Chapter Twelve: The Ice Cold Touch of Mercury



The bodies of the two senshi who had fallen laid near each other while the senshi looked on in terror. While the Omega Master watched, the two faded away into small sparkles of light that momentarily lit up the dark room. Emotions began to run high as the finality of it settled and the forces for good were soon lessened by two.

A soft laugh came from the Omega Master as he turned to the rest of the senshi, "Well, I guess we know now mere strength cannot defeat me." Although painful, his words ran true and they all stared at him with seething anger in them. However, his attentions lingered on his form's bitter rival, "Well Yamito, do you think Sentaku would have sacrificed his friends for her?" His words were certainly meant to shake the confidence of the leader but his expression never changed. It was obvious he had expected this but it still didn't take the grief from his eyes. It was then that Eternal Sailor Moon got everyone's attentions when she called out passionately from inside of the sphere.

"Please, let me out, Yamito! Nobody else has to die!" She pleaded and curled her fingers tightly against the wall of the sphere. Dark Shadow Mars never looked away to her and kept his eyes on the Omega Master. Super Sailor Mars was quietly watching him from her place at his side and could see the storm brewing in his dark eyes. Still, she never opened her mouth to say something to him.

"Now that I think about it, this is far more amusing than just killing you all together. Making you all watch your friends die right before you is quite gratifying." The Omega Master said sadistically and set his hand lightly on the hilt of Endymion's sword. A small smile formed in the corner of his mouth and his eyes fell upon those he wanted to face next, "If strength cannot do it, perhaps brains can. Do the senshi from Mercury think their brains can prove more effective than brawn?"

Super Sailor Mercury blinked a few times as she looked to him and took in a sharp breath. A step behind her Dark Shadow Mercury looked up to him as well and he whispered quietly to his counterpart, "Stay calm. We can do this." The rings around their bodies faded away and the two stood apart from the others. Although she did look a bit more confident, she knew as well as he did that their odds were less than favorable. Again his soft voice proved to calm her again, "You see about freeing the others. I will distract him long enough for you to do so." That idea made her look at him with deep concerns brewing in her blue eyes. For the first time that she could remember, his face became bright and he touched her arm lightly, "I knew you would look at me like that. I know you are worried, but we stand a much better chance with the others."

Although it did little to put her concerns to rest, she knew he was right and nodded to him once, "Okay, but be very careful. Please don't.....don't...."

"I'll still be here when you free them." The look on his face did finally make her smile a bit and she soon went back to the others to find a way to free them. Shadow Mercury just walked out in front of the Omega Master and clenched his fist around a forming triad, "Very well, let's end this."

Sailor Mercury held her hand to the side of her head and her visor appeared on it. She started to scan the others to see if she could somehow break the rings but the Omega Master looked right past Shadow Mercury to her and frowned, "I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that!" Black surges of energy coursed over his hands and he started to make a move to stop her from doing what she was doing. However Shadow Mercury wasn't about to let her fall victim to his power and made his move in advance.

The triad was soon flying through the towards the Omega Master and Shadow Mercury quickly recovered from the throw with blue energy dancing over his hands. In the same movement, he throws his hands to the side and blasted two streams of energy out to the sides of him, "Glacial Deception!" Then he continued his plan by charging straight the Omega Master. The Omega Master was taken back by the assault and narrowed his eyes, knowing of all them were headed for him. Then, he countered the move.

Quickly he ducked a bit and thrusted his hand up into the air, sending the triad flying up through the hole in the ceiling. At the same time he lunged forward just as the two blasts hit each other where he was just standing and came charging right at Shadow Mercury. That made Shadow Mercury wince a bit at that but the Omega Master just sneered as they came close. Although he knew his physical attacks would pale in comparison to those before him, Shadow Mercury tightened up in anticipation of giving Sailor Mercury more time. As they two came face to face, the Omega Master just skimmed right off the Shadow senshi's strike and sailed past him. Instead of stopping to fight though, he sped right past his tensed up foe.

It was then Shadow Mercury realized what his true target was, "Ami!" He came skidding to a stop and looked back at her with wide eyes. Then, knowing his teleporting skills were sealed by the Omega Master, he turned back and sprinted to catch him before he could get to her.

Sailor Mercury's face was tight as she concentrated on the task at hand. The rings that trapped the other senshi seemed to confuse her computer and she was furiously tapping into it. Sailor Mars was eager waiting for an idea and watched her typing, so both of them were oblivious to the force headed towards them. However, it was Sailor Mars who saw him first.

"Mercury!"

Those blue eyes filled with the reflection of the Omega Master as she turned to him in terror, his hands flooded with a dark energy and a wide grin on his face as he got ready to strike her. Before she could meet her end, Shadow Mercury caught up to him from behind and grappled with him from the back, holding his arms back from being able to hurt her. Although the dark energy was channeling into him and making one of his eyes close in pain, he yelled out to her and tried to manhandle the Omega Master.

"Run, Ami run!"

Although it was her first instinct, she saw how he was taking the energy and how it was hurting him. With a determined frown she shook her head and made her visor disappear from her head, "No! I won't leave you!" Suddenly the Omega Master reached back and grabbed Shadow Mercury's shirt, flinging him over his shoulder soon after. Right as he does though, Sailor Mercury used her Aqua Rhapsody attack on him point blank. The Omega Master took the blast right in his chest and went skidding on his feet backwards. As the blast lost its energy, he stopped skidding about twenty feet from her and looked up slowly. Her eyes were locked on Shadow Mercury as she helped him up to his feet, "Are you okay?" His hand was momentarily in hers and he looked at it, lingering a bit before he stood up fully. Then he rose to his feet and gave her a quick nod, his icy blue eyes wandering to the Omega Master. She did the same and frowned as she looked over his familiar face, "I don't think he'll let me free the others."

"It seems we may have to defeat him then. The others had a good idea in combining our energy. Perhaps he is weak enough for us to get him that way."

"Right."

The two senshi faced each other and raised their hands up, their palms touching lightly and a blue aura covered them both. The temperature seemed to drop in the entire room and the other senshi looked on intently. The Omega Master, however, seemed annoyed this time, "Well, this should be interesting."

"With the power of guardian Mercury, messenger of ice and supplier of swift, final justice..." The began and a cold wind blew all around them, "Let those who sin against the weak be rinsed clean with ice and water." Suddenly the blue aura swirled around them like a cyclone and started to gather at the feet of the Omega Master. The glow became a pool of clear water that instantly changed to ice and sealed the Omega Master's legs in place.

"What are you....."He started and looked down to his feet quickly. The energy didn't give him a chance to finish as it ran up the length of his body and froze him solid. His expression was captured perfectly but the attack didn't end there. Now the energy swirled around his frozen figure and came a point above him, slowly turning into a massive swirl of water. The water then crashed down on top of the ice shard and shattered the ice into a pile of blocks. There was no sign of the Omega Master once again but this time the senshi weren't so quick to claim victory. The two senshi from Mercury just fell forward into each other weakly and tried to regain their energy.

"Did they....do it?" Sailor Moon asked and looked all around the ice blocks for a sign of her beloved.

Her question was answered with a voice from a forming shadow among the blocks, 'Not even close." The Omega Master emerged out from the shadow and brushes some ice from his shoulder.

"That's impossible!" Sailor Neptune yelled and stared in disbelief. The two senshi of Mercury looked slowly over to see that they hadn't even scratched him. It all just seemed to amuse the Omega Master.

"Well, it was a unique attack but nothing more than a cold breeze to me. Now it's time for me to show you what real cold is." A blue glow surrounded his extended hand and suddenly a beam struck the two's legs, freezing them slowly. Both of them yelped in pain and watched the ice slowly move up their legs. The rest of the senshi protested loudly but the two seemed doomed. Sailor Mercury clenched her teeth from the coldness and looked to her counterpart in terror.

"Kurai, what can we do?"

A look of defeat was lingering on his face and he looked to her with dim eyes, "I'm afraid I only have one last idea." His eyes slowly moved to the hole in the ceiling and a sublime glow filled them. The Omega Master was laughing softly as he watched the ice go up their legs and neglected to hear the slight whistling sound approaching. Suddenly a shining object sparkled a bit in the darkness of the hole in the ceiling and seemed to get bigger.

Suddenly the triad came whirling back through and flew by the Omega Master. As it did one of the blades sliced the Omega Master's glowing arm and he pulled it back with a yelp. The triad came back into Shadow Mercury's hand as the ice stopped growing up their legs.

The Omega Master narrowed his eyes and he glared at them with anger now in his eyes, "How dare you blemish my new body."

Shadow Mercury looked at Sailor Mercury and gripped his triad tightly, knowing it was his last resort to save them both, "This is all I can do for us, Ami-chan." She seemed to understand and she looked at him and nodded once. With a flick of the wrist the triad sped towards the Omega Master but a smirk crossed his face. In a blur of motion he reached his hand up and grabbed the triad out of the air. Shadow Mercury stared in disbelief and tried to move but his legs were still frozen.

"Do you know how sick I am of this thing?" The Omega Master asked and tightened his hand around it. With a squeeze from his hand, the triad shattered just as easily as any glass window and fell to the ground. A wide grin of victory spread over the Omega Master's face once more, "Now, say goodnight."

As the glow started around their legs once more and the ice spread, Sailor Moon watched with wild emotions and pressed against the sphere, "Ami! Kurai! No!"

"Urgh, we've got to...stop this!" Sailor Venus said and tried to break free. Her counterpart was just staring at Shadow Mars with clenched teeth. As much as he knew his friend had prepared for this, he still couldn't see how he could be so calm about it.

Shadow Mercury closed his eyes as the ice started to freeze his chest. His intelligence had fallen short of saving his love and he slowly opened his eyes once more to look at her, "I'm....s-s-sorry, Ami-chan." His voice shook from the cold and she just pressed her head into his tightly. He did much the same and the two suddenly became frozen together in a pained embrace. The two senshi met their end in each other's arms and made for a touching scene through the crystal clear ice.

"No...." Sailor Moon whispered quietly and fell to her knees, looking at them both in terror.

"All we need now is a very large glass of iced tea." The Omega Master mused and laughed at his own demented joke. The rest of them growled at him and he raised his hand up once again, "Now the star seeds....slightly chilled." Two objects glowed from inside the ice as Sailor Mercury's and Shadow Mercury's star seed floated into his hand. It brought a new level of satisfaction on the Omega Master's face and he eyed the seeds with growing anticipation, "Four down, eight to go."


Next Chapter: All You Need is Love