, probably because of the joint attack they attempted.
Unfortunately for them, they gave T'Mina more than enough
time to prepare for their attack. A protective field was
around her before Jupiter's lightning reached Mercury's
bubbles. The attack dissipated itself on the shield.
T'Mina smiled at the envisionment of her victory over these
Scouts. And she spoke: "My turn."
T'Mina decided to try out one of this body's native attacks
enhanced with the power of her dark crystal. She
concentrated her energy on a small point to the right of her
head. A small symbol grew, demonstrating the immense amount
of energy held therein. She pierced the symbol with her
finger, transferring the power to her finger. Stretching
her arm forward, she attacked the Scout which had attacked
her first. Mars. T'Mina redirected the energy in her
finger forward and at Sailor Mars. She was surprised at
Mars' remarkable agility. The attack would have hit any
Scout square in the chest, but it seemed that Mars had
received some premonition of the attack and thus dodged the
brunt of it. But not all of it. T'Mina was pleased as Mars
fell- but only for a moment. A sudden crashing seemed to
permeate her mind, as though a caged animal were trying to
escape.
T'Mina almost winced at the pain in the shout.
The distraught voice of Mina retreated back to it's cage in
the possessed mind of T'Mina.
T'Mina was shaken by the encounter that had taken place
inside her head. But she didn't show it. Her mind worked
at warp-speed for a second or two as Mars' legs collapsed
beneath her, dragging the rest of her body to the floor.
What could have caused the sudden outburst of Mina's?
T'Mina's thoughts immediately went to the attack. She had
used one of the attacks native to this body, thus bringing
out the native owner of the body. T'Mina didn't want to
risk that type of confrontation again. She vowed not to use
one of Mina's attacks again. All these thoughts took place
in the space of a second, while she turned to face her next
victim...
Back to MB's Homepage