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Post by Sailor Mercury on Dec 1, 2006 6:03:37 GMT -5
Sailor Earth nodded, feeling slightly choked up. She didn’t know Sailor Pluto all that well, but the thought of the other Senshi sacrificing her life in such a way was causing deep sadness inside the Illyria part of her mind.
Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Mercury and Mars, who disappeared seconds later in their little hiding spot. She realised they had no idea what was about to come, but it was the only way. She looked up at Sailor Pluto. “See you in the next life…” she said quietly, reaching for the Time Senshi’s hand and giving it a quick squeeze before letting go again. She turned away, preparing to make a run towards Umitaro the moment she had the chance. “All right. Let’s do this then…”
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Post by Zyppora on Dec 1, 2006 7:42:53 GMT -5
Sailor Pluto nodded, feeling the squeeze Sailor Earth gave her. It felt comforting. She mentally pushed the emotions from her mind and switched into duty mode. "Right." She noticed Veridian rigging herself for a sprint, probably to get the Caduceus. Pluto smirked to herself. 'She won't stand a chance.' She thought to herself as she mentally went over the procedure of the taboo she was about to break. She jammed the lower end of her Garnet Staff into the ground, looking at the red orb at the top of it. "Time Stop!" She yelled. After that, everything became silent.
Around Sailor Earth, everything stopped. It became so still it was like she had entered a three-dimensional painting. Everything was real, and yet it was frozen in time. She heard a weak, whispered 'goodbye' coming from Sailor Pluto's direction, but when looking in her direction, the Senshi of Time had disappeared. Next to her, Veridian was also frozen in time, still standing ready to bolt in Umitaro's direction. It was now or never, and basically never meant Sailor Pluto died in vain, and that was not an option.
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Post by Sailor Mercury on Dec 1, 2006 7:50:06 GMT -5
Sailor Earth took a deep breath and sprinted towards Umitaro, wrapping her hands around the Caduceus and pulling at it with all her might. Pluto had been right, it wasn’t an easy task, but she couldn’t afford to give up – it just wasn’t on the cards.
Harder and harder she pulled, fuelling herself with every bit of power she could muster, using emotions to aide her. She had to do it, she had to in order to save Sailor Uranus, to stop Umitaro, to save Tokyo and the world. She had to do it in order to see her friends again. In order to see her father and Ross again.
Images of the latter stayed in her mind, giving her the strength to finally wrench the Caduceus free of Umitaro’s iron cast grip. She had no time to lose, running back to where Veridian was standing stock still. Something in her mind told her to keep running though, so she did, in the direction Neptune, Saturn and Uranus had gone in. Saving Uranus had suddenly become her first port of call. She needed all the power she could get.
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Post by Zyppora on Dec 1, 2006 8:06:32 GMT -5
As if a blast wave hit her, the wind started blowing again, and the sounds of the world around Sailor Earth came back. Veridian made a first quick step, but realized that it was already too late. Umitaro no longer had the Caduceus in his hands. It took her the better part of a second to conclude that the time stop command had passed, and that she had been left out. She cursed silently. She needed that staff. She heard footsteps behind her, quick ones. She turned to see Sailor Earth running away from her with the Caduceus in her hands. Sailor Pluto was nowhere to be found.
Umitaro instantly grabbed the hand that held the Caduceus with his other. The staff of Hermes had been wrenched out of his hands and had left him in pain. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he knew for a fact that he had lost the Caduceus. He saw Sailor Earth running off with it. This enraged him. 'How did that blasted drywalker get my staff so fast?' He didn't ponder for too long over it, as he rapidly built up an Aqua Mirage and threw it at her. The blast hit the ground right behind her, freezing her from her knees down to the pavement in a thick layer of ice. "Witch! Give me back my staff!" He yelled out at her. Playtime was over.
---
Tarda was glaring down at Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus. They'd found out where she was hiding and were now confronting her. She couldn't help her husband anymore. Her first priority at this moment was herself. They were in the remains of a large building that had somehow survived the monsterwave that destroyed most of the area. The second floor of the building had proved to be a strategic location for support of her ally on the battlefield, but it had little escape possibilities, and with Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus blocking the way out, she was pretty much trapped. Trapped, but definately not helpless.
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Post by Sailor Mercury on Dec 1, 2006 8:18:13 GMT -5
“You won’t get away,” Jupiter called to the Atlantean.
“Why don’t you just give up with all this?” Venus put in, holding her ground. “There’s no point anymore!”
***
Sailor Earth gritted her teeth, the Caduceus in one hand and her own scythe in the other. She was frozen in place, but not for long, not when she had more important things to deal with. She was just about to use her own method of melting the ice when it suddenly started to without warning, following an obvious move from Sailor Mars who had acted swiftly.
With her legs free, Sailor Earth span around to face Umitaro. “There is no way you’re getting this back,” she said, a snarl in her tone. “Now I suggest you stay the hell back, unless you want me to cast the same curse on you that you cast on Sailor Uranus…”
Threat made, she looked over at Veridian. “Now’s your chance, he’s unarmed,” she said, then turned on her heel and took off again, this time managing to disappear from view completely. She saw Mars and Mercury on the way and gestured with her head for them to follow her, and Mercury raced ahead in order to lead them to where she'd frozen Uranus in place.
Sailor Earth didn't even look back. She didn't have the time to anymore. She had what she needed and she wasn't about to let go.
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Post by Zyppora on Dec 1, 2006 8:49:45 GMT -5
Veridian smirked as she turned back to Umitaro, who now jumped down from the rubble he stood upon to face the created Atlantean. Initially he did so in order to chase after the Caduceus, but he knew for a fact that Veridian would never let him even so much as come close to Sailor Earth. He'd have to take her down in order to get to Sailor Earth. He heard Sailor Earth's threat, but disregarded it completely. She didn't know how to summon the curse anyway. It was an advanced spell, and required a lot of energy. But his bout was with Veridian right now.
Veridian was ready for battle. She had always been, even before she was killed. Never had her guard wavered, never had she been on duty and slipped. She was easily one of the best generals Atlantis had ever had. And now that her emotions had been taken away from her, she had become a ruthless machine on a mission. Her main objective was pretty clear: to kill Umitaro. The reason was that Umitaro was a threat to Sailor Earth, and therefore indirectly to her. Self-preservation was a requirement for the very basics of life and she wouldn't discard it. Her secondary objective was getting back the Caduceus. Her pearl needed to get fixed, and though she wasn't sure the staff of Hermes had the power to do so, she figured it was well worth the try. She smirked, focusing on the battle that was sure to break loose any second now.
The two stood facing each other silently, both smirking, their facial expressions evident of their selfconfidence. Both were very skilled warriors. Veridian had the advantage of being liquid, Umitaro had the advantage of throwing ice attacks. Hell was about to freeze over and as a piece of rubble broke down from a rooftop, it hit the floor and shattered, the sound triggering the two Atlantean beasts to charge each other.
---
Sailor Uranus was breaking down the ice around her feet, it being the last of what had once encapsulated her completely. Sailor Mercury's attacks had caught her offguard and it royally pissed her off. And now that she was finally done breaking the ice down around her, she turned to see Sailor Earth holding the Caduceus. At first it didn't phase her, and she was about to search for Sailor Neptune and Sailor Saturn again, but when she couldn't find them visually, she focused on Sailor Earth again. If she had to kill someone, Sailor Earth was better than no Sailor Neptune and no Sailor Saturn. She readied herself for a World Shaking.
---
Tarda shook her head. "You just don't understand, do you?" She stretched her hands at them in a pushing motion, a shield blinking into existence and throwing both Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus back into the walls behind them quite roughly. The shield disappeared again and allowed the two Senshi to slide to the floor. "The dry land will belong to us. Fighting us will only lead to delaying the inevitable and your premature demises. I'm sorry it has to be this way." She said, truly feeling sorry for the Sailor Senshi who had helped her when she was wounded. However, they were still enemies. They could have killed her when she was injured. When she was under their supervision. Just like she could have killed Illyria when she was under her supervision as a captive in Waterlilly.
But now the time for being nice was pretty much past. Umitaro had personally entered the battlefield and she, as his number one general, was there to support him, as was expected from her. As she chose to be. She wouldn't like killing the Imperial Guard, but she would if she had to. She had become a true soldier over the course of decennia and it showed. She could shut down her emotional circuits at will and perform any duty commanded, no matter how immoral.
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Post by Sailor Mercury on Dec 1, 2006 8:58:44 GMT -5
Jupiter steadied herself first, holding her fists up in front of her face. “It doesn’t have to be like this! Can’t you see?”
“We can live here together in harmony,” Venus added, imitating Jupiter’s action in preparation to throw a double attack if necessary. “There doesn’t need to be any bloodshed or pain, why can’t you see it like that?”
***
Sailor Earth could see the look in Uranus’s eyes. She didn’t like it one bit. Handing her scythe to Mars, she held up the Caduceus and glanced at Mercury who was busy scanning things with her visor and mini computer. “What do I do?”
Mercury wasted no time, finding the answer much quicker than expected. “It’s easier than you think, Sailor Earth. Just look into your mind, it’s all there,”
“What…” Sailor Earth frowned, but there was no time to argue. Confused as she was, she did as Mercury instructed. Slowly she held up the staff and aimed it at Uranus. “I hope this works…”
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Post by Zyppora on Dec 5, 2006 7:30:53 GMT -5
But it didn't work. No matter how hard Sailor Earth tried to use the Caduceus, no matter how much she wanted to, the Caduceus would defect against her. It would remain a useless staff, too stubborn to even exert as much as a simple firecracker in Sailor Earth's hands.
Sailor Uranus watched for a moment, focusing on the Caduceus. She'd seen it before, but for the love of God couldn't figure out where. Her mind was still clouded by the curse. Her eyes moved minutely and focused on Sailor Earth. She summoned a World Shaking rapidly and threw it at the Sailor Senshi holding the sacred staff.
---
Tarda just shook her head. "If you want to prevent bloodshed and pain, then step aside. We've told you this before: drowning is a quick and painless death that needs no bloodshed. You are the ones causing it. Things would have gone a lot smoother if you had just stood aside. But alas." She threw her hands up and took on a defensive position. "If it is a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get. And trust me: you won't win it."
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Post by Sailor Earth on Dec 5, 2006 16:57:55 GMT -5
“Yes we will,” Jupiter snapped back. “We’re not causing this bloodshed, look at all the mess you’ve caused!” she gestured around at all the fallen buildings. “We didn’t do this, you did.”
“We don’t want a fight,” Venus said earnestly. “We just want to stop this. But we don’t want it to end so badly. Surely as a mother you could understand? Thousands of innocent lives are at stake if you continue on this path, and that means thousands of children will perish, and thousands of mothers will be destroyed because of it. You were devastated at losing your son, and Sailor Earth restored his life out of the good will of her heart, and this is the way you repay her? How can you possibly live with yourself knowing that?!”
***
Sailor Earth managed to leap out of the attack’s path just in time, watching as it sailed passed her and crashed into the remains of a building. “Aah jeez, what the hell am I doing wrong?!” she exclaimed, holding up the staff and glaring at it angrily.
“Give it to me,” Mercury commanded, holding out her hand. “I’ll try…”
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Post by Zyppora on Dec 6, 2006 7:16:18 GMT -5
The moment Sailor Mercury touched the Caduceus, she could feel its enormous power floating into her hand. It was as if she had touched something and made it come to life. It gave her a warm, tingling feeling that spread from her hand through her arm and into the rest of her body. But it also gave her knowledge. Thinking back on it, it only made sense, as Hermes was the protector deity of travelers, who often were the source of information. It was why her tactics were analysis and information gathering. The Caduceus, however, gave her a whole new range of abilities.
Sailor Uranus didn't feel like stopping at just one attack. She felt like she was being poked and aggravated from all sides at once, like thousands of needles were stabbing into her continuously. She needed to stay on the ball. As long as she was throwing around as much energy as possible, she'd be okay. She focused on the two Sailor Senshi facing her, glaring dangerously. She drew her Space Sword and made a grand slashing motion with it, allowing a Space Sword Blaster to emerge and speed at her foes.
---
Tarda shook her head, figuring there was no point in talking to Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter. "I'm here for the survival of my race. Not for trying to keep the casualties down. There are things much worse than death." It was all she said before she cast a shield around her, glaring at the Senshi. The shield began to expand, and it hit the closest wall behind her, pushing it outwards and breaking it. "You will not interfere." She said as the roof began to crack under the pressure of the shield.
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Post by Sailor Earth on Dec 6, 2006 7:21:52 GMT -5
“This is useless…” Venus muttered, shaking her head. “What the hell are we going to do?”
Jupiter set her jaw firmly. “Leave it. I want to see what’s happening with the others.” She replied tersely, turning on her heel and taking off out of the rubble with Venus following closely behind.
***
Mercury wasted no time, leaping out of the way of the new attack and aiming the Caduceus at Uranus. Sailor Earth and Mars watched in fascination as the blue clad Senshi twirled the staff around in her hands before pointing it at Uranus and sending a wave of power towards her, hitting her dead on.
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Post by Zyppora on Dec 6, 2006 7:29:54 GMT -5
Sailor Uranus got hit by the beam without much impact. She shook her head a bit, before she became highly disoriented and fell over, losing her balance. It took her awhile to come back to her senses and when she did, she looked around, quickly getting back to her feet. Being on the ground was a strategically very unwanted position. She had no clue what happened though. She was back on the cold, cracked blacktop within seconds. She'd blown so much energy during the curse and getting up instantly gave her such a blood rush that her brain couldn't handle it anymore. She slowly sat up, feeling pretty much exhausted and empty. She then noticed her comrades. She smiled at them, a bit apologetically. "Hey guys ... how's it going?" She asked weakly.
---
Tarda dropped the shield, allowing several chunks of ceiling to come down. She was careful not to get hit by any of them though. She was smiling. Now that the focus was off her again, she could go back to supporting Prince Umitaro. And that was the whole reason she was on the scene. She moved to the nearest window, if one could still call it that. She watched as Veridian and Umitaro was pretty much stuck in an all-out battle. 'Where's the Caduceus?' She wondered.
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Post by Sailor Earth on Dec 6, 2006 7:43:05 GMT -5
Sailor Mercury lowered the staff and handed it to Sailor Earth, kneeling down next to Uranus. “Uh… we’ll tell you later,” she said quietly, inspecting the other Senshi closely. “You’ll be fine now though, just take it easy,”
“Wow… looks like you had the power, Merc,” Sailor Earth murmured, staring down at the staff. “I guess it figures though,”
Sailor Mars was tapping into her communicator, contacting Neptune and Saturn to let them know what had happened. They were on their way back.
Mercury stood up again, and Sailor Earth gave her back the staff. “I think it’s better if you take care of this one,” the Earth Senshi said quietly.
Mars lowered her wrist and looked at the group. “What happens now?”
“Guys!” Jupiter’s voice called out as she and Venus raced towards them. “We have a problem. Tarda’s the one helping Umitaro!”
“And she won’t listen to reason!” Venus put in, panting slightly as they stopped by the others. She looked down at Uranus. “What happened here?”
Sailor Earth arched her eyebrow. “We’ll explain it later. We’ve got other things to think about though, like how we’re going to stop Umitaro and Tarda. Veridian’s got him cornered right now, but I don’t know how much longer that will keep up,”
Mars pointed at the Caduceus. “Maybe that’s the key…?”
The others all looked at Sailor Mercury, who was blushing slightly.
“Yep, I think you could be right, Mars,” Sailor Earth said quietly. “Looks like you’re it, Merc…”
“Me?” Mercury’s eyes widened.
“Well apart from Umitaro, you’re the only one who can use that thing, so we’re not left with many other options,” Mars replied with a shrug.
“Ooh…” Mercury bit her lip. She knew they were right. She was just feeling rather uneasy about the whole thing. She glanced up as Neptune and Saturn emerged, and Neptune made a beeline straight for Uranus, grabbing her in a tight hug.
The crew was all together, minus Sailor Moon. So, as Mars had put it, what happened now…?
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Post by Zyppora on Dec 6, 2006 8:02:03 GMT -5
"I think I'll sit this one out guys." Sailor Uranus spoke, obviously pleased to see Sailor Neptune and Saturn again, but still sounding quite disappointed. "I don't think I can be of much help right now."
---
Veridian glared as her battle with Umitaro reached yet another dead point, resulting in the two staring each other down, taking a quick breath and then going back into battle head-on. Things weren't looking good. Her pearl was hurting badly right now, and Umitaro throwing ice attacks wasn't exactly a picknick in the park either. She had to come up with a tactic and fast. There had to be a way to take this guy down. She'd been able to take down General Kitakawa in his liquid form, what could possibly be so hard about Umitaro in his flesh-and-blood form?! She cursed to herself, but didn't let her opponent notice her frustration.
It was at that point that a faint blue shield appeared around Umitaro again. Veridian blinked and her anger grew as she realized the Sailor Senshi were NOT doing their jobs. 'So much for relying on them.' She decided to take more drastic measures. If Umitaro was being supported by an Atlantean, then that Atlantean would have to be somewhere close. Casting a shield like that could only be done by General Tarda. It was simply too powerful to be anyone else's. And Tarda wasn't stupid. She had a decent set of brains. How else could Veridian lose the one she loved over her?
Tarda would always pick a strategic spot to hide and shoot. Somewhere inside the buildings, mostly out of sight. She wouldn't pick the rooftop as it's plain open. Any airborn enemy would spot her easily. Not somewhere in the rubble either. It gave no support from stray attacks. One of the buildings. There were only a few left. Three, four, and a fifth and sixth behind her. All two-story buildings. One of them used to be a four-story building, but the top two levels had collapsed. First or second floor. Which building, which floor?
She was about to call for water when she realized that that would have also been provided by the Sailor Senshi. There wasn't much she could do without water though. She needed it.
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Post by Sailor Earth on Dec 6, 2006 8:11:54 GMT -5
“All right, plan of action time, then,” Sailor Earth said, taking command. “Sailor Mercury needs to keep that staff on her at all times. We can’t let Umitaro get it back, all right? But first things first,” she turned to Jupiter and Venus. “You two, you know where Tarda is. Go back and keep distracting her,”
They nodded and did as instructed.
Sailor Earth then looked over at Neptune and Saturn. “Take Uranus back to Sailor Moon and the others, and keep an eye on her there. We’ll call you if we need any back up. Let Sailor Moon know what’s happening, and tell my dad and Ross that I’m all right, they don’t need to worry,”
The trio nodded and began to head off in the other direction.
“Where do you want us?” Mars asked, looking at the Earth Senshi with an expression of admiration. It was about time someone took charge.
“I want you both with me. Veridian might need our help. But Mercury,” Sailor Earth looked at the shorter Senshi. “I want you to lay low, and keep that thing hidden. As far as Umitaro is aware, he probably thinks I have it still. Be ready to use it whenever you need to,”
Mercury nodded. “All right…”
Sailor Earth glanced at them both. “This won’t necessarily be fun, but it’s all I’ve got to go on for now. So I guess it’s time for some improvisation, right?”
“If we have to take orders from anyone, I’m glad it’s you,” Mars replied with a smirk.
Sailor Earth returned the twisted smile. “Heh. Thanks. Hopefully that comment won’t come back to bite you. Right. Let’s go!”
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