FicWad

Chapter 24



While in the time streams, Mask asked, "Where are we going to land? I mean, we just can't drop right in on Tokyo Tower."

"We're dropping in on where we left," said Pluto, "Everyone, be ready to fight, because we'll have a bit of a trek to get to the tower."

Indeed, it would several blocks before they could get there, and they only hoped that they could arrive in time before the girls tried to escape, which was when the future Jupiter said that they would get picked off. Once they landed, there were about three youma there, and instantly they attacked. "We can't kill them!" shouted Mask, but Uranus said, "Once we get the crystal to Moon, that won't be an issue. They'll all come back-show no restraint!"

Immediately, the youma realized that they were outclassed as they were blasted out of the way. Ceres then said, "Use the alleys and side streets to conceal the movements!"

Quickly, they were off, but they were surprised at the speed and agility with which V was moving her way along. She was up on the ledges, using the point of elevation to her advantage. As they went, they were able to evade most of the youma, but they did have to strike at one here and there. Unfortunately, the sounds of the fighting attracted several, and so they had to duck out from time to time to avoid a huge fight they could not upkeep.



At the tower, Lin-Lin was hoping for some reports from the few human cronies that she had working for her in the whereabouts of the remaining scouts that could foil things, but nothing was coming through. She felt that she needed to be there to keep the operation going, but for some reason she felt vulnerable. She then asked the few there, "Where would be the best place to execute these people for all of Japan to see?"



The tower loomed large in the picture now, and the number of youma was becoming more and more, and greater than what they could handle. They just figured that they would try to sneak across, and use some of the smashed vehicles in the large space leading up to the tower for cover. Slowly but carefully, they made their way up, bit by bit, hoping not to be discovered. However, they only got halfway across when an alarm sounded at the base of the tower where Lin-Lin was waiting. When she heard it, she turned on the monitors that led to security cameras sweeping the area, and saw the advance of the Outer Scouts and Co. Right away she got on a loud speaker and said, "Don't loose them yet, we have afew more that we can add to the execution show."

She then gave the command for the youma to go get them, and that was all that Moon, Mars, and Mercury were waiting for. Indeed they had been untied for better positioning, but before they could be restrained, they broke loose. Moon's scepter was gone, but as deadly as her tiara was now, she still had agood weapon, along with the cutlass. She knew it was good for the Bismarck Attack, but she wondered what it could to by itself. She would have to find out. At this point, they should have been overwhelmed, but because of the addition of the other group, it took some youma away from the security of the girls, and left them with a much easier position in resistance. Essentially, the presence of the others now was preventing the future from which the others returned.



Meanwhile, the others were giving it all they had, but it looked like they were going to get overwhelmed. That was when four sets of eyes that went into hiding once the first youmas appeared, (and thus prevented them from being transformed,) were now watching them. In fact, when Luna and Artemis discovered them when they too hid, they suddenly realized that they could be recruited. Artemis was skeptical, considering how their maturity levels were such that they may not be able to work together, but Luna assured him that, if she could work with Usagi, he could work with them. "But they are not scouts!"insisted Artemis, but Luna smiled like she knew something about which he did not. "Aha!" she said, "But you see, they have a past I recently discovered, and a past that the Dead Moon Circus did all they could to erase when they caught and corrupted the four."

"Wait," said Artemis, "I think I remember...you don't mean..."

"Yep," said Luna, "And if it works out right, they will have a great future."



At the apartment where they lived, the Amazoness Quartet hunkered down below the windows hoping to evade detection. PallaPalla was in tears, saying,"PallaPalla hates this! PallaPalla says make it go away!"

VesVes said, "Shut up, you little crybaby! That isn't helping anything."

CreCre then said, "Hey, ease off her! It's not like I could blame her a whole lot!"

JunJun followed that with, "She still needs to be tough."

At the door came a scratching and meowing, and JunJun crawled over, cracked the door, and then let the cats in, saying, "Well, looks like you two got away too."

PallaPalla's eyes went wide, and she screamed, "Pretty purple kitty-PallaPalla needs a hug!"

With lightning speed she snatched up the cat and gave it a mighty hug. "Why is kitty not purring?" she then asked as Luna was now fighting for air. It was then that CreCre recognized the moon emblem on the cats' heads and said, "Hey, that's Luna and Artemis-what's going on?"

PallaPalla finally released her death grip on the cat and Luna, (after recapturing her breath,) said to them, "What's going on is all of yours lucky day!"

They all looked at her funny, but she began to explain.



She then gave the story about the Old Moon Kingdom, and how they had been the personal guard to Princess Serenity in the same way that Endymion had his four personal guards. When it all came down, they were put to sleep as well, but for some reason, they awoke far from society, lost somewhere on the earth, completely unaware of what they truly were. It was then that they were found by the Dead Moon Circus, corrupted, and turned evil. If it was not for the valiant efforts of the Scouts, they would have been lost forever. However, because they had been scouts, it was now time for them to awaken again. They all looked in amazement at her statements, and then PallaPalla said, "Hurray! Now, PallaPalla can be brave!"

VesVes just rolled her eyes and said, "You really think we can do something?"

"All we have to do is bring back your old forms, and you should remember what to do," said Luna. With that, she did a flip, and four pens appeared in their hands. Luna then said, "Now lift them up and say, 'ASTEROID SHENSHI-MAKE UP!'"

When they did this, they all transformed, and they were all wearing their normal hairdos, but now they were dressed in the same manner that the Sailor Scouts were at the first: PallaPalla in blue trim, CreCre in pink, JunJun in green, and VesVes in pink."

"Asteroid Scouts?" asked Artemis, "But I thought the Marine Scouts had the asteroids?"

"They were named for the four largest asteroids in the belt before the corps formed," said Luna, "Remember: the Silver Crystal greatly lengthened the lives of the scouts, so they were there to see the corps formation. They are actually called Sailor Pallas, Sailor Juno, Sailor Vesta, and Sailor Ceres."

"That must have been confusing, considering Marine Ceres," said Artemis, but Luna said, "They called him 'Gunny,' so that allowed us to tell the difference. Anyway, here they are!"

To a certain extent, their memories were coming back, and they said, "So, now what?"

"Come with us," said Luna, "We have to save the others!"



As soon as they were outside, they saw the youma ready to strike, but Sailor Ceres shouted, "CREEPING VINE," and a flowery vine entangled the one in front of her. Sailor Pallas screamed and ran as she was then consequently chased by the youma on her. She then called, "BOWLING BALL ATTACK," and out of sheer terror, she stared flinging energy balls about the size of bowling balls down the walk. The youma tripped over the first one, and then was vaporized on the ones behind it as it fell on them. Sailor Vesta was more of the kamikaze-minded one as she charged her target, and rolled under its swinging arms. She then noticed the flocks of gulls that were hiding from the fray, but waiting for things to finish up so they could eat the scraps. She then raised her arms, and they stood up stiffly. She then spun her arms, and then thrust her hands upwards at an angle, palms up, and they all began to attack the youma. For that one, the end would be slow. Sailor Juno, however, had no attack like that, but she really didn't need one. Her acrobatic skills kept the youma busy, and caused it to inflict damage to itself as it ran into walls, fell on the ground, and then it just dropped from sheer exhaustion. Once that was done, they were shocked that they could fight like that. They knew they were good from their past with the circus, but they never thought it could have been like that! Luna then said, "Come on, we have people to rescue. (This was the next deviation from the future they saw, because this did happen, but they had shown up too late to do anything, and they were subsequently destroyed as well. This would now change with the return of the other team.)



Now they sat watching as they saw Gunny, (Ceres,) Mask, Chibi Moon, V, and the Outer Scouts pinned down and in trouble. The youma looked like they were closing in for the kill when vines came out of everywhere and entangled many of their foes. This was followed up by a massive pigeon attack, and a bunch of energy balls which knocked them flat. They stood up to see the Amazoness Quartet approaching, and Sailor Pallas said, "PallaPalla is not scared anymore! Hi, Chibi Moon!" waving profusely. Sailor Ceres then said, "Alright girls, close ranks on Chibi Moon. She's the new princess, and we have to make sure she stays safe!"

They all closed in on her and the group then moved in.



At the tower, the three there were working in concert, using their newer attacks to great effect. Mercury then said, "We should get to the top of the tower and try to reverse the effect of the beam if we can."

The others agreed and decided to head up. However, when Lin-Lin saw that they were prevailing, she came out with some youma and she said, "You're going nowhere! Minions-get them!"

"DOUBLE CRESCENT BEAM!" was then heard over the grounds as two yellow beams shot overhead and vaporized one of the youma there. This was followed by Earth Shaking and Deep Submerge attacks which cleaned out the others. Lin-Lin now stood alone as the entire force stood before her as a team. She started to retreat, but as she did, a rain of roses pinned the corner of her dress to the ground. "Going somewhere?" asked Tuxedo Mask from a girder overlooking the scene. Chibi Moon then put the Silver Crystal on her scepter and flung it to her mother who managed to get it in a diving catch. It was then that Sailor Moon said, "Lin-Lin, how dare you come back and try to destroy the peace of our fair city. That is inexcusable. I, the pretty soldier in the sailor suit, protector of love and justice-Sailor Moon..."

However, they all thundered together, "In the name of the moon, we shall punish you!"

Pluto then said, "Use that at the top and restore everything to the way it was before Lin-Lin changed it all!"

The inner scouts got together, and Gunny hesitated, not wanting to abandon the crew that he had been working with, but Pluto said, "Go to her-you need to be by your commander's side!"

"Yes ma'am," he said as he saluted and ran to her. As the inner scouts and Gunny went up, they were cut off by youma, and they were thus forced to take the stairs with the youma in hot pursuit-except for one scout, and she eyeballed her target.



In the meantime, the others were doing all they could to keep the youma there occupied, and doing quite a number to them. The outer scouts were stacking them like cordwood, while the quartet and Chibi Moon were starting to get asynch together and wiping out their foe. While this was going on, Lin-Lin tore off the lower half of her dress to try to get away, and ran right into Tuxedo Mask. He held the tip of his cane under her chin and said, "Going somewhere?"

However, one of her top cronies came out with a rapier and knocked the cane away. They started a duel, and Lin-Lin went on the move as they fought. Again, she thought herself in the clear when a crescent shuriken landed at her feet and stuck in the ground. She looked up to see Sailor V standing on one of the girders shaking her head and swinging her finger in a "naughty, naughty,"gesture. Lin-Lin became enraged, and began to jump her way up the girders to face her. Lin-Lin screamed, "You evil witch-at least I can get you!"

"You're a mistake I hope to rectify-CRESCENT BEAM!"

Lin-Lin jumped out of the way and got above her. She then said, "You're not the only one with toys!" as she pulled out Usagi's scepter and shot out an energy beam at her. V jumped up with her, saying, "How in the world did you do that?"

"It doesn't matter who uses it," she said, "It has power, and I know just how to use it!"

With that, the battle engaged as they made their way up the girders, getting closer to the other fight going on above them.



The other inner scouts and Gunny were making their way up the stairs with youma in hot pursuit, taking moments here and there to take a pop shot at them and keep them at bay. However, youma that were above were now climbing down the scaffolding to open up a second front. Soon, they were being cut off, but Mercury took out some of the girders under those ahead with her Absolute Zero attack and cleared the way for them. However, Mars was being overwhelmed, and she realized that there was no way out. She then figured that, if she had to go, she was going to take some with her so that the mission could be finished. She did not think her life so dear as compared to the millions in danger, if not the world. She then set two lava blasts on either end of the stairs upon which she stood. The others screamed for her to get out of there, but she just told them to go on, and she was cut off by the blasts to either side. Everyone, youma included, was knocked down by the blast, and when the smoke cleared, everything in that area was gone. For a brief moment, their stomachs knotted up, but that was quickly shaken as they battle resumed. Mask was now getting the better of his situation, and with three well placed cane strikes, his assailant was out cold. Just as this was finished, there was a loud crash on the building roof that sat under the tower. When he looked up, all he could see was a rack of stairs, dead youma, and a white glove with red trim hanging over the edge. The gravity of the situation above hit him like a ton of bricks, and all he could do now was shed tears.



Above, the fight was getting more and more frantic as they fought their way to the top. The youma seemed to be closing in on Moon, and Mercury was on the tail end of things. She knew Moon needed more time, so she stopped on one of the landings and started to get the attention of the youma and many turned back to go for her. The others were calling, "What are you doing?" knowing that what she was doing could cost her dearly. However, she screamed back up, "Keep rolling! Don't worry about me!"

With the youma that pursued, they had no time to argue. They kept going up as she extended her visor and set up a heads-up display. She then let loose with both Bubble Spray and then Shining Aqua Illusion, causing the monsters to only be able to see an image of Mercury. They all dove at it...and went right over the edge! As things cleared, she got to the edge to see what happened. She then heard the loud steps behind her and saw one left going for her. She leaned on the rail and used it to flip it over, but as it did, it grabbed the Cracker Jack flap in the back as it descended...



Above, they had no idea what had happened as they had their hands full. As that was going on, V and Lin-Lin were jumping girders, dueling, and dodging attacks. Soon they were near the top, and catching up to the action above. It was then that Lin-Lin decided to give V something else to think about as she turned her attention to the three left fighting the youma. She jumped onto the stairs behind Jupiter who was now tailing the action, and she rose up the scepter, planning to use it as a bludgeon. A blur then landed in front of them, and took the point of the scepter in the chest. It was not deep enough to kill him, but it hurt! Jupiter screamed, but Gunny said, "Just go! She's going to need you!"

However, when his back was turned, she produced a healthy knife and plunged it into his back. In his death throe, he wheeled around and backhanded Lin-Lin, who landed on a landing just below, right where V was standing. Jupiter saw him now sprawled on the stairs, knowing that he had saved her life, and she went postal. Moon was screaming, but Jupiter said, "Get out of here! Get to the top!"

In the confusion, youma got behind her and smashed a connection above her, and now Jupiter said, "Hang on, love, here I come!"

She waited until Moon was at the top, and then she grabbed the railing, and let loose with Shockwave, keeping control of the electricity to keep it there with her and the youma, and that area became a giant Tesla coil. She screamed, but the youma were being fried. It was killing her, but she had to do it. If he was willing to make that kind of a sacrifice, was her life so dear? She collapsed with the youma, and Lin-Lin scoffed, saying, "Your foolish friends die around you! Now, it's time for you to join them!"

"Don't you mean 'you'?" snapped V as she let fly with several crescent shuriken which struck her in several spots of her upper torso. She screamed in pain as she let loose with Shocking Chain around her neck, and said, "I made a mistake with you, but I'm glad to say that it's one that I don't have to live with!"

With one great heave, she flipped Lin-Lin over her, and attached the other end of the chain to the railing. All V saw was the chain suddenly jerked tight, as the sound of a crack could be heard to echo off the framework around. She then started up to help Sailor Moon.



Though she had matured, Sailor Moon was still terrified at what was happening. All her friends were dropping like flies, and she did not now know how certain the future was. She just wanted it to be over. It wasn't like times before where she wished that she could have just been a normal girl, because she had now grown quite accustomed to being who she was. However, the madness of the mission had to end. At the top, she saw the machine that controlled everything, and she did not know what to do. Ami was the electronic whiz, and even with the crystal, she did not know what to do with it. Just then, a youma showed up to try to ambush her, but a well placed Crescent Beam knocked it out of commission. "Minako!" shouted Moon, "You made it!"

"Do you know what to do?" asked V.

"Not really-I'm kind of clueless."

"I've been accused of that," said V, and nudged her.

"Then maybe the two of us can luck into getting it right."

As they looked over the control panel, they also noticed a bar that was black as sin in the middle, and it seemed to be at the center of what was making it work. V crawled in and pulled it out. What they didn't know was that it was filled with negative energy, and V handed it to Moon, who just set it to the side. Moon then handed over the scepter and crystal, and it was set in the middle, and V crawled out. They then found something that looked like an "on"switch and the flipped on. Nothing happened. They were now at a loss for what to do, and that was when the remaining youma up top struck. They came in from all angles, and V was doing all she could to shoot them down as Moon let loose with the tiara. It was then that Moon realized what she needed to do. She crawled into the machine and said, "Switch it on!"

V could not believe it, and she screamed, "But Moon, you'll..."

"JUST DO IT!" she screamed, "Get out of here and carry on the fight for all the scouts. If I don't come out, you're in charge."

Just then, the remaining youma closed in, and V inadvertently picked up the rod and threw it at them. It exploded and the wind was tremendous. The two had all they could do to hang on, and Moon said, "HIT IT NOW!"

With the gravity of the situation showing on her face, she hit the switch and took off down the stairs. Moon then felt the energy shooting through her body, and she screamed, but she fell forward and grabbed the scepter, and managed to groan out, "Deep....ugh...umbra...ah...CLEANSING!"

In an instant, the entire top of the tower began to shine brighter than the sun, and the energy went in all directions. Then, the light began to spread around the area, then over the city, followed by aloud blast and a flash that would rival a hydrogen bomb. In fact, ships at sea wondered if that was what hit. In her last moments before the blast, everything in the history of her life flashed before her, and she smiled, knowing that her life had not been a waste.




It was now sunset in Tokyo and everyone in the city was restored, but out cold. It was at that moment that everyone started to wake up. In fact, the city was not only restored as if nothing had happened, it even seemed to sparkle a bit, as the blast had literally cleaned everything hospital clean. At the tower, those at the bottom who were fighting were just coming to, and wondering what had happened. Everyone that had been killed as youma was restored as if nothing had happened. Tuxedo Mask looked up to see the people who once were youma that were coming round and trying to get off the roof of the building. He still saw the limp arm of Mars, and wondered if it was too late. Suddenly, the hand twitched, and then started to move. It then planted itself on the edge and Mask saw her start to push herself up, and then sit on the ledge. "Are you okay?" shouted Mask up to her. She then said, "Yeah, but tell the guy with the jackhammer to lay off!"

Not too far from her was Mercury, and now she was coming to and getting up. She staggered up to Mars and said, "This getting whacked every couple of years is getting old!" and she sat beside her. Mars put her arm around Mercury and they both sat their and laughed. Above, the stairs that Jupiter was on that were broken were now restored, and she was now coming around as was Gunny. "We made it," he said, "My God, we made it! Man, for a minute there..."

She then put her finger on his lips and smiled a romantic smile as she said,"Just shut up and kiss me-bakka!"

V had not gotten far, and she went up to see what had happened. The machine had been destroyed, and in its place laid Usagi, but dressed as Princess Serenity. She had the scepter in her hand, and V went back down to that one landing. Oddly enough, Lin-Lin still hung there, and she wondered if, because she was hanging there, she ended up dying twice. "What a way to go," she thought with a sound of regret in her voice. She then spotted the scepter on the floor, and picked it up, returning to Usagi. Once there, she took out the scepter, put the crystal in Usagi's where it belonged, and put that scepter back in Usagi's hand. As soon as that happened, the crystal began to glow again, and it covered her body. When it went away, it was Sailor Moon again, who now was coming around. She sat up and weakly said, "Minako."

V went up and hugged her, saying, "You did it again!"

"No, we did it again!" said Usagi, "Now, let's go home-I'm hungry!"

After about a second, they just looked at each other, and began to bust a gut. V then told her, "Usagi, don't you ever change, just get better and better as you are!"