Chapter Eleven: Eclipse of Jupiter


"Who to kill first? Such a big decision."

The Omega Master smiled arrogantly and looked out over the senshi, almost giddy at the idea of this fight. More as a taunt than an idea, he looked to Eternal Sailor Moon and rubbed his hands together lightly, "Perhaps killing you in front of them will be more fun. What do you think? Kill them, or kill you?"

The look in his eyes glimmered with sincerity, so other than let this be over just that quickly a soldier stepped forward against his entrapment and accepted a waning fate, "I'm fed up with you. I'm going to step up and shut your mouth once and for all!" Dark Shadow Jupiter declared and frowned while the Omega Master faced him slowly. Having his attention now he closed his eyes and clenched his fists, his body tightening up with his brute strength. All while they watched the ring started to crack and suddenly shattered, falling to pieces at his feet. It brought a smug grin on his face and he rubbed his arms lightly while laughing a bit, "No sweat. I hope you aren't as easy to break as those rings. I need a challenge."

"I promise, you'll have more than you can handle."

"Then count me in too!" Super Sailor Jupiter yelled and stepped up next to him, pushing her arms out as well and shattering the rings just as easily as he did. With a glance over to him she smiled weakly and stood at his side, ready to defend her princess, "As long as we're together, we can't possible lose."

He kept his eyes on the Omega Master and raised his hands up slowly into his unique fighting stance but managed to smile and speak in an affectionate voice, "And people wonder why you're my girl."

He only made her smile and raise her hands up as well, looking to the Omega Master with a confident smile. The Omega Master calmly stepped down onto the floor with them and shook his head lightly, a wide smile on his face, "So, the two warriors of Jupiter decide to try their luck. The fighters are about to learn that no amount of skill can overcome my power."

"Oh, this can't be happening! Be careful!" Eternal Sailor Moon suddenly yelled out from inside the energy shield and pressed against it to watch.

Finding that very funny the Omega Master laughed and held his hands out for them to attack, "Yes, be careful." With a nod the both of them ran at him full speed and attacked, throwing kicks and punches at him in perfect rhythm with each other. As she would kick and have it dodged, she would drop down to regain her balance just as he came over the top of her with his flicking punches. And the senshi watched them, seeing how they worked together as two great fighters attacking a greater force. The one who watched closest was Super Sailor Uranus and a light smile even crossed over her lips as she did. As much as she wanted to be out there to help, she had to stay in place as a line of defense in case they were to fail. In that blaze of motion they were a flawless machine, working together to attack him with astounding speed and power. Unfortunately, all of their attempts to attack fell short as he eluded every strike with blazing speed and arrogant motions. With ease in his step he pushed away a kick and dodged a punch, then jumped back from them and laughed, "Is this all you have?" With his distance now Sailor Jupiter jumped into the air and used her Oak Revolution on him, sending the leaves of energy flying at his wicked smile. The energy, however, merely absorbed into him and made him tilt his head a bit, "Yes, give me all the energy you want."

"Down Makoto!" Shadow Jupiter's voice suddenly rang through the air and caused her to instantly roll out of the way, revealing him right behind where she was with his Swirling Storm attack ready. The massive column of energy hit the Omega Master but absorbed into him just as before. This time, however, he fired the blast back at him. Shadow Jupiter twitched at his own blast headed for him and quickly leaped out of the way. Obviously the blast had a different target as it zipped over the other senshi and hit the sphere around Sailor Moon. The blast shook the sphere harshly, but did no harm to it.

"I see the sphere is much more resilient than I thought. No matter, I will get rid of it." The Omega Master said with a smirk. The two senshi suddenly jumped in the way again and faced him once more, with more weary looks on their faces this time.

"You won't even get close."

"You'll have to get through us first."

With another arrogant laugh the Omega Master started towards them again and winked at them both, "Easier done than said."

Sailor Jupiter let out a slow breath and stood ready to fight once more, "We need a plan. Uhm, let's try combining our energy. Maybe that will be enough." Her desire to plan it out made him stop as he charged and looked at her with a blink. He could see how focused she was and he knew what she would do to save her friend. With a quick nod he gave his approval and let out a slow breath, facing her despite the fact the Omega Master was approaching them. As she did the same and started to focus her energy, a green aura started to form around them both like a sublime mist. As they lifted their hands up and placed their palms close together, bolts of electricity jumped between them and made the Omega Master come to a stop in pure curiosity.

"What's this?"

"With the power of Jupiter," The two senshi started to say in unison, their eyes closing as the bolts of electricity began to grow in power between them, "Guardian of the trees and the master of the storm, we live and die to stop evil." As their words became stronger and louder, they joined their hands together and made the aura burst into a churning storm of energy, "Jupiter Combined Power!" The glow slowly spread to the ground in front of the Omega Master and, from that pool of energy, a towering tree made of translucent crystal grew up high into the room.

The Omega Master was a bit taken by the amount of energy that was in the tree and lost a bit of his confidence, "What is that?" The branches of the tree started to glow brighter and suddenly changed into bolts of white lightning. The lightning then erupted off the tree and rained down on the Omega Master, making him cover himself with the cape and brace for the impact. A huge cloud of dust erupted up around him and shrouded his figure as the lightning shattered part of the room. The two senshi wavered a bit from the stress in their powers, then suddenly fell to their knees holding each other's hands. Then they opened their eyes to find each other, and couldn't help but smile as the success of their plan came through with Sailor Moon's cheering.

"You guys did it! Way to go!"

Shadow Jupiter tilted his head a bit and laughed, just looking into those emerald eyes weakly, "Yeah, we did it." Then something happened that would spell out the end for a senshi.

A blast of energy suddenly pierced through the dust cloud and ripped into Sailor Jupiter's back, tearing her fuku apart and making her yell out in pain. All while Shadow Jupiter watched, she fell forward into him and stared out with blank eyes, "K-K-Kage?" All he could do was kneel there and hold her, his mouth dropped open and a soundless breath leaving his lungs. He could almost feel it when she became distant, when those eyes closed and her chest fell with her last breath. The other senshi watched in horror as the Omega Master stood within the cloud of settling dust and flung his cape out to the side slightly, laughing in a cold tone.

"That was a very nice attack. I am impressed."

Shadow Jupiter slowly placed his hand to the back of his fallen lover's head and closed his eyes, leaning his head into hers lightly as the pain surged through him. The hatred was welling up inside of him and he pressed his head into hers all while speaking through his clenched teeth, "You've killed.....so many people I love. My mother, Kani.....and now Makoto. My beautiful.....beautiful Makoto." His tone lingered on her name for a moment but his anger never hid in his remorse.

The Omega Master seemed amused by it and set a hand on his hip, watching him with a smug grin, "I see you are getting angry. Good, that will make a much better fight."

Shadow Jupiter's twisted face twitched a few times, then he slowly let her body down onto the ground and carefully crossing her arms over her chest. As he rose to his feet his whole body seemed to be loose and tired, but his face was geared in fierce determination. As he faced the Omega Master his eyes slowly opened and revealed a deep green saturating everything, drowning out his pupils and making them a solid green color. The Omega Master was a bit intrigued by this and let his hands to his sides, ready for what he would dish out in his anger. With his eyes ablaze everything else about was calm and cool except for his voice as he spoke in a completely flat tone, "You're going to die for killing her.....I promise it."

"Oh? Will you be the one to end my life, Kage? How about you do it like a real warrior?" The Omega Master sneered and unsheathed Endymion's sword from his side. Even from the short distance between them he lined up the blade with the senshi's neck and made small circles with the point, challenging him with his smile, "Come on, Jupiter, you trust your skills with a blade, don't you?" The challenge was met with silence as those fierce eyes just stared a moment, not giving him and answer at all. However, his actions gave the answer as he reached his hand out horizontally and closed his hands around a line of energy before him. His eyes never left his opponent as he slowly moved his hand to the side and pulled his sword from a point of light in the air. Soon his blade was clutched in his hand and he lowered it to his side, all of his being focused on this one fight.

His choice made the others weary and Sailor Uranus leaned forward with great concern in her voice as she stared at his angry figure, "Don't be an idiot, Kage! He's a lot faster than you are! He'll cut you to pieces!"

"You can't beat him, Kage! This is exactly what he wants!"

Sailor Moon's words, coupled with his close friend's plea, still made no hesitation in his actions as he held the sword at his side, his shaking hand clenched tightly over the handle, "Me too."

"Well then, shall we get on with it?" The Omega Master suggested and held the long sword out, ready for the attack.

"Don't be stupid! He'll kill you!"

"You won't win this way, Kage." Shadow Mars said with an odd level of concern in his voice and finally showed some struggle against the ring around him. Despite all of the arguments to his choice, Shadow Jupiter remained ready to fight with his chosen weapon.

Ultimately the Omega Master charged him quickly and there was a loud clang as the two swords made contact. The ensuing sword fight was an unmatched test of Shadow Jupiter's skill. The body of Endymion, enhanced by the powers of the Omega Master, proved to exert all of his skill as he fought. The fact that he was indeed holding his own made the Omega Master look at him with a twitch. Even as fast as he was, he could ever get enough advantage to end the fight. However he finally did seem to get the advantage when he clipped Shadow Jupiter's sword from his hand with a super fast lunge. A slight pause passed as the two looked to each other and Shadow Jupiter closed his empty hand slowly. Then the Omega Master let out a light chuckle and started slashing and stabbing at him with unbelievable speed. Once again his opponent impressed him as he eluded the blade by flipping away or bounding off his hands. Shadow Jupiter did catch his sword out of the corner of his eye and made a quick dash for it. The Omega Master also saw this and charged for the same object. Just as Shadow Jupiter got there a blade came cutting through the air at his torso. In a skillful, and somewhat flashy move, he flipped over the blade and turned in the air so he faced his opponent once more. As he landed in a crouch he gripped his sword and brought it up just in time to block the end movement of Endymion's sword.

The entire thing made the Omega Master smile widely and pull his sword away slowly, "Very good." Shadow Jupiter just widened his stance once again and brought his sword up in another radical fighting stance. Then a dark idea crossed the mind of the evil one and he gave the dark one a little smirk, "Tell me Kage, who was more painful to watch die? Kani or Makoto?"

Everyone there knew what the taunt was meant to do, even Shadow Jupiter. However he still yelled out in rage and lunged forward with his sword ready to strike. The Omega Master's face widened in a smile and there was three, loud slicing sounds. Shadow Jupiter came to a stop behind him and faced at the other senshi with an odd look on his face. The others didn't exactly know what happened but the Omega Master had his back to them all and laughed lightly.

Sailor Jupiter's eyes opened to be met with Shadow Jupiter's sword falling in half and the severed piece of the blade stuck into the ground at his feet. Then the rest dropped out of his hand and made her wince as it hit the ground. Her eyes then moved up to his face and found him looking at her with a weak smile over his face. Two long slashes ran across his shirt and made the fabric hang separate from each other. Much to her horror, the places where the fabric were slashed were darker than the surrounding area and seemed to hold close to his body. All of this made her heart stop as she struggled to get up, but he never stopped smiling at her.

Then the Omega Master's smug laugh filled the air and he slowly sheathed Endymion's sword, "Well, I'm sure you have no doubt who is faster now."

Shadow Jupiter's knees suddenly hit the ground as he dropped a level lower and his chest didn't even seem to rise with breath anymore. He merely stared at his lover and smiled that smile that became more and more distant as time passed. Sailor Jupiter tried to get up to run to him but her body was still weak from the attack. The Omega Master slowly turned around to him and smiled widely, "And now.....the star seed." His eyes started to glow a bit and made Shadow Jupiter's star seed glow from inside of a black flower. Then the seed ripped from the flower and made his body jerk a bit, then those green eyes slowly drained of all of their color. While Sailor Jupiter watched breathlessly, Shadow Jupiter's hair started to fall down around his face and stopped sticking up. Then he fell to his face and didn't move again.

All of the senshi watched the first to fall and were silent in their remorse. All except for Sailor Uranus. She stared at his motionless body and clenched her teeth in anger, those eyes slowly moving to the Omega Master, "You bastard......"

The insult fell on deaf ears as the Omega Master was looking at the newly acquired star seed with a great amount of interest. It floated slight above his open hand and he looked down at it with a pleased smile, "What an incredible power....all just in this tiny seed."

"You are a monster....." Sailor Jupiter said with great emotion in her voice. The Omega Master slowly looked to her and saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. Even as her face was tight with anger, the hot tears ran down her face and fell from her chin coldly. Her weakened body didn't even bother her anymore as she stood strong and felt nearly overwhelmed at the loss that was sweeping her. Racked with bruises and cuts, she stood as if she hadn't a single blemish to hinder her duty before her, though her voice was shaky with emotion, "What kind of person would kill so coldly? You've just taken something that was precious to me. How can you be smiling? Finally, I had found someone to be in love with. Then you......you took it away from me."

Although her passionate words stirred feelings within the others, the Omega Master just looked at her idly and closed his hand around the star seed, "Yes, I did. Just as easily as I killed your lover, so will I kill you."

That brought her to her end quickly and she charged him with all her might. The fierceness of her attack rivaled that of her fallen counterpart and every ounce of her strength and energy was being channeled into her assault. Fueled by her grief, she was fighting with more power than any of the others had ever seen, though even it didn't seem to be enough.

The Omega Master was eluding the attack with ease and he watched her with a sense of perverted pleasure in his eyes, "Pathetic." Suddenly she landed a solid punch into his stomach and he hunched over from the impact. She finished it off by pivoting on her heel and spinning around once, aligning her in front of him quickly. Then she kicked back and did a back handspring, her foot catching him in the face and sending him flying onto his back. As she landed back on her feet again and readied for another attack she watched him stand up slowly and look at her with no more amusement. He narrowed his eyes at her and ran the back of his hand across his reddened cheek, "Not bad, but now it's time for you to join your beloved Kage." She growled and stood in a defensive positions but his attack came too quickly. Before she knew it he was next to her and a powerful fist was embedded in her stomach. The strike took the breath right out of her and her face reflected the strength being taken from her. Suddenly she fell to her knees before him and held her stomach with her arms, her teeth clenched and her eyes pressed closed.

Sensing another of her friends was soon for the next world, Sailor Moon pounded her fists against the sphere and cried out in a wild tone, "Makoto!"

"It was a noble attempt, but hardly worthy. At least you will be with your love again." The Omega Master's eyes started to glow again and a dark aura surrounded the fallen senshi. The energy released from her seed being exposed made Sailor Jupiter cry out and soon the Omega Master held another star seed in his hand. A proud smile crossed over him and he closed his hand around this one as well.

Before falling to the loss of her star seed, Sailor Jupiter looked weakly over to Shadow Jupiter's relaxed face and managed out one last word, "Kage...." Then she simply closed her eyes and fell to her side.

"No, Makoto!" Super Sailor Venus yelled from inside of her ring and tried to get out of her anchors. The rest of the senshi yearned to break free as well and found inspiration in the to fallen senshi. However one of the senshi found this unacceptable and looked at Shadow Mars with a guilty look on her face.

"Yamito, please let me out! I...can't stand to watch all of you die!"

Shadow Mars just stared at the two that laid there before the Omega Master but held no expression on his face. Then his attentions moved back tot he source of all the killing and twitched a bit. Super Sailor Mars watched him closely and bit her lip. She knew how much this was pulling at him as she saw it in his eyes. Like him, she knew this had to be done. Then she looked back forward as the Omega Master spoke out loud once more.

"Well then, who's next?"


Next Chapter: The Icy Cold Touch of Mercury