HIII! We're the Amazoness Quartet, and we're finally going to get to introduce a
chapter!

Yup! It's awesome, you see last time Reichmann Gyro did something evil and
everyone was going to fight him in Tokyo and...

What do you mean we're done?

...

Well FINE, we didn't want to do your stupid recap anyway!


                              C&A Productions Presents

                          A Work of Blatant Self-Insertion


                                   Hybrid Theory


                             Chapter 28: Reanimation: B Side


	The sound of water dripping surrounded Nabiki as she opened her eyes.
There was a clock here, an elaborate series of gears and springs that was
powered by the steady fall of water droplets. One per second, each marking out
the slow, inevitable passage of time.
	"So, what do we do now?" Nabiki asked the woman next to her. Sailor
Pluto was also looking at the clock. Her expression was melancholy, her soft red
eyes seeming to not really take in what she was seeing.
	"You could try..." Pluto waved her hand at the sword Nabiki was
carrying. Nabiki looked down at it, belted safely to her waist again. Her hand
hadn't withdrawn from the hilt since Pluto had returned it. Nabiki had nearly
laughed when the Senshi had given it back. A few minutes earlier, and the 'deal'
with Link would have been a moot point.
	When you really thought about the timing, it seemed like too much of a
coincidence. Link's attack on Nabiki, Ryouga taking the sword, Ukyou's talk with
Link, Ryouga's confrontation with Hotaru... they all happened in such a precise
order. Pieces of a puzzle fitting together in ways that were only obvious in
hindsight. Accomplishing little changes that added up to world-shaking events.
	When Nabiki had first felt Pluto and the others return from the void in
the undercity of D-Point, she had immediately scanned the Senshi's mind to find
out what had happened. Akira's mind was as annoyingly off-limits as it had been
since her 'union' with Ukyou in the Oversoul, and Nabiki was not about to touch
Ryouga's mind without his permission. But Pluto was a person she could sneak her
way into without being noticed.
	After seeing what had happened in the undercity chamber, Nabiki wished
she hadn't. "I... I tried." Nabiki looked down at the sword, her lips curling.
All her effort to save this last wish, and it did nothing but fail when she
needed it most. "Hotaru and Chris, they're both beyond my ability to effect at
this point."
	"I thought as much," Pluto replied with a sigh. "To think, he could
accomplish so much..."
	Nabiki nodded. "I know. He erased the last twenty-four hours from the
mind of everyone in the city, including Tethys. I mean, I could do that, but the
sheer scale of it..." Nabiki shook her head. "Chris makes what I can do look
like nothing."
	"Yes." Pluto adjusted her grip on her key staff. She held it almost as
protectively as Nabiki did the Wishing Sword. "I think he actually reversed time
around here. He didn't just repair the damage caused by the fight, he erased it
retroactively."
	"Great, so he can manipulate time, too," Nabiki grumbled.
	"There's only one person who can deal with him," Pluto said, turning to
face Nabiki.
	"Yeah." Nabiki looked across the chamber. The room was a masterwork, a
titanic indoor plaza built as the very hub of the City of Black Ice. It was
three levels tall, with concentric tiered balconies arrayed around the great pit
in the centre. The pit that extended down into a darkness lit with flashes of
rainbow lighting. Down that pit was the original D-Point, where the few youma
too violent to join Tethys' kinder, gentler Dark Kingdom still lived. Nabiki's
layman estimate figured that Tethys could fit most of the population of the city
in this plaza. From the way people were gathering, she guessed that was exactly
what the Dark Queen wanted.
	Opposite them, all the way across the chamber, were Ukyou and Akira.
Akira looked surprisingly healthy for someone who had just been bleeding from
every orifice not a half-hour ago. Pluto and Seras had been forced to carry her
out of the undercity, but now she was back on her feet and looking almost none
the worse for wear.
	Except for her eyes. Akira and she had passed each other briefly while
they were heading to this meeting. Akira had looked the same as always, except
that there seemed to be something behind her eyes. It was small, and unless you
knew the woman very well, you might have missed it. But there was something
strange and alien there now. It sent a shiver down Nabiki's spine.
	As soon as Ukyou had returned from the surface, Akira had grabbed her
and dragged her off to the most private corner of the plaza she could find.
Nabiki very much wanted to know what they were talking about. Unfortunately,
they were both quite successfully blocking her. But then again, there were a LOT
of people here. It was a bit of a chore, focusing on so many people, using them
to filter the sound of the room out. But it was within her abilities. It was a
trick Nabiki had discovered to allow her to operate without alerting a nearby
zoalord. Just tapping dozens of minds subtly and using their unified perceptions
to paint a picture of what was happening.
	"...going to stay behind trying to heal something that can't be healed,"
Akira was saying.
	"Akira, I can't stand..."
	"What, the thought of me getting hurt?" Akira replied sharply. "Get used
to it. I'm not a china doll. I fight. I hurt. I bleed. If this is going to be
any kind of relationship, you need to get used to that."
	"It's not that..." Ukyou looked down. "If you died fighting some monster
or some psychopath, it would hurt. I... care about you a lot. But I could accept
that, I think. I can live with it. But every time I use the Third Circle, I'll
just hurt you more. The Paradox I generate doesn't go away. It pollutes, it
corrupts..."
	"It'll do that whether I'm with you or not," Akira reminded her.
	"Indeed." Ukyou placed her hand on the wall. "I can't avoid it, Akira.
Not after what Link told me. If what she said is true, and I find it
frighteningly easy to believe, then I'm going to have to use the Third Circle
again. In fact, I'm going to have to push it more than I ever have before."
	"What did she tell you?"
	Nabiki perked up.
	"I... it doesn't matter." Ukyou waved her hand. "It doesn't really
change anything. Either I'm going to have to face Chris, or Hotaru, or the
Nameless itself. I'll need the Third Circle to stand a chance."
	Akira paused. "You think it'll be easier if I'm not there."
	"Akira, I-!" Ukyou cut herself off.
	"If I'm there, right in front of you, screaming and bleeding because of
what you're doing, you're afraid you can't go through with it." Akira crossed
her arms. "You could kill me, and if it comes down to a choice between that
and..."
	"I'm not certain I can do it," Ukyou murmured.
	"Get over it," Akira snapped. Ukyou looked up sharply.
	"Akira, you're not developing a martyr complex..."
	"NO! Do I look crazy?" Akira grabbed Ukyou's shoulders. "I've almost
died twice today. In the last hour, I was almost wiped out by Hotaru, and my own
stupid bravery. I very, very much want to live!" She looked down. "Heck, you're
lucky I didn't grab you and strip off your clothes like a wild animal right
there in front of everyone."
	"I..." Ukyou paused. She quirked an eyebrow. "Really?"
	"I..." Akira blushed. "We'll talk about it later, okay?" She took a
breath. "Because there IS going to be a later, for both of us."
	"You know... when you say it..." Ukyou reached up and wrapped her
fingers around Akira wrists. She pulled the taller woman's arms down and cradled
them against her chest. "I almost believe it."
	"Don't 'almost' anything," Akira snapped in mock-anger.
	Ukyou laughed. "Yeah, you're right." She leaned forward, placing her
forehead against Akira's, making the other woman blush even deeper. "If it
comes down to a choice between your life, and something even worse... I'll just
find another way."
	"Any idea what that will be?" Akira asked softly.
	"No. Not a clue." Ukyou was still laughing. "As far as I know, it's
impossible."
	Nabiki pulled herself back to the core of her own being again. She
allowed the walls between herself and the Oversoul to rise. Maybe it was best to
give them some privacy. Pluto was looking at her.
	"Is she ready?"
	"No. Probably not." Nabiki shook her head. "But how can anyone be ready
for this? Are you?"
	Pluto chuckled grimly. "No, I suppose I'm not. Seven years I've had to
prepare myself for these last moments." She looked down at the pouch at her
side. "Can you feel it? Can you feel what Hotaru is doing?"
	Nabiki nodded. It was almost like a wound in the Oversoul, if such a
thing was even possible. Nabiki had been wondering ever since she had regained
her powers why it felt so familiar, and she had finally but it together while
listening to Ukyou and Akira talk. It was exactly like the void that had been at
the centre of Lotus Infinite. It was a all-consuming nothing, an aberration
against everything that was natural. She could feel it, distantly, but growing
closer.
	Someone was drawing it closer. Someone in this world. Gyro. Whatever he
was doing, it was feeding it. He was drawing it closer to the world with each
passing second. If he wasn't stopped, if Hotaru wasn't stopped, then it would
burst free from the confines of the land of dreams and enter the physical world.
	And then...
	"If Hotaru manages to pull Oblivion free, it'll be too late," Pluto
answered Nabiki's unasked question. "It's been building in Elysium for years,
ever since the last battle in Tokyo, when Akane sealed Pharaoh 90 in the space
between worlds. Now it's come full circle. Reichmann Gyro is gathering the power
of Chaos in that city, right beneath the hole Akane sealed. If the power grows
too great, he'll pop the barriers between worlds like a soap bubble. At that
point, Hotaru can allow Oblivion unfettered access to the physical universe."
	"So, all we have to do is go down there, prevent Reichmann Gyro from
gathering any more power, follow Hotaru into a world of dreams and nightmares
and fight her at the heart of HER power, all while still worrying about Chris
interfering at any point he feels like it?"
	"That about sums it up." Pluto rubbed her forehead. "The worst part is,
I don't think any of us stand a chance against Hotaru at all. Not you or Ranma
or Tethys will be able to stop her. In the undercity, we had her overwhelmed
with sheer power and she still won..."
	"It wasn't your fault," Nabiki cut in quickly.
	"I never said..."
	"You didn't have to." Nabiki tapped the woman's forehead. "It's oozing
out of your subconscious like swamp gas. You can't blame yourself for what
happened down there."
	"I COULD have ended it. I could have destroyed the Star Seed-"
	"So?" Nabiki frowned and drew her blade free a bit. "You think that
would have been the end of it? Don't you find it convenient that this sword just
happened to be down there, when you had the 'last' chance to avert the Prophecy?
I bet if you'd gone through with your threat, I'd be short my final wish right
about now."
	Pluto had no response to that. Nabiki sighed and pushed away from the
wall. "You can't think of yourself as a puppet, Pluto." She walked through the
crowd to the railing, leaning against it. Across the plaza there was a stage
that floated in mid-air, directly above the pit. "I've learned a lot of things
about the human soul since I made my wish. There are things I know that would
frighten people. If they knew how small, how fragile their being was, how much
all of them are connected... How EVERYTHING is connected, it would terrify
them. But the most frightening thing of all I've learned is how strong we are.
	"I can invade your mind, and rewrite your entire memory. I can use your
body like a marionette. I can learn all your deepest secrets. I can do almost
anything I want. But I can't change your SOUL. I can't change YOU. That thing,
that small fragile little piece of the cosmos that is the only thing that
separates you from a rock or a gust of wind, is the most powerful thing in the
universe. I can't destroy it. Bison couldn't destroy it. I don't even think
Chris can destroy it. Not with a million Kalias.
	"You're the first person I've ever said this to, because it's too
humbling. But I think I've been humbled enough. I think there is only one thing
sacred in all creation, and this is each and every soul. So even if Fate is
trying to push you around like a pawn on a chessboard, you have to realise that
there is something in you, something precious, that can NEVER be changed."
	For a long time, Pluto did not respond. Nabiki turned, to see what the
woman had to say. She could have picked it out of her mind, but for some reason
she found the thought distasteful. Then she came to a sudden stop, her eyes
widening.
	Ryouga looked back at her. His eyes were sunken, his face more than a
little pale. She gulped and looked him up and down. His body was covered with
scars, hundreds of them. His sleeves had been torn off his shirt, and the scarf
he wore around his neck had vanished. Aside from his face, he looked like a
roadmap of pain. For a long moment, he just stood there staring at her. She felt
her heart speed up.
	"Ryouga..." she breathed. How long had he been there? She hadn't even
felt him approach.
	"Ryouga!" Ranma called, bouncing over. He landed next to the slightly
taller man, grinning from ear to ear. "You're looking good as new. Man, having
your arm chopped off must suck, huh?"
	Ryouga grunted. Ranma grabbed his arm and started probing it with his
fingers. "So, what's the secret, old pal?"
	"I am not your 'old pal'," Ryouga informed him, pulling his arm away.
	"Then as one martial artist to another, how do you do it?" Ranma slid up
and pushed his face in close to Ryouga's. "The putting your arm back on thing."
	"It's not a martial arts technique," Ryouga replied coolly. He looked
over Ranma, towards Nabiki. "Why don't you ask her how to do it?" He smiled.
"She can 'help' you."
	Ranma looked at Nabiki, his eyes narrowing. "No offence, Ryouga. But
Nabiki is as likely to help me as I am to grow a second head."
	"Thanks," Nabiki replied dryly.
	"So, whatcha say you help me out?" Ranma smoothly returned his attention
to the eternal wanderer.
	"Just leave me alone, Ranma," Ryouga snapped. He started pushing away
through the crowd. "I don't even know why I came here..."
	"Hey!" Ranma ran after him. "Come on, Ryouga. Don't be such a stick in
the mud. We're getting ready for some genuine heroing here. A one hundred
percent pure battle against no-nonsense no-grey-area evil. Don't tell me you're
going to miss out on that?"
	"Do you practice being this annoying?" Ryouga yelled.
	"Yes." Ranma grinned. "Now, come on, I'll introduce you to this guy
Skullomania. He's a hoot..." Ranma wrapped his arm around Ryouga's shoulder and
dragged him away. Nabiki watched until they vanished from sight. She released a
breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.
	"You've got it bad," Pluto said.
	"Yeah." Nabiki looked at her. "If only figuring out what to do about him
was as easy a problem as Chris and Hotaru." Pluto chuckled. "Hah. I knew you
were still capable of laughing."
	"I guess so," Pluto tossed her hair. "I think I've made a decision,
Nabiki."
	"A good one?"
	"A very risky one," Pluto replied.
	"Well, welcome to the club." Nabiki tilted her head to the side. "Though
you should tell me later. It looks like our host is about to make a speech."

*

	Tethys did not appear in front of them in a burst of magic. She did not
float out of the sky, nor rise from the ground like a phantom. She was capable
of all these things, but she chose not to do them. Instead she walked to the
floating platform, up a spiralling staircase made of impossibly delicate-looking
ice. She walked to the centre of the room like a mortal.
	Nabiki could feel the crowd respond. They knew how powerful Tethys was.
She had demonstrated her power for them sufficiently. Now, they saw her as a
woman, a mortal that walked with them. The feeling passed through the crowd like
a fire. It was a silent awe, a respectful silence that infected the entire
crowd.
	Suddenly Nabiki realised the truth about Tethys' power. It wasn't in her
magic, or her tricks. It was here, in this room. It was in every person in the
room. Nothing sinister or fiendish. Nabiki could feel the people's devotion. It
united them.
	While other powers in the world had concentrated on personal power,
Tethys had been gathering a nation. They had made themselves gods. They had
created weapons of men. They found the special people and elevated them ever
higher. But Tethys had done none of that. She had scoured the world, finding the
lost, the disenfranchised, the hurt and the weak, and she had created this
nation.
	Nabiki gripped the guardrail tightly as she looked out across the plaza.
It was full of Tethys' people. It was her nation, forged from the scraps thrown
away by the rest of the world. It was her army. It belonged to her through bonds
of trust and faith and loyalty that Nabiki wouldn't have thought possible before
coming here.
	When she reached the centre of the room, Tethys stretched out her hands
to call for silence, though it was hardly necessary. Everyone was paying
attention to her. All of Nabiki's friends and every citizen of the city; human
and youma and Senshi and other things.
	"I will not waste words pandering to your emotions, or trying to candy-
coat what I am about to ask you." Tethys' voice carried all over the room. It
spoke without echo or intense volume. She sounded like she was standing right in
front of Nabiki, speaking directly at her and her alone. "I am going to ask you
to die."
	A murmur went through the crowd, but it was short-lived. Tethys brought
her arms down slowly, and the murmur died off in time with the gesture. She
frowned. "For seven years, we have made this land a sanctuary. In this city we
have existed apart from the pointless war and bloodshed. This can go on no
longer. There comes a point where people can't hide anymore. Where we have to
risk our personal safety for the safety of the world. There is a responsibility
we have to the world, no, all creation. A responsibility to stand up and be
counted."
	Tethys' platform slowly rotated, allowing her to take in the entire
room. "Far south of here, in the city of Tokyo, a madman has gained great power.
He wields it like a hammer. Witness the extent of what he is capable of..."
Tethys gestured and the room darkened.
	In the air above them, an image formed: light reflected and refracted by
a multitude of crystals, tracing together to form a hologram. It was a picture
of an immense sea, seen from far up in the atmosphere. The land around it was
dry, full of great hills and mountains. The Red Sea; Nabiki managed to pick the
information from the many minds around her. It was the centre of Arkanphel's
'Project Noah', the master plan that Chronos had turned its attention to for the
last seven years. Nabiki herself only knew a few things about the plan, but the
main thing she knew was that it involved space travel.
	As the crowd watched, a flaw developed in the image. At first Nabiki
thought it was a distortion in the view, but then she realised that it was
happening inside the vision. The air was twisting, like a lens or mirror
swirling the image so everything beyond it seemed to twist and distort. Slowly
the distortion collapsed, forming into a tiny ball of darkness surrounded by
crackling arcs of blue lightning. The sea began to writhe beneath it. Great
gouts, waterspouts dozens of meters across, began to spiral free of the surface
and surge up towards the tiny ball of darkness. More and more spawned, growing
and multiplying until there were thousands of waterspouts, some over a hundred
meters across, rising into the sky. A great shape ripped free of the sea, and
Nabiki realised it was a ship.
	Only then did she get a sense of the true scale of the image. The ship
looked like a child's toy. It was long and organic, looking like something more
at home in those places of the ocean where there was no light than in the air.
There were things, tiny dots racing across its surface frantically. Nabiki
realised with a sick fascination that those were people, more accurately
underwater-form zoanoids, desperately clinging to the surface of the ship for
salvation. As the ship rose, it was like a great hand grabbed it and began to
squeeze; large sections of the hull collapsed inward as the entire thing began
to implode under the pressure of its own weight.
	More ships began to be wrenched free of the water. An entire armada.
Nabiki could only stare open-mouthed. The tiny ball of darkness seemed to pulse
once, twice...
	Then it exploded.
	The image slowed down, so they could all see every nanosecond of the
devastation. Everything near the orb was thrown back violently, shredding into
ribbons by the sudden reversal of forces. The water vapourised into a cloud of
steam that boiled out in all directions. The entire sea. Billions of liters of
water, gone in an instant. The ground distended downward, the surface cracking
apart with great red lines. A geyser of molten lava erupted from the centre of
what had once been a sea, rising nearly two kilometers into the air. Smaller
geysers began to appear at random, racing out from the central pillar in all
directions like some demented version of a starscape.
	And as the image drew back, and back even further, Nabiki could see the
devastation. Entire mountain ranges, entire nations torn apart by the shockwave.
What had once been Saudi Arabia and Egypt were swept clean. The blast reached up
into the Mediterranean, sending great tsunamis across to the southern nations of
Europe. It devastated much of northern Africa and nearly all the Middle East.
	In its wake it left a crater nearly two thousand kilometers wide.
	Nabiki felt her knees giving out. She clutched to the guard rail, trying
not to fall. Others near her were not so strong. Many were weeping. Others
vomiting. Some were praying.
	Ukyou's face had gone pale, her eyes wide. Akira held her from behind,
but her eyes were closed and she was looking away. Ranma looked somber, his blue
eyes having lost some of their cheerful glow. Ryouga's fists were clenched, his
jaw working angrily. Pluto was the only person who didn't look surprised.
	The image faded away, the lights coming back. "That is the power of our
enemy. Reichmann Gyro is strong. Stronger than me. That single strike... the
world will be feeling the ramifications of that for eons. Make no mistake when I
say that this is the horror which we must fight now."
	Tethys drew everyone's attention back to her with a gesture. "Make no
mistake, many of you will die. But I do not intend to lose this. Powerful he may
be, but Reichmann Gyro is still mortal. He can be defeated. WE can defeat him."
She looked around the room. "And we will not be alone. The heroes of Japan will
fight with us. And those I have allied with over the years will come to our aid.
Even now I appear to them, to gather up all our power. Because we must strike
now. Gyro's power grows with each passing second, and he wishes to test that
power against Arkanphel and his former comrades. Trust me when I say that the
battle he wishes is not one that we, that anyone on Earth, will survive.
	"So we will give him our battle. Our war. I understand if you don't wish
to go. There are ships within this city. I can send those of you who fear what
is coming away. There is no shame in running."
	For a moment, Tethys looked straight at Akira and their eyes met. Nabiki
couldn't help it. She launched her mind forward, piercing into Tethys' mind like
an arrow. There she saw it. The truth.
	Tethys was willing to die for this. She was willing to die to defeat
Gyro, and Chaos, the force he served. Nabiki absorbed all of Tethys' great plan,
her mad, suicidal plan to end all war in the universe. And she saw the one
weakness in that plan.
	Desire. The desire of one human soul for another. The yearning that
every human soul had for another. It was intrinsic to the human condition. From
the Oversoul we are born, Nabiki knew, and to it we will one day return. In
between, we all strive to capture some small memory of that unity, that perfect
togetherness. For a moment, Tethys had found that unity. She had found love.
	It would have destroyed her. That was why she had turned against Akira.
That was why she had made the girl hate her. Not out of malice, but because to
undertake her plan she could not afford to be human. She could not afford to
care about anyone, or anything. Because if she loved anyone, then in the end she
might not be able to give up everything. Then, Chaos would win. And to Tethys,
that was worse than any other fate.
	Tethys looked at Nabiki and made a dismissive wave at her brow. Nabiki
felt her trying to force her out, and allowed it. She lowered her head as Tethys
continued.
	"Seven years ago I set out to learn what it was that humans fight for.
And I found it. We fight for each other. We fight to survive. We fight for what
we believe in. We fight because it is our nature. Choose the answer that most
pleases you. But when there is no other choice but to fight or to die, I choose
to fight. Not just against Reichmann Gyro, but against all the things like him.
All the mad demigods that would use our world as their battleground.
	"In their struggles with each other, they have walked over your lives.
They have destroyed your homes. They have slaughtered your families and driven
you into exile. But you preserved. You rebuilt. You made new homes, here. You
made new families, here. You found something worth fighting for, each other. So
you wish to give up, just because he is so powerful? Will you sell everything
you have made here so cheaply?
	"Or will you fight?"
	The roar from the crowd was deafening.

*

	Akane placed her hand against the clear crystal wall and stared out. The
sun was dipping below the horizon, turning the curve of the planet into a
brilliant pearlescent egg. It looked so small from up here. The mountains and
forests and plains vanished into tiny blurs, the oceans and seas were glittering
and huge. White clouds swirled beneath them, thick and thin they ran. It was
breathtaking.
	"Why hasn't anybody noticed this?" she asked.
	Chris chuckled. "Because I didn't want them to," he answered. He walked
up behind her. She didn't turn around and look at him. She couldn't. She
couldn't look at his face. She couldn't look at that horrible empty eye. Her
hand wrapped around the hilt of the sword Katsuhito had given her.
	"You tore an entire mountain out of the earth and placed it in orbit,"
Akane continued slowly.
	"Yes." Chris paused. "Perhaps a bit ostentatious, I admit. But I suppose
I can be allowed a few affectations. Besides, this isn't just for my benefit,
its for theirs as well."
	Akane turned and looked to where Chris was gesturing. They weren't what
Akane had been expecting, these people in white lab coats and glasses. They
looked like scientists, doctors, and philosophers; not fanatics and apostles.
Then again, what HAD she been expecting? She'd never really given much thought
to Chris since their last meeting in Tokyo. Even after Washuu had begun to tell
her a bit about what he was doing, Akane had not really wanted to be part of any
movement against him.
	But these people did not look insane. They looked more rational and
composed, truth be told, than the kind of people that Akane had been associating
with in the resistance. When Chris had arrived back at his hidden base in
Luxembourg, the residents had barely batted an eye. A few had approached him to
give reports on various projects and forecasts they were tracking. He had
responded to them with a few brief words and simple instructions. Then he had
made certain that Akane and Angel were taken care of for a few moments as he
proceeded to the centre of the base.
	His voice had rung out across the entire structure. Akane was certain of
it. He had said only one thing. "I am going to raise us into low Earth orbit
now." Which he did. Akane had no idea how large the complex was, but she stared
as she looked out a nearby viewscreen and watched it tear loose from the earth.
It had been built under an abandoned city, which shattered and toppled away as
the massive metallic base floated free from the grip of gravity.
	What struck Akane was how unaffected the people in the base were. It
wasn't that they didn't notice. Even though there was no shaking or the
slightest bit of turbulence as they levitated majestically into the sky, Chris
had set all the viewscreens through the complex to display what was happening
outside it. No, the people noticed, they just accepted it with a casual ease
that made Akane shiver.
	To these people there was no need for awe and worship. They knew Chris
was a god, as he claimed. There were no sudden conversions of the doubtful,
because there had been no doubtful among his flock. And yet...
	Akane looked over to the other side of the room. Angel was sitting with
a red-haired woman, holding her hand and talking softly to her. From what Akane
had gathered, the woman's homeland had just been devastated by the massive
explosion she had seen out of the observation deck less than a half-hour ago.
And she wasn't the only one. More than a few people here had been horrified by
Reichmann Gyro's casual display of wanton destructive power.
	But with a smile and a chuckle Chris had informed them that it was 'not
a problem' and would 'soon be taken care of', so the people here had soldiered
on. Some of the men and women in this complex displayed looks of stoic
disinterest they were using to cover their sadness. In other words, they were
acting like human beings.
	Akane almost wanted them to be mindless fanatics. She wanted them to be
automatons, or monsters, or something. Because if they were it would have made
that gnawing doubt in the centre of her gut go away. She would have been able to
safely say that Chris was very much a monster, that no matter his power or
aspirations he only accomplished evil ends. But Akane had been given a tour of
the facility while Chris was 'busy' with other matters.
	These people genuinely believed they were working towards the greater
good. She had seen them working on projects that she barely understood, but that
did not look malevolent as far as Akane could tell. There was an entire lab
dedicated to finding cures for biological superplagues, another dedicated to
averting natural catastrophes and on and on. In fact, most of the staff seemed
to be busy at the moment dealing with the aftershocks of Gyro's explosion. How
much more devastating would the blast had been if these people, with their
frighteningly advanced technology, had not stepped in to stop the natural chain
reactions?
	There was no doubt about it; Akane had watched them working, and had
seen it happening. Watched Chris occasionally step in when a problem was too
large for them to deal with. They stopped the earthquakes from spreading across
the globe, they stopped the chain reaction of volcanic eruptions that would have
made the Pacific "Ring of Fire" a less poetic description. As horrible as the
devastation was, without Chris and his cadre working from up here it would have
been much worse.
	"Angel," Chris said, turning to face the young woman. Angel turned to
him, her expression perking up. "Would you take Petra out for a while?"
	"I..." Angel paused and looked at Akane. Akane stared back, unsure what
the other woman was thinking. Finally Angel nodded and wrapped her arm around
the distraught redhead. The two walked down the spiral staircase in the centre
of the observation bubble Chris had created shortly after he had placed them up
here at the top of the world.
	Chris gestured and the staircase sealed up behind them. Only then did he
return his attention to Akane. "I know what you're going to ask."
	Akane had no idea how to respond to that. Her mouth was dry. She reached
up to her shirt pocket... except the Star Seeds were gone. One stolen by Kalia,
the other lost back at the City of Black Ice.
	"You're wondering why, if I can do all this, if I could stop Gyro's
attack from wreaking an environmental catastrophe that the world might never
recover from, if I truly have no limits... why didn't I just stop him in the
first place? Why didn't I keep all those people from dying?"
	"Yes..."
	He nodded. "Of course. I understand, Akane. It's not that I don't care.
I do. But I can't do this for people." He turned, staring out the crystal dome
of his observatory into the vastness of space. "I don't wish to stand here, atop
the world, and rule it. I don't want or need to be worshipped. I already have
all the power I need - I can do anything. But what would it mean if I did?
	"I don't believe in mindless subservience to God. When you look to a
higher power to solve your problems, you stop working to solve them yourself. I
could reach out and stop Reichmann Gyro easily. I could repair the damage he did
and bring everyone back to life just as I did in the City of Black Ice. But then
I'm taking on the role of God, Akane. The saviour, the protector. I could erase
the memory of the event, I suppose, but even then I'm still protecting them,
shielding them. And if I do it now, why not again? Why not every time? Should I
let nobody die? Ever? I could, you know. But I won't."
	He placed one hand on the transparent surface before him. His dark red
hair fell back as he craned his neck back, staring off into the universe. "I
don't want to save humanity. I want it to save itself. I want more Ranmas. I
want more Akiras. I want more of you, Akane. I want people to fight their own
oppressors. This universe put humanity in a bad position, but I know they can
rise to overcome the challenges, and not rely on any god to fight their battles
for them. They need help to get there, yes. And in the meantime, and even
afterwards, many will die. But you know about that, Akane." He half-turned,
affixing her with his good eye. "You've learned the costs. You know that
sometimes you have to fight, to kill or to die, to do what you know is right.
I'm going to let as many people as possible learn the lessons you did. But if I
just step down and save everyone, then what is 'right' is just what I want. Look
at Angel. She's a good girl. I care for her deeply. But she's not what I want
humanity to become. I want them to be like you, Akane. Like Ranma. Like Akira.
That's why I can't save them all, though I'm sorry for it."
	Akane still couldn't look directly at his face. Instead she looked at
the hand he had placed against the clear wall. Beneath them the sun was sending
out its last brilliant rays before slipping beneath the horizon. "So this is
what you meant, this is the 'perfect possible future' you told me about?"
	His lip turned up slightly. "Allow me to show you something."
	Chris waved his hand and images began to form in the impossibly
delicate crystal walls. They were flat, like television programs, but incredibly
detailed. At first there were only two, one of a man standing atop a tower in
the centre of Tokyo. Except Reichmann Gyro could hardly be called a man now: his
entire body seethed with elemental power and his great black wings beat at his
back with abandon. His horned head sported a smiling, inhuman face. The other
image was of a woman. She sat on a throne of crystal in a place without walls or
floor. She wore golden armour, cut at sharp angles and with a skirt of golden
slats, over skin the colour of volcanic glass. Her red eyes stared out from the
shadows that had covered the upper half of her body. A partially silhouetted man
with green hair whose face Akane could not make out but that struck her as wrong
somehow stood behind her throne. The woman was clutching the arms of her chair
tightly.
	"This was not our agreement, Reichmann," the woman said. Her voice was
cold and tightly controlled. It was like a whip being wielded by an expert,
cracking and snapping with lethal and sudden force.
	"Our agreement means nothing," Gyro said, his twisted smile becoming a
frown. "I learned of what happens to those who trust you, Lady Galaxia. I was
nothing more than a pawn to gather the Star Seeds and zoacrystals of this
planet." Then he smiled again, a vicious slash across his craggy features. "But
now I am a law of nature, Galaxia. Now, all the power of Paradox is mine. The
combination of Oblivion and Chaos, the primal forces of the universe, within
me!" He laughed. "Come, come to me, little Sailor Senshi. If you think you can
defeat me, do so."
	"You presume much, Reichmann," Galaxia stood up. Her face coming into
view. It was a human face, but utterly black and with eyes like blazing coals.
"I gave you the power to defeat Sailor Moon. The Silver Crystal, and Arkanphel's
crystal, they belong to me. I WILL come to collect."
	"So be it," Gyro said and laughed. the image suddenly snapped out of
existence. Chris looked at Akane. She was clutching her shoulders and shivering.
Gyro. The man who had killed her. It was hard to face his image, even as warped
as it was now.
	"I intercepted this communication between them shortly after Gyro's
temper tantrum," he explained.
	"Who is that woman?" she asked.
	"Sailor Galaxia," Chris replied. "The strongest of all the Sailor
Senshi. Think of it like this, Akane. Each of the Senshi you know, Sailor Mars
and the others, represent a single planet. They carry within them the Star Seed
of that planet, and gain their powers through this. Sailor Galaxia is the Sailor
Senshi who carries the Star Seed of the entire galaxy." To demonstrate, Chris
waved his hand showing an image of Earth within the walls. Then as he pulled his
hand back the image zoomed out and out and out so quickly it was dizzying. Then
Akane was looking at the entire Milky Way, the whole of the entire galaxy. "On
top of that, she had gathered the Star Seeds of most of the other planets in the
galaxy. Her power is to any other Senshi as the entire galaxy is to a single
planet.
	"And she is coming here. But that is not all..."
	Another image, this time of a large room that was in shadow except for
the spotlights that came down behind the twelve seats of a large oval-shaped
table. Eight of those seats were occupied, but for the most part the
backlighting made it impossible to tell much more than the general shape of
them. Some of them Akane could only barely call human.
	A man, long-haired and elfin-featured, stood at the front of the table.
He wore elaborate white robes like a Roman toga but with large metal
shoulderguards that flared out like wings. Akane had never seen Arkanphel
before, but she recognised him on sight.
	"Gentleman, the situation is grave," Arkanphel explained, his voice calm
and assured. "Gyro has apparently made deals with forces outside of our
experience. His destruction of the Ark production facility signals his
intentions. I do not believe he will be satisfied with anything less than my
complete destruction." He paused. "It appears I was overly compassionate to
allow his previous indiscretions to go unpunished. But that is the past. Today,
we must defeat Gyro."
	"My lord!" A bald old man with a long flowing beard stood up. "Let us
take care of this traitor. Amniculus' death must be avenged by the Zoalord
Council."
	"Yes..." Arkanphel nodded. "But even your abilities alone will be no
match for him. I shall accompany you." He held up his hand. "We depart in five
minutes. Make whatever preparations you need before then."
	"And so the participants gather..." Chris mused, waving his hand and
the image changed again. This time it was to a massive plaza in the City of
Black Ice. Tethys was giving a speech to her followers, preparing them to strike
at Gyro. Akane caught a glimpse of Nabiki standing on one of the balconies. Then
the image changed again. This time it was of a normal-looking office, an
American flag hanging from a pole in the corner. Two men were there.
	One of them was Doctor Tofu. His companion was speaking into a phone.
More accurately, he was listening. He nodded a few times. Then he sighed. "Yes,
I understand, Mr. President." He hung up.
	"Well?" Tofu asked. The other man was around Tofu's age but looked a
bit more worn out. He had brown hair and was taller than the doctor. He rubbed
his temples before responding.
	"About what we expected," the man explained. "The President wants no
interruption to the timetable. In fact, he wants us to speed things up."
	"That's insane!" Tofu shouted. "That explosion killed millions, maybe
even billions of people! Our fleet is halfway across the Atlantic..."
	"But the S.T.A.R.S. fleet is almost within striking distance of Tokyo,"
the man continued. "Like it or not, the President is right. With the collapse of
Shadowloo and Millennium, the return of Sailor Moon and this recent explosion,
Chronos is reeling. If Operation Foxfire is to have any chance of success..."
	"Redfield, with all due respect, we have a duty to the world. This is a
humanitarian crisis. The destruction to Europe will be unimaginable. We need to
return the fleet, deploy the graduates there performing damage control..."
	"You trained soldiers, Tofu!" the man barked, banging the desk with his
hand. "They need to do what soldiers do. The plan has always been to try and
take Japan first. Now, now all we can do is pray."
	"Pray to who?" Tofu asked, his voice suddenly tired.
	"Whatever gods are listening."
	This caused Chris to chuckle. He waved his hand and the image faded
away. "And so, all the great powers gather. In the end, I expect Gyro to
destroy them all, and then do battle with Arkanphel. Who wins will depend on how
much Gyro is bled in the coming battle. It will not matter, however. Galaxia
anticipated Gyro's treachery. She knows he cannot win against her. How could he?
He is tainted by Chaos. He is destined to lose. She, however, defeated and
sealed Chaos within herself. Galaxia has no such flaw in her character. She will
watch. Whomsoever wins, she will destroy them, and then she will destroy the
planet. She will strip everyone on it of their souls, of their crystallised
Destiny, and will march forward to conquer the universe." He smiled. "Or would,
if I were not here. Someone will arise from the ashes of the great battle.
Someone will unify the remaining defenders and lead them against her and her
forces. Someone will destroy Galaxia and save the universe for a generation.
Someone will become the shining hero that ten thousand years from now will still
be a figure for the weak and downtrodden to aspire to.
	"I want that person to be you, Akane."

*

	Tethys' office was an island of serenity in a sea of chaos. Her little
speech had certainly motivated everyone in the Dark Kingdom. Watching the people
here prepare for war made Ukyou feel vaguely uncomfortable. Mainly because she
was certain this was foolish. The power Gyro had now, the sheer destructive
force he could wield, was beyond anything an army could defeat.
	"You think this is a fool's quest," Tethys said from behind her desk.
She was looking at the monitor. Aaron could have read the text reflected in her
eyes, but chose not to. If she wanted Ukyou to know what she was reading, she
would tell her. Pluto and Akira came in behind Ukyou, exchanging glances. Ukyou
had invited Nabiki along, but the woman had demurred.
	"I think a lot of them are going to die," Ukyou replied.
	"You're right." Tethys looked up. "Unless... you think you can do it."
	"It?" Ukyou frowned. "Use the Third Circle? No. I can't. Not... not just
like that."
	Tethys' smile was icy. "Then I suppose we mortals will have to solve our
problems the only way we can."
	"That's enough, Tethys," Akira snapped.
	The Dark Queen's eyes flashed as she looked at Akira. "Do you have a
better suggestion?"
	"Please..." Pluto stepped between them. "This isn't the place."
	"Why did you want to talk to me?" Ukyou put in before things could
degrade further.
	"I didn't." Tethys looked up. "But someone else did."
	Ukyou raised an eyebrow. The only person Aaron hadn't sensed at the
gathering had been Seras. But the young vampire wasn't here. He frowned and
narrowed his eyes. He could sense another life force nearby. It was tainted with
the whispers of oblivion, something inhuman.  It was very familiar. "Who is it?"
Ukyou asked, though she was already afraid she knew the answer. It would be just
like Chris, to send a messenger...
	"No need for theatrics," Tethys said with a smirk. She waved her hand
and one of the shelves moved aside, the wall behind it fading away into mist. A
young woman walked out of the mist. Ukyou staggered a bit, surprised. The young
woman was pale-haired and skinned. Her eyes were inhumanly gold. She wore a
yellow cloak. She looked almost nothing like Angel, being thin where Angel was
toned and angular where Angel was curved.
	"Vampire," Akira announced. Aaron was forced to agree, though there was
something strange about her. The girl seemed almost exactly the same as Angel.
Her aura was almost indistinguishable. Now that he could feel it directly, he
could tell the difference. But Akira was looking confused. Her own perceptions
were probably good enough to pick up the similarities, but not so keen they
could spot the subtle differences.
	"Not by my own choice," the young woman said. She bowed slightly. "My
name is Nanami Kiryuu." The name was familiar, but Aaron couldn't place it. Some
anime character or another, he suspected. "I've been chosen to guide you."
	"Guide?" Pluto asked.
	"To your battle with Hotaru."
	"I don't intend to fight her."
	"As you say..." The woman bowed again. "But that doesn't change my
purpose."
	"Did you have any part of this?" Akira asked the blue-skinned woman.
	"Me?" Tethys shook her head. "No. I found her awake in my dungeon." She
gave Ukyou a mocking smile. "By the way, next time you feel like springing one
of my prisoners, I would like to be asked first."
	"We'll see." Ukyou turned to Nanami. "So what is this about you guiding
me?"
	"Hotaru is awaiting you," Nanami explained. "She has set herself at the
very centre of Elysium, the World of Dreams. It is there that the Well of the
Void exists, as much as it can be said to exist. I am one of the few people who
has ever been to Elysium, and without a guide you will never make it through the
realm to the destined meeting place."
	At this point she looked at Pluto. "As you already know, even that will
be impossible. No mortal can survive in Elysium. Time there is meaningless. Any
person of mortal descent who enters Elysium will vanish like mist as their body
ages epochs in seconds, or is torn apart by the stress of the phantom winds..."
	"I am familiar with Elysium," Pluto returned stiffly. She was clutching
the bag at her waist again.
	"What happens if I don't believe you?"
	She shrugged. "This isn't a threat, Ukyou. I'm not a monster sent to
fight you. I'm not an obstacle. I'm just a girl who was thrust into a situation
she didn't want, just like you. I was visited by the former guardian of Elysium
when he fled the destruction that had been unleashed on his homeland. He had
hoped that together we could find a way to reverse the problem.
	"But before I could start, Chris tore out my soul. I spent two years in
a coma, trapped in a fate worse than death. But while my soul was ripped from my
body, I learned things. It talked to me, Ukyou."
	"It?" Ukyou's knuckles went white.
	"The Nameless. It told me what had to happen."
	Ukyou took a long few moments to process that. So far, this was playing
out exactly as Link had predicted. Was it true? Was this all really about HER?
	"What does the Nameless want?" Ukyou growled.
	"You." Nanami held out her hand. "It wants YOU. More than anything else.
I hung there for two years, trapped in the space between living and dying. I
felt it. It's... it's indescribable, Ukyou. It's so pure, so pure and awesome.
The Nameless is truly infinite. Infinitely powerful. Infinitely passionate.
Infinitely merciful. Infinitely vengeful. But one thing I felt, one thing I have
been aware of ever since Chris tore my soul in two, was that it wanted you. That
it wants YOU to confront Hotaru. That everything comes down to that moment."
	Tethys, Pluto and Akira all looked at Ukyou. She closed her eyes. So
this was it. The moment where she and Aaron made the choice. Face their Destiny
head on, with eyes open, or don't. They could battle the Nameless' plan with
their last breath, struggle against everything it was. Or they could play along.
Let it get what it wanted until there was a chance to turn things around.
	But what if that never happened? Neither of them wanted to claim that
stray thought, but once it was there it was hard to dismiss. If Link was right,
and nothing Ukyou had seen could disprove her, then the Nameless was the next
best thing to omnipotent. There might never be a chance to get the better of it.
It might not have made a mistake she could exploit. So the choice was between
facing an impossible battle, or hiding from it.
	Akira slipped her hand into Ukyou's. Ukyou squeezed it and looked into
her lover's eyes. Then suddenly she realised something. This was how it would
end. The universe's fate did not hang on the edge of a blade. It would not be
made by a great battle. It would not be determined by a pretty speech. The
world's fate was not a puzzle to be solved, or a mystery to be unravelled. It
was this, right here.
	One decision. One decision by one person. That was the fate of the
world. That had ALWAYS been the fate of the world. This decision. And the next.
	And the next.
	"How do we get to Elysium?" Ukyou asked.

*

	"God, I love having my powers back!" Fevrier said, grinning from ear to
ear. The dust from the wall she had just punched in was still settling.
	"Wait, up until Sailor Moon restored Marz you were limited to the powers
of being a superhuman acrobat with enhanced strength and the ability to shoot
guns really well," Mamoru pointed out. He was still adjusting the engine. Who
would have thought that Mamoru had such skills? Then again, if she recalled
correctly from the extensive files Mars and Satsuki had compiled about his life
and that she had just happened to catch a glimpse of and certainly hadn't
studied intensively, he did use to drive a motorcycle before meeting them.
	"Yes," Fevrier snorted. "And I see where you're going with this. But you
see, the difference is that now I am a more POWERFUL superhuman acrobat with
enhanced strength and can shoot guns very, very well!" To demonstrate, she
pulled a handgun from her holster and hip-fired it at the blockade three hundred
meters down the road. Not only did she hit the C in the painted Chronos sign
dead centre, the otherwise mundane bullet created a hole nearly a meter wide
through the fifty-centimeter-thick concrete barricade. She also did so in a
flash of motion so fast that human eyes could not possibly have perceived the
motion. "Ohh, I almost forgot the simple thrill of wanton destruction."
	Mamoru was sweating a little bit. "Marz, have you gotten any responses
yet?"
	"Yes, Mamoru dear," Marz said with a smile. Mamoru smiled back at her
and Marz made a point of adjusting her blue hair back behind her ear. Normally,
Fevrier would have been annoyed with such flagrant posturing, but she found it
impossible to be angry at her fellow ex-Doll now. The overwhelming joy, the
sheer physical euphoria of discovering that Marz wasn't dead hadn't worn off
yet. Heck, the two of them and Satsuki would have still been celebrating if
Marz hadn't insisted that they needed to take care of more important things.
Fevrier sighed and adjusted her gun belts. It just wasn't as fun unless they
could tease Mamoru about it, anyway...
	"I haven't managed to get in touch with everyone, but most of them
responded," Marz said, turning her attention back to her laptop. Her fingers
flashed across the keys, as quick with her keyboard as Fevrier was with her
guns. "They are all making their way to Tokyo."
	"Is there really anything we can do?" Satsuki piped up. She was sitting
in a shadow. Her skill had returned with a vengeance as well, now that Sailor
Moon had 'healed' them all. In fact, she blended in with the shadows so well
that she had to actually try not to vanish into them now. "Reichmann Gyro..."
	"Is going to threaten the entire world," Mamoru growled. "The entire
zoanoid force left." He pointed to the deserted blockade. Chronos had
constructed it within minutes of their ill-fated attack on the city being
rebuffed by Sailor Moon. Up until a few hours ago, there had been thousands of
zoanoids and a small but considerable number of hyper and neo-zoanoid models as
well. It was an entire army, one that could easily have crushed the city beneath
its heel. But now it was empty. The entire army had deserted their posts without
so much as a word. "And we've seen the reports Marz managed to intercept. Gyro
is a menace to everyone. He has to be stopped."
	"You may have your powers back, but that doesn't mean you aren't still a
wuss." Fevrier growled. "Satsuki's right. We should think about this."
	"What's there to think about?" Mamoru frowned and crossed his arms. His
sniper rifle was strapped to his back, the barrel pointing up above his
shoulder. "Can we come up with any plan that can help us? Is there any strategy
that will give us a chance against this kind of power?"
	"This isn't like when we fought Thancrus!" Fevrier roared back. "We
should get in this bike and head for the mountains..."
	"You don't mean that," Mamoru said to her.
	Fevrier clenched her fists and turned to stare at the city of Ohtori.
She just wanted to be away from this place. Away from all the bad memories. Away
from the life that Bison had taken from her. Away from the promise of a normal
life. Away from watching a city burn because of their arrogance. Away from
collapsing sobbing over a gravestone. But it had all been made better. Sailor
Moon's power, when she had revived Marz, had restored them all. Marz was alive,
Mamoru had his magic back and the ex-Dolls were all at peak strength again.
Better actually. The last seven years of training had improved them, after all.
	"We're going to get ourselves killed," Fevrier said.
	"Yeah, we probably are." Mamoru grabbed her chin and pulled her face up.
"And I'm sorry."
	"Sorr-" Then he cut her off by pulling her in and kissing her. At first
her eyes widened. Then she snapped her arms around him and pulled him in deep,
purring, drinking him in. He stiffened, obviously not expecting such a response.
Well, he hadn't been paying much attention then, had he? She wasn't satisfied
when she released him, but she did release him.
	He fell to his knees, his eyes wide. "Wow."
	"No fair!" Marz cried. "Why does Fevrier get the first kiss?"
	"Well, I just sort of..." Mamoru was cut off by Satsuki sliding up next
to him without any of them noticing and deciding to get her own taste in. Marz'
eye twitched as the kiss deepened. Where Fevrier had been strong and constant,
Satsuki's was soft and came in many parts. It was as elusive and as mysterious
as she was. Finally Satsuki released Mamoru and turned to her sister.
	"Uhm..." Satsuki blushed. "I..." She grabbed the back of Mamoru's head
and pushed him forward. "Here. Your turn."
	"Hey, I'm not a thing!" Mamoru protested.
	"Oh shut up," Fevrier snorted. "You started this. You finish it."
	Marz nodded sternly and lifted him up. She perhaps acted the most
traditionally of the three, allowing Mamoru to be the lead as he embraced her
and slowly tilted her back for a long deep moment. It was Mamoru and not Marz
who finished up, allowing the giggling girl to get back to her job.
	"I'm sorry I never did that sooner," Mamoru said simply. "Consider this
my promise. If we get out of this fight alive, I will no longer hold back with
you three."
	"What's this 'if', wuss?" Fevrier grumbled.
	"Excuse me?"
	Everyone turned at once, Satsuki had her blade halfway out of its sheath
before the newcomer even had a chance to finish talking. The woman's eyes
widened behind her golden opera mask and she backed up a step. Fevrier holstered
her handgun when she saw who it was. V, also known as Minako Aino. The
travelling companion of one Ranma Saotome, and a noted expert in the
extermination of vampires and other undead. An 'ideologically compatible but
unassociated freelance metahuman', as Marz would have put it. Or, as Mamoru
preferred, 'one of the good guys'.
	But that didn't mean Fevrier had to like her. In fact, she pretty much
thought the woman was an arrogant bitch. After Marz had... gone, it had been up
to Satsuki and Fevrier to help hold Mamoru together. The loss had almost torn
him apart. And while he had been suffering, this woman had been ranting at
Sailor Moon, the person who had ended all the fighting. The person who had
brought Marz back. Fevrier may have holstered her gun, but she kept her hand on
it. Satsuki also kept her palm balanced on the butt of her sword.
	"Minako," Mamoru said stiffly.
	"Mamoru..." She looked him in the eyes, but her body language said she
wanted to look away. "I need your help."
	"What makes you think we're-" Fevrier started but Mamoru cut her off by
holding his hand in front of her.
	"Let her say her piece."
	Fevrier seethed, but kept silent for a moment.
	"You are going to Tokyo, right?"
	"Yes. Gyro needs to be stopped."
	"I need to go too." Minako's voice was growing in strength with each
word.
	"Why?" Fevrier barked.
	"You have to stay here," Marz said. She alone, of all of them, did not
look angry. She walked towards Minako. "Your place is here, stopping what's
going to happen."
	"No. I have to find and save Sailor Moon," Minako said, her voice hard.
	Marz considered that. "And Tokyo was the last place she was seen
alive..." She lowered her head. "This isn't supposed to happen this way."
	"I don't care." Minako threw her hand to the side. "No matter what
happened between us, Sailor Moon... Usagi is still a good person. Misled, yes,
but that doesn't mean she deserves whatever fate she's fallen into. I have to do
what I can to help her." She looked at them all. "I have to."
	Mamoru looked back at her. Slowly, he smiled. "Okay. You can come with
us. Though it might be a tight squeeze."
	"What? You're not serious!" Fevrier shouted at him.
	"She's right." Mamoru looked at them all. "Once upon a time, I was her
defender. I lived to protect Sailor Moon. Now, you three are what I live for.
But this is the least I can do."
	"I suppose I'll have to redo the calculations again," Marz said with a
sigh.
	"Calculations?" Minako asked in an almost frightened tone.
	"Yeah." Fevrier stepped aside and revealed their transportation. "It's
going to be a bit of a squeeze."
	"Where did you get that?" Minako breathed.
	"Some old abandoned rich person's house," Fevrier said with a shrug.
	"I meant the vulcan cannon attached to the handlebars."
	"Some questions are better left unanswered," Marz replied ominously.

*

	Chaos.
	It seethed across the city like a visible force. Everywhere they had
gone, there had been more chaos. Humans transformed into mindless engines of
destruction. First had come the rains of black lightning. Strokes of brilliant
oily light that passed through buildings and vehicles without pause. Bolts that
unerringly sought out humans, striking them down. A few at first, just enough to
give the initial survivors enough time to panic. Then more and more, until it
seemed the sky had unleashed an unending cascade.
	There had been over fifteen million people living in the greater Tokyo
area, and Cologne would not have been surprised if there had been exactly one
lightning bolt for every single one of them; no more, no less. Thankfully, the
Quartet had shielded them from the assault. It had required all three of the
still functioning Amazon Stones to hold off the barrage of black lightning, but
they had managed.
	For a few minutes they had walked through an eerily quiet Tokyo. The
girls couldn't teleport them out of the city while there was so much chaos in
the air, so they had been forced to walk. Having to carry around Frederick's
unconscious body had slowed them down. Not to mention that Cologne herself could
barely walk. Her vision kept fading in and out if she put too much weight on her
injured leg. She was fairly certain that the wounds she had taken were far more
severe than she had initially thought, but she didn't want to let this on.
	The girls had enough to worry about. The walk through the bizarre
mausoleum that had once been Tokyo had been short. The bodies scattered across
the streets had all been alive, Cologne could feel their life forces, but they
were also shattered. Black gems, diamonds the size of hen's eggs, hovered above
the bodies. Then, all at once, the ground around the bodies had erupted with
black tendrils.
	Inky vines had wrapped up each of the bodies, cocooning them in a few
seconds. Cologne had felt the terrible need to start running, but where was
there to run to? Then the cocoons had receded, and they had been left surrounded
by nightmares. Thousands of them, wild-eyed screaming monsters that had once
been human and were now grim parodies of themselves. No, not thousands:
millions.
	So they had run. The individual creatures had been no match for even an
injured Cologne or one of the still magically empowered Quartet, but there had
been far too many to fight. They needed a place to hide.
	Unfortunately, those were in short order. They had been forced into a
skyscraper, and engaged in a running battle up the stairs. The magic of the
girls helped, allowing them to block off many of the creatures' routes to them.
Finally they had been forced onto the roof, and there they had remained. The
girls had done something to the door, preventing any of the creatures from
following them up to the roof. This had, unfortunately, left them with an
excellent view of the rest of the city.
	Chaos.
	Without any humans to turn on, the mad creatures had turned on each
other. Cologne could only stare down at the streets in horror. They were killing
each other, tearing each other apart. Their clownish attacks should have been
comical, which made Cologne feel all the more unnerved by it all.
	"What does Gyro want?" Cologne said.
	"Who cares?" CereCere said tartly. "We have to get out of here. We can
run. Run and hide. Get away from him."
	"Run where?" JunJun said brusquely. "Run where, CereCere?"
	"Anywhere but here! Across the planet! Across the universe! Until we are
far enough away!"
	"We can't fly out," VesVes said. "Not with the old man in this
condition." She turned to PallaPalla. "Any change?"
	"No..." PallaPalla held a wet rag over his forehead, dabbing away beads
of sweat. "I can't see anything wrong with him. He just won't wake up." She
looked at Cologne. "He is going to wake up, right?"
	"Palla..." Cologne trailed off. She could lie to the girl. It was what
she wanted to hear. She wanted to hear that everything was going to be alright.
That this all hadn't been for nothing. But Cologne had no answer to that
question. She had no idea if things were going to be alright. Gyro had played
them all for fools; him, and the forces allied with him.
	They had played Cologne, played the Amazoness Quartet, played the
entire world. And for what? Cologne wasn't certain she would survive without
medical attention. Frederick was still unconscious, and showed no signs of
waking. PallaPalla was helpless, and the other girls were scared, truly scared,
for perhaps the first time in their lives.
	"I don't want this!" CereCere screamed. Her head was lowered, her palms
pressed over her ears in a childish attempt to keep out the shrieks and crashes
from the city below.
	"There's nothing we can do..." Cologne started to say, but CereCere cut
her off with a sob.
	"It's not fair! Everyone is in pain. Everyone's hurting. Mr. Purgstall
isn't waking up and you're hurt and PallaPalla lost her magic and the entire
city is being destroyed..." She raised her head and tears were pouring down her
face, her eyes were quivering and her mouth was twisted with grief. "And it
hurts! It all hurts!"
	"CereCere..." Cologne blinked.
	"All of you are hurting and it makes me hurt, too!" CereCere clenched
her hands helplessly. "I care! I care, a... and it hurts! I don't want to care
anymore! I don't want to hurt anymore! I want suffering to be funny again!"
	"I don't think it works that way," JunJun replied softly.
	VesVes bit her lip and looked away. PallaPalla just continued dabbing at
Frederick's forehead. But there were tears in her eyes now, too. Cologne's mouth
opened slightly. She suddenly felt something... something warm and pleasant
inside her. The heat burned up from her heart, up her cheeks and out of her
eyes.
	"Now you've gotten the old hag crying!" VesVes said accusingly to her
pink-haired sister.
	"No... no, VesVes," Cologne gasped. "It's... it's okay."
	"But tears are bad," PallaPalla said softly. "They're what happens when
you're hurt." She brushed at her eyes. "I don't want to cry. I don't want to!"
	"Sometimes tears are good, girls," Cologne said. But how could she
explain? For seven years she had been around these girls, and not once had she
ever seen them care, truly care, about someone other than themselves. It hadn't
stopped her from loving them, which she could now admit to without hesitation.
But she had always felt secretly sad that these girls would never truly know
what it was to be human. That they would be children, innocent and cruel by
turns, forever.
	But this...
	Even in the centre of all this chaos, it made Cologne proud.

*

	The monsters started down the highway. They cackled and crowed, leapt
and cavorted. Their bodies were like something out of an insane circus. Twisted
parodies of human forms. A single sedan sped ahead of them. Noizi Ito was at the
wheel, her hands gripping the steering wheel as if it were a life preserver in a
stormy sea. She hadn't wanted to be attacked by monsters today. In fact, she had
just hoped to return to Tokyo for the day and retrieve her art supplies.
	But fate had other plans. She had been just outside the border when the
black lightning had come. She had hid while the unnatural weather had raked back
and forth across Tokyo. When she had finally had the courage to get out from
under the seat, the city had gone quiet.
	'Too quiet', her mind had unhelpfully filled in for her.
	She knew then she should leave. Leave quickly. Leave NOW. Of course, the
car had refused to start. Noizi used to be a fan of horror movies. The really
bad ones with all the cliche plots. The kind that used to be produced in America
about men in hockey masks or with chainsaws and so on. She had a large
collection of bootleg copies that would probably get her fined if Chronos SecOps
found out about them. But as she sat there, desperately turning the key and
pushing the gas pedal over and over again, she swore she would burn them herself
if she got out of there.
	The car had started up just as the first tendrils of darkness had
erupted from the ground to encircle the people caught within the city. She
reversed, her eyes widening as she watched the... things emerge. One young
police officer had driven right into the city as soon as the barrage had ended.
He had been bravely doing CPR on one of the bodies while calling for backup. He
had tried to run, but the things were upon him in seconds.
	Noizi would never forget that moment. With adrenaline-fuelled strength
she had kicked her car around, spinning it almost perfectly in place while still
backing up at top speed. She could hear the screech of the tires, smell the
burning rubber. She jerked the stick into forward and pushed the pedal to the
very literal metal.
	Looking in the rearview mirror had been a mistake. The things had
snapped their heads up like dogs scenting prey. Then their faces had split in
perverse grins and they'd loped off in chase. Noizi had managed to outrun many
of them, but there were a few that were very fast indeed. One had reached the
side of her car and began smashing at her door with its deformed paw-like hands.
Acting on instinct she had jerked the car into the thing, knocking it aside. But
she'd almost lost control. Worse, a few seconds later the cat-headed beast was
still after her.
	Her eyes widened as she saw another one in the road ahead of her. This
one was big, almost two meters tall. He wore a black coat that flapped around
him, and underneath it he wore a navy suit. His face was scarred, one eye
missing. He frowned as she screeched towards him. There was no way for her to
turn. She screamed and clutched the wheel tighter.
	He stepped towards her. Then up, his foot easily clearing the hood of
her car. It left a dent as he pushed off the hood and leapt up and over her tiny
sedan. She could hear him shout. His voice was deep, loud and full of righteous
rage. Noizi continued screaming but pulled on her wheel, sending the car into a
spin. She lost all track of space as everything whirled around her. She was in
full panic mode.
	Then something caught her car. She felt it settle gently into
something's grasp, like a ball into a catcher's mitt. She turned and saw
something green pressed against her window. She screamed again. The green thing
backed away and a hand appeared. It was much too large for a human hand. It
fumbled at her door. She screamed some more. She hadn't thought to lock it. Oh
god, why hadn't she locked the door?
	Then the door came off.
	'Oh, it wouldn't have done any good anyway,' a part of her thought with
odd rationality. She screamed again.
	"Sorry," a huge voice said. A face peered down. It was huge and round,
with a big goofy grin. "I'll fix it, okay?"
	She screamed.
	"Gan, you're scaring her!" a smaller, more nasal voice said from the
side.
	"Oh... right." The huge man backed away. "You help her out, Edge."
	A thin man wearing a bright purple jumpsuit appeared. He had blonde hair
pulled up in a set of spikes that rose almost thirty centimeters straight up off
his head. He squinted at her with one eye while he widened the other all the way
as he leaned into the car. "Hey lady, be nice and get outta the car, okay?" He
grinned, a manic grin. "It's okay. You're safe with us." He pulled his hands
from his pocket and he was carrying eight small black objects between his
fingers. "See?" There was a series of clicks and each of the objects sprouted a
thin blade. "Ain't no-one gonna hurt you with me around!"
	She screamed.
	"Edge! You're scaring her, too!" the big man's voice said.
	"I am not, you lummox!" Edge shouted over his shoulder. "I'm comforting
her. You know, explaining the situation."
	"I don't think you should have your knives out..."
	"Do NOT dis the knives!" The little man waved the blades in a vaguely
threatening manner towards his companion.
	"I'm just sayin-"
	"EDGE! GAN!"
	Something in that voice prevented Noizi from screaming again. She looked
out her car and saw the other man. He was standing further down the street, in
the middle of a crater that extended all the way across the eight lane highway.
Bodies of the circus freak monster people were scattered around him, obviously
unconscious. There were about three dozen more at the edge of the crater,
cavorting nervously. One of them stepped onto the shattered asphalt.
	The man snapped his head around, his one remaining eye locking onto the
malformed creature. It gulped, a huge bulge working down its throat, then backed
up onto the undamaged pavement. The man turned his scarred face back to the two
next to her car. "Leave the poor woman alone." Edge and Gan muttered 'sorry' in
stereo and walked around the car and away from her. The scar-faced man looked at
her. "I'm sorry for my companions, Miss."
	"No... that's okay..."
	Now that was a MAN.
	"I'd escort you out of the danger zone, but it appears there are more of
those beasts approaching. I fear that once they reach a critical number, their
bloodlust will overcome their good sense and I will be forced to engage in
punitive action." Noizi nodded up and down slowly. She was memorizing his body.
As an artist, she had a good eye for anatomy. This had the side benefit of
making it very easy to picture people naked.
	"Edge, Gan, get over here." The man swept around to face the growing
horde of circus freak monsters. The two wildly different men ran up behind him.
The huge man had to be at least a half meter taller than the scarred one, and
built in a manner that would make champion sumo weep in envy. The little one was
bouncing on his feet, using a quartet of knives to comb his long punk hair.
	"Let's teach these bullies how we deal with those who don't know how to
treat a lady," the scarred one said.
	"Right, Daigo!" the skinny one cried. The big one just laughed and
stomped his foot, sumo style, so hard the ground shook.
	"Daigo..." Noizi mused to herself.

*

	"RAIJIN!"
	Lightning sprang from the ground, erupting right in the middle of the
crowd of monsters. They scattered like ten pins, falling in all directions.
Hinata ran straight into the opening, her short brown hair snapping behind her.
Her body lifted up as she moved, spinning her legs out in a tight circle, then
again, then again. Flames burst from her foot, sweeping out and pushing the
carnival freak monsters back yet further.
	Batsu came in behind her, sprinting with his hands cocked back. He
concentrated, pulling up his chi, focusing it in his fists. A half dozen of the
things had survived the first two assaults, and it was up to him to finish them
off. He came in straight, smashing an uppercut into the chin of a female
creature. This was followed by a quick sidestep into a backhand, levelling a
second beast. The next three were in a tight group, so he just pulled back his
hands and released his Kaiaken power wave with a fierce yell. The pulse of
compressed air hit them with the power of a runaway train, picking them up and
smashing them into a wall which shattered at the impact.
	Kyosuke appeared behind him, slashing out with one hand and catching the
last remaining carnival demon. The blow was vicious, struck right to the thing's
neck. Batsu heard its bones snap before it collapsed. Batsu smirked and gave his
companion a thumb's-up. Kyosuke just adjusted his glasses with his index finger
and turned away.
	"You let your guard down. That one almost had you from behind."
	"Ah, what are you worried about? These things are nothing!" Batsu
exclaimed. He turned to Hinata, who was crouched in the street. They'd cleared
out pretty much this entire block, but she was staring down the road. A dozen
more of the monsters were pouring out of the buildings on either side of the
roadway.
	"Maybe, but there are a lot of them," Hinata pointed out. She stood up
and adjusted her oversized karate gloves one at a time. "We have to get to the
Pillars. They're the source of all this madness."
	Batsu shrugged and started down the street. "Yeah, but nothing's to say
we can't have a little fun on the way."
	"Only if you consider killing innocent people fun," Kyosuke stated.
	Batsu stopped and turned to the tall blond boy. Kyosuke was looking down
the street at the assembling mob of carnival demons. From the looks of it, they
were smart enough to gather together in large numbers before challenging the
superior martial artists. But Batsu had no idea what Kyosuke was talking about.
Sure, these things were humanoid, but they looked about as human as something
seen in a funhouse mirror. Their bodies were distorted grotesquely, often with
skin colours that ranged across the entire rainbow. Not to mention the fact that
their costumes ranged from the ridiculous to the outright insane.
	Granted, Batsu had met Skullomania, but that was a special case.
	"What are you saying, Kyosuke?" Hinata's orange skirt played along the
bottom of her thighs.
	"Each of these monsters was once a human being." Kyosuke crossed his
arms. His expensive white suit wrinkled up slightly around his body. Batsu
snarled.
	"Even so, that can't stop us," he said.
	"You're right. But it means we have to get to Gyro." Kyosuke unlimbered
his arms as the creatures began to charge. "Needless fighting like this will
only weaken us in the end and do his work for him."
	"Tell them that!" Batsu roared, and began to charge up towards the
approaching horde. He summoned his chi again, but not so much that it began to
seep into his aura. While allowing the energy to leak from his body did look
impressive, if he pushed himself too much the energy lost was extremely
inefficient in the long run.
	Kyosuke and Hinata hesitated a moment, then followed him. Batsu smiled.
He knew that as long as his friends were with him, they couldn't lose. For seven
years, they had lived and fought as one. Forged again and again in the gauntlet
of Chronos. There would be no doubt among them.
	Then a giant purple energy ball fell from the sky and smashed into the
monsters. Batsu scrambled to a stop, his eyes widening. The blast had left a
hole in the street nearly five meters across. Whatever had caused it had some
serious power.
	Then something started shouting. Batsu frowned. It was too far away for
him to hear fully. He tilted his head back, and his eyes widened again.
	He had seen a lot of zoanoids before, but this one was certainly one of
the strangest. It looked nothing so much like a giant minotaur, easily the size
of a city bus, complete with cloven hooves and bull's horns. But it also had a
tiny little tail that had to be an eel of some kind and what looked like a pair
of wings on its back. The wings were too small to possibly support the titanic
beast, but despite that it was hovering over them.
	There was also a young woman on its head. She had long purple hair that
rippled out behind her in direct defiance of the prevailing wind. She seemed to
be posing and shouting something. But she was so far away that Batsu couldn't
make out a single word. Kyosuke and Hinata joined Batsu a moment later.
	"Any idea what she's trying to say?" Hinata asked Kyosuke.
	Kyosuke adjusted his glasses again and squinted his eyes. He crossed his
arms sternly and his entire posture became alert and tense. Then he sighed and
looked away. "I think she's telling the thing to fly lower."
	Batsu and Hinata gaped as the woman began to kick and punch at the
flying minotaur's head, shouting and pointing at the ground. The thing snorted
in annoyance and began to lower itself to the ground. Finally it landed with a
loud crunch, its hooves digging slightly into the pavement. There were a few
carnival freaks around, but it took care of them with a few sweeps of its
massive arms. The purple-haired woman, who Batsu could now see was wearing a
pink and purple frilly outfit that looked more like it belonged on an idol
singer than a monster's rider, was still standing on its head. He could also
just barely see another person on the thing's back. A brown-haired schoolgirl
who was doing her best to hide from them.
	"Fellow champions of justice, well met!" the girl cried out. "I saw your
dire peril and came at once to assist you!"
	"Dire peril?" Kyosuke murmured.
	The young woman spun, sparkling lights flaring around her. "Fear not,
for in this great age of darkness a trio of lights still shines! With the power
of friendship and unity we oppose the minions of chaos and oblivion this
day! Together, we can not hope but to succeed!"
	"Oh man," Hinata rubbed her forehead. "It's another Skullo."
	"SHE'S SO COOL!" Batsu crowed, clenching his fists with tears streaming
from his eyes. She was... she was... just like a real superhero! He wondered if
she could sing, too.
	"Oops, we lost Batsu," Kyosuke said laconically.
	Hinata looked at Batsu, back to the purple-haired woman, then back at
Batsu. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Hey!" She stepped in front of Batsu with
her arms extended. "What do you think you're doing here, anyway?"
	"Why, joining you to fight the good fight." The woman preened. "Besides,
it looked like you could use a ride. Since this city is terribly full of
phages."
	"Phages?" Kyosuke asked.
	"The carnival monsters you face," the girl explained, her tone suddenly
grim. "Human beings with their star seeds removed and infused with the power of
chaos and oblivion. Though they're different than normal phages a little bit..."
	"So you're offering us a ride?" Kyosuke folded his fingers together.
	"Awesome! We get to ride that big ugly monster!" Batsu cheered. The
thing tried to smash him and Batsu barely managed to sidestep in time. The fist
was as large as he was, and had gone through the pavement like it was tissue
paper. The thing glared at him. "Hey! Get control of your pet monster, lady!"
	"Oh, he's not a pet!" The girl waved her hand. "He's my boyfriend!"
	Hinata gaped again.
	"He's cursed," the woman explained.
	"I see," Kyosuke muttered. "Well, never look a gift giant flying
minotaur in the mouth..." He jumped onto the thing's back. Batsu tried to
follow, but the thing glared at him so hard he thought better of it. Instead he
was allowed to sit near the thing's butt. Just as Batsu sat down, the thing let
loose a massive fart. Batsu choked and coughed, clutching at his mouth while the
thing laughed derisively.
	"Bad!" The purple haired woman smacked the thing in the head with her
heel.
	Hinata gave Batsu a concerned look, but she jumped onto the thing's
back, far away from the smell. Traitor, Batsu growled as he tried desperately to
wave away the stench. But Hinata became distracted from his predicament quickly
when she saw the other passenger. She blinked, her mouth forming a comical
little oh. She pointed.
	"It... can't be... can it?"
	Wait, now that Batsu looked closer, the brown-haired girl looked pretty
familiar. Also she looked a little old to be wearing a sailor suit. The girl
laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her neck.
	"Heh. Long time no see, Hinata..." she trailed off, her face flushing
with embarrassment. "Long time no see."
	"What are you..."
	"I can explain!" the young woman yelled, holding up her hands. "I don't
even like these people! It's not my fault! Really!" Then she was clinging to
Hinata, wrapping her arm around the shorter woman's waist. Tears poured down her
cheeks. "Hinata! You have to save me! Take me away from all this!"
	The monster was looking over his shoulder at them. It raised an eyebrow
and grinned.
	"Pervert!" The other girl slammed her foot into the thing's skull. It
glared up at her. She pointed to her temple. "Psychic powers!" The thing
snorted. "Now, I believe the Pillars of Heaven are..." She looked around.
"Uh..."
	"That way." Kyosuke pointed.
	"Right!" The girl bounced. "Up, up, and away!"
	"I'm going to ignore that," Kyosuke murmured as the thing began to beat
its tiny little wings. Somehow this carried them all up.
	"Uhh... Kyosuke, a little help, please?" Hinata gestured helplessly to
the woman clinging to her waist, now sobbing and mumbling incoherently. Batsu,
meanwhile, was just busy trying not to fall off the minotaur's ass.

*

	The last seven years had been a special kind of hell for Mamoru
Kusanagi. Despite the fact that he was perhaps the most powerful fighter in the
Resistance, Akane had refused to use him in most jobs. Especially the high
profile ones. In fact, he had been forced for the last seven years to play
little more than a glorified bodyguard. He just hung out with whatever loser
Akane thought needed protecting again this month, until Akane could get them
smuggled out of the country.
	Of course, he could understand why she did it. Kusanagi might have been
a powerful fighter, but he admitted that subtlety wasn't his strong suit. A man
with green hair and orange skin stood out, even in a country with a growing
population of zoanoids. Combine that with the fact that he was the last
surviving aragami specimen, and that meant Chronos wanted him. Badly.
	So he'd been forced to pretty much stay on his own, hiding in the
mountains and not getting involved in much action. Staying in the mountains...
with Momiji.
	Now, there was something important that had to be understood. Kusanagi
loved Momiji. His puppy-dog adoration had only matured along with the girl.
These days, he found the idea of not waking up next to her breathtakingly
beautiful face such a foreign idea that he might well have reacted with more
shock to the prospect of the sun setting in the north. Maybe at first they'd had
a bit of a rocky time. What with his 'I loved your sister and killed her spirit,
condemning it to eternal oblivion' and her 'I'm a sixteen year old girl'
respective issues, but seven years was a long time.
	They'd gotten over their personal hurdles.
	No, what was really the issue here was that Momiji was dedicated to
becoming... special. Apparently being the Kushinada and having the ability to
sense and commune with aragami wasn't really enough for her, what with all the
aragami being destroyed or lost at the end of the last crisis in Tokyo. Kusanagi
had heard rumours of mitamas showing up other places in the world, and he didn't
doubt that the girl who had absconded with Susano-oh's broken god-seed was up to
something bad, but the fact was that none of it had ever affected him or Momiji.
	Sometimes he wished it had. Then maybe Momiji wouldn't have felt that
overwhelming desire to develop her own superpowers. She'd tried everything.
She'd tried binding shikigami and other Shinto spirits after training with her
grandmother as a priestess. That hadn't taken. She tried developing her 'sixth
sense' and expanding her mystical awareness. Apparently that took a lot of
meditation and discipline that Momiji simply lacked. Akane had tutored her a few
times in martial arts before she began finding increasingly more strained
excuses not to. Momiji had even asked Fevrier and Koume to teach her how to
handle a bazooka once.
	The less said about that, the better.
	"Wait, wait, Kusanagi!" the woman pleaded. She was reaching into her
pouches. "I know I have something that will work! Just gimme a second!"
	"Why don't I just blast them?" Kusanagi growled. He was leaning against
a building. The hordes of carnival monster freaks were coming in from every side
street, effectively blocking them off from any ground-based escape. Kusanagi
sighed and crossed his arms behind his head.
	"Just give me one more second!" She adjusted her giant array of pouches.
Her 'combat poncho', as Kusanagi had come to call it, was perhaps the most
sublimely silly thing he had ever seen. It consisted of a loose bit of long
fabric that draped over Momiji's shoulders such that it looked like she was
sticking her head through an especially thin mushroom. The poncho itself was
made out of kevlar, with a wire mesh over the entire top of it. The mesh served
as the perfect thing to hook all the various pouches and boxes and other things
Momiji had picked up to. Inside each pouch was some crazy mystic object. Here a
magical knickknack, there a charm or talisman, there a Christian cross and right
next to it a set of Buddhist prayer beads. And a Star of David, a stone
inscribed with the Islamic shahadah, a voodoo doll and some contraption called
an 'e-meter' for good measure.
	If it was in any way vaguely mystical and Akane hadn't found a better
use for it by now, Momiji was probably carrying it somewhere.
	"Aha!" She held out a piece of chalk. "This will defeat them."
	"Chalk?" Kusanagi gave her a flat look. "They aren't speaking up in
class, Momiji."
	"You just watch!" She knelt and began to draw a series of diagrams in
the ground. "This is actually the ancient art of Alchemy. Using a series of
diagrams, I can transmute matter itself through a process known as 'equivalent
exchange' that will..."
	Kusanagi lowered his arm and fired off a series of shots from the mitama
embedded in the back of his hand. The blows scattered the approaching freaks.
Momiji frowned up at him. "What? They were getting close." She muttered
something he couldn't hear and returned to her drawings. He shrugged. Sooner or
later she would catch on and he could just get her out of the danger zone. Then
he could really cut loose. He grinned in anticipation. That was going to be fun.

*

	Cracker Jack had never liked Japan. Where Jack came from, the world
existed in a steady state of semi-corruption at all times. People got drunk in
the streets and started fist fights over hookers. The cops were on the take. The
politicians lied with smiles on their faces and everyone knew this. It still
made him nostalgic to think about.
	But Japan was another matter. Everything here was so clean and sterile.
Except where it wasn't. Japan had this strange sort of deal going on where it
was expected that in public you were perfectly polite and happy and a productive
citizen. Then, in private, you got to tie your girlfriend up in leather straps
while your wife relieved herself on your back or something. Japan was a place
where you were either totally lily-white pure, or completely bugfuck crazy with
no apparent middle ground.
	Jack always preferred the way of moderation, himself.
	His bat cracked as it connected with the head of another of the
monsters. The thing flew a good hundred meters before vanishing into the side of
a building in a cloud of broken glass and concrete. He sighed and tapped the
weapon off on his boots.
	Who was he kidding? He just didn't like being in the middle of a war
against alien zombie clowns. But that's what he got for hitching his wagon to
the new boss.
	Rose was doing a remarkably good impression of Bison now, which made
Cracker Jack reconsider his plan to submit his resignation, effective the moment
he could get out of her line of sight. She was floating down the street, her
long brown hair waving behind her like a living thing. Her eyes were glowing so
bright you could barely make out the rest of her face. She was gesturing with
her hands, sort of like a conductor. When she did, the demon clown things died.
	Some of them were thrown into walls so hard they shattered... both them
and the walls. Some were crushed by cars, others impaled on telephone poles.
Some of them just exploded, apparently when Rose just couldn't think of anything
more creative to do with them.
	With a sigh she slowly settled to the ground, glimmering orbs of purple
light swirling around her. Her hair fell and the glow in her eyes receded until
he could see her baby browns again. Her expression was partly relieved, partly
disgusted.
	"So, any reason you took me along on this little trip?" Jack asked,
walking up to her. "You seem able to handle them yourself pretty well."
	"I am not Bison," Rose snapped. Then she immediately looked frightened
and she waved a hand over her face. "Forgive me. Sometimes my emotions get the
better of me. I have not been forced to wield my powers so intensely since my
reintegration with Bison." She looked away. "The effort is more taxing than I
thought it would be."
	Cracker Jack shrugged and adjusted the brim of his hat. If she was going
to have some sort of identity crisis deal, it wasn't his problem. He'd just keep
an eye out for the inevitable breakdown and remember to make himself scarce just
before everything went south.
	"The immediate area is clear."
	Jack never jumped when Eidolon showed up anymore. Since the 'oldest' of
the Dolls could appear out of virtually anywhere, she had a habit of doing just
that. The thought that other people were concerned about things like walls and
floors apparently never really occurred to her. He turned slowly to look at the
young woman.
	Rose had attempted to convince the Dolls to wear something other than
their skin-tight black catsuits, but thankfully without much success. Jack
concealed a smirk behind his hands by lighting a cigarette. He always liked
Eidolon. She was a full-grown woman, with the kind of shape that Jack thought
was pretty much ideal. The Doll looked at him and he swore she smirked a little
and arched her back just a bit.
	Well, Rose had made it clear he could no longer ORDER them to sleep
with him. She hadn't said anything about asking...
	"What is the situation?" Rose growled, crossing her arms and glowering
at the two of them. Eidolon snapped to attention.
	"The other Dolls have secured the area for a five block radius. All
hostile entities in the area have been neutralised," she explained with
mechanical precision.
	"Call the others back here." Rose turned to look at the Pillars of
Heaven. It was a rare section of Tokyo that did not have a fantastic view of the
massive towers. Eidolon nodded and vanished into a nearby wall in a flare of
purple sparks. "We're going to have to make a push for the Pillars now."
	"Not the brightest plan," Jack said around his smoke. He tapped his bat
against the ground. "I doubt a Louisville Slugger is going to do much good
against a guy who can blow up entire oceans."
	"Maybe, maybe not." Rose looked back at him. "But we can't risk that it
won't. The plan is simple. We attack Gyro as quickly as possible. If anyone can
get in a killing blow, then it's worth it."
	"So we just throw ourselves at him like lemmings until one of us chokes
him with our corpse?"
	"Perhaps put a little more crudely than I would have liked." The other
Dolls were showing up now; in teams of two they hopped and bounced over the
debris and came to settle in a rough circle around them. "If you didn't want to
play the role of hero, you shouldn't have chosen to be on the side of one."
	"Heroes are cool," Jack said with a shrug. "Heroes get fame, chicks,
respect... all that nice stuff. It's martyrs I have a problem with. Specifically
being one." He looked at all the Dolls around him. "And these young ladies
didn't exactly get a choice in the matter."
	"They can leave if they feel like it!" Rose insisted, a vein in her
forehead throbbing.
	"And if you die?" He spread his hands. "They're still connected to your
life force..."
	"Jack, don't push this." Rose snarled. "We need to be here."
	"Why?"
	"I don't know. I just... know. This is important enough to risk
everything for."
	"Lady Rose!" the Doll called Noembelu called out. "There is a powerful
chi force moving towards us at high speed!"
	Cracker Jack looked at the Native American Doll. She was already
unlimbering her hatchets and turning to face down the road. Noembelu was a
tracker. Bison had chosen her because of her sensitivity, and she had the
ability to hunt down just about anyone no matter where they went. If she said
there was danger approaching, he was getting ready. The other Dolls followed
suit. Rose looked somehow both annoyed and worried at the same time, but she
turned to face the same direction as the copper-skinned Doll.
	Jack heard it before he saw it. It was the roar of a motorcycle,
straining past its breaking point. Then a plume of dust on the horizon, coming
straight down the centre of the street at them. The plume grew and gradually a
shape resolved itself in front of the dust cloud. Jack tilted up his hat
slightly, not certain if he could believe what he was seeing.
	The bike was cherry-apple red, all smooth and glistening. It had an
attached sidecar and looked like it belonged to some rich kid who knew about as
much about motorcycles as Jack knew about legitimate finance. And there were
five people on that.
	Wait, make that five people and an octopus.
	A pink-haired woman was bent over the handle bars, grinning insanely.
She was steering with one hand while she manipulated a huge gun that had been
welded to the handlebars with the other. He could hear the deadly purr of the
weapon going off just under the roar of the motorcycle. A man was sitting with
his back to hers, hip-firing a sniper rifle behind them. A young woman with
brown hair was hanging by one arm and one leg to the right of the bike, opposite
the sidecar. She carried a sword in her other hand, which she was wielding with
deadly accuracy. The sidecar had two women crammed into it: one was facing
forward and clinging to a laptop computer with all her strength, apparently
shouting directions to the driver. The other was a woman in golden armour
straight out of a fantasy novel. As he watched she slashed her arm through the
air behind them, a ray of brilliant gold light following in her hand's wake.
	And on top of the gatling gun welded between the handlebars was a tiny
octopus, clinging onto the barrel of the weapon with his eight little tentacles.
He was wearing aviator goggles.
	They were surrounded on all side by monsters. And more kept joining them
every second. Jack, however, couldn't take his eyes off the three non-armour-
wearing women on the bike. It couldn't be... weren't they DEAD?
	"Minako," Rose murmured. "Everyone, help the people on the bike. They
are not enemies."
	The Dolls needed no other orders. Like a black, lithe and sexy wave they
poured forward. The driver of the bike spotted them, her eyes widening. She
turned the bike sideways, slamming on the break and burning off a few
millimeters of rubber as she screeched to a halt. She whipped an Uzi up that had
been slung around her neck to point at the oncoming Dolls. Her face had drained
of all colour and she was mouthing something to herself over and over.
	Then the Dolls flashed past them and struck into the pack of demons. She
blinked.
	Jack sauntered up to the bike. "Hey, Fevrier, long time no see."
	"Cracker Jack..." The woman frowned. Then she pointed her gun directly
into his face. The muzzle felt warm against his nose. "I am NOT going back!" she
snarled.
	"Cracker Jack?" Marz said, blinking and looking up at him. Her eyes
widened and she pulled her computer to her chest. Satsuki dropped from the bike
and landed in a fighting stance. The as-yet-unidentified man and woman turned to
face him, only reluctantly tearing their attention away from the battle going on
behind them.
	Jack smiled. "It ain't like that anymore, babe. New management."
	"I'll believe that when I see Bison's body," Fevrier replied sharply.
Colour was returning to her cheeks, but her eyes were cool and deadly.
	"I'm afraid this will have to do," Rose said as she floated down next to
them. The five looked at her. The gold-clad woman frowned as she looked at the
new leader of Shadowloo, but it was hard to read her expression behind her mask.
"Minako, you're looking well."
	"Do I know you?" the woman replied.
	"In another life," Rose said, waving her hand. "I am Rose. Or what is
left of her. Or what Rose became..." She closed her eyes and rubbed her
forehead. "It is complicated. I am still trying to discover what it all means
myself."
	"BISON!" Marz suddenly cried out, stumbling out of the sidecar. She was
pointing at Rose. "Stay away from me!"
	"Marz, please, I have no intention of..." Rose trailed off as a sword
appeared at her neck. Jack, however, had known better than to take his eyes off
Satsuki for even a split second. The blade had halted after cutting halfway
through his bat. Still, it had come close enough to draw a bead of blood from
the woman's neck.
	"Nice try, but she signs my paycheques," Jack said, then backhanded her
with his free hand. Satsuki rolled with the blow, coming up in a fighting
stance.
	"Satsuki!" the boy shouted. He vaulted the bike and came down at Jack.
He was wearing military gear and wielding a sniper rifle, but he moved with the
speed of a martial artist. Still, Jack was just fast enough to backstep out of
the way. "Leave her alone!" the boy shouted.
	There was a clatter and a hatchet on a chain snapped around the boy's
arm, pulling his rifle to the side as the boy tried to draw a bead. Then there
was a loud bang and the chain went limp. Smoke wafted from the barrel of the
pistol Fevrier had just drawn. The other Dolls had finished with the horde of
demon freaks and were beginning to circle the group now. Noembelu adjusted her
grip on her remaining hatchet and its attached chain.
	"ENOUGH!" Minako roared, snapping her hands out. Instantly golden walls
appeared all around them. Jack blinked. They appeared to be made out of tiny
little golden hearts that glowed brightly. But then again, he'd seen this woman
cut through a half dozen monsters with a single shot, so he wasn't about to test
these walls no matter how silly they looked. "Everyone calm down!" Minako
continued shouting. "We don't have time for this. So somebody had better start
talking about this like a rational human being or so help me, I'll put you all
in the hospital."
	"It's very simple, Minako," Rose said. She sounded unconcerned with the
fact that she was surrounded on all sides by a glowing prison. "You remember me,
correct?"
	"I knew someone named Rose. She hung out with Sailor Pluto. You look
nothing like her."
	"And appearances are so convincing?" Rose snorted. "With your boyfriend,
you should be more open-minded."
	"I am." Minako smiled. It was just possible to see her and most of the
others through the gaps between the links in the wall. "That's why I haven't
started blasting you."
	"Good." Rose crossed her arms. "When we left you last, we were on a
mission to rescue Ukyou's child from Bison. We defeated Bison, but he was
inhabiting this body. So in order to fully defeat him, Nabiki was forced to
reintegrate my psyche with Bison's. Thus, Bison has become me and I have become
complete."
	Jack knew there was a lot Rose was leaving out of her explanation. He
still had no idea exactly what had happened during the last few hours back in
Bisonopolis. Then again, he didn't really care.
	Minako looked at her a moment. "That face looks familiar." Then she
gasped, a short, sharp intake of startled breath. "You're...!"
	"Yes."
	"Ranma..." Minako began.
	"I don't know." Rose looked aside. "He went north with Ukyou."
	Minako sighed. "Okay, you three, is that convincing enough for you?"
	"She certainly doesn't sound like Bison..." Fevrier muttered.
	"Her waveform isn't exactly the same either." Marz explained. "It is
more level than Bison's was. I think she is telling the truth."
	"I sense no evil from her," Satsuki added. She sheathed her sword.
	Jack relaxed as the walls of golden links vanished. Minako immediately
slumped against the bike, breathing heavily. That had taken more out of her than
she had let on. Good for her. Bluffing was a valuable skill.
	"So, you don't intend on taking them away," the boy said to Rose.
	The brown-haired woman looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "I'm impressed
you were able to humanise them so much, Mamoru."
	"You know me?"
	"I've heard of your... predicament." She frowned. "I find myself in a
similar condition." She leaned in closer to him. "How did you hold them off for
seven years?"
	Mamoru looked at her, then back at the rest of the Dolls. They were
moving with their usual grace as they approached the trio of ex-Dolls that had
been missing since Vega's ill-fated trip to Tokyo seven years ago. Enero walked
up to Fevrier, her expression curious.
	"We thought you were dead," Enero said.
	"I thought about you as little as possible," Fevrier returned with a
grunt. She had holstered her pistols, but kept her hands on the hilts.
	"You've aged," Enero noted curiously.
	Fevrier smirked. "So will you."
	Jack adjusted his hat. This was going well. He slowly moved away,
noticing Minako and Rose doing the same. As well as the land octopus, which
was hiding behind Minako now.
	Mamoru chuckled. "I don't know. I don't think I did." He turned to her.
"They kind of sneak right into you."
	"I most certainly hope not!" Rose snapped. She grit her teeth and
clenched her fists. "But enough about this. I assume you are here to confront
Reichmann Gyro?"
	"Yes..."
	"Good. We'll need everyone we can get." Rose turned to Minako. "We have
to attack Gyro to keep him off-balance. Your boyfriend is coming, as are Ukyou
and Tethys. We have to keep him from spreading his madness further until they
arrive."
	"Ranma..." Minako shook her head. "I'm sorry, Rose. I can't stay with
you." She stood up straighter. "There's someone I need to find." The octopus
behind her nodded vigourously.
	Rose stared at her a long moment. "I see. I doubt you'll locate anyone
in this city. But I can't force you to come with us."
	"I..." Minako lowered her head. "If you see Ranma..." She paused. "Never
mind. I'll tell him myself." Then she jumped up and backwards, landing on a
small building before vanishing over the other side.

*

	"Captain, why have we stopped?"
	Sakura Yamazaki did not pride herself on her patience. She prided
herself on her stunning beauty, her overwhelming talents, her superhuman
charisma and her attractive modesty. Patience, however, was not a virtue she had
ever really understood the point of. So after seven years of careful planning,
seven years of deferring to the next year and then the next, when the plan that
would eventually free the nation of her birth from the tyranny of Chronos hit
even the slightest hitch, she did not feel bad about displaying her annoyance in
the loudest possible way.
	The captain of the submarine was a heavy-set man, with a florid face and
a balding head. He was also one of the sharpest minds in the US Navy. He had a
grasp of naval tactics that exceeded his peers by leaps and bounds. More
importantly, he had been one of the few members of the so-called old guard who
had immediately grasped the tactical and strategic changes that the usage of
metapowered operatives introduced to the world. After seven years of playing
undersea tag with Millennium and Chronos, the captain was perhaps the single
best man at his job on the entire planet.
	That wouldn't stop Sakura from giving him a piece of her mind. However,
he neatly sidestepped her tirade by standing to the side and gesturing out to
one of the sonar screens. As a Shinto priestess, and a national hero, Sakura had
never bothered to learn much about sonar. She pretty much dealt with mystical
things and left all the tiresome technical details up to the people trained in
those disciplines.
	However, even she was certain that there wasn't supposed to be a giant
green wall across the screen of the sonar station. Pulses of sonar pinged out
from the ship, represented by concentric waves on the screen. But they all
reached that green line and then vanished. She pointed to the screen. "What is
that?"
	"We don't know, ma'am," the captain replied. He pointed to some tiny
green dots on the screen. "Those, however, are our ships." Sakura stared. That
couldn't be right. These submarines were over a hundred meters long, each. For
that scale to be right, the thing in the water ahead of them had to be...
	"I see you understand the situation." He adjusted his hat. "Oh, and it's
lobbing depth charges at us."
	"Depth charges?" Sakura looked up, blinking.
	There was a loud boom, and the ship shuddered slightly. Sakura stumbled
but kept her footing by grabbing a pipe above her head. The captain didn't so
much as flinch. He nodded slowly.
	"Ayup." He squinted and ran his tongue up against the inside of his
cheek. "Nothing coming close to us, really. But every ship that tries to move
gets a depth charge exactly..." He looked over at one of the officers. "What was
that again, Charley?"
	"Fifteen meters, sir!" the man replied quickly.
	"Ayup. Exactly fifteen meters off their bow."
	Sakura stared at him. "Captain, I think you should surface," she said
seriously.
	"Why is that?"
	"You have over three hundred highly trained martial artists on board
these ships. They have, among them, more firepower than anything short of a
nuclear missile. However, trapped in these boats a hundred meters beneath the
surface they are about as useful as insults and spitballs." She tapped the sonar
screen again. "So unless you think you can defeat that, I suggest you surface so
my people can do their jobs."
	"I think that may be a good idea." The captain grabbed a small
microphone off the wall, hitting a button. "All ships, surface. I repeat, all
ships are to surface immediately."
	Sakura was already leaving the bridge by the time he finished speaking.
She snarled and pushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. This was not
happening. She had made a promise. A PROMISE. Sakura Yamazaki did not go back on
her word.
	Seven years ago, just before Chronos had made their move, Sakura had
swept through Japan like a reaper. Except instead of killing people, she took
them away. Fighters. The best and the brightest. Many of the highly skilled
martial artists of Japan had taken her up on her offer. Sanctuary from Chronos
within the US, in exchange for helping to fight the good fight.
	And her promise to all of them had been that one day, they would return.
One day, they would head back and free their homeland from the enemy. Too many
of the people she had promised that to had not lived to see this day. Too many
people had died protecting her adopted homeland. Too many had sacrificed
themselves to protects strangers. Now, when they finally had a chance to strike
back, to regain everything they had lost...
	No giant fucking wall in the middle of the ocean was going to stop them.
	"Whoa, Sakura!" Shingo caught her a second before she barrelled into him
at top speed. She thought briefly of trying to push past him, but Shingo was
perhaps the single strongest human being on the entire planet, so she knew it
would be futile. "What's the rush, babe? And did I just hear we were surfacing?
I thought we were still several hours outside of Japan?"
	"Yes, we're surfacing. There's been a snag." She frowned at him. "I have
to get topside."
	"What is it? Zoanoids? Millennium remnants?"
	"I don't know." She pushed at his hand. "Excuse me..."
	Shingo released her, frowning. He adjusted his sunglasses as she walked
past. Why on earth he wore sunglasses in a nuclear submarine she had no idea.
Did he really think it made him look cool?
	"Sakura, wait!" Shingo caught up to her at the ladder leading up the
tower. She stiffened. "You've been avoiding me for weeks now-"
	"This isn't the time, Shingo..." Sakura snarled, cutting him off.
	"I know." He rubbed his scruffy little brown beard. "And I understand. I
hid important things from you and I've never exactly treated you right. But
Sakura, I want you to be able to trust me." He took off his glasses and stared
at her with his soulful green eyes. "Japan is my homeland. Sailor Moon is MY
sister. She's the one that gave us this chance. I want... I NEED to be here for
this fight. I need to make a difference here. But I can't if you don't trust
me..."
	Sakura felt her heart melting just a little bit. She knew this might
very well be another false confession. But damn her, she had never been able to
stay mad at him. He just looked so adorable when he was faking being sorry.
Plus, he was the best sex she had ever had.
	She threw up her hands. "Fine." She leaned in and kissed him. "You're
forgiven, okay?" The alarm indicating they had breached the surface went off.
Sakura began to climb the ladder. "Just make certain you keep that lecherous
master of yours away from me."
	"No problem," Shingo called out as he followed her. She was probably
giving him a good show, given her high-cut skirt. But if she cared about that,
she would have worn pants. It was fun playing with Shingo a little, now and
again.
	True, he would probably be gone the moment this battle was over. True,
he would be leaving a trail of broken hearts behind him as he travelled. But it
wasn't like Sakura was above playing the game, too. She was damn proud of the
fact that any man pictured on her arm was an instant celebrity. No, she and
Shingo would just have these moments here. Fun while it lasted.
	It wasn't like there were any emotions really invested between them.
	Certainly not.
	That would be stupid.
	The hatch opened with a soft pop and a cascade of salty water. Sakura
made a face as it poured over her outfit. Damn, red leather didn't handle water
well. Maybe she should get out her priestess robes? No, not enough time for
that.
	It was pouring rain when she exited. The clouds overhead were thick and
black, run through with blasts of lightning. Strangely enough, there was no
wind. The rain came straight down in sheets, drenching everything instantly.
Sakura walked over to the edge of the tower, pulling her glasses from between
her cleavage.
	Shingo came up behind her and stopped at the edge of the tower, his
hands grabbing the guardrail to keep himself steady. "Is that what I think it
is?"
	Sakura nodded. It was a crimson wall. A wall of blood, her nose
instantly told her. It rose out of the ocean nearly twenty meters, and must have
gone down beneath it several hundred more. It stretched out for kilometers in
either direction. Shingo was looking at it through a pair of binoculars. "Whoa,
who is that?" His voice had the unmistakable tinge of lust to it. Sakura had
heard it before, whenever Shingo spotted a new, attractive young woman. It was
like a reflex. He didn't even think about repressing it.
	Personally, she found it cute.
	"Give me those," Sakura snapped, grabbing the binoculars away from him.
A glance through the lens showed the woman Shingo had seen. She wasn't tall, but
she was definitely big in other areas. For her part, Sakura thought that too
much up top made a woman look like a cow, but that wasn't an opinion shared by
nearly enough men. The woman had blonde hair and wore a black outfit, some kind
of uniform that looked like it was designed for a fetish costume party rather
than actual combat use.
	And she had guns.
	No, 'guns' was too small a word. She had cannons. She had howitzers. She
had huge giant barrels nearly three meters long and with nozzles the size of
dinner plates. These were connected by a belt of half-meter-long shells to giant
containers on her back, presumably filled with more ammo. That woman was
probably carrying enough firepower in those two cannons to sink their entire
fleet.
	The woman looked right at Sakura. They had to be hundreds of meters away
from each other, but the woman looked right at her nonetheless. She had red
eyes.
	"Vampire," Sakura hissed.
	"Did we think to bring any blessed ammo?" Shingo asked.
	"Nope."
	"Shit."
	"Any idea what she wants?" Sakura said, holding up the binoculars for
Shingo. They were already being joined on deck by some more of the S.T.A.R.S.
units. Sakura could also see other dark shapes through the rain - the rest of
the fleet. Ten subs in all.
	"I don't think she wants us going any further." Shingo shrugged. "But
she isn't attacking."
	"Should we hit her?"
	"I wouldn't suggest it." Sakura turned slightly. The captain had joined
them on deck. He had thought to put on a rain slicker beforehand. "Not unless
you think your men can fight without ships underneath them." He lowered his own
binoculars. "Those cannons could likely punch through my ship like it was made
out of tissue paper."
	"We're not giving up now!" Sakura slammed her fist into the guardrail.
"We're so close!"
	The captain shrugged. "Maybe somebody doesn't want you joining the
party?"
	"Who?" Sakura snapped.
	The captain shrugged again. But Sakura could see he had some ideas.
"Anyway, we're only a few hundred clicks off the coast now..."
	"Little good that does us." Shingo crossed his arms. The rain ran off
his broad shoulders. His t-shirt was plastered tightly to his muscular chest,
and the rain water ran down the channels carved out by his physique in ways that
were distracting enough that Sakura resolved to keep her eyes on the florid-
faced captain instead.
	"Maybe, maybe not." The captain smirked. "These aren't standard nuclear
subs. They're mobile launch platforms for metahuman operatives. We've
retrofitted them so we can deploy agents anywhere in the world in a few moment's
notice. Of course, against a vampire of that kind of obvious power, you'd
clearly need spiritual potency to slip by unmolested in any sort of vehicle."
	"So?" Sakura tapped her foot.
	"Either of you two know how to fly a helicopter?"

*


	Rei sat in lotus position, her back to the Rose Gate. All around her,
the ground was covered in paper wards. They extended in all directions, forming
an elaborate mandala. She had used every trick she could remember, all the
techniques and seals taught to her by her grandfather and Katsuhito. She hoped
it was enough.
	As she waited, she prayed. Prayed to the souls of those who had gone
before her. Prayed to the spirits of the earth and the sun. Prayed to any god
that would listen. Her hands clapped together, she continued praying until the
creak of the iron gates into what had once been the duelling forest announced
their arrival.
	Rei opened her eyes and rose to her feet. Akio and Anthy stood just
inside the entrance. He wore a uniform of white silk and golden cords. His long
lavender hair spilled out behind him. His thin face was smiling. Anthy wore a
dress that was red like blood, velvet folds flowing out around her. Her long
violet hair was held up by an array of pins and a golden tiara. She looked every
part the princess.
	"So... this is it?" Akio seemed amused. "This is the best He could do?"
	In his hand, Akio carried a sword. Rei had never seen it before, but she
knew instantly what it was. It was a perfect blade, shining white and pure. She
felt a little part of herself die. But she blinked away the tears before they
could form. She had a job to do. She raised her hands and summoned her magic,
forming the Flame Sniper. She pulled the flaming arrow back.
	"One Sailor Senshi and two cats?" Akio chuckled. "Is this all He has
left? Is God's attention so invested in Tokyo now that He can spare nothing
else?"
	Fire, a small part of her said in the back of her mind. Don't listen to
him. Just fire. He killed Sailor Moon. He KILLED her. He defiled her and tore
out her soul and now he carries it like a damn trophy. He destroyed a girl whose
only crime was being too trusting. A girl too innocent for this world. A girl
who loved too much. A messiah whose message this world didn't want to hear. He
turned that around. He twisted it. He made it wrong, and awful and dirty...
	KILL HIM!
	But she hesitated. At her feet she could see the two moon cats tensing.
A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. She needed time. That was it. She
needed time. She had to wait for something. But she had no idea what.
	Akio stretched his arms out to his side, still holding the blade. "Come
then, Rei. Strike me down. That is your purpose, isn't it? That is what you were
put on this green Earth to do. To strike down evil." He smiled, a winning
smile that made his entire face light up.
	"You're afraid, aren't you, Rei?"
	Don't listen to him, a part of her said. Strike now. But she needed
time. She had to wait. But every fibre of her being told her to attack. There
was no miracle to wait for.
	"It's okay to be afraid." Akio brought his arms back down, and placed
the tip of the blade on the ground in front of him. "He is afraid too, you see."
	"Who?" Rei snapped.
	"God, of course." Akio waved his hand through the air. "Or whatever He
calls himself. You see, He's beginning to think He made a mistake. The mistake
of letting me be here.
	"I was placed here with a purpose, just like you." He chuckled. "I was
once like Him, Rei. I've been of the Third Circle. I could make miracles
happen." He shrugged. "But in the end, the universe does not want miracles. It
wants laws. It despises gods who think they can live among men."
	He gestured to the young woman behind him. Anthy did not look nearly as
nonchalant as her 'brother'. Her eyes were hard and cold. Rei couldn't help
picturing her as she had seen her seven years ago, her body pierced by
thousands, millions of swords. And her eyes, hard and cold and uncaring about
her suffering. That had been Anthy's true self, not this image before her. When
all the illusions of Ohtori had been shattered, this one had remained.
	"Usagi could not have lived that way, Rei." He walked sideways, and Rei
turned to keep a bead on him. He stopped and draped himself against the wall.
"She would not have been willing to make the sacrifice. To force all the pain,
all the misery onto another. It's the only way, Rei. God can not exist. His very
nature defies creation. He destroys possibilities, and the ravaging hatred of
those stillborn universes... they never go away."
	Rei heard it. It was a distant growl. A sound like a wild animal.
	"That's the true secret, Rei. The truth about all of this. The power of
Miracles does the impossible, and in so doing it unmakes the world. It shatters
reality like an egg, to make the world anew. But it can not truly destroy
things, Rei."
	The roar was growing louder. It swept around the bare field like a wind,
rising and lowering. Rei thought she could see the glint and shimmer of metal,
undulating around the outside of the walls. She tried to focus on Akio. She had
to be ready. She might only have one shot.
	She needed more time.
	"You see, the soul, alone among all things, is sacrosanct. Even the
Third Circle cannot unmake it. It cannot truly destroy it. Washuu must have
told you of souls, Rei. She told you how they divide, endlessly. How they
propagate across all the possibilities of time and space. How right now, there
are a billion yous, all standing there in that spot. Each slightly different.
Differences so small we could not even notice them. A stray quark here, a
neutrino's worth of weight more or less. But all of them are YOU, Rei."
	Rei's eyes widened. The wave had crested high enough above the
surrounding wall that she could see it for what it was now. It was swords.
Millions and millions of swords.
	"The Third Circle collapses all that, Rei. It shatters the cycle,
unmaking all those other yous and leaving only the person that God wishes there
to be. But He can't make those souls, those other Reis, truly vanish."
	There was a cracking sound. A stone dislodged from the wall. Then
another. A rent appeared. Through it, Rei could see more swords. Every type and
make. Then she realised the truth. She could feel it. These were not swords. No
more than what Akio carried was a sword. A crack appeared near his head and he
calmly walked away from the wall, making certain that Anthy was between him and
it.
	"They are cast into the darkness. Into Oblivion itself. There they
become crushed, distorted... but you can never make them truly go away. They
return over and over. Except there is nowhere to return to. No place for them to
be. Except for the soul of the one who cast them out."
	The walls were vanishing, piece by piece. Chipped away. Rei felt her
knees shaking. It had to be an illusion, she told herself. It couldn't be real.
But a part of her, an increasingly loud part, told her to fire now. That it was
almost too late.
	"You see, one who has touched the Third Circle is a gateway. He is the
only one who remembers the world as it was. Who can experience that which was.
So He is the only one who can experience the anger, the hatred of the souls He
has cast out. Of the universe's worth of lives He has destroyed.
	"Unless he can find a shield."
	Anthy spread her arms wide, her hair suddenly flying free. The swords
burst through. The walls disintegrated. The roar was defeaning. They swirled all
around the dueling arena, carving up the earth if they flew too low. It was a
tornado, a tornado of sharp flashing blades. And they were in the centre of the
tornado. Rei and Akio and the two moon cats. They were safe within the eye of
the storm.
	But Anthy was not. She was on the edge of the cyclone. No, she WAS the
edge of the cyclone. Her body spasmed and jerked as the swords flayed at her
skin, cutting her dress to shreds. But she held them back.
	The swords ripped at her flesh. But they weren't swords. They were
souls. The souls of those denied. Those destroyed by the Third Circle. Lost in
Oblivion, full of nothing but hate and rage at the existence that had been
denied to them. Rei felt tears falling from her eyes. It was monstrous.
	"This is why Usagi could never have been the champion she wished to be,"
Akio explained. "This was the truth she could not stand to see. This was what I
protected her from." He held out his hand. "To change the world, to save it,
means to destroy. And nothing we do can be attained without sacrifice.
	"So, Rei, do you see why I have to get past you?" He held up Sailor
Moon's soulsword. "With this sword, Usagi could have broken past the Rose Gate.
She could have attained the power of miracles. But she was unwilling to pay that
price. So, I must do it for her. Then, Rei, then I will make the world a better
place. God sent you, Rei, because He is scared of me.
	"Unlike Ukyou, I will not be a novice to my power. I will fight Him as
one God against another. I will wrest the destiny of this world from His grasp.
And more besides. He is nothing but a phantom. He has no identity. He sacrificed
it a long time ago, to protect Himself from the souls he has destroyed. They can
not find Him, as long as He does not exist. But I can find God, Rei. I can
punish Him for the horrors He inflicted on this world.
	"You are the last defence. You are what He hopes will stop me. You are
playing His game. You are a puppet, being used by this phantom God. You're all
He has left. He can risk no greater miracle now, so close to His purpose. Will
you play for Him, Rei?"
	Akio walked towards her. "The thing that created this world of sorrows.
The thing that plotted out your life. Used your destiny like a hook to drag you
from one horror to another. Make no mistake, Rei. It was He that killed your
grandfather. It was He that destroyed your life. It was He that did everything
to you. Just so that you would stand here, now, between me and that door."
	Akio's expression was serious as he looked straight into her eyes.
"Don't give Him the satisfaction, Rei. Don't let Him win."
	Rei closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She believed him. She didn't
know why. She realised he had every reason to lie to her. But she believed him.
She KNEW, deep in her heart, that he was telling the truth. Because she had
always felt it. The call of Destiny.
	That was His touch, wasn't it? Guiding her from one place to the next.
She had always been drawn to it. She had been born to it. She was a Sailor
Senshi, chosen to protect the world and strike out against evil. Chosen by who?
Protect it from what? Which man's evil?
	No. Akio's words had struck a chord inside her. She could feel that
small part of herself screaming at her. She now recognised it for what it was.
The voice of Destiny. The voice she had always listened to for guidance. The
voice of whatever had created this world.
	She opened her eyes.
	"I believe you, Akio." He smiled. "And you're right. If I stand up to
you, here, now, I'm doing His work. I'm fighting for something cruel and
nameless. And that would make me worse than a puppet. Because a puppet doesn't
know it's being manipulated, but I do. If I fought you, I would be knowingly
condoning all the evil that He has done to this world.
	"And maybe that sin will damn me. Maybe when it grows tired of this
world, my soul will be cast into Oblivion, torn apart by Paradox, and I'll join
the swords around us. Just another damned soul, screaming mindlessly in hell."
	Akio was frowning. He stepped back from her.
	"So be it. If that is my destiny, I accept it. Because if I'm going to
hell... you're going there before me!
	"FLAME SNIPER!"

*

	The further Minako got away from the others, the more deserted the city
became. It worried her. It did mean that there were less and less demons to take
care of, but it also made her feel strange, like she was overlooking something.
	Truth be told, everything about this felt wrong. She wanted desperately
to abandon the search. She wanted to go and help Mamoru and the others fight
Gyro. Or maybe head back to give Rei a hand fighting Akio. Anything but be
hopelessly scouring the city for Sailor Moon.
	"How am I even supposed to find her?" Minako asked herself as she looked
down the four nearly identical streets leading away from the intersection she
was standing in. Minako had no idea where to even look. Tokyo was a huge city
and Usagi could be in literally any part of it. If she was even in the city at
all.
	Akio could have taken her anywhere in Japan. Anywhere in the world. She
had no idea how powerful he or his sister were, or how limited they might be.
There was no clues, no insights she could discover in herself.
	But why bother? Did she even like Sailor Moon? She was a brat, a spoiled
self-indulgent child. She had never lost anything. Not like Minako had. Her
family was safe. Prospering. Everything she loved and cared for was protected.
Her world was one of ease. Her battles were nothing compared to the fights
Minako had undergone.
	Minako clutched her head and closed her eyes. No. That didn't matter.
She had to think past that. No matter what she thought of Sailor Moon, it didn't
matter. Because she needed to be saved.
	Minako's eyes flashed open.
	She could feel a pressure inside her. No, not just inside her. It was in
the whole world. The entire city was heavy with it. It was that feeling you get
when you realise you have to make an important decision. When your entire life
comes to a halt and everything hangs in the balance. It was a profound, almost
otherworldly feeing.
	The weight of Destiny.
	She took a step forward. The weight seemed to increase. It was like the
city was focusing on her. The whole world. The entire universe. Every step she
took, the pressure increased. It was pulling on something inside her. Her heart
was racing. The air was thin in her throat. Her legs felt like lead. Her entire
body was betraying her.
	She kept walking.
	Anger. She could feel it. It was huge. It seeped out of the pavement. It
thickened in the air. It filled everything. She wasn't supposed to be here. She
was supposed to be elsewhere. She needed to be elsewhere. She needed to turn
around. To go back. To fight with Rei. It HAD to be done.
	"This is MY life!" Minako shouted. She had no idea who she was yelling
at. She had no idea why she was even yelling. She stumbled and fell to one knee.
Her eyes closed. Tears poured out.
	What would Ranma think? Abandoning your friends wasn't something he
would appreciate, was it?  Minako could almost hear him. "Minako! We fight evil!
It's what we do! Akio has to be stopped. You can stop him. Stop wasting time on
a fantasy. It's just like in England all over again. You can't lose yourself in
your own stupid quest. You have to realise that there are some fights you just
can't win, and choose the ones you can. Just go back and punch Akio in the face.
Everything else will just take care of itself."
	No.
	He would never say that.
	Ranma would fight Akio, just like she wanted to. But he would not give
up on Usagi. She knew. She knew how much he hated himself for giving up on
Ukyou, all those years ago. How he had run away. How THEY had run away. Ranma
would never give up.
	"And neither will I!"
	And just like that, the weight vanished. She almost collapsed, sobbing
in relief. She had no idea why, but she felt more exhausted than she ever had.
It was like she'd just fought a harder battle than any other. Even after Rip van
Winkle had blown open her chest, Minako hadn't felt this bad.  She had no idea
what had happened. But she knew that it wasn't over yet.
	Minako managed to stagger along. She had to clear her eyes and wipe the
sweat off her brow. But as she continued walking, she began to hear a voice.
	"...Chuuko, reporting for Galaxy TV, here from the ruins of Tokyo..."
	A voice, here? Minako stopped. It was coming from further down the
street and around the corner. She knew she should walk away. She was looking for
Sailor Moon, not some survivors. And this place was full of monsters. Monsters
that could trick her. Lure her into a trap. But if that was a survivor...
	She ran around the corner.
	The woman was shorter than any adult Minako had ever met. She was
practically tiny, with a childish figure. If it hadn't been for her pinstripe
suit and matching hat, Minako might have assumed she was a child. She was
standing there, talking nervously into a microphone. In front of her was a
parody of a human being.
	It looked like it had once been male, but now it was hard to tell. It
wore a dress with a short skirt, and had cerulean blue skin. Its hair was tied
back in two buns which, upon looking closer, were actually satellite dishes. The
thing's right arm ended in a large camera which it was pointing at the young
woman. She was adjusting her collar and looking nervously at the thing's other
hand, which was carrying a cat-o-nine-tails made up of loose television cables.
	"As the last survivor of Tokyo, I certainly have no idea how I could
have persevered this long! Chuu!" the woman laughed. "Nor would I really like
some HELP, getting away from this PHAGE, that is threatening me! Chuu! He is a
nice Sailor Cameraman, chuu, and won't hurt poor little Nezu as long as she
continues to report for him! HAHA-CHUU!"
	Minako raised an eyebrow and began to walk towards the woman. It was
possible that someone had survived the initial attack. If so, she needed help.
But something about this seemed off. Maybe it was the convenience of them
showing up now, of all times. Maybe it was how Minako was certain there was more
to this woman than met the eyes...
	"It's not like I survived the black lightning because I don't have a
Star Seed to extract, chuu!" The woman continued, laughing. "Nor that I think
the world is soon going to end at the hands of Sailor Galaxia, who I most
certainly haven't heard of, chuu!"
	Or maybe her babbling was giving away the game. Minako sighed and held
up her hand. "Crescent Beam!" she announced and blasted away at the demon thing.
It was caught completely flat-footed. Her attack left a hole in it which smoked
as it toppled over. She hated having to do that, but she knew that, like ghouls,
there was probably no helping a human once they had been turned into one of
these things.
	"My saviour, chuu!" The woman bounced up and down. "You came along just
in time!"
	"Yeah." Minako waved. "It's dangerous here. You should leave right
away."
	"It really is dangerous..." The woman sneered. "For you!" She jumped
backward, pulling off her outfit in a single flourish. Underneath she was
wearing a white costume that looked like a little girl's pyjamas. She also had a
mouse tail, and mouse ears in her white hair to match. "You fool, you got too
close to me, chuu! Witness the wrath of Sailor Iron Mouse!"
	She snapped her wrist together and a pair of gold bracelets appeared.
Minako sighed and flicked her wrist. Her Love Me Chain snapped out and around
the woman's arms, binding them together and then looping around the arm so much
they vanished within the golden glow.
	"Now, I'll take your Star Se-" The woman blinked, only now noticing her
bindings. "Huh?"
	Apparently she wasn't able to stop whatever attack she had started
because a moment later a golden explosion enveloped her body. She was thrown
back against a wall, moaning. The blast had disintegrated Minako's chain,
meaning Iron Mouse's arms were free. But she didn't look very good. Minako
rushed across the street.
	She grabbed the woman by her sailor-style collar before she had a chance
to slump to the ground. Then she banged her against the wall. "Okay, now I get
to ask you a few questions."
	"OWCHUU!" the woman moaned. "Not so rough! I just got blown up!"
	"Not my fault," Minako pointed out. "And unless you want to end up like
Sailor Cameraman, I wouldn't worry too much about what happened then, and start
worrying about what's going to happen next."
	The woman's eyes narrowed. Minako allowed herself to smile, an evil
threatening smile. It was good to know they were on the same page.
	"I'll do anything chuu want!" the woman whined. "Just don't hurt me!"
	"Really? This easy?" Minako mused. She held up her hand, conjuring a bit
of light on the tips of her fingers. "I was just getting started."
	"No, no! I'm a craven coward, chuu have to believe me!" The woman shook
her head violently. "I sold out my entire race to save my hide! Chuu!"
	"Who sent you?" Minako asked bluntly.
	"Sailor Galaxia," the woman replied.
	"Who is that? What does she want with me? Is she trying to stop me from
getting to Sailor Moon?" Minako emphasised her question by shoving the woman a
little each time.
	"Whoa, slow down, chuu!" the woman gasped. "I can only answer one
question at a time!"
	"Why are you after me?"
	"I wasn't... not after you specifically." The woman gulped. "I work for
Sailor Galaxia. Chuu. She wants to collect all the pure Star Seeds in the
galaxy. Some guy named Reichmann Gyro was supposed to be doing that for her.
Chuu. I was just supposed to keep an eye on him. Well, chuu, he betrayed her and
plans to blow up the Earth. Chuu. So, chuu,  when I tried to run away, chuu,
planning to use the excuse that she needed to know what he was up to, chuu, she
sent me back. Chuu. She told me, 'You have to collect the true Star Seeds of the
other Sailor Senshi on this world before Gyro destroys them in a fit of pique.'
So, chuu,  I started looking for them and yours was the first one I found
and..."
	"Hold up," Minako insisted, putting an end to the girl's babbling. "So
this has nothing to do with..." Minako trailed off. How could she say it without
sounding insane? The entire universe, trying with all its might to stop her from
reaching Usagi? That was silly. Whatever she had felt back there, it couldn't
really be that. Could it?
	"So you just attacked me for no reason?" Minako asked.
	The woman nodded. "I would have taken Sailor Moon's, but Gyro already
took her Star Seed. Then someone else took her soul-"
	"Wait, what do you know about Sailor Moon?" Minako smashed her against
the wall again. Cracks radiated out from her body. The woman moaned. "Answer
me!"
	"I saw it all!" Iron Mouse squeaked. "I was keeping all the Sailor
Senshi under surveillance. You, Sailor Mars, Pluto, that girl Akane, and Sailor
Moon..." She coughed. "Please stop hitting me, chuu."
	"Where is she?" Minako restrained herself.
	"It's too late. She's already dead. Without her Star Seed, she can't
survive. But someone took out her soul as well! So she's even more dead, chuu!"
	"I'll determine that!" Minako roared. "Where is she?"
	"I..." Iron Mouse coughed. "I sent some phages after her. Even if she
isn't dead, they'll take care of her..."
	"You what? WHY?"
	"I... I don't know." Iron Mouse frowned. "I just... it felt... like I
had to. You know? Tying up loose ends? Though, now that you mention it..."
	Minako allowed her magic to radiate from her, giving her a golden aura.
She knew from experience that the aura reflected from the eyes of her mask,
completely blocking out the ability to see her actual eyes and turning them into
radiant pools of violent golden light.
	"Where. Is. She?" she bit out.

*

	Mamoru Chiba had not always gone by that name. In a previous life, he
had been Prince Endymion, the next in line to rule the Earth. Then his world had
been overrun by demons and he'd been killed trying to protect his true love from
that evil. Thousands of years later, when that story had vanished beyond myth,
he had been reborn. He hadn't known this, but he had inherited some of his
previous incarnation's magical powers. So he had developed the ability to assume
a magical form, garbed in a tuxedo and top hat with a little domino mask to
conceal his identity. During this time, he had called himself Tuxedo Mask.
	Then that had been taken away from him. A young woman known as Ukyou had
bound his life force to three dying girls in a desperate attempt to save them.
As a result, he had lost all his powers. But heroes don't give up just because
they have lost their powers. He had continued fighting, finding ways through
modern technology to try and compensate for his human weaknesses.
	Then that had all changed. Sailor Moon, the reincarnation of his one
true love, had cleansed him and all of Ohtori of their wounds. Now, he had his
powers back. But he now felt a little silly going around in a tuxedo throwing
roses, so he had activated the magic and simply kept it on while he changed into
an outfit more suitable for fighting.
	Because he and the three young women he had come to love were going to
go into the fight of their lives. A fight they very well might not come back
from. It frightened him. He wasn't the kind of person who got excited at the
thought of pushing his skills, or testing his talents in battle. He much
preferred peace to war. But they had to do something.
	Reichmann Gyro's evil was spreading. He had seen it on the ride here.
The demons he had unleashed from this city were slowly drifting out into the
rest of the country, seeking prey. The forces of Chronos had been chaotic and
disorganised, completely unprepared for the sudden cataclysm. They had run three
separate roadblocks getting into the city, and Mamoru had found each of them
wanting. The zoanoids staffing them were strong, but undirected.
	That was always the problem with Chronos. It worked very well when it
had a plan. It worked very well when a zoalord or similar being was in charge.
But it reacted poorly to surprise and disintegrated utterly when there was no
one around to give orders. Akane had managed to keep the resistance alive for
seven years because she understood these facts. Chronos was a behemoth, an
oncoming train that plowed over everything in its path... and one that could be
derailed by the slightest bend in the rails.
	So if anyone was going to stop Reichmann Gyro, it was going to be them.
The woman who called herself Rose said that Tethys, the Dark Queen, would be
arriving with reinforcements soon. He didn't think it would matter. Marz had
shown them all the footage being played all across the world. The entire Red
Sea, destroyed in an instant.
	Not even Tethys could stand up to that kind of power.
	The plaza around the Pillars of Heaven was strangely quiet. There was
nothing there, no sign of any of the carnival freak monsters they'd been
fighting to get to this point. In fact, the closer they had gotten to this
place, the less of the monsters they had been forced to fight. Mamoru felt a
warning tickle at the back of his mind. Something wasn't right here.
	He entered the plaza as quietly as he could, sliding along in a half-
crouch. His rifle was slung over his shoulder. Satsuki was just ahead of him,
examining the way and signalling when it was safe to move. Marz and Fevrier were
behind him, both advancing with the softness of a gentle breeze. Out and around
them the other Dolls, the ones that until a few weeks ago had still been under
Bison's control, were spread out. He could only see a few of them, and knew the
others were probably moving just as quietly.
	Of course, pretty soon they would run out of cover of any kind. There
was nearly seventy meters of open ground all around the Pillars, just meter
after meter of grass and pavement without any sort of cover at all. It was
specifically designed to prevent people from doing exactly what they were doing.
At some point, they would have to sprint the distance to the buildings. Then it
was only a matter of sneaking up hundreds of flights to the top of the largest
buildings in the world and confronting a madman with the ability to lay waste to
entire continents. And he had a sniper rifle.
	But this was his world. Even if he had no hope of winning, he had to
try.
	"Sir Mamoru, I have located other people." Satsuki appeared from around
a corner, speaking softly.
	"Friendly?"
	"I recognized Batsu and his squad, but there were three unknowns."
	Well, Marz had put out the all call. Batsu, Hinata and Kyosuke were good
people to have at your back. "See if you can find anyone else," he ordered.
Satsuki nodded and vanished around the corner again. Mamoru turned to his two
remaining companions. "Marz, see if you can contact anybody else in the area.
We'll need to coordinate if we're going to have any hope of winning this."
	"Already on it," Marz replied in a chipper voice. Her laptop was out,
her fingers running along the keys so fast they were a blur. "I can set up a
scramble communication channel. Should I include Rose?"
	"If possible," Mamoru replied. Fevrier snorted. "I know you don't like
her, but we need all the help we can get."
	"Don't worry, wuss." Fevrier grinned tightly. "But I'm keeping my eye on
her. You don't know what Bison was like..."
	"And hopefully I never will."
	"Sir Mamoru!" Satsuki appeared again, her face pale.
	"What?"
	"I believe there is a problem..."
	"What is..."
	"REICHMANN GYRO! Come out and face me!"
	"Who the hell?" Mamoru poked his head over the wall and stared. There
was a woman walking towards the Pillars of Heaven, making every attempt to be
obvious about it. Her body was surrounded by a purple aura that flared dozens of
meters into the air. She had long purple hair to match and wore a ridiculous
outfit with too much lace. She stopped halfway across the dead zone and extended
her hands to both sides.
	"My name is Athena Asamiya, and I've come with my friends to challenge
you for the fate of the entire Earth!"
	"Well, there goes stealth..." Mamoru growled. When Skullomania had left
with those four strange girls, he'd thought they wouldn't have to deal with this
sort of thing.
	"Maybe not," Fevrier said with a shrug. "If he's distracted killing her,
we might be able to get in a clean shot."
	"Fevrier!"
	"What? You were thinking it too."
	"I don't say it out loud," Mamoru chided her.
	"I doubt Gyro is even paying attention to her," Marz pointed out. "And
my sensors don't detect any monsters in the building at all."
	"I wouldn't count on that," Mamoru said, shuddering.
	"What is it, sir Mamoru?"
	"I can feel him..." Mamoru shuddered again. "All the sickness in this
city. It swirls around these buildings. It spirals up to him. And he's coming
down."
	"Well..." Fevrier pulled out a rifle. "Best not to waste this
opportunity."
	She slipped to the right. Satsuki nodded and vanished left. Marz tapped
a few more keys and gave him the thumbs up. Everybody she had contacted knew to
hold back. Mamoru sighed and unslung his rifle.
	As he looked through the sights he could feel the magic inside him
focusing. He'd always been a good shot, even after he lost his powers. But with
them, his accuracy was amazing. Once upon a time he could have knocked a bullet
out of mid-air with a well-thrown rose. He knew the power inside him could
create them. But he also knew, from talking to Minako on the way over, that his
magic was not limited to just that one shape.
	He took a deep breath and cleared his mind. The entire Tuxedo Kamen
thing had been a creation of his subconscious. It was the magic shaping itself
to his dreams and desires, the last remaining pieces of his previous life. His
clearest memory of that time was dancing in a grand ball with the girl that
would become Sailor Moon. His magic had fixed on that and conjured up
appropriate gear. But he was past clinging to that memory now.
	He cleared the chamber of his rifle and sighted through the scope. There
was a bullet in the chamber now. He hadn't placed one in there, but he knew
there was. It was gold, and shone in the darkness. It was sharp-tipped and
sleek. He had handled enough ammo that he could picture it clearly, right down
to the texture of it, the weight of it, the smell of it. There was a bullet in
the chamber. A magic bullet. As much more deadly than a regular bullet was as
his roses had been compared to regular roses.
	He hoped.
	"Little girl, do you think you can demand anything of me?"
	The voice boomed across the plaza. It was deep and grinding, the kind of
voice that made you think of monsters from fairytales. Athena raised her head,
her aura flaring even higher.
	"Show yourself!"
	Laughter followed her outburst. Then a figure appeared in the air over
her. Mamoru sighted on it quickly but cursed. It was too translucent to be real.
It had to be some sort of projection. Still, even as an image, Reichmann Gyro
was disturbing.
	He was just over two meters tall, with huge black wings three times that
length stretched out on either side of him. His skin was black, shining like
fresh tar, marked through with silver accents. His head was topped with a crown
of spines that grew out in all directions. His face was all lines and folds,
with a mouth full of tiny sharp teeth and eyes that glowed malevolently yellow.
In his forehead a black crystal was set, with shards of silver light floating
through it. In one hand he carried a fanciful-looking broadsword, nearly a meter
long and made of grim black metal. The air around the sword seemed to twist and
pulse, as if it was being warped by the very presence of the blade.
	"You are of no interest to me, girl," Gyro's voice continued to boom out
across the plaza. "Nor are your friends."
	Mamoru stiffened, but made no move to break cover.
	"I have been chosen to save this world from the likes of you," Athena
told him. "Come and face me, if you dare."
	"Save the world?" Gyro's face twisted into a parody of a smile. "I am a
law of nature. You could as much save the world from gravity or time as you
could from me. Pitiful child. I see the divine spark within you, and it seems so
small, so pathetic." He held up his blade. "Compared to the harnessed power of
Paradox, all your divine wrath is as nothing."
	"We shall see, monster!"
	Mamoru groaned. He wasn't even out there and still he found this
embarrassing.
	"Bah!" Gyro scowled. "I have no time for this." He waved his hand. "You
and your friends made your way through my city only because I allowed you to.
Now my minions shall destroy you."
	"Your minions are nothing!" Athena replied.
	"Perhaps. They too are pathetic creatures." He smirked. "But unlike you,
there are millions of them."
	Mamoru paused and then turned to look behind him. He could see them
coming. Not in small groups like before, but in a great mass. They clung to the
walls of buildings and scampered along the road. And not all of them were
humanoid. Many of them were great beasts, huge and distorted.
	Zoanoids, he realised. If the carnival monsters were what happened to
humans when they were killed, then the hulking brutes among them were what
happened to zoanoids. He looked at Marz and her expression confirmed what he had
feared. Zoanoids were already much more dangerous than humans. The things that
Gyro had turned all the zoanoids of Tokyo into were more dangerous still.
	"Tell everyone to fall back into the plaza!" he shouted. He could
already see explosions of chi and magic as Akane's resistance attacked the
approaching army. "Fall back to the Pillars. We have to try and get up to Gyro,
bring the fight to him. We can't hope to overcome this many." He cursed himself
silently. He had known that getting here had been too easy.
	"It won't help," Marz pointed out. "Gyro was apparently suppressing my
scans. The building is full of zoaform monsters. If we try to break through,
we'll have to deal with thousands of them."
	Mamoru considered this. He could see their companions falling back.
Akane would have known what to do. She might not have been a tactical genius,
but she would have known what to say. She could have given them all hope. She
could have rallied them together, maybe found a way to punch through the massed
monsters. But Akane wasn't here.
	Which left him.
	He looked up the Pillars. Somewhere up there was the cause of all this
madness.
	"Marz. Hold the line."
	"Mamoru dear?"
	He crouched and gathered his power. Even if he had no hope of winning,
he had to try. "Just hold on," he told her, and with that he leapt up. He easily
cleared the seventy meters to the building, striking it on the side. Then,
calling on powers he hadn't used in seven years, he began to run up the side of
the building.
	Someone needed to reach Gyro. Someone needed to stop him before it was
too late. He just hoped that his three precious girls would forgive him for
abandoning them.

*

	ZX-Tole bounced backwards, unleashing a volley of energy shots. The
walls around him turned red, then white, then boiled away in clouds of
superheated metal. Ikazuchi moved through them like a phantom, his blue
lightning blade arcing side to side as he deflected the incoming lasers. His
strangely human eyes shone with tears as he charged his former commander.
	ZX-Tole's only hope was to keep them both at range. Ikazuchi was far
more powerful than him. In close combat, he approached the level of a zoalord.
The ultimate secret of the neo-zoanoid was that for all their genetic
enhancement, for all that the scientists of Chronos had done to grant them power
beyond even a hyper zoanoid like ZX-Tole, their real power came from within.
	"ZX-Tole!" Ikazuchi shouted, having closed to within a meter of the
giant beetle-like monster. "This does not have to end this way!"
	"Damn stupid idiot!" ZX-Tole roared, his voice an insectile buzz. He
kicked up, driving his huge knee towards the blue-and-purple-skinned neo-
zoanoid. Of course, Ikazuchi slid back easily. But while his leg was in mid-
extension, ZX-Tole opened up the bio-lasers on his leg and fired. The blast
caught Ikazuchi totally flat-footed. The man's eyes widened as the bloom of red
light lifted him up and drove him into the ceiling with enough force that he
went up through the next several floors as well.
	ZX-Tole brought his hands together and unleashed a barrage up into the
hole, screaming incoherently. When there was nothing to be seen but the slowly
descending cloud of metal vapour, ZX-Tole forced himself to turn and begin
running. He knew that the attack would have been less than enough to kill
Ikazuchi. He certainly hoped it would be.
	Because he didn't want to kill the poor fool. He didn't want any of
this. He was a soldier; not a duellist, and not an executioner. His purpose was
to fight for Chronos, to fight for the zoalord council and all they believed in.
That was what he had been created for. He and his brothers.
	And one by one, his brothers had died.
	ZX-Tole made it to the edge of the Pillars. He looked out, across the
city. Out there somewhere was the unconscious body of Frederick Von Purgstall.
He could feel it. Zoanoids instinctively felt the presence of zoalords. It was
like a beacon. Even in a coma, the signature of Purgstall was unmistakable.
	With a roar ZX-Tole blasted open the window and climbed out onto the
wall. He had to go. He had to keep moving. Because Reichmann Gyro's will told
him to. It was like a sickness in his mind, a vice that kept pushing him and
pushing him. Thankfully, the traitorous zoalord hadn't felt the need to give ZX-
Tole personal attention. If he had, ZX-Tole might have gone mad.
	If he had, Ikazuchi might never have broken free of Gyro's control.
Then they would have slaughtered the helpless zoalord, the four girls and the
woman without hesitation. Then what? Once Gyro had forced them to do his
bidding, would their fate be the same as the rest of the people of Tokyo?
	ZX-Tole had seen the remains of the zoanoids inside the Pillars. Twisted
and mutated by Gyro's magic, they had been turned into parodies of living
things. Mindless and savage, they had torn into each other. It was an orgy of
violence to fit the depraved amusements of Reichmann Gyro.
	ZX-Tole didn't want to die like that.
	He didn't want to die as a tool of chaos. He knew he was going to die.
He'd known it since the moment that Sailor Moon had shown up in that chamber.
The only question was how.
	The wall above him exploded outward with a crack of thunder. His body
surrounded by blue lightning, Ikazuchi floated outwards. His chest was scorched,
and one eye was closed. He was breathing deeply.
	"ZX-Tole..." Ikazuchi groaned.
	"Ikazuchi..." ZX-Tole half-hissed, half-sighed. Every moment he fought
the powerful neo-zoanoid was another moment when he could resist the urge inside
his own skull. The compelling command of Reichmann Gyro was impossible to
overcome, but it could be deferred. So long as ZX-Tole could find a more
pressing mission, he could avoid hunting down Purgstall and his girls.
	"This madness has to stop!" Ikazuchi yelled, spreading his arms wide.
"We are brothers in arms. I no more wish to harm you than you do me!"
	"Shut up!" ZX-Tole kicked in a window and slid into the building, firing
with his wrist-laser. The man flashed sideways, avoiding the strike. "Every
time you open your mouth, I want to kill you!" It wasn't exactly a lie. If the
idiot kept trying to talk him down, ZX-Tole was afraid he would lose himself.
The sickening presence in the back of his mind might overwhelm him at any
moment.
	Ikazuchi floated just outside the window. His aura was charging up. ZX-
Tole had seen him punch through a mountain at full strength. All he wanted was
for the boy to kill him, to end this here before it went any further. And there
was only one way he was going to do that.
	Had he a mouth, ZX-Tole would have smiled. "Ikazuchi, there is something
about me you don't know." ZX-Tole leaned forward and concentrated. The armour on
his back split open. "I was built as the ultimate artillery." From his back
emerged two pairs of translucent wings. "But the scientists at Chronos never
tested the full extent of my power." The wings extended outward, unfolding and
snapping into place. ZX-Tole had never seen them, and for one brief instant
wished he could. "They were afraid that if I unleashed myself at full power, I
might very well kill myself... and everything else around me."
	ZX-Tole activated his final weapon. It started small at first, like a
warmth from a pleasant fire spreading down the length of his wings. Then it
quickened, and quickened again. He could feel the energy leeching into him.
Drawn from electrical lines behind the wall, from the air, from the walls, from
the very light itself. The world around him was growing darker and darker as he
absorbed the light into himself like a siphon. It was filling him, filling him
to bursting. The bio-batteries in his body couldn't handle it. The strain would
destroy him.
	He kept going. Pulling in more and more power. Ikazuchi was staring, his
eyes wide. "IKAZUCHI!" ZX-Tole yelled. "This is my ultimate attack!" With a
snap, the lens on his abdomen opened. "A destructive beam... and you know what
I'm aiming at!"
	Ikazuchi looked behind him, and then back at ZX-Tole. "Purgstall..." he
murmured. ZX-Tole couldn't really hear him over the sound of his own body
sizzling. He was drawing in too much power. It would overload and kill him. But
he couldn't just let it. Gyro's imperative, his mind-numbing will, overrode even
the ability to choose to die.
	Ikazuchi could easily dodge the attack. He was so fast that it would be
nothing to him. But if he did, the attack would strike across the city. ZX-Tole
could feel Purgstall. He knew exactly where the fallen zoalord was. Ikazuchi
knew better than to doubt ZX-Tole's ability to strike at this distance. The
Japanese neo-zoanoid, the prototype, the next step in human evolution... stood
his ground.
	ZX-Tole chuckled. He wished Akane Tendo was here to see this. He didn't
know why. Perhaps he had spent so much time pursuing her that the thought of
dying at anybody else's hands was alien to him. Well, dying at the hands of the
neo-zoanoid who had never stopped loving her would be enough.
	But mainly, he wanted her to understand. Akane and Purgstall both. He
wondered what they would think of this. He felt it would be strangely similar.
If only ZX-Tole had been able to work with the other zoalord. If only Akane
could have first met Purgstall rather than the monster that was Reichmann Gyro.
So much useless fighting...
	"Don't disappoint me, Ikazuchi!" ZX-Tole roared, and unleashed his fire.
Ikazuchi roared back, and rushed forward. Red and blue light smashed together.
The explosion blinded out all sight, all sound. This is it, ZX-Tole realised.
This is my last act. It may not make up for what he had done, but it would have
to be enough.
	He might not be human. But he would not die a monster.

*

	His family was below him. They were fighting. They were suffering.
	When had they become his family, Purgstall wondered? But the question
was meaningless. They were his family. He loved them all, more than he loved the
ideals of Chronos. He had thrown away everything he had worked for, for them. To
come here and protect them.
	This little slip of a girl would not stop him.
	They floated between two layers of clouds. They swept past above and
beneath, dark and menacing. Lightning arced between them. Flashes of power that
were the only light in this place. It was like the clouds and the lightning
stretched on forever. He knew it was insane, but he was certain that these
clouds had no end. That there was nothing beneath them except more clouds, and
nothing above them except darkness and lightning.
	"Silly old man," the girl said with a giggle. She was floating back and
forth, swaying in mid-air. She was dancing, to a tune only she could hear. It
was a music with no melody, no sanity to it. "Three hundred years of loyalty and
you give it up because of a bunch of girls." She grinned. "Or should I say,
dirty old man."
	"It's not like that!" Purgstall protested. He snapped out his hand and
lightning followed his call. It burst up from the clouds and down from them as
well. Eighteen bolts, arcing together like entwining snakes.
	The girl snapped her hands to the side and the blasts collapsed around
her. They just vanished, swirling down into the gems implanted throughout her
body like water down a drain.
	"Do you really think that love is all it takes to be human?" The girl
asked. She flashed forward, suddenly appearing in front of him in a flicker of
pseudo-motion. "That this one act makes up for centuries of cruelty?"
	Her hand snapped up and he tried to parry. But despite Cologne's
encouragement, he was still not a martial artist. His head rocked to the side as
she struck him. He spiralled through the air. She appeared behind him and caught
him around the waist with one arm.
	"Don't worry, you're not the first man to play at being god." She
grabbed his shoulder and bent him back. He groaned and tried to summon the
lightning again, but he couldn't. The power was draining out of him. "And they
all suffered the same fate."
	"Let me go!" he shouted, and managed to push himself free. She laughed
and floated backward. What was she? How could he defeat her when his powers had
no effect at all?
	"Oh, are you worried about your 'family'?" The girl placed a finger on
her lips. "Quiet your worries. I will let no harm come to them today. I still
need them."
	"What do you mean?" He snarled.
	"You are all such wonderful tools, did you know that?"
	She flashed next to him. Somehow he managed to turn and catch her kick
with his forearm. But she vanished even as he blocked and caught him from
behind, pulling an arm around his neck.
	"Your Amazoness Quartet, they are such trusting dupes. They will believe
anything anybody tells them, if it fits in with their need to be special." She
breathed in his ear. Her breath drained the warmth from his body. "Little girls
captured by a higher power, all their strength and potential turned to evil
ends. And they couldn't care less as long as they have shiny toys to play with."
	"Damn you..." Purgstall grasped at her arm, but couldn't budge it. Her
other hand encircled his waist again.
	"Cologne, such a worthless creature." The girl's voice dripped venom.
"Her own arrogance led her to ignore the warning signs, her laziness led her to
act too little, too late. And her great-granddaughter died for it." She laughed,
a little silver bell sound devoid of humanity. "She betrayed everything she
believed in to redeem her sin, to achieve vengeance. Selling out you, and all
that YOU believe in, for one vain chance at revenge. And she'll pay for what
she's done, I promise you. I won't let her live in his new world.
	"And then there is you..." Her voice purred and she pressed herself
against his back. He felt helpless as she stroked the armoured plates on his
chest. Her arm tightened around his throat and he couldn't breathe. "You believe
so much in advancing the species, in your genetic destiny, that you never once
questioned if that was Arkanphel's real motive. You advocated a cause that was
just as much an illusion as the one the Quartet and Cologne did. But even worse,
because you saw the signs. You know Arkanphel's real plan is to leave this
planet and all of humanity behind, so he can pursue his creators like an
abandoned child seeking solace in his abusive mother's arms. You KNEW, and still
you fought for a lie."
	"Not... true..." he gasped.
	"Did you really think coming here would change that? That there is any
way to change that?" The girl's voice was sweet, oddly seductive. "If you truly
want to change the world, I can use you."
	"Go to hell!" he managed to roar.
	She laughed. "That is the one place I can't go. Only souls can, and I'm
empty." She spun him around suddenly and looked into his eyes. Hers were wide
and her pupils had shrunk. She leaned into him. "I need you, Purgstall. You must
live so that I can protect what is special to me. I need you, if I am going to
destroy the Oversoul to make him happy."
	Then she reached out, and her finger slid into his zoacrystal...
	Darkness.
	"Frederick..."
	He was floating, naked and alone, in the void. Around him swirled the
howling wind of Oblivion. He was used to this by now. Waking up from the dream
only to realise he was still trapped here, on the edge of death. For a moment,
he thought that he had seen a light, but it had abandoned him. Now he was alone
again.
	"Frederick, can you hear me?"
	"Lord... Arkanphel?" Purgstall opened his eyes wide and spun in place.
Had it been another dream, another nightmare to torment him? No. He had heard
it, he was certain of it. "I can hear you, Lord Arkanphel!"
	Then he could see him. The man stepped out of the darkness. He was
dressed in silver robes, his short hair flickering slightly in the unseen wind.
His elfin features smiled when they saw Purgstall.
	"I have found you."
	"Lord Arkanphel... is that really you? This isn't another
hallucination?"
	"I am here." Arkanphel extended his hands to both sides. Purgstall
vaguely felt other presences. Figures shimmered out of the corner of his eyes,
but he couldn't focus on them. "Your brothers have lent me their power, so that
I may speak with you, Frederick."
	"My lord..." Purgstall bowed his head. "I am not deserving of such
effort. I betrayed you."
	"Yes, but that is of no matter now." Arkanphel smiled. "You are my third
son, Frederick. I have always been proud of you." He clasped his hands together.
"You brought peace to this world. But now I need you to fight for me."
	"Fight?"
	"Yes. You must wake up, Frederick." Arkanphel gestured into the
emptiness. "Your youngest brother has betrayed us all."
	"Gyro?" Purgstall's voice was cold.
	"He killed Amniculus."
	"NO!" Purgstall clutched the air impotently. Amniculus had been closer
to him than a brother. They had survived centuries together.
	"Yes. And Gyro must be stopped." Arkanphel held out his hand. "You must
stop him."
	"My lord..." Purgstall growled and reached for the hand. Then paused.
"But why do you need me, Lord? Why not crush Gyro yourself?"
	Arkanphel's expression became stormy. "This is your chance to redeem
yourself to me, Frederick."
	"Will you be fighting with me, Lord?" Purgstall's hand hovered just out
of his master's, his creator's, reach.
	"I must save my strength," Arkanphel insisted. "I need loyal servants
such as you to do these things for me."
	And like a light turning on in the void, Purgstall suddenly understood.
It was fear. That was what was motivating Arkanphel now. He wanted Purgstall to
fight for him because he was afraid of Gyro. Somehow the traitorous zoalord had
gained enough power that Arkanphel feared him.
	But it went deeper than that. It had always been fear. Fear of risking a
zoalord in open battle had kept them from crushing the Americans while they
were still too weak to offer a resistance. Fear of counterattack had kept him
from destroying Millennium or Shadowloo. Fear of death had made him conspire
with Chris, the man who had killed Cologne's great-granddaughter. Fear was
behind everything that Arkanphel had ever done, in one way or another.
	Whatever that child had been, she had been right. Purgstall had been
fooling himself. He had thought this man, with all his power and apparent
wisdom, was the messiah. He had thought he had all the answers.
	But he didn't. He was just a man. A man who was afraid.
	Purgstall closed his hand. "No, my lord. I will not fight for you."
Arkanphel's eyes widened. "I have something else I have to fight for now. I
would gladly fight with you. To protect this green Earth and everyone on it, I
would do that. But I will not fight for a man who does not have the courage of
his own convictions."
	Purgstall straightened up and looked his former lord in the eyes. "So if
you have nothing else to say, kindly go back to hiding. I have to save my
family."
	And with that, he woke up.

*

	Ami lit another cigarette. It was her tenth one today. She needed to cut
down. As a doctor, she knew that they were bad for you. They had been linked to
everything from heart disease to cancer to bad breath, but knowing something was
bad for you and actually not doing it were two different things. She still
wasn't certain when she'd started. It had been sometime during her very short-
lived residency at the local hospital. A surprising number of the staff there
smoked 'just to keep the edge off', as they put it. So sometime between when
she'd started practicing medicine on actual people and when she'd mainly
stopped to move into the realm of research, she'd picked up this filthy habit.
	"Ami, you should go take a walk."
	Ami looked up from her books. Miki was standing in the doorway, looking
slightly concerned. Then again, he'd been looking like that ever since Akane had
returned. She put down her book.
	"I need to work," she told him.
	"Is that why the book is upside down?" he asked mildly.
	Ami looked down. It was a medical journal. One of the ones she had
imported from America. She had no idea how it got through all the embargos, but
the Americans were years ahead of similar Chronos texts on the effect of
metahuman abilities on modern bio-medical fields. And she was trying to read it
upside down.
	No wonder it hasn't made any sense, Ami thought to herself. "Maybe
you're right. I need to clear my head."
	"Right. I'll get started on dinner."
	She smiled up at him. Miki really was the best thing that had ever
happened to her. And if that idiot Minako thought she was going to risk losing
everything she had built with him...
	Damn. She'd promised herself she wasn't going to think about that.
	The air outside hit her like a hammer. She shivered and was forced to
put on a coat. It never got this cold in Ohtori. But it was November, and the
cold wind was blowing in off the ocean. Already Ami could see sheets of frost
where there were supposed to be puddles. Many of the gardens in the area were
also beginning to falter. As Ami walked she noticed one perplexed-looking old
woman just staring down at her flower garden, holding a trowel and watering can.
	Everyone here is used to relying on Akio's illusion machine, Ami
realised. Even she had grown used to living in a virtual paradise for the last
seven years. Without it, most of the people here didn't appear to have any idea
what to do about their day-to-day affairs. Ami wondered how long the idyllic-
looking buildings would last once rain and wind and gravity and all the other
forces of entropy began to wear at them.
	In a few years, Ohtori would be just like any other place in the world.
Ami took a long drag of her cigarette.
	And sometime while she had been thinking, she'd ended up just down the
street from Makoto's place. She had no idea why she was here. It wasn't like she
and Makoto were really friends. They'd both drifted their separate ways once
Sailor Moon had made them retire. The only reason they still knew each other was
because in a small place like Ohtori, everyone knew everyone else.
	Makoto was outside on the porch, talking with a young woman. Something
about the woman seemed familiar to Ami. She was short, with burgundy hair in a
pageboy cut and violet eyes. She wore some form of grey tracksuit, thick wool
from the look of it, with a hood that flopped on her back. She also carried
herself in a professional manner, her movements brisk and controlled.
	She was trained, Ami realised suddenly. She'd had some form of military
training. Ami knew that this wasn't her problem. Makoto could take care of
herself. The best thing Ami could do was just walk away.
	But she didn't. She had no idea why. She just felt like she needed to go
up there.
	"Makoto," she called as she stepped onto the porch.
	"Ami." Makoto looked at her. For some reason, she didn't seem surprised
to see her despite the fact that the number of casual visits they'd had with
each other in the last seven years could be counted on one hand.
	"Oh, hello, Ami!" The woman smiled and stepped down towards her. "It's
been a long time."
	"Long time?"
	"This is Shiori Takatsuki, Juri's old friend," Makoto introduced her.
"You remember, she used to hang out with Rei when we first came here?"
	"Oh... her." Ami looked at the woman. Yes. Her hair had been longer,
styled in a less professional manner. Her face had been a bit thicker than, the
chubbiness of youth. Now she looked more lean. More focused. "Sorry, my manners
are poor." Ami bowed.
	When she stood up again she took out another cigarette, but just held
it. She really wanted to light up right away. Her nerves were on edge, and
smoking made them calm down. Or made her think they did anyway. But she felt
like she wanted to be nervous right then. It was a silly impulse, but for once
Ami let that guide her.
	The woman bowed back. "No, it's no problem you forgot me." She shrugged.
"I just... came by for a visit."
	Ami's eyes narrowed. She should have recognised her more easily, if the
woman had been living in Ohtori for the last seven years.
	"Where is Juri, anyway?" Ami asked Makoto.
	"She's in town, picking up a few supplies." Makoto leaned against the
railing. "She wants to head up to Fukui to visit her sister..." Makoto trailed
off.
	"She must be worried about her," Shiori mused aloud. "Having not had a
chance to see her for seven years."
	Makoto looked at her. "What do you mean? We've been out to visit her
sister at least four times."
	"In the last two hours?" Shiori seemed surprised. "The blockade has
stopped anyone else from getting in or out!"
	"The last trip was eight months ago." Makoto frowned a little. "Frankly,
I don't see why Juri cares so much about her family, considering what they think
of us. But with the chaos outside of Ohtori now, she wants to make certain
they're all okay."
	"Wait..." Shiori held up her hand. "You've been coming in and out of
Ohtori for the last seven years? Multiple times?"
	"Of course." Makoto shrugged. Ami frowned. Makoto was only partially
aware of the efforts Akio had gone through to protect Ohtori from the outside
world. Back when she was still Sailor Mercury, Ami had been only too aware of
those efforts. In the years since, she had successfully put most of them out of
her mind. Aside from giving her a place she could do her research in peace from,
she hadn't had much reason to think about that element of the town's character.
	"You're from outside," Ami announced, looking at Shiori. Shiori looked
slightly guilty, but she nodded. "I find it hard to believe you just came by for
a visit, then." Makoto was beginning to tense up. "Most people couldn't get
inside Ohtori until the defence went down. And Chronos had the entire city
blockaded since then until two hours ago. There is no way you could have learned
about the city being open again and snuck through the blockade..." Ami stared at
the girl. "How did you get here?"
	Shiori sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't ask that." She slumped her
shoulders a little. "I was able to get in so quickly because I was on the
blockade when it got deserted." She looked up again. "I work for Chronos."
	"Shit!" Makoto cursed and vaulted the railing, landing in front of Ami
in a half-crouch. Her hands came up quickly. Shiori backed up three steps,
unconsciously falling into a simple self-defence stance. Ami reached up and put
a hand on Makoto's shoulder to calm her. It was actually kind of touching that
the woman had reacted to defend her. But Ami was becoming convinced this girl
wasn't a threat. "Ami, she could be a zoanoid!"
	"I don't think so," Ami replied.
	"I'm not!" Shiori held up her hands. "I just work for them." She
frowned. "Though technically I'm AWOL. The reason it took me so long to get into
town when everything disintegrated is because I ditched my uniform and changed
clothes so I wouldn't stand out."
	"You're a Chronos soldier?" Ami asked.
	Shiori chuckled. "No. I'm a secretary. I run files from place to place
and type up reports." She shrugged. "Not everyone in SecOps is a soldier."
	"Your people killed hundreds of people in this town!" Makoto shouted.
"Give me one good reason I shouldn't punch you in the face."
	"Because I just work for Chronos?" Shiori replied evenly. "Over a third
of everyone in Japan does, you know. And those that don't work for it directly,
just work for it by proxy. They control every business on the islands, either
openly or not so much."
	"Calm down, Makoto," Ami appealed.
	"The people she works for are butchers!" Makoto insisted.
	"Not really." Shiori shrugged. "I get this all the time from Rei. Most
people in Chronos are just people." She looked down. "True, they reserve all the
best promotions for people willing to go through processing, but it's like any
other place. Most of the people who work for it are just like me, people with
nowhere else to really go." She looked at Makoto. "Not that I don't think there
are people in Chronos that need to be taken out. Some people I've seen scare me
to death. But what am I supposed to do about it? I'm not some superhero. I don't
have the power to stand up to those people." She held out her hands. "And
Chronos does good work too. Some of the people I work with-"
	"Save it," Ami snapped, suddenly feeling annoyed. She knew all about
Chronos' 'good works'. They had the knowledge, the technology to make the world
a better place for everyone. Instead, they doled it out in tiny packages to
maintain strict control. She lit her cigarette. "We don't need a sales pitch."
	"Fine..." The woman looked away, chewing her lip. "I just don't want you
to think I'm a monster."
	"You're not," Ami replied, waving her hand, trailing smoke behind it.
	"You should leave," Makoto said.
	The girl looked at Makoto. Then she frowned and stepped up to her,
Makoto tensed and for a moment Ami thought she was going to lash out, but she
held herself in check. "Don't judge me, okay?" Shiori snarled into her face.
"You and Juri, you're special people. You don't know what it's like to be a
nobody like me." She stepped back again. "All my life I looked up to Juri
because of what she could do. But I couldn't follow her. I just wanted to be
special too, you see. That's originally why I joined Chronos." She clenched her
fist. "I was going to become a zoanoid. Maybe even an elite. I was determined to
make something of myself. Be a hero." She smiled. "I believed the propaganda
about zoanoids. Who could blame us? They'd single-handedly saved Japan from
starvation. Seven years ago, this island was a barren wasteland." She looked up
at Makoto again. "I wanted to be like them. Someone larger than life who could
be looked up to."
	She let out a breath. "Thankfully, Rei talked me out of it. She let me
know the truth about zoanoids. She also had a friend of hers arrange it so that
nobody in Chronos knew that I was linked to this place." She smirked. "It seems
people who leave Ohtori have a habit of disappearing into zoalord Gyro's labs."
	Makoto looked at her for a long moment. "Fine. So you're not a butcher.
Happy now?"
	"I just wanted to talk to Juri," the woman said, on the verge of
pleading. "I just wanted to let her know that I'm happy for her. Check and see
how she is..."
	"Juri's fine," Makoto said. "I make certain of that."
	"I'm sorry I offended you, but..." Shiori sighed and sat down on the
steps.
	"Listen, you really should come back later," Ami replied. "After you've
both had a chance to calm down."
	"I can't," Shiori said slowly. "This may be the last chance I get."
	"What?" Ami felt her heartbeat increasing slightly.
	"There's been some sort of disaster in Tokyo. Everything is in chaos."
She looked at her hands. "The all call went out. Every available Chronos
operative is making their way to the capital, to try and help." She looked up.
"Once I leave here, I'll be heading there myself."
	"So you can help them fight another war?" Makoto accused.
	"NO!" Shiori clenched her fists. "Because I want to help, damn it!" She
looked between them. "Listen, I could have quit SecOps years ago, but our people
really can do good work. We're just like the old police force, only..." She
trailed off.
	"You should quit," Ami said. She took a long drag of her cigarette.
	"Why?"
	"Because your people do bad things as well, and you're supporting them.
Which makes you also responsible in part."
	"I can't quit," Shiori insisted.
	"Sure you can." Ami snorted. "You think they'll miss you? They'll hire
another person to replace you in less than a day. You said it yourself. You're
not special, or important. You're not even a zoanoid." She shrugged. "You're
simply not going to make a difference at all."
	"You're wrong!" Shiori stood up quickly. "I do make a difference." She
walked up to Ami. "When Rei convinced me to give up on becoming a zoanoid, I
considered quitting. But I have friends in SecOps now. People I care about. I
may not be there with a gun, or a biolaser, or whatever it is that could make me
a fighter. I was never given the gifts that would have made me able to stand up
and fight for what I believe in, like some people. But I try to do my best with
what I have. I make certain that little things happen. I've kept our department
from being like some of the squadrons people are too afraid to talk about, when
I could." She stepped away from Ami suddenly. Tears glistened in her eyes.
	"I would give anything to be able to stand up and fight the big fights.
I want to be somebody special. But I can't be. I'm forced to just be a normal
human. So I make the best of it. I do what I can!"
	"Being special doesn't make you a hero," Ami snarled back. She reached
up and clenched a hand over her heart. "It just makes you able to screw up on a
larger scale. It just makes you bigger and more powerful. Trust me, being
special is not some miracle that makes you a better person. It just forces you
to make harder decisions."
	"I'd still rather be able to make those decisions myself," Shiori
snapped. "Unless you think sitting back and doing nothing makes you a hero. If
so, then I'm sorry for you."
	The woman snapped her heels together and turned sharply, marching away.
Makoto growled, the veins on her neck throbbing. She waited until Shiori was out
of earshot before addressing Ami. "Who does she think she is?" Makoto snapped.
"What gives her the right to treat us like that? She works for a bunch of
butchers!"
	"Maybe she does..." Ami looked at the cigarette in her hand. She knew it
was bad for her. When she'd first tried one, she had almost hacked up a lung.
But over time, they'd just become easier. Why let your nerves get the better of
you? Especially when a patient's life may be on the line? You needed a clear
head. It was quick and easy. Just one more cancer stick and you would feel
better. "But then, it's not like we have any right to judge her, either."
	"What?"
	"At least she's doing something she believes in." Ami dropped the
cigarette. It bounced off the frozen ground. "So, I guess if I want to be able
to judge her, then I'm going to have to start doing that, too."
	"Ami?"
	"Come on, Makoto. We have someplace we need to be."
	Ami ground the smouldering cigarette under her heel.

*

	Cologne jumped in front of the others the moment she saw the red light
lancing out from the Pillars. She had no idea what she was going to do, but she
knew that her place was in front of everyone. The quartet screamed as the flare
of energy grew larger, inching across the sky towards them. Then Cologne saw the
blue spark in the centre of that light. It seemed tiny in comparison, but
somehow it was slowing a blast that should be traveling at the speed of light to
a crawl.
	"Ikazuchi," Cologne murmured. He was protecting them? She still didn't
understand. Of all the saviours Cologne could have imagined, the last would have
been the arrogant buffoon that served more often than not as the Elite Five's
comic relief. But she would take any salvation that was offered now.
	With a suddenness that surprised her, the battle reversed. The blue
light flared out, blinding them with its shine. Then the red light faltered and
the spark shot through it, splitting the fountain of energy apart into a blossom
in the darkness. There was a sound like thunder and a roar, and a moment later
the blue spark appeared on the other side of the Pillars of Heaven. The red
light sputtered and died.
	Then the Pillar exploded. Waterfalls of dust sprayed out from all sides
of the massive building. A moment later the top portion of one of the three most
massive buildings in the world slid off, toppling sideways down into the city.
Cologne clenched her fists.
	She could feel the battle happening down there. The last of the martial
artists of Japan, fighting a titanic struggle at the base of the three towers.
There was so much force, that even from over half-way across the city she could
feel the chi generated by the conflict. She only hoped that those in the city
beneath had the presence of mind to flee the debris that would rain down on them
from the explosion.
	"Cologne!"
	The fear in CereCere's voice made Cologne spin around too fast for her
injured leg to stand. She nearly collapsed when it tried to give out on her. But
she managed to keep her footing by using her rake as a staff.
	The quartet were staring at the door leading up the rooftop. A huge
dent had appeared in it. Then another appeared, accompanied by a loud smash. The
noise must have been blotted out by the explosions, Cologne realised. Whatever
was behind that door was powerful, and the thin steel would do little to stop
it.
	"Girls, prepare yourselves. PallaPalla, stand with Frederick." Cologne
forced herself not to wince as she put weight on her leg, and moved her rake up
to a defensive position. She was proud of the way the three combat-capable
members of the quartet moved into an arrow formation in front of PallaPalla and
Frederick. They held their Amazon Stones at the ready, their expressions going
grim.
	The door exploded off its hinges. JunJun did something with her stone,
sending the door flying out over the edge of the building. A massive creature,
some sort of cross between an octopus and a woman, with eight flailing tentacles
where her arms should be, was stepping out of the door. Cologne could see more
beasts beyond them.
	These were not normal demons. Cologne could sense that much. They were
much more powerful. The twisted remains of hyper and neo-zoanoids, sent
especially to deal with them. "Whatever happens, protect each other!" Cologne
ordered. She began to draw her chi into her weapon, preparing to release it in a
single massive burst. If she was lucky it would take out the first half dozen or
so, giving them breathing room.
	"Mr. Purgstall!" PallaPalla gasped.
	"Make certain he's..."
	Then Cologne felt a hand fall onto her shoulder. She turned and looked
up, her eyes widening. Frederick smiled down at her. His chiselled features had
never looked so perfect. Suddenly she felt like crying.
	"Cologne, please..." He stepped past her. As he did, he transformed.
Always before, his transformation had been like an elemental force. Raw
lightning flashing out in all directions, scorching and destroying everything
nearby as his body tried futilely to control all the power of his zoacrystal.
But this time his transformation was more subtle. Silver lightning arced along
his body, tracing along his muscles. Where it went, his body was changed.
	It looked almost the same as before. It was still covered in some form
of armour, with large pods on his shoulders. In fact, it was all exactly the
same except for his skin and head. In the past his body had been covered by thin
armoured plates, and his head had become more monstrous, with two thick stumps
that extended from his head in a V and spines growing from around his face. Now
his face was much more human, as was the rest of him. His skin had turned
ndigo, but aside from replacing his hair with some form of glistening armour and
the emergence of his zoacrystal from his forehead, that was all the changes that
occurred to him now.
	"You will NOT harm my family," Frederick informed the monsters. The
tentacle woman and a dozen other massive creatures burst out of the stairwell,
ripping apart the wall as they did so. Frederick gestured with one hand and
called the lightning. One bolt for each beast, each perfectly aimed. A series of
cascading explosions lit up the rooftop; then there was nothing left alive but
them.
	"Cologne, you're injured?" Frederick said as he turned to face her. She
nodded mutely. There was a light. A new light in his zoacrystal. A tiny sliver
of silver light floated in the yellow glare of his crystal.
	"You got better!" PallaPalla shouted, jumping up and hugging him around
the waist. He started. Then he looked down at her and smiled.
	"Yes. I've gotten better." He rubbed a hand into her hair. "Thank you."
	For a moment, Cologne was certain she saw something glimmer on the
girl's forehead. Apparently Frederick saw it too, because he paused and stared
at her. "PallaPalla, you're... different."
	"I lost my Amazon Stone," she explained simply.
	"You... don't sound disappointed."
	"Naw. She just mooches off of our magic." VesVes said. She was trying to
look cool and unaffected, but her eyes were glittering with unshed tears.
CereCere's weren't unshed. She was dabbing daintily at the corners of her eyes
with a handkerchief. JunJun was smiling and shaking with repressed joy.
	"No, it's something else..." Frederick said. "Something inside of
her..." He frowned. "I can feel it."
	"Huh?" PallaPalla looked up at him.
	"It's... not important now." He looked up at Cologne. "We have to get
out of the city."
	"The girls can't teleport us. Gyro flooded the entire city with chaos
magic."
	"Mr. Purgstall, we want to leave!" CereCere said.
	Purgstall looked at them all. "I..." He paused. His head snapped up. "Do
you feel that?"
	"What?" Cologne frowned.
	"Magic!" PallaPalla gasped.
	"A lot of it!" JunJun agreed. She turned east, towards the ocean. "I've
hardly ever felt so much at once..."
	Then Cologne felt it. Not magic, though she had trained herself to know
something of that enigmatic force, but something much more sinister. The
building was shaking. The windows were rattling. The loose stones on the roof
and smaller pieces of debris were bouncing. She looked around. It wasn't just
them, either. All the buildings within eyeshot were vibrating slightly. Leaving
suddenly seemed more important.
	"LOOK!" VesVes exclaimed, pointing to the east. Cologne turned and saw
it. At first she wasn't certain what she was seeing. Then she realised it and
her heart sank. It was like the horizon was rising up, higher and higher into
the sky. But she realised it wasn't the horizon. It was the ocean. The entire
ocean. As far across as Cologne could see, it was rising up. A tsunami. No,
that was far, far too small a word for it.
	"That fool! She'll kill everyone!" Frederick shouted, his eyes widening.
	"What?" Cologne could hear the roar now. It was a bass rumble, at the
back of your skull. You didn't so much hear it with your ears as with your
bones.
	"Tethys," Frederick shouted, trying to be heard over the approaching
roar. "There's no time!" He turned to CereCere. "I need a platform!"
	She nodded mutely, unable to take her eyes off the approaching swell. It
wasn't like a wave. It was like the ocean itself was simply rising, tier after
tier. Great shelves of water, reaching into the sky. CereCere thrust her Amazon
Stone downward and it flattened out, forming into a pink disc beneath their
feet. Frederick knelt on it and thrust his hand downward.
	There was a crack and suddenly they were flying. Cologne felt all the
hairs on her body stand up, and realised what he was doing. He himself could
fly, but he couldn't hope to carry them all. So he was using his power to propel
them off the ground. CereCere was also kneeling, hands pressed against the
platform. Her eyes were closed and sweat stood out on her forehead. She was
holding back the lightning, keeping them all from being fried. Then VesVes and
JunJun knelt as well, and suddenly the pink disk was shot through with lines of
green and red.
	Still it almost wasn't enough. The wave hit the city with a force so
massive that windows shattered outward from the shockwave. The waterfront
vanished, swallowed entirely in the blink of an eye. The wave was almost three
hundred meters tall. It smashed into high rises on the outskirts of Tokyo
without stopping. The buildings exploded outward, sending clouds of debris in
front of the approaching wall of water. Eventually it reached a few buildings it
could not overreach. Those buildings were shorn from their supports. She saw the
radio antennae of one building swirl backwards in the wake of the tsunami.
	Finally the massive wave crested, and plunged down into the rest of the
city. Some buildings were demolished, but many more were left standing. The
force of the water was terrific, but seemed to have suddenly lost a lot of its
power. Cologne felt something leave the air. Magic, she realised.
	Purgstall just barely got them up and over the cascade before it struck
the building they had taken sanctuary on. The water continued flowing, a series
of smaller waves following the first huge one in. Within a matter of minutes the
entire city of Tokyo, and all the area for kilometers in every direction was
underwater.
	"Damn her!" Frederick snarled.
	"By all the gods..." Cologne gasped in horror. She had heard stories
about the might of the Dark Queen. She had seen the footage of her wiping out
the Millennium fleet in one swoop. But to see something from a distance and
to experience it here and now were two different things. Like it or not, Tokyo
had become her home. To see it so easily destroyed by such a massive elemental
force was humbling. "She destroyed everything," Cologne murmured.
	"Not quite." Frederick frowned. He was looking towards the Pillars.
Cologne followed his view. The water was slowly receding around the massive
structures. "Chronos constructed the Pillars with such things in mind," he
explained.
	The bottom third of the Pillars of Heaven were ruined, but standing.
Windows had caved in and such, but the greater part of the superstructure was
intact. The only true damage was to the top of the west tower, which had been
blown off by Ikazuchi and ZX-Tole's final battle.
	 "Why would she do this?" JunJun asked, her voice choked.
	Cologne clenched her hand into a fist. "Gyro's army. His army of
transformed humans. She did this to wipe them out. Every single monster in the
city. With one strike."
	"Not to mention all her allies!" Frederick snarled. Cologne nodded
grimly. All the people fighting at the base of the tower. She closed her eyes
and muttered a quick prayer to whatever force it was that guided heroes' souls
to the afterlife.

*

	The Dark Queen walked into the ruins of Tokyo. Her hair was a dark blue
wave breaking down her soft blue skin. She wore armour, tight and contoured like
waves breaking against her body, dark as the depths of the ocean and glittering
with tiny stars. In one hand she carried a lance, black and glistening, with a
long thin tip that trailed in the water as she walked. Her stride carried her
across the swirling water that had flooded the entire city. Ripples radiated
from each of her footsteps.
	Around her, Tokyo was all but gone. Only the largest buildings remained
in the area where the wave had crashed down, and most of those had been crushed
into unrecognisability. Huge pieces of what had once been civilisation were now
nothing but jetsam and flotsam, drawn here and there by the strange currents
created by the reefs of shattered buildings. Here an upside-down car floated
almost sedately; there, a shattered tree bobbed.
	And behind her came her army. They moved across the water, their feet
moving as if they strode on solid ground. It was unnerving. Beneath them was a
tidal pool of destruction, water ripping through shattered pieces of the city at
staggering speed. Chunks of the city that had been reduced to jagged, tearing
edges existed down there, waiting for any soft human bodies that could be dashed
against them. The sections of the city that poked up out of the water were
crumbling and treacherous, offering no safe haven.
	It left them all totally at the mercy of Tethys. Without her, they
wouldn't even be able to fight. It would be a struggle just to remain alive in
this devastated city. What unnerved Akira more than that, more even than the
fact she was relying on Tethys to allow her to fight, was how casually the Dark
Queen did it.
	There wasn't even the slightest trace of tension or strain on her face.
Her army had to number in the thousands, and she was not having any trouble
keeping them all from sinking into the murky undertow. Everything about this
trip had rubbed wrong at Akira. The woman she had once worked for had
transported them hundreds of kilometers all but instantly, through the simple
expedient of ripping out a large enough chunk of the Arctic glaciers and
propelling them along on that. Akira had always known that Tethys was powerful.
She knew her better than most. But even she found these casual displays of god-
like power uncomfortable.
	It always reminded her of how limited she really was. How human.
	Ukyou reached out and grabbed her hand. Akira looked over at the brown-
haired woman. She wasn't smiling, and she was staring straight ahead with her
cold-eyed expression of intense concentration. But her hand was warm. Akira
squeezed it back.
	"Was this really necessary?" Akira asked her.
	"I don't know." Ukyou looked at her. Then she looked across the way at
Nabiki. The woman was walking just behind the front rank. Her head was bowed as
she tried to stay close to Ryouga without actually looking like she was trying
to. Ryouga, for his part, was ignoring her with all his attention. But Nabiki
looked up when Ukyou gazed at her and the two shared some sort of look. Nabiki
nodded and Ukyou seemed to relax.
	"What is it?" Akira asked.
	"I..." Ukyou looked up at the Pillars of Heaven. Akira realised that
Ukyou had never had a chance to see them before. Everyone in the world had seen
them at one point or another. Chronos used them as a propaganda tool, and
everyone else used them as a symbol of Chronos arrogance. "I can't say. But
Tethys has a plan."
	"Killing all these people was a plan?" Akira snarled.
	Ukyou ducked her head. "She killed the phage army."
	"I know..." Akira forced herself to calm down. "There was nothing we
could have done for them." Ukyou didn't answer her. "Ukyou?" Ukyou looked away.
"The only reason anyone agreed to this insanity was because it was the only way
to wipe out Gyro's army, Ukyou." Akira realised she was getting upset.
	"It'll work out, Akira." Ukyou murmured. "I can't say anymore. We're
being watched."
	"Watched?"
	And then Akira realised they had reached the bottom of the Pillars. The
waters rose up almost twenty meters above the base of the tower, a raging vortex
ripping around the base of the only intact structures left in all of Tokyo. And
waiting for them, floating a half-meter above the cresting tips of the waves,
was Reichmann Gyro. His black wings were extended out on either side of him, his
yellow eyes glowed, his thick black blade was held casually in one clawed hand.
He looked the very model of the perfect devil.
	"Devil Gyro!" Skullomania shouted. He started sprinting forward across
the water. "You'll pay for your outrages, at the hands of justice!"
	Tethys snapped her arm out, blocking the man's path. Skullomania skidded
to a halt. Akira could see the others in the group tensing. Ukyou hadn't
summoned her glaive, but she released Akira's grip and positioned her hand to do
so at a moment's notice. Ranma was practically bouncing on his feet. He was
actually smiling. Ryouga stood as still as a stone, his body flickering with a
faint green light. Sailor Pluto held her time key staff ready, and even Nabiki
looked tense. The strange vampire girl that had joined them pulled a pair of
short swords from behind her back. Akira reminded herself to keep an eye on that
one. She was not entirely certain she trusted Nanami Kiryuu, or her motives.
	Behind them, the army was spreading out. Armed with the most potent
weapons Tethys had collected from on Earth and her forays into space, they
looked formidable, but Akira had to question the point of bringing them. Against
Reichmann Gyro, they were like gnats.
	Then again, some people had said the same about her once.
	But still, she couldn't help but think that to Tethys, all these people
were disposable. She would gladly kill every last one of them, just for one shot
at taking Gyro down. Akira realised that if she didn't want to see that happen,
she would have to make certain the devil went down quickly.
	"Reichmann Gyro. We meet again." Tethys walked forward.
	"The Dark Queen." Gyro left his sword on his hip and raised his hands
towards her. "I think a proper greeting is in order." Then he started clapping.
It was a hollow sound that echoed across the ruins of the city. "A fantastic
opening move. Such a brilliant display of cold-hearted tactical acumen. Truly, I
am impressed."
	"I didn't do it to impress you," Tethys bit off coldly. She pointed her
lance at him. "I plan on making you pay for every life you stole."
	"Don't be so coy," Gyro chuckled humourlessly. "It is not every day you
please a fundamental law of nature. I shall let you have this little piece of
glory." His face twisted up in an inhuman smile. "Luring all of my minions to
one place with a sacrificial force so that you would force me to fight you
personally, a spectacular display of inhuman cruelty. I appreciate it enough,
that I will honour your request."
	"Sacrifice?" Akira felt her blood run cold. "Ukyou, what is he talking
about?" she whispered. Ukyou looked away. "Wait. There were other people in the
city besides the phages, weren't there? She didn't..." Akira felt the iron
certainty settle on her. "She did." Her voice was hard.
	She felt something dark stir inside her as she stared at the back of the
Dark Queen. Something cold and malevolent. Her hands clenched. Her lips peeled
back from her lips. She had killed... She had killed not just the monsters. She
had killed anyone here still fighting Gyro. Akira's world began to narrow. That
hated bitch was going to pay for that...
	"AKIRA!" Ukyou grabbed her shoulder, hard, and whispered harshly into
her ear. Akira shook her head. The darkness receded from the edge of her vision.
"You... that was..."
	"I..." Akira grabbed her forehead. "I feel strange."
	"You're bleeding," Ukyou noted, her voice oddly inflectionless.
	Akira drew away her hand. So she was. But Ukyou hadn't used her power,
so why was she reacting like she had?
	"Come now, woman," Gyro called out, pulling his sword free. "I offer you
a chance to throw yourself against the bulwark of infinity. Such conviction
deserves a swift death at my own hands."
	Tethys looked at him, and the spear she was holding. She smiled. "I
didn't come to fight you alone." She reached up one hand and snapped her
fingers. "Attack."
	And the army charged.

*

	Ranma had been practically bursting since Gyro had appeared. He knew the
plan, but keeping to it was such a pain. It wasn't that Ranma didn't appreciate
the talking part. A good pre-battle smacktalk session was half the fight right
there. But it was the fact HE had to remain quiet during it that pushed his
buttons.
	Then Tethys signalled the attack, and it was on.
	Ranma quickly sprinted to the front of the formation. Reichmann Gyro
frowned, his yellow eyes narrowing. The air around Ranma filled with the whine
and sizzle and snap of all those alien weapons going off. Beams of light, every
colour of the rainbow, speared towards Gyro from all directions.
	The man snapped up his sword and with a deft motion swatted them all
from the air. Ranma blinked. He had literally deflected each beam with that
blade. Ranma had hardly seen him move, but it was like his arm was everywhere at
once.
	Then Ranma was too close for thinking. He bounced up, testing the devil-
man's defences with a series of snap kicks too fast for the human eye to follow.
Too bad Gyro had inhuman eyes. His sword managed to catch each of Ranma's
strikes. Thankfully, Ranma kept the edge from hitting him, but just hitting the
flat of that black blade felt bad. Whole worlds of bad.
	He cartwheeled back as others came in to take his place. Ryouga roared
as he ran under Ranma, his aura exploding around him. From the other side Akira
slid behind Gyro, snapping her hands up and around to backhand him.
Skullomania took the monster's right side, planting his foot hard into the
disturbingly solid water and launching into a spinning punch. Once again, Gyro's
arms moved impossibly. It was like they were bending and multiplying to defend
against all the strikes.
	And the barrage never stopped.
	Tethys herself came in as the third wave. Her lance flashed out,
striking at Gyro's head. As his impossibly swift sword parried the blow the tip
of the ice lance shattered into a dozen pieces... and each piece suddenly
elongated into another lance. Tethys pushed forward, screaming and striking
again and again.
	Each blow that Gyro parried shattered and the pieces turned into yet
more striking lances. Soon it was impossible to see anything but the flash of
black ice as Tethys' lances multiplied faster than Ranma could keep up with. And
apparently that went for Gyro was well, as there was a snarl of annoyance on his
face.
	That's when Ukyou dropped from the air behind him. Her Silence Glaive
flashed downward. Gyro looked up, his eyes widening. He stepped up to parry her,
but suddenly a figure in yellow appeared at his side. Her blades snapped out and
Nanami bound his sword between the guards of her weapons.  Ukyou extended her
blade straight at Gyro's shining zoacrystal. The steel tines smashed into the
water and the water itself vanished, unmade by the Silence.
	Unfortunately, Gyro was not there. Millions of ice lances speared in
towards Ukyou, who had enough time to look surprised before they stopped within
centimeters of her flesh. Tethys waved and all but one of the lances melted,
dripping into the water beneath them.
	"I see..." Gyro's voice growled from above them. Ranma looked up. "You
brought the power of Oblivion to fight for you." Gyro was floating above the
conflict now. The beams of all the attacks followed him the moment their firers
could get a new bead on him. He gestured with one hand and suddenly all the
blasts began to twist and spiral around him.
	Ranma was forced to dodge as a number of the beams were sent arcing down
in his direction. His companions managed to avoid the suddenly erratic fire;
Nanami was actually deflecting the attacks away from herself and Ukyou, but some
of the people in the army were not so lucky. Ranma winced as a few of the
soldiers in the front lines were vapourised, or worse, by the reflected attacks.
	"Hold your fire," Tethys ordered. The firing stopped.
	"You think I can be defeated by such base methods?" Gyro sneered.
	"All we need is one hit," Tethys informed him.
	"Then despair!" he roared, and snapped out his hand. Ranma felt the
force of his will explode outward. It was like being trapped in a dark cave, a
cave full of something terrible and nameless. It crushed out all thought, all
emotion. He could feel his heart slowing as his brain began to shut down...
	Then with a suddenness that left him gasping, the power reversed. Ranma
fell to his knees. He looked over at Nabiki. The woman wasn't moving. But her
eyes were closed and sweat was beading on her forehead so fast it looked like
she was leaking. The veins around her eyes and temples throbbed visibly.
	"Girl, do you think you can-"
	"JISATSU BAKUHA!"
	Ryouga's suicide blast rocketed up towards Gyro. He snapped his head
around as the blast entered the field of distortion around him... then exploded.
Gyro cried out in surprise as the explosion of green light flooded the air
around him, bending and warping around his body.
	"He's distorting space," Ukyou shouted out suddenly. Her eyes were
narrowed. "Like the event horizon of a black hole. He's using gravity to bend
light and energy around him."
	"Any thoughts on how we defeat that?" Ranma asked. The light around Gyro
had cleared. The monster did not look happy. He also did not look injured in the
slightest.
	"Quickly," Ukyou offered. Then she leapt up, swinging her weapon in a
wide arc.
	Gyro's arm blurred and distorted, once again moving impossibly fast.
Ranma frowned. He was pretty sure he had it figured out. The devil zoalord
wasn't just parrying, he was actually bending space around his body so that he
could move his weapon to where it needed to be. With that kind of defence, they
would be hard-pressed to find an opening. His sword could literally be anywhere,
everywhere, at once.
	The Silence Glaive and the Sealing Sword met in mid-air with a loud
crack and a spray of ebon sparks. Ranma felt something pulse through the air
around him, and down into the water. He staggered and saw that most of the
people around him were doing the same. He wasn't certain what had happened, but
whatever it was wasn't good.
	Gyro seemed as surprised as him. He flew back away from Ukyou as the
girl was flung backwards towards the water's surface. Two shapes blurred to
catch her, but the yellow one reached her first. Akira skidded to a stop, then
stepped in front of the two women. Gyro's inhuman yellow eyes fixed on the
trenchcoat-clad woman. "What are you?" he asked, hissing.
	"A distraction," Ukyou explained.
	Then Tethys was behind him. Her lance flashed down, and he twisted to
protect himself. As he did, the water underneath him exploded upward. A
waterspout.
	Ranma didn't think. He ran forward and stepped up onto the spout, riding
it like an elevator. He saw Akira following a few steps behind him, but she
didn't reach the top like he did. Instead, she began to sprint up the side of
the spinning tornado of water.
	Ranma let himself get within the reach of Gyro's blades before moving.
He snapped his hands up, and Gyro responded instantly. Still holding off Tethys'
attacks, he bent space so he could parry Ranma's blow as well. Except Ranma's
fist vanished and he struck with his other hand. Again Gyro's sword twisted and
Ranma pulled his hand back before the black blade could touch him. Ranma kept
going; an elaborate series of feints, each one faster than the last.
	On the other side he could see Akira doing the same thing. Her limbs
flashed as she struck not at Gyro, but with enough force that he was forced to
respond. Soon enough he was surrounded by a forest of blades. There had to be
some limit to how many times he could split his body among the different layers
of folded space.
	Out of the corner of his eye, Ranma saw Ukyou grabbing Ryouga and Sailor
Pluto. She was whispering something in the lost boy's ear and he was nodding
reluctantly. But soon enough, Ranma was forced to devote all his attention to
Gyro. His body was reaching its limit. His arms and legs were on fire, the
muscles burning from the inside out as he pushed more and more chi through them.
But he needed to keep accelerating, staying one step ahead of Gyro.
	Their one advantage here was that despite all his power, Reichmann Gyro
was really a mediocre fighter. He was a bully who relied on sheer force and
bluster over finesse. Granted, with that much sheer force, he could afford to
do so.
	But with Ranma, Akira and Tethys all striking out at him from every
angle, even he would reach his limits. He had to reach his limits.
	Why wasn't he reaching his limits?
	Then, just as Ranma felt one of the muscles in his right arm give out,
the devil zoalord snarled and there was a flicker of motion. Then they were
striking at empty air.
	"NOW!" Ukyou screamed.
	"Dead Scream!"
	"Jisatsu BAKUHA!"
	Ranma allowed himself to freefall. He twisted. The fight had carried
them ten stories up without him noticing. The waterspout broke apart into a
shower, mist spraying out in all directions.
	Gyro had teleported not far away, apparently getting ready to inflict a
blow on Tethys from behind. But he was distracted by a ball of purple light
flashing up from the ground right at him. Somehow Ukyou had sensed exactly where
he was teleporting to, such that the attack would reach him before he had a
chance to escape. Behind the ringed ball of light, another of Ryouga's powerful
soul bombs followed.
	Gyro sneered and held out his hand. "This trick didn't work the first
time-"
	The Dead Scream shot right into his palm, exploding against his hand
with a blast like a cannonshot. Gyro screamed and drew back his hand. Then the
green crystal of Ryouga's soul shot into him. The explosion this time was clean.
It drove Ranma towards the surface even faster. The water dented underneath the
shockwave of the attack, revealing pieces of rubble that cracked under the
pressure.
	Akira landed on the water on all fours and Ranma followed her, wincing
as the impact sent signals of pain shooting up his overexerted hand. The dent
Ryouga had created was slowly levelling out.
	The light above cleared, and they could all see Gyro now. He had drawn
his wings around him for defence at the last second. Dozens of holes now
peppered his wings, leaving them in tatters. Thick yellow blood, glittering with
silver light, oozed from them.
	"FIRE!" Tethys ordered as she dipped beneath the madman.
	The army opened up again. This time the weapons all struck home.
Hundreds of them. Most did nothing, harmlessly skittering along his black-
armoured hide like flashlight beams. But a few caused smoke to erupt from his
hide, leaving trails of scorch marks across his body. A rare few even began to
cut through the armour.
	"Enough!" Gyro roared, snapping his arms out. Once again the blasts
began to twist and bend, slashing out in all manner of wild directions. The
army didn't need to be told to stop firing this time. The hum and whine of
their sci-fi weapons trailed off as the people on the water began to shift
nervously.
	"How?" Gyro snarled. "How did you break my perfect defence?"
	"What, like we're supposed to tell you?" Ukyou returned.
	"I will tolerate no insolence!" Gyro roared and snapped his hand at her,
The water around them dented downwards again and all three fell to their knees.
The light around them dimmed.
	"Ukyou!" Akira screamed.
	Then suddenly the space around them collapsed into a tiny black orb
hovering in mid-air. Gyro's razor-teeth flashed as he smiled. And a moment
later, his smile faltered.
	Ukyou stood underneath the orb, both hands clutching the Silence Glaive.
The air above her shimmered and wavered. Ranma realised that all sound around
her had utterly ceased. But she was still on her knees, and her face was pulled
into a rictus grimace of effort. Behind her Ryouga was holding Pluto, who looked
stunned.
	"You can't hold me off forever!" Gyro informed Ukyou. Then he clenched
his hand. The orb above her began to pulsate, like a beating heart. Streaks of
silver lightning began to arc around it.
	"RYOUGA!" Nabiki screamed.
	Ranma flicked his head to her, then back towards Gyro. Nabiki's face was
filled with inarticulate rage. She roared again, and this time Ranma felt it. It
was just at the edge of his awareness, and he was glad he wasn't the target of
it. Gyro's head snapped back, and his hand jerked up. A muffled gasp escaped his
lips.
	Tethys flashed forward, lance extended. It was a perfect chance to
strike him, Ranma realised. He was distracted and hurt by Nabiki's attack. She
might be able to strike a critical blow.
	But then Ranma saw something else. Akira was running towards Ukyou. The
pulsar orb was still crackling. In fact, it was growing more unstable. Ryouga
was now holding up Ukyou with one arm, as she was slumped against him trying to
maintain her shield. Ranma dimly realised that the orb was going to explode, and
pretty spectacularly.
	"NO!" Nanami shouted, trying to run towards her. Skullomania grabbed her
arm.
	"Don't go forward!" he warned. "It's too dangerous!"
	Ranma distinctly saw Tethys' eyes flicker from the orb up to Gyro. Her
face hardened as she continued up towards him. Ranma was watching it all happen
in slow motion. He was so hyped up that he was perceiving things at a much
higher level than most people. Akira was going to reach the orb. She was diving
for it. She intended to try and push it away, bat it out of range of Ukyou and
the others. It was suicide, there was no way she could survive touching that.
	Then suddenly Tethys was there. Her hand extended and the orb was
suddenly swallowed in a block of ice. The ice cracked instantly, deforming
inward around the pulsar. With a snarl Tethys whipped her arm up. The iceblock
shot into the sky, so fast that Ranma couldn't even follow it.
	A fraction of a second later there was an explosion high above them. It
seemed so tiny. Just a snap like a firecracker, and a few moments later a gentle
wind pushed down on the field.
	Gyro started laughing. Ranma grimaced, but looked at Ukyou and the
others. Ukyou was breathing heavily, but seemed unharmed otherwise. Akira was
staring at Tethys, her expression unreadable. Tethys was looking up at the devil
zoalord.
	"Very well played..." Gyro continued laughing, a loud bellowing sound.
"But I am Reichmann Gyro! My WILL is LAW! Did you think that the universe would
allow you to destroy one of its foundations so easily?" He smirked, his yellow
eyes flashing. "Though I admit, I underestimated you all."
	He was floating up and backward. He held his sword out to his side.
	"Everyone prepare yourselves," Tethys ordered them.
	"What if he's going to use the attack he destroyed the Red Sea with?"
Nabiki asked. She was panting as well, but there was a grin of triumph under her
worried voice.
	"I don't think I can make a shield powerful enough to protect everyone,"
Ukyou groaned as she rose to her feet. "Not even with the Third Circle."
	"You mean, without killing your girlfriend," Tethys snapped. She shook
her head. "But I don't think that's what he intends. No... I know Reichmann
Gyro. I've studied him for years. I know how he THINKS. He won't be satisfied
with such an impersonal attack. He wants to crush us utterly first." She
fingered her lance. "It's his primary weakness."
	"You fool yourself, Dark Queen," Gyro said between fits of dark
laughter. "Did you truly think this was the limit of my power?" He shook his
head. "Tell me, Tethys: do you know why they built the Pillars of Heaven here,
of all places?"
	He was rising higher into the sky every minute, retreating further and
further from them. Yet somehow Ranma could see him clearly. He was bending space
again, Ranma realised. He wanted them to see what he was doing, so he was
distorting space so they could.
	"I managed to convince the Zoalord Council to construct on this very
spot. I used some prattle about it signifying our victory seven years ago
against the aragami, but that wasn't my real reason." He began to run his
fingers along his blade. "Seven years ago, a great and terrible force was almost
unleashed upon the world. It was known as Pharaoh 90. It is... a planet, which
eats other planets. But when the portal opened to allow this thing to enter our
world, a great sacrifice was made and the portal was closed, locking it away
forever.
	"Until now."
	Tethys' eyes widened. "NO!" She gestured and from the water around them
a forest of icicles emerged. Then they began to fire upward, a steady rain.
Ranma held perfectly still as javelins of ice propelled from the water so fast
he could only perceive them as white flashes, even with his enhanced awareness.
	But it was too late. Gyro had reached the top of the Pillars. He turned
and slashed once through the air with his sword. A black line formed in the sky
overhead.
	Gyro smirked and vanished the instant before the ice reached him. The
strange doubled perspective vanished with him. But Ranma could still see the
dark mark in the sky, nearly a kilometer above them. It was spreading, widening
out and out. It stretched from horizon to horizon, quickly passing out of
everyone's arc of vision.
	Then it snapped open all at once, like an immense eye opening. Beyond it
was madness. Horrible black and red madness and a swirling green sun.
	"Oh fuck," Ranma said.

*

	The witch watched the Senshi of Mars struggle with indifference. It was
just another hero fighting against the inevitable. Some people might have found
her admirable, but the witch had little room left in her heart for admiration.
This girl would die, like untold numbers had died before her, and that would be
the end of it.
	"Akuryu Taisen!" Rei screamed, snapping her hand forward. The ward in
her hand exploded outward in a wave of red flame. Around her the world shifted,
and the swords that had been plunging towards her shattered and vanished. The
girl fell back, panting. "I won't fall for your illusions!" she declared.
	The witch allowed herself the slightest frown. The Swords of Hate had
been summoned, and now her world had collapsed once again. It was the first
torment again. For her sin, the sin of unseating God, she had been punished for
so many years that she had lost count of them. Every day for her had been a new
torment, every moment a new agony. Molten metal pouring through her veins or
maggots devouring her flesh or barbed wire wrapped around her bones had been
some of the simpler punishments. But the first, the ultimate flaw that was her
fate was the swords.
	'The witch, the witch...'
	They teased her now. Their blades ran along the edge of her skin,
peeling away slivers but leaving the rest of her intact. Soon enough they would
come for her in full. They would pierce her flesh and her organs, they would
sink into the deepest parts of her. They would stab into her mind, her soul, her
very being.
	'Kill the witch... Kill the witch...'
	It was her brother who inflicted the swords upon her, she knew. She had
always known. Even back before the end, when he had been the Prince, she had
been the victim of his power. All other girls got to be princesses in his
utopia, but she had to suffer alone in silence.
	'The witch, kill the witch...'
	Then she had finally seized control of it. In one desperate moment she
had stretched out and grabbed hold of them. The great Paradox, the souls cast
forever from the universe whenever the Prince had used his powers, it had always
been within her. And she had taken that power and with it she had brought God
low. In so doing she had damned herself, because she had opened her soul to all
the endless worlds of creation.
	'Kill the witch! KILL THE WITCH!'
	For every possibility there existed a world, for every choice made there
existed a separate time and place. But none of it was truly separate. It was the
great secret that she had seen that day, the one that would drive most mad. All
realities existed at the same time, in the same place. What humans called the
soul was a buffer, a tiny kernel of awareness that only perceived some small
part of the cosmic all. But the Paradox tore down those walls, opened up the
floodgates to the infinite realms.
	The blades began to sink into her flesh. She could hear their chanting.
The voices of those worlds whose very existence the Prince had denied. They
chanted for blood. For vengeance. They dragged her to the worlds full of nothing
but pain. Hells the likes of which human minds could not long survive.
	And this impertinent brat had the audacity to call these swords
ILLUSIONS?
	Rei had placed herself before the Rose Gate. In one hand she held her
bow of conjured fire, in the other a trio of Shinto wards. She was bent forward
slightly, panting. Ever since her first strike, she had been playing defensive.
When the witch had intervened to protect Akio by deflecting her attack, she had
been forced to stand back. Up until now, the witch had been probing her
defences.
	The woman's magic was powerful. It was holy. Worse yet, it was
supplemented by God's will. Whatever nameless force had risen up to replace
her brother, it was determined not to allow its predecessor to ascend the lofty
heights once again. Her holy power could drive back the witch's magic. But now
it was time to show the lone Sailor Senshi the limitations of her ability.
	Her brother smirked slightly as he watched the bladestorm. The cyclone
of paradox blades, held back by the witch's will, began to shift. The currents
of the swords changed. They began to weave in and out of the storm, ripping out
into the real world. The witch looked at her brother and drew strength from him.
She had not been forced to try and take control of the blades since the time he
had fallen from grace. Her brother no doubt would find it fitting that she would
use that same sinful power in his latest attempt to place him back on his
throne.
	Rei pulled back her wards, drawing them across the flaming bow. They
ignited, the flames of them curling outward into three long, thick arrows. She
grit her teeth and aimed the weapon at the witch. All her magic was going into
this shot, her innate ability to dispel the grip of evil magnified by the
spiritual power of an entire planet. "I won't let you past!" she screamed as she
let loose.
	The arrows snapped forward, greedily seeking their target. The witch
reached out and grabbed one of the errant swords. For a moment she held its
blade and it bit deep into her fingers. More and more of them came, ripping into
her. They would punish her for her audacity. Then she saw Akio's eyes.
	They contained no real love for her. There was no real mercy or
forgiveness in him anymore. Those qualities had been long ago ground out of him
by the necessities of life among mortals. Yet his eyes compelled her forward
nonetheless. Perhaps if she did this, this final act, then they would soften the
slightest bit, became something like they once had been...
	She held the hilt of a sword in her hand. She brought it down, and the
great tide of Paradox came with it. In some reality, the arrows struck the
witch. In some reality she burned away, screaming as her body was rendered down
to ash. But in the reality the witch chose to let others perceive, the sword
snuffed out the flaming arrows. The mass of the Swords of Hate came down on them
like the sea on a candle.
	Rei barely had time to scream before the wave came towards her. The
witch almost smiled. Did the girl sense it with her finely tuned spiritual
training? Did she feel the difference between these blades and mere illusion?
They would rip her apart, tear into her very soul. They would sever her thread
from the Oversoul and cast her into Oblivion.
	Then a woman appeared in front of Rei. She was tall and beautiful, her
posture more reminiscent of a man than a woman. She wore simple clothes, and
carried nothing more than a bamboo blade. Her long pink hair flowed behind her
as she screamed defiance...
	The bamboo shaft came down and struck the oncoming wave of Paradox. The
swords parted around her, splitting around the two women. They flashed across
the dirt field, tearing great gouges in it. Some few struck the edges of the
Rose Gate. Those that did bent and warped, some shattering entirely, against the
barrier that could not be crossed. When the wave abated, the witch was left
holding the writhing form of the Paradox blade in her hand. It wanted to twist
and bite her, to reshape itself into something deadly and painful. But she
managed to keep it at bay, for now. Its brothers continued to tear at her body,
but as long as she held this one, she could keep fighting.
	The newcomer stood up slowly. Her brown hair floated behind her as her
green eyes twinkled. The witch felt something oddly like disappointment. How
could she have mistaken such a detail?
	"Rei, are you okay?" the newcomer asked.
	"M-makoto?" Rei whispered.
	"Yeah." The girl grinned. "Looks like I arrived just in time."
	The witch's brother began to clap. "Well played. I must hand it to my
adversary." He chuckled. "But this is desperation. He is grasping at straws,
drawing in anyone whose Destiny He can get His hooks into. You can't hope to
stop me now."
	Makoto pointed her weapon at the witch's brother. The length of it was
torn and shredded, so much so that it barely even contained its shape anymore.
"I don't know much about what's really going on here. But I do know that I won't
let you defile that sword you carry." Her eyes narrowed. "Maybe you're right and
this won't make a difference. But I'm sick of waking up at night, unable to keep
from shaking because I know that there is evil in this world. Evil like you."
	"And after everything I have done for you," he replied, smiling
slightly.
	"Shut up, you bastard!" Makoto charged towards him. She leapt and as she
did the air around her flared. The witch's brother raised a single delicate
eyebrow. He drew up the ur-sword of the Moon Princess, ready to meet the
crumbling weapon of the ex-Senshi.
	There was a loud crack, a boom like thunder as the weapons came
together. The witch felt something like surprise. While a normal woman had leapt
at her brother, a Sailor Senshi had come down. Clad in white and green, wielding
a sword of pure liquid lightning. It seethed against the ur-sword. Her brother's
feet slipped back as the force of her blow pushed him through the dirt.
	"And so the hero, driven by feelings of guilt and rage, draws upon the
power hidden within her," he mused. The woman backed up a step, her eyes
widening. "Did you really think it was taken from you, Makoto?" He chuckled.
"Sailor Moon does not have that power. Your Star Seed is as much a part of you
as your heart or your soul. She could not rip your Destiny from you. Only you
could choose to give it up.
	"It was you that convinced yourself that Usagi did not need you. It was
you who gave up on saving the world. It was you who accepted the deal with the
devil." He bowed slightly to acknowledge his role. "Nobody but you."
	"Damn you!" Makoto charged again, her body surrounded by flashing
lightning. The witch had seen enough. She gestured with the Paradox blade. The
ground before her brother sprouted a hundred swords, driving upwards like
stakes. Makoto was driven back, shouting as a half dozen of the blades pierced
her arms and legs. Rei gasped and leapt to her.
	"Makoto!" she cried.
	"Forget me!" Makoto snarled, pushing her away. "Get him." She looked at
Rei. "We have to focus all our attention on him."
	The witch frowned. Her brother was no threat to them. No real threat.
All they had to do was prevent him from reaching the Rose Gate. Even with the
ur-sword, his powers were limited in comparison to her own. She was the real
threat here, so why should they ignore her...
	Oh. Clever.
	The witch held up her sword. Did they really think they could deceive
her, who had studied at the knee of the greatest liar the universe had ever
known? She brought her blade around, preparing to attack again. The two Senshi
were striking now, splitting up to circumvent her blade barrier. Unless she
afforded them all her attention, they would probably reach her brother and
overwhelm his defence.
	The witch spun and struck out with her blade. Blue eyes widened. A mouth
opened. Hands that had been raised dropped, a sword clattering uselessly at her
feet. The witch stared back at the blue-haired girl who had been attempting to
sneak up on her. She twisted the Paradox blade in her gut. The woman tilted back
her head and screamed, her eyes losing focus.
	Ami Mizuno would see it, now. She would see that terrible door opening.
All the horrors of existence spread out for her, waiting hungrily to take her
into them. To make her a part of them. It would be a swift mercy when her mind
shattered and she became one with the lost souls of Oblivion. At least she would
not linger on forever like the witch, caught constantly at the border.
	Lightning and fire rained down upon her. Pain was something she was
familiar with, and could thus ignore. The force of the blows split heaven and
earth, however, and she was thrown from her feet. The blade she had grabbed
slipped free of her victim reluctantly, but the witch kept her iron grip. If she
lost control for even an instant, the maelstrom would devour her.
	The blue-haired woman collapsed, blood gushing from her stomach. The
sword had ben wrenched in her gut when the witch had been knocked clear. The
wound left behind was mortal.
	"NO, AMI!" Makoto yelled, landing next to her. Rei was a few steps
behind. "Ami, you have to use your power!"
	"Oh god... it's full of hate..." Ami said, then coughed, bubbles of
blood forming on her lips. "So much hate..."
	"You never lost it, Ami!" Makoto was saying, grabbing the woman's
shoulders. "It's still inside you! Find it! Find the power to be Sailor Mercury
again!"
	Rei hesitated above her, as if doubting even a Sailor Senshi's
constitution could survive such a blow. But in the end, she no doubt would give
in to hope. It was the thing that they clung to. It was all they really had,
sad and alone in the harsh universe. She knelt down next to her former friend.
"Ami, I believe in you. I love you. Come through this for us."
	She placed her hand on Ami's shoulder. The red gem on her chest flared
with light. The green gem on Makoto's ribbon flared as well. Then Ami coughed
once more, and reached up to where that light came together.
	"Mercury... Make... UP!" she coughed out.
	Her body flared with blue light. The witch hissed as she once again felt
the hand of God. Somewhere out there, His fetich soul was feeling the scourge of
more Paradox. He had altered the game again. When the light vanished, Ami was
being helped to her feet by her companions. Her wounds were gone. The witch
almost laughed. If that was all God could do, then He was lost already.
	"You should not have come for your friend. You should have let her die,"
the witch told them.
	The three Sailor Senshi faced her, their faces hard and determined. "Not
again," Rei said. "I'm never abandoning my friends again. I've watched too many
people I care about die!"
	"You misunderstand," the witch corrected. "I merely meant that you
should not have taken your eyes off my brother."
	Their eyes widened and as one they spun to face the Rose Gate. But they
were already too late. He stood before it, the sword of Usagi's soul clenched
tightly in his hands. He brought it down over his head, a perfect swing and one
he had long practised. Then the sword met the Gate.
	The Rose Gate had stood inviolate for uncountable scores of years. It
was the ultimate immovable object. Beyond it was the Power of Miracles, the
Third Circle, the godhead, whatever you wished to call it. No mortal or immortal
hand could move its ivory surface. The swords of thousands of would-be Princes
had shattered against it, shattered like their bodies and minds and nobility.
	Once, perhaps, the witch had truly believed that someday that gate would
crack. But not any more. The power that had been lost would never, could never
be regained. Now she kept playing her role through rote, loyal to an empty shell
of a memory of a brother she had once loved. She was never certain how much her
brother believed he would someday succeed. He had told her, some years prior,
that Usagi Tsukino would be the one. But he had said such things before.
	With a sound like a cup chipping, a crack appeared in the surface of the
Rose Gate. The ur-sword rested at the centre of that crack, which slowly spread
from its tip like a spiderweb. In almost no time at all it stopped. The damage
covered not even a tenth of the Rose Gate's surface. The witch stared. Her
brother's eyes quivered, his mouth trembled.
	"At long last."
	He brought the sword down again.

*

	Mamoru sat against a pane of glass, his body shuddering. His rifle lay
at his feet. He couldn't for the life of him figure out how he had gotten in
here. The windows were whole and undisturbed. The entire place was clean and
unaffected by the chaos. Not even a single jar of pens had been tipped over. Not
so much as a single piece of paper had scattered off the desks.
	They were dead. He'd watched them die. The water had come and they had
died. He'd been above the waterline. He'd nearly been knocked loose. The water
hadn't been content to just crash into the building. He'd seen it surge up and
into it. It filled up the windows. It surged up inside the Pillars like a living
thing. He'd watched a demonically-twisted zoanoid get caught in the water. It
didn't drown. It didn't have time. It was torn apart. Desks and file cabinets
and bits of broken wall had swirled up in the water and crashed into it from all
sides, tearing it to pieces.
	Mamoru could only stare in horror. He'd clung to the outside of the
building, somehow maintaining his three-fingered grip on the nearly nonexistent
sill beneath the mirror-tinted window. He'd watched the water receding, and
leaving no sign of them.
	They were dead. And he had abandoned them.
	He knew who had done it. When Tethys had arrived, he had KNOWN. It
boiled alive inside him. It ate at his gut. It burned his brain. He wanted to
kill her. He wanted to END her. The seething vicious hatred that surged out from
the depths of his mind frightened him even as it comforted him. Because if he
focused on that, on paying her back, he wouldn't have to focus on the pain.
	He'd almost done it. He'd lined her up in his sights. He'd begun to
gently squeeze the trigger. He had no idea if his magic bullet could possibly
kill the Dark Queen, and he didn't care. He wanted it too, more than anything
else. He wanted to be able to kill her.
	But he couldn't. It just wasn't in him. He could almost hear Fevrier,
screaming in outrage. She always called him a wuss. She complained that he
didn't have the spine for the kind of work that needed to be done. Maybe she was
right. But he just couldn't find it in himself to fire.
	Then the fight had started. Mamoru had watched. He felt the hatred drain
out of him. The pain seeped into the space left behind. But he couldn't let it.
He still had a job to do. He had come here to take down Reichmann Gyro. So he
had stopped and waited, hoping for the chance to attack.
	Now he was here. He had no idea how he had gotten here. He moaned and
rose up. His body felt thick. It was the kind of feeling you get when you'd just
woken up. The way your body felt like it was wrapped in gauze. That hazy sort of
feeling where you realise you're still half asleep. Your brain is still half
stuck in the dream you were just having.
	He placed a hand against the window pane. It was impossibly smooth. He
leaned over and breathed against it, panting. He wanted to cry. He had lost
everything. He should just lie here and remember. But he couldn't.
	His breath wasn't clouding the glass. It was November. It was very cold
outside there in Tokyo. His breath should have left little white patches on the
glass. It didn't. He frowned and breathed out, carefully. A white line formed as
he lifted his head up. It was a perfect line. Exactly as he had pictured it.
	Exactly.
	His gaze traveled up, and up. The sky above was red, the colour and
texture of spilled entrails. The sun was the green of horror movie uranium,
bright and flourescent. It gave off no light.
	"Elysium," he gasped. He knew this place. He knew it, somehow. Memories
from another life, squirming just below the surface. He could almost feel them.
A magnificent palace, on the edge of a lake. Serious men in grey and black
armour, talking in corners. He could see one of them turning the corner away
from him. "Father..."
	Mamoru clutched his head. No. It wasn't his father. The memory faded
away. He was back in the office. The perfect office. The platonic ideal of an
office. He was still dreaming.
	The office was cold. Wind howled through the shattered window. His right
arm stung a little, the piece of glass that had cut him when he'd smashed in.
The furniture was reduced to kindling. Everything was soaked. Water dripped from
the ceiling. In the corners it had already begun to freeze into thin sheets of
ice.
	"Dreams," Mamoru groaned. He knew that place up there. It was Elysium,
the land of dreams. In the past, the ancient past, his family had been the
guardians of the gate. The only ones who controlled access in and out of it. Now
that gate had been thrown open, and it was leaking out into the real world.
And from the looks of it, Elysium was no longer the pleasant paradise of ages
past. He ran over and grabbed his rifle. Something in him had protected him from
the chaos. But he had been forced to fight his way out. His family was in charge
of Elysium, and he had been barely able to resist being drawn into it.
	Tethys' army was mortal. He couldn't stand around grieving any longer.

*

	The village was burning. Monsters ran through it, their claws dripping
red. Some carried the bodies of their victims, others were seeking fresh prey.
Cologne staggered through the smoke, her weapon dripping with gore. "Where are
you?" she screamed.
	She was looking for somebody. She had no idea who. It was hot here. The
silk of her dress was stained red with blood. The heat kept it from hardening.
It made it slick. A small part of her mind told her that made no sense, but that
part was easily ignored.
	She need to keep looking. She burst through a door. There was a boy
there. He was standing with his back to Cologne. His brown hair shifted slightly
in the thermal drafts. Cologne choked down a cry. He hadn't noticed her. He
hadn't turned. She drew back her weapon.
	He had done this. Her homeland was being destroyed because of him. She
would have vengeance. She struck out... and a hand caught her rake in mid-
strike. The brown-haired boy didn't even so much as twitch.
	"Wow, old lady, you certainly have violent fantasies!"
	Cologne stared at the golden-skinned girl, with her silver hair and the
strange symbol on her forehead. "You..." Cologne murmured.
	"Don't mind me, I'm just another part of your psychotic delusion," the
girl-thing explained. "Well, I wasn't, but I am now. Thanks for giving me a
front row seat, by the way. I'm busy, so I couldn't have come if you hadn't
dreamed of him." She smirked. "It gives me an excuse to do so many things!"
	Cologne kicked out, her foot flashing through the air so fast it made a
crack like a whip. The girl floated around the attack, not even concerned. "Oh,
I'm not your enemy." She paused as Cologne continued her assault. "Well, I am,
but I'm not now." She giggled, a sound that echoed across the room and down into
Cologne's bones. The battle had carried them out of the sight of the boy, who
had not responded in any way. "I want you dead, but I can't actually do a
thing." She pointed behind Cologne, towards the boy. "Your enemy is there."
	Cologne knew she shouldn't look, but she did.
	Shampoo was rising from the ground. One hand was still holding the hilt
of the sword that had killed her. It was her own sword. She looked perfectly
healthy, except for the blade she had slammed into her own gut. Her purple hair
shone. Her red eyes flashed. Her lips twitched in that familiar annoyed frown.
	"Old woman," Shampoo said, in her high-pitched annoyed child voice.
"Look what you did."
	"Shampoo... I..." Cologne couldn't respond.
	The girl pulled the blade from her stomach. It dripped hot blood onto
the floor. "Did you think you could replace me? Just forget about me? Have your
four little brats and your dashing monster of a fucktoy made you feel complete
again?" She started towards Cologne. "Have your pert new tits and your smooth
new skin made you forget who you are?"
	The sword flashed out and Cologne instinctively raised her arms to
defend herself. The blade bit into her arm. She gasped. The arm felt brittle.
The joints flared with pain. The muscles seemed weak. It felt... old. She
stumbled back. Old, dried up blood oozed from the wound the sword had made.
	"Wow," Kalia crooned, her chin cupped in her hands as she watched. "You
have serious issues, you know that, Cologne?"
	"Shampoo, I didn't..." Cologne had no idea what she was going to say.
	"Fuck you, old woman!" Shampoo held the tip of her sword at Cologne's
throat. "You let me die because you thought I needed to learn a lesson about
humility. Like you have the right to accuse me of-"
	"Hey, leave her alone!"
	All three turned. JunJun stood in the door of the hut. She did not look
pleased. Shampoo turned on her with a snarl. "Stay out of this."
	"Oh please." JunJun reached out and tapped the girl's forehead. Shampoo
dissolved into ashes, her body blowing away in a stiff breeze. "Stupid
hobgoblins..." she muttered. Cologne could only stare.
	"You're no fun," Kalia pouted.
	JunJun turned to her. "You're not really here either."
	"I'm not really anywhere, to be fair," Kalia countered.
	"Leave Cologne alone!" JunJun shouted, shifting into a martial stance.
	"Fine." Her eyes twinkled. "It was fun while it lasted. I'll see you
soon."
	Cologne gasped and staggered. She nearly slipped off the edge of the
disc the quartet had summoned for them. Frederick caught her. Her pulled her in
tight, clenching her fiercely. "I thought you were lost..." he muttered.
	"What..." Cologne's voice was weak.
	"A living dream," CereCere explained. She was the sole person
maintaining the disc now. VesVes was busy holding her Amazon Stone up, creating
a dome of red light over them. Cologne looked up and immediately regretted it.
That sky was not something she wanted to see again. It had been the last thing
she had seen before...
	"You got caught in your own imagination." PallaPalla was rocking back
and forth. "It happens. When you encounter too much dreamstuff. Sometimes you
just sort of shape it without realising. Little details at first, then before
you know it you're off in your own little world."
	"Just a dream," Cologne muttered to herself.
	"More than that." JunJun walked over and pulled Cologne's arm free.
Cologne stared. The dry old blood had clotted on her sleeve. Her arm still felt
brittle and arthritic. "You're mortal. You've got no protection against
Elysium's influence. Most of the time, it's harmless, but something's...
tainted it."
	"It's bad!" PallaPalla explained.
	"Liver and onions bad!" VesVes added helpfully.
	"Frederick?" Cologne turned to him.
	"I... I'm immune, somehow." He frowned and held her tighter. "But...
this has to stop, Cologne. That opening will only get wider. The stuff that
makes up Elysium is seeping into our world. Everyone who isn't protected by some
magic will be caught in it. I don't think the dreams they make real will be
pleasant ones."
	Cologne paused. "You're going to fight him."
	"I have to."
	"You'll die!" Cologne shouted, pushing away from him.
	"Perhaps." He walked to the edge of the platform. "But I'll die
protecting the people I love." He smiled, and for a moment Cologne's heart
stopped. She didn't want him to go. She wanted him to hold her. "Not just you
five, but all the people of Japan."
	"When did you become a hero?" she hissed.
	"I don't know." He shook his head. "I don't think it works that way."
	He stepped from the platform.

*

	They were falling towards the earth. The building sped along beside
them. Each floor marked off another moment before impact. He was reaching for
her, but she was just out of reach. If he didn't catch her, she would die. The
tiny slip of a girl would be crushed, and he would be forced to watch. They had
trusted him to save her, and that was what he was going to do.
	Except, wouldn't it be better if he didn't? What if he just let her go
now? She would never have to see the horrors of this world. She would never
watch her father die. She would never see the horrors of England. She
would never awaken her awful destructive powers. She would never be abandoned.
She wouldn't watch her guardian die. She would never be violated by a madman.
She would never be killed, brutally, and then brought back, denied even the
reprieve of death...
	Hotaru's purple eyes stared at him in horror. He was hesitating. His
hand was within reach of hers. All he had to do was close his fingers. He could
save her. But for what?
	Then suddenly it wasn't Hotaru. It was Nabiki. She was screaming at him.
He could feel her, pushing into his mind. His eyes narrowed. His hands clenched.
How DARE she? He should let her plummet. He should let her die. The ground was
rushing up behind her. She didn't even see it coming. She probably wouldn't feel
a thing.
	"Ryouga, take my hand!" she shouted, her voice almost torn away by the
wind.
	Damn. He had done it. He felt her warm hand in his. No choice but to do
the rest now. He pulled her to him, cradled her with his body. Her figure was
soft and small in his grasp. He twisted his own body. He could take the
punishment. He was the immortal man, after all.
	The ground he hit was wet. He gasped and pulled away, patting at his
back. No, not wet enough to activate his curse, thank god. Funny. He could live
forever, but his power didn't seem to think turning into a pig was a life-
threatening situation.
	A form shuddered against him. Nabiki. He dropped her and she landed on
the solid water with a soft ripple. She looked up at him. He looked down at her.
	"You were..." She trailed off.
	"I was dreaming." He rubbed his head. "The sky opened up, and then..."
	"It's the Oversoul." He looked down at her again and she continued. "I
never realised it until just now. Elysium, the land of dreams. It's the
Oversoul.  It's the place where we are all connected, every one of us. It's the
thing we are all a part of. That why it reflects our dreams, because it IS our
dreams. It's our hopes and hates and memories and everything else." Nabiki
looked up. "And it wants us back."
	"What?"
	"It's taking everything I have just to shield you and me," Nabiki
explained. "That rift leads straight into the Oversoul. Except it isn't a place,
Ryouga. It's a state. It's the point at which the borders between us and
everyone else, everyTHING else, else break down. The closer we get to it, the
closer we come to vanishing forever." Nabiki gulped. "It takes very powerful
magic to maintain yourself. If you don't... you'll just dissolve into it."
	Ryouga looked around. They were standing alone behind a large piece of
building. "The army..."
	"Most of them are already gone." Nabiki ducked her head. "I couldn't do
anything to save them."
	"And the others?"
	"I think those with powerful magic might be able to protect themselves.
But those without..." Nabiki trailed off.
	He clenched his fists. Up there, in the mad red sky with its lightless
glowing green sun, was Hotaru. "We have to stop it."
	"How?" Nabiki gasped.
	"Your sword. Wish it closed."
	Nabiki grabbed the hilt of the blade. "I... already tried. The hole is
being held open by Paradox. I can't close it."
	"There has to be some other way!" Ryouga roared, gesturing towards the
ruined city. "If this spreads, the entire world..."
	"I don't know how to stop it!" Nabiki snapped back. "I don't even think
killing Gyro can do it! I'm not certain we can. The gate, once opened, can not
be closed!"
	"There is a way."
	They both turned.

*

	The monsters slowly walked across the brown lawn. There were ten of
them. They varied in size and shape and gender, with the only constant being the
sailor collars around their necks. Alien mouths peeled wide, revealing rows of
sharklike teeth. The girl in front of them was a tiny thing. She looked like no
princess or saviour. She looked barely alive.
	The lead one reached her. It probably thought that this was much easier
than it had been led to believe. It probably expected a fight, not just the
snuffing of a helpless girl. But it wasn't about to hesitate.
	"LOVE ME CHAIN!"
	The monster's arm dissolved as the chain severed it from its body. A
slim figure in golden armour appeared behind it. A trio of golden flashes and it
was dead. The other nine had time to react. Some drew back, others charged and
snarled. One just blinked. The result was the same regardless.
	Minako was an angel of death. Her moves were quick, elegant and lethally
efficient. When she was done, there was nothing left but piles of dust. She
stopped and walked over to the prone girl.
	"Usagi... what have they done to you..." She reached down, and checked
for a pulse. "Still alive..."
	Then something distracted her. She turned and looked over her shoulder.
A great wall of water was coming down. She didn't even have a chance to scream
before it overcame her...
	Ranma screamed. He smashed his hand against the glass, again and again.
His hands were raw, bleeding from where his struggles had rubbed away the skin.
"MINAKO!" he screamed, his voice was hoarse.
	Her body floated up towards him. She looked like she was sleeping. He
screamed again, smashing his fist against the glass. "Nonononono..." He groaned,
slumping forward. "I should have been there..."
	The image flickered again. It was starting over again. Like it had the
last thousand times. "I should have been there... I should have protected
you..." he moaned.
	Why had he ever let her out of his sight? It was just like with Ukyou,
seven years ago. He had let his emotions get the better of him. He'd taken her
for granted, and run off to have adventures. He should have left a long time
ago. He should have found her.
	Now she was dead. Dead and it was all his fault. Dead because he wasn't
there the exact moment she needed him. He couldn't take it. Not again. He didn't
want to see her body again. Not another body.
	Not like Ran.
	A hand settled on his shoulder. Ranma turned and looked up.
	She was covered in blood. Her hand was cold. Her eyes were empty. She
smiled, her ruined face grotesque. "It's okay, Ranma. I'll forgive you." She
held out her arms. "How 'bout a hug, stud?"
	Ranma screamed. He backed against the glass. If she touched him again,
he would go mad. He needed to get away... Wet arms wrapped around his waist.
Minako's voice gurgled in his ear. "Don't run away, Ranma. Be with us... be at
peace..."
	"Just give in," Ran said, stepping forward-
	"-OF IT!"
	Ranma eyes came open. Hands were wrapped around him. But they weren't
wet and lifeless. One was etched with strange tattoos. The other was scarred.
The body pressed against his back was warm. He looked up. Akira stood in front
of him. Her face was not a bloody ruin, but blood was dipping from the corners
of her eyes.
	"I think he's awake..." Akira moaned, then toppled backwards. Sailor
Pluto caught her. Ranma blinked.
	"What... I..."
	Ukyou released him and flashed across the distance to Akira. She took
the woman from Pluto, cradling her head in her lap. She was muttering something
over and over.
	"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry-"
	"What just happened?" Ranma asked.
	"You were caught in the pull of Elysium." Ranma turned to the blonde
vampire. Namimi? Nakami? Something like that. She was standing on the edge of
one of the Pillars of Heaven. "It was trying to draw you back into itself."
	"What?" Ranma frowned.
	"When you go to sleep, your conscious self retreats to rest." The blonde
turned to face him, her red eyes narrowed. "All the barriers we build up within
ourselves, our pride and identity and emotions, they all recede. At that point
we come closest to perceiving the truth.
	"We are all part of the Oversoul. What we call the soul is merely a part
of that, a small unit. It is like a drop of water, drawn from the ocean. It
mingles with other waters for a time, forming what we call reality. Then,
eventually, it returns to the Oversoul, as all water eventually makes its way
back to the sea.
	"When we are asleep, we come closest to perceiving that reality. When
Gyro split open the barrier between reality and the Oversoul, he brought us much
closer. Our mortal bodies are not strong enough to hold us here. They're like
dewdrops on leaves; when a dam breaks and floods the valley. the droplets cease
to exist."
	Ranma frowned and nodded. "I have no idea what you just said."
	"Reichmann Gyro tried to suck out your soul. Ukyou stopped him," Pluto
explained.
	"Oh. Cool." Ranma nodded. "So, we should get back to punching him in the
face, right?"
	"We can't." The blonde vampire looked up. "Our Destiny lies elsewhere,
now."
	"Huh?"
	"She thinks that the rift was opened up for us..." Pluto frowned. "Or
more specifically for Ukyou." She gestured with her staff. "So that she can
follow Hotaru into Elysium."
	"You know I'm right."
	"Ukyou?" Ranma turned to the girl. She was still holding Akira, who was
just now stirring.
	"Hey, don't cry..." Akira reached up and brushed a few tears from
Ukyou's cheek. Ranma blinked. He hadn't even noticed she was crying. "If every
time you have to use me like that I get to wake up with my head in your lap..."
Ukyou's face flushed and she backed off, dropping Akira's head against the
mysteriously solid water. "Ow..."
	"Pervert," Ukyou muttered, but with warmth in her voice.
	"I think it's the delirium," Akira pointed out. "Maybe you need to knock
me senseless more often."
	"Don't joke about that," Ukyou snapped.
	Akira looked her in the eyes. Ranma shifted uncomfortably. "Okay," Akira
said as she stood up. "Let's just move forward."
	"But against who?" Pluto asked.
	Ukyou ducked her head. "Tethys is fighting Gyro. She's distracting him."
She looked up to the pillars. "We have to get up to that rift and close it.
Something terrible is coming, and if we don't get up there in time, this will be
like nothing."
	"Aww, Ucchan!" Ranma laughed. The woman was already walking around the
corner. He jogged to catch up, along with a few of the others. "Every fight with
you around is like this."
	"I don't know how to stop it!" It was Nabiki's voice, from just behind a
large chunk of debris.  "I don't even think killing Gyro can do it! I'm not
certain we can. The gate, once opened, can not be closed!" They turned the
corner and she and Ryouga came into view.
	"There is a way," Ukyou said.

*

	Tethys floated up towards Gyro. Her hand was waving in front of her
face, like she was trying to waft away a noxious odour. Her star-speckled black
armour shone in the green and red light of Elysium. Gyro waited for her, his
black wings beating lazily as he hovered in place. As she reached him, her face
was calm, almost mockingly so.
	"So now you know the folly of bringing an army to fight a force of
nature," Gyro announced once she was level with him. He levelled the tip of his
great black blade at her forehead with one hand. Tethys lifted her ice lance,
the tip almost touching the end of Gyro's weapon. The rainbow starlights inside
it spun madly, swirling up and away from Gyro's weapon along its length.
	"You destroyed an army of mortals, Reichmann Gyro." Tethys yawned
theatrically. "I wouldn't get cocky just yet."
	Gyro chuckled. "Such coldness of heart towards the deaths of your
servants." Tethys nodded in acknowledgement. "You would have made such an
excellent addition to my new order. It will be a true shame to destroy you."
	"The feeling is not mutual," Tethys hissed. "I will enjoy watching you
die."
	"Then come," Gyro replied, drawing his blade up into an offensive
stance. "Let us show the world how gods do battle."
	"Let's." Tethys voice was cold as she shifted to defend herself.
	Purgstall decided to step in then. He flashed up over the side of the
Pillars, gathering power in his hand. Tethys saw him, her eyes widening. Gyro
did not. With a silent scream Purgstall unleashed a blast of lightning into
Gyro's back. The bolt took the devil zoalord completely flatfooted. He screamed
as he was thrown forward.
	Tethys was quick. Seeing Gyro caught by surprise, she flashed forward, a
blue flicker Purgstall's eyes couldn't follow. A second later Gyro was flying
away from the Pillars, out across the drowned city. Purgstall raised his hand to
follow up, but the water witch held up her hand to stop him.
	"Where did you come from?" she asked.
	"Around." He narrowed his eyes. "Listen. You are no friend of mine, but
I might need your help to defeat him."
	Tethys paused. Then she chuckled. "Oh, you're referring to me drowning
the city." She shook her head. "Don't worry about that. But if you're going to
help me, you have to help me draw him away from the towers."
	"Why?" Purgstall stared at her.
	"Because we need to keep him distracted while my companions try and
close this portal before the entire Earth is dragged into Elysium and everyone
on it dies. Unless you think you can protect them all from it?"
	"He's coming back," Purgstall pointed out, turning to face Gyro. The
black-skinned monster didn't simply fly towards them. He seemed to shift across
space, the world literally folding around him so that he could appear before
them.
	"Purgstall," he snarled. "You should be dead."
	"Learn to live with disappointment," Tethys replied for him.
	"No matter. I can handle two as easily as one."
	Purgstall glanced at Tethys. The woman looked at him. He nodded. He
would have to follow her plan, for now. Gyro brought up one of his hands, a wave
of distortion clinging to it. They tensed themselves...
	And ran.
	Gyro's attack exploded through the air as they both plummeted like
meteors away from the towers. Purgstall's body was a silver comet, trailing a
wake of lightning. Tethys was a blue and black flash, diving like an Olympic
gold medalist toward the drowned city.
	Gyro folded beneath them, bringing up his sword in a sharp arc.
Purgstall was familiar with the ex-zoalord's Incision Wave. It was an arc of
air, compressed through gravitational forces until it was as thin as a razor but
with the mass of a speeding train. Using it, there was very little Gyro could
not cleave.
	This attack was in all ways greater. A brilliant black arc erupted from
the end of the great sword. Then it multiplied, becoming a hundred, then
thousands of crisscrossing blades. Purgstall snapped right as Tethys flowed
left. Moving with enough speed to be almost mistaken for the lightning he
wielded, Purgstall just barely managed to avoid the edge of the effect.
	His desperate evasion had nearly thrown him into one of the broken hulks
of the ruined buildings. He snapped out his arms and legs, catching himself
before he slammed into it at full speed. His aura exploded on contact with
something solid, creating a crack like thunder and a cloud of dust as the
remains of the building were blown apart. Acting on instinct, he threw himself
backwards.
	As he emerged he saw Gyro fold in directly underneath him. The huge
black sword he carried thrust into the dust. There was a burst of radiant
darkness and the back half of the building imploded. The shriek of metal and
concrete falling in towards the blade was deafening.
	Purgstall gathered power as he flashed back over the demon zoalord's
body. He thrust his hand downward, watching as the charge of his lightning
gathered between his palms. Gyro reacted before he could finish building up
enough force to trust it would affect the madman. He didn't so much move as
twist, suddenly facing Purgstall. His needle teeth flashed in a savage grin.
	The black blade came forward. Lightning exploded from Purgstall's hands.
The blade twisted, parrying the blast. Even as it did, it also shot forward
towards Purgstall's neck.
	Then Purgstall was flying sideways. He saw a blue figure standing
between him and Gyro, her arm extended towards him. Then the black blade cleft
her from one shoulder to the opposite hip. Purgstall's eyes widened.
	The female figure exploded, bursting outward in a cloud of mist. Gyro
flew through it, cackling madly. Purgstall roared in wordless rage as he snapped
up one hand and brought down the lightning.

*

	The Pillars of Heaven were oddly deserted as they made their way up.
They didn't bother with stairs. Ryouga had suggested blasting his way through
the ceiling with his Bakusaitenketsu, but Akira had just sighed and walked over
to the elevator.
	"Those must be offline," Nabiki had pointed out.
	"I know." The metal doors screeched as Akira tore them back, bending
them like tinfoil. "But the shaft is a clear run straight to the top."
	"We climb?" Pluto asked.
	Akira shook her head as she looked down at the water that flooded the
lower part of the shaft. "No. We jump."
	"How..." Pluto closed her mouth as Akira leapt forward. Her foot came up
and pressed against the far wall. With a grunt she heaved herself up and
backwards. She grabbed the cable and spun herself, then kicked off the other
wall. This repeated, as she gained altitude each time.
	"She expects us to do that?" Ryouga groaned.
	"Whatsa matter?" Ranma smirked at him. "Not really nimble?"
	"I can do it!" Ryouga snarled.
	"You guys coming or what?" Pluto looked up into the shaft at the sound
of a voice. Akira had paused about fifteen floors up. She was hanging from the
cable and looking down quizzically.
	"It is the fastest way," Nanami pointed out. She leapt into the shaft.
She was surprisingly quick, bouncing from wall to wall like a yellow superball.
Akira started up again when Nanami had reached the third floor.
	"How are Nabiki and Pluto supposed to follow us?" Ryouga snapped at
Ranma.
	"Huh. You're right." Ranma turned to Nabiki. "Hold on tight, okay?"
Nabiki had enough time to realise what he was going to do before Ranma grabbed
her up and jumped into the shaft. The girl screamed and snapped her arms around
his neck.
	Ryouga's eyes narrowed and his fists clenched. Snarling, he leapt into
the shaft after them. For a martial artist famous for brute strength, he proved
nimble enough to handle the unorthodox climb. Pluto turned to face the only
other remaining person.
	Ukyou held out her hand. "Do you trust me?" Pluto didn't answer; she
just grabbed the woman's hand. Ukyou pulled her in tight before they began their
own ascent.
	It was surprisingly pleasant. Ukyou's grip was gentle but firm. Even as
the woman twisted and spun constantly so she could always face towards the
incoming walls, she did so with a tranquil grace. The first few jumps were
jarring and shaky, but after that Ukyou soon fell into an easy rhythm. It was
almost like a dance in constant freefall.
	"So, what is the plan?" Pluto said as they rose through the guts of the
deserted Chronos facility.
	"I'm not certain," Ukyou admitted.
	"You have no idea how to close that hole, do you?" Pluto said mildly.
	"I know. I just don't like it." Pluto raised an eyebrow at Ukyou's
response. "That portal, it's cut from pure Paradox. The backlash power of the
Third Circle. I can sense it even down here. It's a tear in reality. But I think
I know how... or rather who can close it."
	"You?"
	"No." Ukyou closed her eyes. Pluto might have panicked then, considering
how much could go wrong with the slightest misstep in this suicidally foolish
ascent. "The worst thing is I think the portal can only be closed from this
side."
	"You're planning on going through. After Hotaru." It wasn't a question.
	"I have to. I can't run from this anymore, Pluto. It's time to face the
Nameless. If I have to do that on its terms, so be it."
	"Ukyou... you won't survive in Elysium."
	"I'm handling this fine..."
	"No." Pluto shook her head. "You don't understand. This is still
reality. It still has shape and form and function. Even if the dreamstuff of
Elysium is spilling into our world through that portal, it's being... diluted.
The difference between this and heading through that portal will be like the
difference between vinegar and hydrofluoric acid."
	"Maybe the Third Circle..." Ukyou suddenly paused, looking thoughtful.
	"Would the Third Circle protect you from Ryouga ripping your head off?"
Pluto countered.
	Ukyou frowned. "Okay, point. But I have to be able to get through,
Pluto. I'm not going to back down."
	"Ukyou..." Sailor Pluto bit her lip. Did she really want to do this? A
part of her, a very large part, still wanted to turn against Ukyou. The very
thought of helping her was insane. Much less helping her with a part of the
prophecy that Pluto had seen. If she went forward, it wouldn't just be sitting
back and letting that terrible future occur. She would be actively helping it.
	"Long ago, the land of Elysium was discovered by the Moon Kingdom. It
was decided it was too dangerous for humans to be exposed to, so it was sealed
away. The royal line of Earth was placed in charge of maintaining that seal. The
decision was also made to cut off all contact with the Earth Kingdom, to make
certain no knowledge of the land of dreams could escape to the other colonies.
This was why Earth was a forbidden land." Pluto carefully noted Ukyou's
reaction. The girl looked intrigued, but not particularly affected one way or
another. Pluto, of course, understood her queen's order. It was the same order
that had sealed away Pluto and the Gates of Time from the rest of society.
	"But Queen Serenity knew that dangers might exist in the land of dreams.
Dangers that couldn't be fought in the real world. So she granted each of her
Senshi a small spark of the light of the silver crystal. It would protect them
from the ravages of Elysium should it ever be necessary for them to venture
there."
	"Does this have anything to do with the Star Seed on your hip?" Ukyou
asked. Pluto paused, then nodded.
	"Ukyou, I think I can-"
	"Something's wrong," Ukyou hissed, her eyes narrowing. Pluto frowned and
looked up. The shaft above led up into darkness. Up above Akira had flared her
aura, a brilliant blue light that lit their way. The others had also followed
suit. Ranma's aura was a slightly lighter shade than Akira's, but where hers
raged like a storm-tossed sea, his pulsed like rippling water. Ryouga's aura was
a thick and heavy green. Surprisingly, the vampire girl Nanami was glowing with
the faintest yellow light. It took a moment for Pluto to realise that Ukyou was
also glowing. Her aura was pure white, like freshly fallen snow.
	But Akira's aura was no longer climbing. She was hanging from the cable
in the centre. Up above them was a wall of pure darkness. As Ukyou and she
approached, Pluto could swear she saw it move. It was like something was pushing
on the other side of it. Something not human.
	"What is it?" Ryouga growled. He had dug his fingers into the metal
walls like they were clay. Ranma had kicked open one of the doors and set Nabiki
on the ledge there. Pluto found herself deposited next to the young woman as
Ukyou caught up. Nanami was standing on the side of the wall, hanging perfectly
sideways with utter nonchalance. As if she defied gravity everyday.
	Ukyou stared up at the almost liquid darkness. Her eyes narrowed. "It's
him."
	"How much further to the top?" Ranma asked.
	"This is it." Ukyou indicated the darkness. "Beyond this, it's just a
few more floors before we reach the top of the tower."
	"So what's the hold up then?" Ranma grunted and leapt up and through the
darkness. Everyone else just stared.
	"Heh." Ukyou chuckled. "He'll never change. Come on everyone, he'll need
our help."
	One by one they vanished into the darkness. Pluto glanced at Nabiki. The
girl was frowning. "Pain, Pluto. Pain and anger."
	"Shall we go?" Pluto held out her hand. "I'm no martial artist, but I
can carry us through this barrier, I think." Nabiki nodded.
	Forcing her way through that darkness had to be one of the single most
unpleasant moments of Pluto's life. It slipped along her flesh, seeping under
her clothes. It touched her with its cold emptiness. It violated her. And not
just her flesh. It sunk into her bones, into her mind, into her soul. It was
like leaping through the psychic equivalent of raw sewage. When she finally
burst through to the other side, she released Nabiki, staggered a few steps away
and vomited.
	It was the sound of clapping that brought her back. She looked up.
	The man had hardly changed from that dark chamber far beneath the ice.
He wore a red fedora and matching coat. His hair was like writhing oil. His eyes
were red and slitted, and seemed to be staring directly into her. He sat in a
tarnished bronze structure that could only be called a throne. Directly behind
him spun the mad green sun of Elysium, and all around it the red skies of the
world of dreams boiled like blood.
	"I'm so glad to see you all made it," the man said with a laugh. "It
wouldn't be nearly so much fun otherwise."
	"Alucard," Ukyou almost spat the name. A small part of Pluto was
perversely glad to see that Ukyou was leaning heavily on her Silence Glaive for
support. Apparently she hadn't been entirely unaffected by the passage through
that hellish darkness. "What are you doing here?"
	"I told you you should have killed me when you had the chance, Ukyou."
The man flowed to his feet, his coat snapping out around him like a living
thing. "I was promised that I would get to be here for the final battle... one
way, or another."
	"So you're working for the Nameless now?" Ukyou accused.
	"We're all working for God," Alucard corrected her. "Even you, Ukyou.
Especially you. The one He's waited all this time for. The final experiment.
After an infinite number of failures..." He chuckled. "But I'm ruining all the
fun."
	"Why?" Ukyou snapped. "He tortured you for seven years! Why fight for
him?"
	Alucard smiled, a thing of all sharp angles and lacking anything like
mercy. "Because then I can die, Ukyou. Because He promised me one last glorious
final battle, then an end to it all. No more petty games. No more tiny monsters.
Just a battle to end all battles, then Oblivion."
	"I don't suppose you'd just let us beat you to death, if that's what
you're after?" Akira asked.
	Alucard chuckled, a dry and unnerving sound. "Where's the fun in that?
Besides, I'm under strict orders. Only Ukyou and Nanami may pass me. All
others..." His grin widened. "I get to do with as I please."
	Ukyou stiffened, her body locking up. Nabiki was shaking. Pluto could
suddenly feel it. She had heard Rose describe 'killing intent' a few times. That
slight change in the air that let you know that a fight had gone beyond the
point of no return. That the only way it could possibly end was with death. Up
until now, she had never understood exactly what that meant.
	She felt her mouth drying out. Her heart was racing. She wanted to run,
to hide. She wanted to just stand there and hope that this thing didn't notice
her. She might have been a Sailor Senshi, but she was still a human being. She
was still prey. And this man in red, he was the thing that frightened you at
night. He was the nightmare from which you woke up screaming. He was the reason
men lit fires and prayed.
	Alucard reached into his coat and drew out two firearms. They were
almost comically huge, barely fitting into his palms. Everyone took a step
backward. Then he spoke.
	"Control Art Restriction Unlocked to Level Zero. The Divine Mandate is
now in effect. Level will be maintained until primary targets are eliminated."

*

	Blood ran down Purgstall's chin. He coughed and rose slowly to his feet.
A beam of green sunlight streamed in through the hole in the wall he had
created. The room he was in was huge, some sort of theatre from the looks of it.
The water had flooded most of the lower half of the room, including the stage.
He was on the balcony, having crashed through several rows of chairs. This place
was filled with moisture. The floor was slick with it. The walls dripped with
it. Even the air was thick with a soft mist.
	Gyro was unstoppable. Purgstall had thrown everything he had at the
madman to no avail. Lightning bolts just curved around him. Those he didn't
parry with his great dark blade were funnelled harmlessly around him, bending
through the distorted space he surrounded himself with. On top of that, his
attacks did not have to obey any rhyme or reason. He could appear absolutely
anywhere, strike at any area. It had taken everything Purgstall had to stay one
step ahead.
	And now it looked like his luck was running out.
	Gyro floated through the hole, casting a shadow across the balcony. He
smirked, holding his sword idly. Purgstall forced himself to stand firm. He just
hoped that Cologne and the girls would survive, somehow. Gyro drew back his bade
and folded forward, suddenly appearing right in front of Purgstall...
	An icy lance intercepted the blade. There was a ringing clank as the
blade rebounded. Purgstall staggered backward. Tethys had appeared literally out
of nowhere.
	"You live?" Gyro inquired with a smile.
	Tethys didn't reply. Instead she pushed his weapon back and turned,
thrusting the butt of her lance at him. As she did the weapon shifted, the shape
reversing in the blink of an eye. Gyro blocked the suddenly reversed lance,
driving his sword against the black ice with enough force to shatter it. Her
weapon didn't even slow him down as he drove it up and through her chest.
	Like before, the blue skinned woman exploded into a cloud of mist. But
even as she did she stepped sideways out of the air behind him. Purgstall stared
in confusion as she brought her lance up towards Gyro's back. Gyro's weapon
twisted through the air, somehow intercepting the attack.
	He snarled and struck again, and again Tethys made no move to dodge. Her
body evaporated as his blade passed through. Purgstall didn't wait for her to
return. He began to gather his power...
	A hand settled on his wrist, pulling it down. He turned to see Tethys
looking at him, shaking her head. He looked back in surprise. Tethys was also
coming out of the air above Gyro. Her body seemed to congeal out of nothingness
as it drove the lance down. Gyro slipped sideways, and cut her body in two as it
came down. Once again she exploded into mist.
	Except she was still holding his wrist. "You don't want to do that in
here," she warned him.
	In front of them Gyro was being drawn out across the pool of water that
was the flooded lower half of the theatre. A Tethys dipped down beneath him,
driving a lance up at him. The lance multiplied in mid-thrust, becoming a dozen.
Gyro roared and snapped his hand forward. A sphere of force shredded through the
wall of lances, ripping the weapons and Tethys to shreds.
	Except it wasn't.
	"The moisture..." He whispered. "You...?"
	Tethys nodded beside him. "Yes. For a being so proud of his newly
ascended status, Gyro thinks in predictable mortal manners." She smiled. "He
assumes I need a body, for one."
	Purgstall looked down at his hand. He could feel the pressure in the
room growing. The water was collecting on his cheeks and forehead now. He felt
like he was breathing in a sauna. Every time Gyro struck down one of the bodies
Tethys was creating, the room became saturated that much more. Unfortunately,
with all this water he couldn't risk using his own powers.
	"You lured him in here. You used me as bait," Purgstall admitted
grudgingly.
	"Not everything is as it appears, Frederick von Purgstall." Tethys
smiled as she watched another of her water clones continue to provoke Gyro.
"There is a lot hidden here, under the surface."
	"You really are as cold and manipulative as he says," Purgstall grunted.
He wanted to do something, but had no idea what. If he unleashed lightning in
here it would arc through the entire structure. While the Dark Queen was able to
spread her consciousness throughout the entire room thanks to the moisture, he
doubted she'd appreciate a hundred thousand volts flashing through her.
	"Don't confuse me with him," she snapped. In front of them, Gyro had
grown tired of trying to catch her with his sword. He floated in the air,
unleashing balls of high gravity force from his palm at any Tethys clone that
appeared. The pressure cannons ripped great holes in the structure and sent
geysers of water up all around them. "All I'm doing is playing for time. I need
to keep him busy until my companions can close that portal."
	"And then what?"
	She frowned. "Then I play my trump card."
	"You have something that can cut past his defences?"
	She looked at him. "You don't trust me."
	"You slaughtered your own people needlessly," Purgstall barked. "It's
not a matter of trust, Tethys. It's a matter of dislike."
	Tethys smiled. "Oh, ye of little faith." She turned back to Gyro. "Do
you realise how much fine control this takes, Purgstall? Not only talking to
you, but engaging in a battle with him at the same time. I'm controlling every
molecule of water in this room, forming bodies and weapons as I need them, and
discarding them as I don't." Her smiled deepened, became more predatory. "Do you
really think that someone with as much control as I have would destroy valuable
allies? Or do you instead think I would merely let Gyro believe that half of my
force was destroyed?"
	Purgstall started and looked down. Tethys chuckled.
	"Like I said, Purgstall, there is a lot going on underneath the
surface."
	Purgstall was about to reply when suddenly the entire theatre shuddered.
The Tethys he was with staggered, her eyes widening. Purgstall braced himself
against a chair that had been ripped free of its moorings by his crash landing.
He looked up.
	The top of the theatre was littered with holes from the fight going on
between Tethys and Gyro. Through those holes, Purgstall could see a shape in the
sky above. It was beginning to slowly eclipse the sun. It was huge. Impossibly
huge. A perfect circle of darkness, and from it radiated dozens of thin,
writhing silhouettes.
	"Pharaoh 90...." Tethys hissed. "Ukyou, what are you doing?"

*

	Ukyou crashed against the wall with enough force to send a crack running
down its length. She sat there for a moment, stunned. Then the shadow of the
wall ripped apart. Vermin of all shapes and sizes tore free of the shadow like
they were ripping out of something's flesh. Huge chittering millipedes wrapped
around Ukyou's arms and legs as flies and spiders crawled over her body. She
screamed.
	"Ukyou!" Akira shouted, but she was busy holding apart the jaws of a
huge black dog. Its teeth writhed inside its mouth, its hundreds of eyes rolling
around insanely. Its tongue darted towards Akira, the tip splitting apart to
reveal dozens of lamprey-like mouths that snaked towards her face. The girl
screamed and threw her entire weight forward. A blast of blue light erupted from
her, snapping the jaws of the beast apart and ripping it in two in a spray of
blood.
	Ranma was grappling with Alucard himself. But it was like trying to grab
smoke. The mad vampire laughed as Ranma futilely tried to disarm him. Every time
Ranma knocked the huge hand cannons away from the thing's grasp, it just grew
another pair of hands from some part of the inky shadows around it and clasped
the weapons again.
	Ryouga roared in pain suddenly, a huge black spike snapping out of the
shadows and piercing him through the gut. Blood exploded from his lips and he
swayed forward as the spine pinned him up against the wall. But his hands
grabbed onto the spine. His knuckles turned white. The spine shuddered, then
shattered in his grasp. He snarled, blood still leaking from his mouth and from
the edges of the horrible thing buried in his abdomen, but he was still alive
and fighting.
	Nanami was in worse shape. A dozen men in medieval armour had grabbed
her from behind, stepping out of a shadow cast on the wall as easily as one
might walk through an open doorway. They had pinned her for a second, then one
of them had brought an axe down on her shoulder. Her arm was lying in a pool of
blood at her feet.
	But the men had not fared as well. Far from being hurt by the attack, it
seemed only to enrage the vampire. She spun, her yellow aura blazing through her
eyes, and drove the hilt of one of her curved swords through the head of one of
her attackers. The next three died from a single slash as she arced the blade
through their necks.
	Pluto stood stiff as a statue. Her staff was held above her head and a
bubble of purple force surrounded her. Darkness howled all around her, swirling
around the outside of the sphere. It chattered with red eyes and probed with
white teeth. Legs like daggers crawled along the surface and bony hands clawed
beneath them.
	Pluto was sweating, but her concentration was not wavering. Nabiki knelt
behind her, just barely inside the barrier. She was clutching her side. One of
Alucard's first bullets had been aimed at her heart. Ryouga had thrown her to
the side and nearly had his left arm disintegrated for the effort. Even given
his sacrifice the bullet had passed close enough to graze her. That graze had
peeled the skin from most of her right side, leaving it raw and bloody.
	Nabiki blinked away tears. They were losing. They weren't fighting a
man, or even a monster. They were fighting an entire army. They were fighting
the legions of hell itself. Akira found herself dodging a hail of gunfire from a
group of men dressed in world war two uniforms. Ranma was blindsided by a
crocodile-like beast that emerged from the ground beneath him. The shaft through
Ryouga's stomach had turned into a three-headed snake, one of which had bit into
his thigh, the other his arm. The third head was being held back by one of his
hands, its forked tongue licking along his face. Nanami was tearing through a
throng of soldiers now, a virtual lawnmower that left nothing but bodies in her
wake. But every man she knocked down got up a few seconds later, their wounds
gone. And more kept coming.
	Ukyou was driven back, smashing her head into the wall hard enough to
daze her. She moaned and slumped. Nabiki reached out to her and found the woman
was conscious, but barely.
	"I can't hold this barrier forever," Pluto warned.
	"I know..." Nabiki sighed and stood up. She drew the Wishing Sword from
its sheath with a hiss. "I only need a few seconds..."
	"Ms. Tendo, you think to end our fun so soon?" Alucard whispered. His
voice sounded like it was coming from right next to her. She flinched as she
realised he was in her mind. With a snarl she drove him out. The laughter of his
presence receded quickly. He was no match for her mental power. But his will
was strong enough, insane enough that it was hard to focus on the actual person.
	All of the horrors, the damned souls that fought them... they were a
part of him. Not just projections, either. He had consumed them; every living
soul had died in agony. But instead of being allowed to cycle back into the
Oversoul, he had bound them to him. It was from them that he had drawn his
power. Their cacophony of voices was endless. A shrieking wail of torment and
agony, caught forever between life and death and forced to obey this madman
until the end of time itself.
	That was his shield. Nabiki might be able to find his true mind, his
real identity among that swirling chaos. If she did, Alucard would be no match
for her. She could break him as easily as a twig. Maybe a thick, gnarled twig,
but a twig. But she needed time. He was hiding from her, using his 'familiars'
as a smokescreen. In time she would break through, but not even the Senshi of
Time could grant her enough of it.
	So it came down to this. "I wish..." she began.
	"Nabiki, don't..." Ukyou gasped. Nabiki looked at her. The woman had
regained much of her wits. "You can't waste it on killing him."
	"Hold that thought," she said to the sword. "Ukyou. He's killing us."
	"Correction, I'm merely killing you." Alucard laughed. Ranma finally
tired of trying to disarm the monster. He leapt and drove his fist right into
Alucard's laughing face. The face caved in around Ranma's fist, bone erupting
from it in bloody spurts.
	Then the bone spurts became teeth and the face folded forward around
Ranma's arm, clamping down like a giant mouth. Ranma screamed. His foot slashed
up, severing Alucard's head. He brought his other hand around in a chop, ripping
the bizarre mouth in two and pulling his wounded arm free.
	Then the two guns emerged from the stomach of the man and unloaded
pointblank into Ranma's side.
	"NO!" Nabiki gasped. She reached out desperately and found Ranma was
still alive. The boy had somehow managed to twist sideways just before he was
hit. The near-impact had shattered most of his ribs and sent him flying, but
hadn't actually managed to pierce Ranma's hide. "Forget it, Ukyou. I'm ending
this bastard now!"
	"I mean it's too late." Ukyou moaned.
	"Too... late?"
	"We failed."
	Nabiki's eyes widened. Ukyou let her in. Not all the way, but enough.
She felt for a moment what Ukyou felt with those superhuman senses of hers. And
what she felt was a great darkness. It was pulling its way free of the portal.
One great tendril, hungry and seeking, pushed out through the barrier between
reality and fantasy. It was... huge, unspeakably so. Another followed. Then
another. They curled into the world, digging into the sweet firm reality of it.
	"What the hell is that!?" Nabiki shrieked.
	"Pharaoh 90." Ukyou groaned. "We're too late. It found its way here."
	Nabiki looked up. She could see it now. It was blotting out the tortured
sun of Elysium. A huge shadow across the land. Dozens of squid-like tentacles
extended from it, shooting downward. They smashed into the ground, ripping into
the earth itself. They were anchoring the beast. Then, in the centre of the
planet, opened a cyclopean eye.
	"Welcome, sister!" Alucard called up to the thing in the sky. "Feed!
Digest this entire worthless planet! Turn this rotten world into shit!"

*

	A great grey tendril shot down from the sky, crashing into the side of
Mount Fuji with enough force that the entire side of the great mountain was
obscured by a cloud of dust. The tentacle was immense: kilometers thick at its
thinnest point, and it thickened considerably as it approached the behemoth. A
dozen more tentacles erupted from the red sky, sinking into the earth with a
series of earth-shaking booms. One landed in Tokyo Bay, another pierced the
heart of the city. Still more crashed on the outskirts of the metropolis.
	The sky seemed to bulge downward. Pharaoh 90 was the colour of charred
flesh, its huge shell covered with hills and valleys that resembled hideous
scars. At the very bottom of it was a single eye. It was strangely beautiful,
soft blue and with a single slit for a pupil. It looked disturbingly feminine.
	"Neherenia..." PallaPalla whispered.
	"What?" Cologne looked over at the girl. She was looking up at the
massive thing, the impossible planet that was pulling its way into their world.
The cyclopean eye was moving across the landscape beneath it, searching. It
looked almost amused. "PallaPalla, what do you know?"
	"It's her, it's Neherenia!" PallaPalla shouted.
	"It can't be..." VesVes moaned in fear.
	"She's come for us!" CereCere shouted.
	The sky gave a single great heave, and then suddenly the planet pulled
free of Elysium. Cologne gasped at the size of it. It dwarfed the entire city.
The country. It had to be larger than all of China. Somehow it hovered above the
city despite the impossibility of this, more and more of its giant tendrils
snaking free of its burn-scarred shell towards the Earth. The very sky around it
was twisting. Great columns of water were rising up from the city. Tornados and
lightning arced between the behemoth and the world, annihilating entire city
blocks in the process.
	"You're right..." JunJun was looking down at her Amazon Stone. "I can
feel her. She's calling... she's calling to us through the Stones..."
	"I don't want to go back!" CereCere shrieked.
	"We don't have any choice!" JunJun snapped at her. "We CHOSE this,
remember?" She looked at her sisters. "All those years ago, back in the Before.
We found the mirror that Neherenia was sealed in. We let her out in exchange for
power. We helped her invade Elysium and capture Pegasus."
	"Now you're beginning to sound like the old man," VesVes said with a
nervous laugh.
	"Maybe I'm growing up," JunJun said simply. The others stared at her,
their faces filled with horror. "Maybe it's time we all did."
	"We can still run..." CereCere trailed off.
	"Mr. Purgstall will die." PallaPalla looked around at her sisters. "We
need to help."

*

	Tethys watched Pharaoh 90 free itself from Elysium with an impassive
expression. Its massive tendrils crashed into the Earth so hard the entire city
shuddered. Then they began to feed. She could feel it. All the life energy near
the impact points was vanishing, slowly spiralling inward into those massive
tentacles. It was devouring the life energy, the chi and magic, of the entire
planet.
	HER planet.
	Tethys spared a bit more of her attention for Gyro. The devil zoalord
was still busy fighting her water clones. He could swing his sword around for a
million years and still not come close to actually cutting her. But it was
getting annoying. The man didn't seem to have a limit to his powers. It was
taking far more than she was comfortable with to continue to occupy his
attention.
	Truth be told, she was straining a lot more than she had let Purgstall
see. In fact, she was pushing herself to her breaking point. It was taking a
great deal of power to protect all the martial artists she had caught in her
first deluge attack. They were floating in personal air pockets beneath the
surface of the huge lake she had turned Tokyo into. If she could have, she might
have released them. But her magic was the only thing keeping them from having
their souls torn out by the dreamstuff still pouring out of Elysium. Combine
that with fighting the sudden gravitational force of a small planet appearing
only four kilometers above the earth, and fighting Gyro, and she was nearing her
breaking point.
	It didn't help that she had almost trebled the number of people beneath
the water when Ukyou had warned her about the dreamstuff. Choosing the most
powerful of her youma and human allies to protect had been harder than she
wanted to admit. But now she had a significant army beneath the raging surface.
She also needed a way to deploy them.
	Perhaps a large enough force could defeat Gyro. Maybe if they could take
that sword from him, there might be a way to deal with the planet-eating
behemoth. If only she could make the pathetic 'heroes' beneath her trust her.
She had already noted that youma-human hybrids like herself were immune to this
magic. If she could just find a way!
	Her eyes turned to Purgstall. He was clenching his hands in impotent
fury. His strangely human face was lined with frustration. She didn't need
Nabiki's powers to tell what he was thinking. He wanted to do something. To do
anything. He wanted to fight against Gyro, not just sit back and watch her do
it. He would probably do anything...
	Tethys held her breath. It was a purely human instinct, one of the
things the part of her that was Hayato still did without her thinking. She felt
the colour drain from her features. She knew the only way to bring the heroes
into this fight. She knew the only way to make them trust her.
	It was a risk. It was a greater risk than she had ever consciously gone
into. But the rewards...
	Tethys held up her hand and with a thought ceased the flow of magic to
her clones. Instantly the air around Gyro drained of mist. She stepped forward,
towards the startled yellow-eyed devil. "Is that all you have, Gyro? You think
your pet planet will hurt me? My body is the entire ocean. My spirit can cover
this entire planet. Nothing you can do can defeat me."
	His eyes narrowed. "You are persistent. I give you that." His lips
curled into a sneer. "But you mistake me for a being with limits." He began to
float upwards. "If you are the oceans of this world, then I will slay the
oceans!" He held a hand above his head. A speck of darkness appeared there. It
was not really darkness so much as a place where the light ceased to flow. It
entered that tiny dark dot and then... never returned. He began to laugh as he
floated into the air, rising higher and higher as the dot in his hand grew
larger and larger. Tethys could feel the pull of it. It was dragging in the air
around it. The storm howled as the wind rushed from all directions into the
rapidly expanding singularity in Gyro's hand.
	"Tethys! Why did you stop distracting him?" Purgstall shouted.
	"I'm out of power, zoalord, and we are out of time." She looked up at
Pharaoh 90. Its oddly feminine eye was half-lidded, glancing at them in
amusement. "My colleagues failed. In a few hours, that thing will devour this
entire world. All life will end. And that madman will feed on the misery and
chaos, eating it up like a sponge. I need to stop him now, before that happens.
Before the world I save is nothing but an empty husk."
	It was only partly a lie. Tethys smirked to herself as she began to
float. "Stay back, Purgstall. You're no match for him. Your lightning will only
hold me back." That was the truth. She still vividly remembered her final defeat
at the hands of Ukyou. She remembered the woman pulling the iron bar from her
stomach, saving her life. She remembered Ukyou's words.
	For a brief, world-shattering moment she wondered if this really was all
foreordained. If the reason she had been spared all those years ago was so that
she could do this, now. But she pushed that thought aside. She had risen up
through the ranks by her own will. She had broken all the taboos of her people
by entering an equal partnership with a human. She had defied her queen and her
god and won. She had done all these things because of who she was, not because
of some prophecy.
	Gyro was almost finished. She paused below him, hovering over a hundred
meters beneath him. Her only hope was that he would dedicate so much of his
concentration to his attack he would forget his defence. Purgstall had managed
to catch him off-guard once. It could be done. She needed to strike one blow.
Just ONE blow.
	Gyro's laughter cut off. He held a sphere of pulsating darkness the size
of a city bus above his head. Lightning arced from the sky and earth, wind
roared, chunks of the city and sheets of rain all spiralled into that horrible
darkness. "Now Tethys, witness the punishment for defying the Law of Gyro!
DISAPPEAR! INTO THE EVENT HORIZON!"
	Tethys screamed and shot forward like an arrow. Her body flickered as
her spirit flashed through the rain all around Gyro. She reached him in the
fraction of a second between his cry and unleashing the blast. Her body formed
behind him. Her lance shot forward.
	Gyro's eyes widened.
	Tethys' eyes narrowed.
	For a moment, there was only the roar of the wind.
	Then Gyro looked down. The tip of her lance emerged from the front of
his chest. It dripped with blood the colour of tar. Gyro lost his grip on his
attack. The massive gravity bomb detached from his palm gently, floating for a
moment like a balloon. A second or so more and it would explode, taking Tokyo,
herself and almost all of Japan with it.
	She screamed as she kicked Gyro down and released her lance. Both her
hands latched onto the underside of the gravity bomb. It was pulling her in. She
could feel the water of her form being siphoned through her palms into that
thing. It began to rock. It was nearing critical mass.
	"I WILL NOT DIE HERE!" she roared at it, bending all her will, all her
magic to it. She had too much to live for. She had too much to fight for. She
realised she was crying as the tears flew from her cheeks and into the darkness.
It wasn't going to be enough. She was losing control. She would die. Everyone
would die.
	Akira would die.
	And just like that, she found the power to stabilise it. It would not be
long. But it would be enough. She reached down inside herself, and with a
wordless scream that very well might have been heard all the way across the
world she pushed.
	The gravity bomb ascended into the sky like a meteor in reverse. The
massive eye of Pharaoh 90 widened as it realised there was only one target she
could be aiming at. But it was too huge to dodge, its tendrils too slow to
possibly defend itself. The darkness shrunk and shrunk until it was nothing but
a mote against the eye of that thing.
	Then it exploded. The force sent Tethys back, pushing her down. She
found she didn't have the power to resist it. A scream echoed across the world.
A woman's scream. It roared through the air. It shrieked through her very
thoughts, her very soul. She had hurt it. It floated backward, its eye squinted
shut in pain.
	"This planet bites back," Tethys told it with a grin. "You bi-URK!"
	She gasped and grabbed at her chest. The huge black blade had shattered
through the armour between her breasts. She twisted her head to look back at
Gyro. Blood trickled from the corners of his lips. There was a hole in his
chest, but she realised dimly that it wasn't near anything vital. She had meant
to pierce his heart. She had missed.
	"So it ends," he intoned. "The only way it could."

*

	Angel stared. She was vaguely aware of her mouth hanging slackly open
like some sort of mentally deficient drunk, but couldn't help herself.
	There, on the screens before her, were countless images that could have
been from some cheesy disaster movie. A huge... planet, too big to comprehend,
had appeared directly over Tokyo. Vast tendrils wriggled obscenely out from it,
their sinuous motions disguising their impossible bulk. Their touch deformed the
earth like a steel-toed boot coming down on styrofoam. Before her eyes, Japan
was literally being torn apart. Water was gushing in to fill the ravaged lands.
In other areas, cities crumbled before her eyes, tossed around like tops. New
mountains were rising even as old ones tumbled into the waiting sea. It was
nothing short of apocalyptic.
	"The magnitude of this disaster is unparalleled," Petra commented
needlessly. She was staring at a variety of computer readouts, most of whom were
gibberish to Angel. The red-haired ex-Chronos spy leaned back in her chair,
shaking her head wearily. "Between the impacts, the gravitic forces, and the
distortion in reality caused by the rift, there's already fractures forming in
the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates." She rubbed her nose. "And it's
only getting worse. I can't imagine there's many Japanese survivors left outside
of the capital at this point."
	"The capital?"
	"It should be more than utterly destroyed, but seems to be protected
from the worst of it, presumably by Reichmann Gyro's intervention." Petra stared
grimly at the viewscreens of the ruins of Tokyo. "Small comfort, I suppose."
	"Can't you do something?" Angel asked.
	Petra shook her head. "This is beyond us, Angel. You'd have to look back
to the Theian impact event to find a greater disaster. It's all we can do to try
to lessen the force of the tsunamis, and the only reason we can do that is
because Queen Tethys is so distracted."
	Angel stepped away, leaning against the back wall. For a moment, she
just stared at the horrible images.
	Petra answered her before she opened her mouth. "This isn't like what he
did to the Red Sea. That was really nothing in comparison. We can't really do
anything except damage control for the aftershocks."
	Angel shifted uncomfortably at the mention of the earlier cataclysm.
"Petra..."
	"Stop worrying about it." Petra swung around to face her. Her eyes were
still red-rimmed, but her face was dry and set in determined lines. Those eyes
were dark and sharp, like an eagle's. They were the only features still
recognisable of the Syrian woman that had come to Chris's hidden sanctuary
barely a year ago. When she had later confessed her intent of spying and sworn
to serve Chris's goals instead, Link had changed her hair, her skin tone, even
the structure of her face. Petra, meanwhile, had taken the initiative to change
her name.
	But she was still the same. Even before knowing the woman had been a
Chronos agent, Angel had sometimes been a little intimidated by the woman's
brilliance and those piercing brown eyes that seemed to see everything. It had
been a shock to see her emotionally overcome by what Reichmann Gyro had done to
the Red Sea, until Angel had remembered that her home country had been among
those almost totally devastated by the blast.
	Yet here it was, less than an hour later, and the only trace left of her
tears was the redness of her eyes. But in a way, that was comforting. It made
Angel feel like SOMEONE was in control of the situation... even if she was,
apparently, only in control enough to calmly realise they weren't in control at
all.
	"Somebody's got to close that rift, or get rid of that giant planet-
thing," Angel finally said.
	"I'm sure whoever's left there is trying," Petra shrugged. "But I'm
having difficulty following the course of the battle with all the Second Circle
and Paradox distortions. We can only hope they succeed. Or perhaps that Chris
will intervene."
	"He might," Angel said, hoping it was so. She knew interfering directly
was against Chris's belief in the perfect possible future, and why, but surely,
for something like this, He could make an exception. "It's such a horrible
disaster."
	"Yes, well, it's exactly what He said would happen," Petra said. "It's
why we're working here."
	Angel could only nod. "Maybe he's talking with Akane about it..." She
drifted off as Petra let out an inelegant snort. "What's wrong?"
	"Akane Tendo. That's something that worries me almost as much as
whatever horror Reichmann Gyro summoned from Elysium," the red-haired woman
said, pursing her lips in distaste.
	Angel stared. "Why? She's a hero, for sure."
	"Exactly," Petra said with a wave of her hand. "No doubt she's a hero.
That's just the point. This isn't the place for heroes. Heroes belong on the
world, blissfully ignorant of us while they give hope to everyone else. Why is
Akane HERE? This isn't where she belongs. What does Chris want from her?"
	"I don't know," Angel admitted. "He seemed really interested in her. I'm
sure it's for a good reason."
	Petra shook her head. "That's a dangerous attitude, Angel." She held up
a hand to forestall protest. "No, listen. Chris is our hope. Chris is the only
salvation we have. And yes, Chris says he has come into His power and I do not
doubt Him or His destiny. But Chris can make mistakes. He's said so Himself. And
though I don't know exactly what happened in the Dark Kingdom, I do know Link is
missing, neither Tethys nor Hotaru nor Nabiki Tendo have been destroyed, and in
general things didn't seem to go at all according to plan." She looked up, as if
her eagle-eyed gaze could pierce the floors above and see into the chamber where
they had left Chris and Akane to talk. "I would probably trust Akane Tendo with
my life, but I don't trust what brings her here."
	"Well, I'm here," Angel offered. "Maybe He wants her for-"
	"Wants her for what? You said it yourself - she's a hero. I'm sure
you've seen the files on her. I can't imagine she'll join us. Even if she did,
what on earth does she possibly offer Chris? She's just a martial artist. If any
of her anti-Chronos resistance even survives this battle, she has no true
authority over them beyond being well-respected. And again, even if she could
lead them here, so what? Chris doesn't need or want them. They're supposed to be
out in the world doing good works, not here finding out how things truly are so
they can ignorantly object to it." She tapped a finger insistantly on the arm of
her chair. "No, I can't see anything she offers us. She's compromising our
secrecy, and to no tangible benefit, meaning Chris probably wants a more
intangible benefit from her. And I don't like that at all."
	Angel shifted again. She didn't want to hear this, mostly because she
had no counterargument. Akane really WASN'T that special except as the powerful
symbol of hope she represented. Even if she had some sort of unique knowledge,
Chris could have plucked it from her brain without Akane even knowing. She still
wanted to say that Chris must have had some reason, something that would make it
make sense, something their limited perceptions just hadn't caught upon.
	But every time she almost opened her mouth to say this, the vivid
recollection of seeing His ravaged body in that tube came back to her, and she
couldn't force the words out past her lips.
	So she changed the subject instead. "Petra, have you noticed that
Kalia's missing?"
	Petra blinked. "Missing?"
	"Ever since Chris lifted the ship. She was with us in the Dark Kingdom,
but I haven't seen her since."
	Petra shrugged. "Perhaps He had a mission for her? Or she just is
somewhere else causing trouble."
	"No, that's what I figured first too," Angel said. "But then I got to
thinking when I noticed I hadn't seen or felt her around. Whenever Chris sends
her on a mission, she... well, she does what she does. She's there already, and
then she's back as soon as she's done. And the same thing when she takes off. I
can't remember any time since Chris created her, except when she was travelling
with Him, when she stayed away this long. She doesn't hide, either. She likes
making everyone uncomfortable too much."
	Petra paused, considering that for a long moment. "You're right.
Normally I always keep noticing her out of the corner of my eye. I wasn't really
thinking about it." She bit her lip, an oddly delicate feminine gesture.
"Another worrisome problem. I never liked that creature."
	"I'm sure Chris could find out where she is, if He doesn't know."
	"No doubt." Petra raised her eyes to bore through the ceiling again. "If
only Akane Tendo weren't here, and we could bring it to His attention."
	"I'm sure He'll be finished with her soon," Angel offered, somewhat
lamely.
	"Let's hope so."

*

	"Your friends will die."
	Ukyou struggled futilely against her bonds. The things that held her had
pulled the Silence Glaive from her grasp, keeping it just out of reach. Razor-
sharp mandibles pinned her arms in place, thin trickles of blood running from
the tiny holes where they punched into her skin. Thick millipede bodies pinned
her legs to the wall. She was crucified, held in place and helpless while her
friends fought for their lives.
	And lost.
	"Oh, they are very good," Alucard said from beside her. He had lost his
hat at some point. He stood next to her with arms crossed and a naughty little
smirk on his face. "Few others would have lasted so long."
	Akira leapt over a reptile-shaped shadow, kicking backwards. Her kick
caught the side of a massive bear that was trying to grapple with Ranma. Ranma
shifted sideways as the thing crashed and he punched forward, his hand chopping
a snake in two that had been trying to swallow Ryouga. Ryouga was forming
another of his suicide blasts, his body a mass of scars and blood.
	But they were being exhausted. Ranma was still moving, but his movements
were stiff and his expression was pained. He was on his last legs. Akira was
gasping for breath, her normally inexhaustible stamina finally reaching her
limits. Ryouga's body was adapting to every deathblow Alucard landed... but he
was making no headway.
	"I think I'll eat him," Alucard mused. "Do you think his immortality
will protect him from that?" He laughed. "I've never eaten a true immortal
before. I think the experience would be worth enjoying at least once before the
end."
	"You're toying with them," Ukyou said. It wasn't a question.
	"You refuse to play," Alucard said, looking at her out of the corner of
his eyes.
	"Let me go, and I'll fight you," Ukyou promised coldly. She could see
fog forming in front of her lips. The temperature must have been dropping in
response to her aura.
	"Break free, and I'll let you." Alucard chuckled.
	Ukyou snarled and threw everything she had into it. She reached down,
down into the dark well between her and Aaron's souls and pulled all the power
she could from it. She tried to ignore Akira's sudden gasp. She didn't watch as
the woman toppled backward, barely caught by Nanami. She needed every bit of
concentration on just breaking the hold of Alucard's familiars.
	Her lips opened in a soundless scream as she pushed the alien energy
through herself. Her chi doubled, then squared. The air around her turned white.
The ground in front of her crackled as it suddenly froze solid. And for a
moment, just a moment, it looked like she might break free.
	Then Alucard backhanded her across the face with enough force to leave
her seeing stars. She slumped, able only for a few seconds to moan in pain. When
she came to she was still as tightly bound as ever, and now one of her teeth had
been knocked loose.
	"Is that the best you can do?" Alucard sneered. "This is the great final
battle I was promised?"
	Ukyou spat her tooth onto the ground. It landed amidst the frost with a
soft sound. Her eyes shifted up. The battle had gotten worse. With Akira down,
the balance had shifted dramatically. The girl was being held to the ground now
by a multiple-eyed Lovecraftian horror. Nanami was pinned to the wall behind it
by a spear of darkness through the heart. Ryouga was still struggling, tearing
through the constantly regenerating familiars. Ranma, however, was only putting
up a token resistance now. He was being pushed side to side by the ebb and flow
of the battle. He was barely conscious, but still trying to fight.
	"Why couldn't HE have been the chosen one?" Alucard said with a sneer.
"Look at him. That one knows how to fight. He will die on his feet."
	"Don't hurt him!" Ukyou cried.
	"Stop me!" Alucard shouted at her, turning. His eyes flashed with fury.
"You have it in you! Your potential is limitless! Throw away this human frailty
and FIGHT ME!"
	"I... I can't..."
	"Ukyou!" Nabiki shouted. "Let me use the sword! This has gone too far!"
	"No!" Ukyou snapped. "We need it. The whole world is in danger now,
Nabiki. Save it if you have to!"
	The girl was still safe inside Pluto's barrier. But the barrier itself
had shrunk. She and the green-haired Senshi of Time were crouching inside it.
The nightmares Alucard had summoned from his flesh were pounding relentlessly on
the ball of purple light.
	"Stay out of this, Tendo," Alucard growled. He turned back to Ukyou. "Is
that what is holding you back? Are you waiting for some saviour? Do you think
God will send someone to save you at the last minute, like He always has
before?"
	'How many times have you been about to die, Ukyou, when someone saved
you? Someone who had no earthly right being there?'
	"He isn't coming, Ukyou." Alucard grabbed her chin and pulled her eyes
up to his. "There is no prince on a white horse. Your friends are helpless. God
has forsaken them. You have to fight me. You must if you wish to pass." He
shoved her head against the wall sharply. Stars exploded across her vision
again. "Fight me, you stupid bitch! You have no choice!"
	Ukyou looked down at Akira. The woman was coughing, blood leaking from
her lips. Ukyou squeezed closed her eyes. She reached out for the power again.
She felt it surge up through her-
	Alucard drove his fist into her gut. She gasped, losing her grip on the
power. The man grabbed her chin again and screamed into her face. "Stop trying
to fight me and FIGHT ME!"
	"I don't know.... I can't..."
	"This cannot be the limit of your powers. I sense it within you. The
power to destroy. It is your gift. God gave it to you. I sensed it seven years
ago." His fingers began to sink into her cheeks. Tears of pain welled up in her
eyes. "Find it! Find it and fight! Find it, find it, finditfindFINDITFINDIT!"
	Alucard was knocked to the side. His lanky form smashed into the ground
with a muffled grunt. Ukyou blinked. Ranma was there. His body was covered in
blood and bruises. He was barely standing. But he was there. Despite everything,
Ranma had come. Because he would always come.
	"Leave her alone!" Ranma screamed down at Alucard. "You want a fight so
bad, fight me! Man to man! Because the only way you're getting to my friends is
over my dead body!"
	Alucard looked up at Ranma. Then he flowed gracefully to his feet. He
looked at Ukyou. He smirked. Ukyou felt her blood freeze. "Very well."
	"RANMA!"
	Ranma didn't even have a chance of dodging. Alucard drew his gun and
fired so fast that even to Ukyou's eyes it was just a blur. But then the world
seemed to slow down. She could see the bullet, rotating lazily through the air.
She could see Ranma. He was just beginning to react. His eyes only twitching
slightly as his danger sense registered the attack his mind hadn't even
perceived yet.
	Ranma began to shift backward, but by that time the bullet reached him.
It was like the entire world just kept going slower and slower. She could see
the bullet pushing against the skin of his forehead. She watched in horror as
the flesh dimpled inward, a ripple passing across his brow at the impact. The
flesh slowly began to shred, little gem-like drops of red began to spurt from
under the bullet. They rolled out into the air, seeming to hang there...
	And they were.
	"DARK DOME ENCLOSE!"
	Ukyou snapped her head back. She realised dimly that it hadn't been a
trick of her mind. Ranma and the bullet really had slowed down in front of her
eyes. Slowed and stopped. She turned her eyes to Pluto. The Senshi of Time was
holding her staff towards Ranma.
	She had saved his life. Ukyou glanced back at Ranma. No, just stalled
the inevitable. The bullet was there. As soon as time started again, it would
rip his head open like a ripe melon. How long could Pluto maintain the time
stop...
	Pluto gasped. Nabiki screamed in pain.
	"NO! The barrier!" Ukyou could only stare. In order to protect Ranma,
Pluto had been forced to drop the barrier protecting her and Nabiki. Now the
horrors were upon them. A wolf-like creature had grabbed Nabiki's arm with its
jaw, trying to pry free the Wishing Sword. Five men in various military uniforms
archaic and modern were pinning Pluto to the ground. But she was still holding
her time key staff out towards Ranma.
	"Nabiki!" Ryouga roared.
	"Pluto!" Akira shouted almost simultaneously. She had recovered enough
to throw off the creature pinning her. She was running towards the green-haired
woman. Alucard smirked and pointed his giant gun at her back.
	He was going to kill her. Her and Pluto and Nabiki and Ranma. Likely he
would kill Ryouga too.  All of her friends. One by one. He would torture them to
death with all the mercy a spider would show a fly. All to get what he wanted.
He wanted one last battle and a glorious death.
	All she had to do was give it to him.
	"Bang," Alucard said. His gun went off. Akira spun to the side, her
right shoulder vanishing in a cloud of blood. She looked surprised more than
hurt. "Bang." Another bang, and Akira's left foot vanished. She stumbled
backwards. "Ba-"
	The next crack was different. It was a gun going off, but not Alucard's.
The vampire's hand suddenly exploded, fingers flying in all directions as
something tore it to shreds. Ukyou looked up. A man in dark commando armour was
kneeling at the edge of a balcony. He was reloading a sniper rifle with
superhuman speed. Ukyou almost recognised him.
	"Who?" Alucard snarled. He snapped his arm and a new hand dropped from
his sleeve. "No matter. I'll kill you too." The man on the balcony leapt away as
things emerged from the darkness all around him. He spun in mid-air, aiming at
Alucard with his rifle. There was another bang and this time the vampire's chest
exploded. He staggered back with a hiss. There was a golden glow around the hole
that sizzled and hissed. The hole was right where his heart used to be.
	But he wasn't finished. Only slowed down. Ukyou looked at the young man.
Tux-boy, she realised suddenly. Mamoru Chiba. Tuxedo Kamen.
	'...the Nameless finds the Sailor Senshi easy to touch because of their
"destiny".'
	It was her last chance. She needed to act now. "Pluto, the Seed!" Ukyou
shouted.
	Pluto looked up at her. The soldiers were crushing her, but they weren't
doing nearly as much damage as they could have. Alucard was still playing. For a
moment their eyes met and Ukyou knew that Pluto understood exactly what she
wanted. Then, for a moment, there was doubt.
	"If you want to end the prophecy, Pluto, then all you have to do is
nothing," Ukyou said coldly. "Alucard will kill Mamoru soon enough. Then Akira.
Then you and Ranma and Nabiki and even Ryouga. And when I can't give him what he
wants, he'll kill me too. All of us.
	"And the portal will never be closed. The Earth will be consumed by
Pharaoh 90, or destroyed by Gyro. But the prophecy will be over. I'll be dead,
and the universe will be safe.
	"Or you can trust me. I'm asking for this, Pluto. It's time I stopped
running from my Destiny. It's time I stopped denying what I am. If I have to
become that thing to save the people precious to me, I will do it.
	"But I will never betray the people I care about. I will never let them
come to harm. You have to believe me, Pluto! Please! Give me the Star Seed!"
	Pluto closed her eyes, and when she opened them again they were set. She
reached down and pulled the Star Seed from her pouch. The soldiers only stared
impassively as she threw it towards Ukyou. Of course, they wouldn't think of
preventing this. This was part of the plan. This was what was supposed to
happen.
	All of this pain, this entire senseless battle, just to put her in this
position. To force her to make this decision.
	With a scream she drew on the Third Circle, and ripped her hand free.
She snapped her hand up and clamped it around the Star Seed. She could feel it
pulse, like a heartbeat, in her grip. She had no idea what she was doing. But
then, she hadn't when she'd taken the Silence Glaive from Hotaru. She hadn't
when she had joined those girls to Mamoru. She hadn't when she'd always pulled
off her miracles. Well, now she needed a miracle. She needed the power to fight
Alucard. She needed the power to defeat him.
	"So be it," a cultured, feminine voice whispered into her mind from the
Star Seed.

*

	"...allow me to explain this again, in simpler terms." Zoicite resisted
the urge to rub his temples and grimace. For one, he didn't want to show off how
frustrated he was. For another, the guy with the pantyhose wrapped around his
waist was perhaps one of the most appealing pieces of eye-candy Zoicite had seen
since Kunzite had died. He was also beginning to think the guy might like him
back, with the way he kept smiling. Thus, it was important not to appear like he
had lost his cool.
	"Oh, I understand it," Athena replied in her chipper voice. "Basically
we let the youma possess us..."
	"It's not possession!" Zoicite snapped. Then regretted it. He glanced at
the tall, luscious hunk of man-meat but the man was only smirking and leaning
against the side of the bubble with his arms crossed. "For the last time... it's
a partnership. If we wanted to possess you, we'd just do that! We don't need
your permission."
	"But I have unbelievable psychic powers, so they would make me immune
to forced possession," Athena countered. "Therefore this could all just be a
ruse to trick me into letting my guard down."
	"Boss..." One of the youma that had been assigned to Zoicite grabbed his
arm nervously. "The Queen..."
	Zoicite looked up and frowned. Thanks to the Queen's magic, anybody in
the protective bubbles that floated here beneath the lake that Tokyo had become
had a clear view of the battle overhead. If Tethys died, then the people in
these bubbles would get a very rude awakening.
	"I don't have time for this," Zoicite said, turning back to the three of
them. "It's very simple. If you enter into a contract by your own free will,
then the youma will bond to your soul. They will become a part of you, but not a
controlling part. Your human souls are more complete than theirs. They were
mutilated to turn them into weapons long ago.
	"But if you do bond with them, you'll gain access to their magical
powers. It will protect you from the Elysium effect, allow you to join the fight
again." Zoicite gestured grandly. "But the bond is permanent. In order to ensure
that the youma could never 'possess' you like you're afraid of, the bond has to
be effectively unbreakable. So either you choose this now and forever, or you
stay down here and watch - or die - helplessly. I really don't care anymore."
	"I'll do it."
	The other two turned to the brown-haired girl in the sailor suit. At
first Zoicite had thought she was some local schoolgirl, but upon closer
inspection she looked to be in her mid-twenties. Which made her either very poor
or very strange. Not that Zoicite was one to complain about strangeness.
	"Sakura!" Athena gasped, her purple hair flashing as she turned to face
the other girl. "What about our alliance against evil? Don't you think I can
protect you?"
	"You'll promise I won't have to deal with her anymore, right?" Sakura
jerked a thumb towards Athena. "I mean, if she doesn't join up, she's not going
to be allowed in the clubhouse or wherever."
	"Uh... sure?" Zoicite blinked.
	"Feh." The tall boy smirked. "Don't let it be said some dyke is braver
than me." He looked over at the three youma that had been chosen for this
assignment. The Double-D Girls were some of Beryl's most powerful youma. They
had once been her top assassins. Now they mainly just hung around at D-Point
waiting for Tethys to find a use for them. "And if this is the kind of partner
I'm going to get, then I guess I can team up."
	Zoicite raised an eyebrow. The Double-D Girls had not been named the
most imaginatively. They were, in fact, famous around the City Of Black Ice for
their most obvious assets. From the way the young man was looking at them,
Zoicite was fairly certain he wasn't concerned with their skills as assassins
either. Which was odd, considering the looks that he had been giving Zoicite.
	Then again, maybe he swung both ways? Zoicite had no problems with that.
As long as he didn't have to touch a woman himself. There were places where you
just had to draw the line.
	"And if I get to work with a fine young woman like yourself, it just
sweetens the deal," the man said, smirking at her.
	"Uh, Tarou, you do realise that-OUCH!" Sakura glared at Zoicite and
began to shake her recently-stomped-upon foot. Zoicite loftily pretended not to
notice the 'accident'. "Look, I think Zoicite here isn't exactly the kind of
person you want-"
	"Hey, back off, dyke-girl!" Tarou snapped. "Just because you're too gay
to appreciate my obvious sex appeal, doesn't mean all women are."
	"I am not gay, you idiot!" Sakura snapped. She threw up her hands.
"Fine. I was trying to help you, you jerk. But go ahead, I'm certain Zoicite
here can take care of all your manly needs."
	"I knew you were jealous."
	Zoicite chuckled. "Well, then... I think we might have a deal?"

*

	Daigo gazed upward with his one good eye. He had lost the other, along
with his depth perception, many many years ago. So it was hard to tell exactly
how far away Tethys was. But he knew she was in trouble. She could not easily
survive such a wound. He clenched his fist.
	"You could make a difference," the woman-thing beside him said. She was
tall and thin, with hair the colour of burning embers and skin made of obsidian.
A youma. A demon, who existed only to fight and feed off the life energy of
humans. One of Tethys' pawns. "Join with me, and you can survive exposure to
Elysium for a time. Enough to fight."
	"I won't give my body and soul to evil," Daigo growled.
	"Evil?" The woman chuckled. "I don't think you understand how this
works. If we bond of your own free will, I cannot MAKE you do anything. All we
do is become connected. You gain my magic, I gain a portion of your 'humanity',
and the two of us become better for it."
	"Why should I believe you?" Daigo grunted.
	The woman shrugged. "I guess that's up to you. But the offer is ending
in a few seconds." She looked up at the Dark Queen, her magma-bright eyes
flashing. "That's my Queen up there. She has given us youma something we never
even knew we had lost. She gave us hope. I'm not going to stand here waiting for
long. Come with me, or I'll go fight Gyro myself."
	"You'll die," Daigo pointed out.
	"Maybe. I'm no match for him as I am." She nodded. "But that isn't your
problem." She began to step towards the edge of the bubble. "I have to go-"
	"Wait."
	Daigo grabbed her arm. He snarled. She might be a demon. She might be a
minion of a being that willingly called herself the Dark Queen. But she was
still a woman. An upright man did not let a woman walk to her death.

*

	Fevrier fired another bullet into the water. It was no use. Bullets were
useless against water this deep. Even firing from underwater upward was no help.
The bullet just wouldn't go through.
	"We need to get out of here," Fevrier snarled to her sisters. Fevrier
had no idea how they could be so calm. When the tsunami had fallen down on them,
she had thought for a moment that she was going to die. Surprisingly, as the
water had smashed in, her last thought hadn't been that she would never see
Mamoru again. It was just a sense of relief that Mamoru would survive.
	"Yes, but how?" Marz asked, peering up from her computer. "We have no
recourse. It appears our only option for escape is to accept the terms of
Tethys' youma."
	"Perhaps it would not be so bad?" Satsuki mused. She was sitting with
her legs crossed like a monk.
	"Not so bad?" Fevrier screamed. "Satsuki, we just finally got our
freedom back. I'm finally me again. I'm finally..."
	"Going to get some action with Mamoru dear and don't want to share with
anyone else?" Marz asked impishly.
	Fevrier gave her the glare of death, but Marz just smiled at her.
	"That concern requires that we survive this situation," Satsuki pointed
out.
	"That isn't a concern!" Fevrier shouted. Her voice was growing hoarse.
	"Your face turned very red when it was mentioned," Satsuki said.
	Fevrier decided to try being more reasonable. "This is serious. Will you
two stop clowning around?"
	"According to my scans, the area outside of this bubble is full of chaos
energy that would likely kill us upon exposure," Marz said, turning to her
computer. "If my scans are correct, the youma are partially immune to this
effect." She tapped a few keys. "Thus, even if we were to break free from this
confinement, we'd only be destroyed trying to help Mamoru dear fight."
	"I do not wish to sit back," Satsuki said. "I wish to fight with sir
Mamoru. I want to help protect this Earth."
	"Don't you two understand it's permanent?" Fevrier shouted again. She'd
tried reasonable and that hadn't worked. "If we go through with this, there is
no going back!" She clenched her fist in front of her. "It will be like what
Bison did to us all over again."
	"Except that instead of losing everything we were, we would be gaining
new parts of ourselves."
	"Marz, that's stupid."
	"I did a full analysis of the proposed fusion from the data the youma
provided. According to my findings, there is no danger of losing our
individuality."
	"How do we know they aren't lying to us?" Fevrier asked sharply.
	"I..." Marz frowned. "I suppose it is possible. but I do not believe
that to be the case." She closed her eyes. "I think this is the only chance we
have."
	"Why? What logical reason is there to believe them?"
	"Sometimes we can not work on logic alone," Marz admitted. "Sometimes we
need to have faith. Sometimes we need to trust in others." She looked up.
"Mamoru dear trusted us. We were his enemies. He could have destroyed us. There
was no reason to believe that we would not betray him and return to Bison at the
first opportunity. But he chose to have faith in us. He chose to let us become
more than what we were." She looked down at her computer again, and her voice
grew soft. "And in seven years, he never abused the power he had over us."
	When Marz looked back up at her, her eyes were shining. "When I died,
the thing I regretted most was that I had not really lived up to the kind of
person he wanted me to be. That I was never as good and true as he was." She
closed the laptop and stood up. "And he is still fighting, for us. Even now. I
can feel it, in my bones."
	She held out her hands to the other two. "Something I took back with me
can feel it. It can feel God reaching out to him, drawing him to the fight up
above us. A fight he can't hope to survive." Her face grew dark. "To God, Mamoru
is a piece of the game that can be thrown away at any time. But to me, he is
faith. He is hope. I will not let that be taken away from me. If I have to lose
a part of myself, become a part of something else, then I will. Because I want
to be there to protect him."
	Fevrier stared at her sister for a long time. Finally she could stand
looking into her eyes no more. She turned away with a little snort. But those
eyes hadn't been lying. She knew Marz better than anyone else. She and Marz and
Satsuki had been together for their entire lives. Ever since they had been
awoken in Bison's labs, they had been part of each other. Lovers, companions,
comrades in arms, sisters... There were no secrets between them. No games. No
power plays.
	Marz believed this. And Fevrier believed in Marz. So really, that left
only one real choice, didn't it?

*

	Akira tried to block out the pain. She tried to push it away. She called
up her chi, picturing it like a rising tide. The pain was dark eddies in the
waters of her body. All she had to do was channel that dark water away from her,
out into the world. She was intellectually aware of the damage she had taken,
but it didn't really affect her.
	Her shoulder was gone, she realised. Not just with a hole in it. Most of
her shoulder was just gone. Somehow her arm had not been sent flying, but it was
clinging to her body only by strips of flesh. Her foot was gone as well. She
could feel her leg down to her ankle and then... nothing. She had to stop the
bleeding, she realised. By some miracle the bullet to her shoulder hadn't sent
bone shrapnel down into her chest, ripping her organs to shreds.
	These pains, she could have dealt with. The task of recovering from them
was beyond her powers of healing, true. Even she couldn't regenerate lost limbs.
But she might have been able to do something. Instead, she could barely breathe.
	It was there, inside her. Pure Paradox. The sensation was not unlike
somebody filling all the empty spaces of her body with acid. It was like every
cell was being stabbed with little pins. It was like the air was on fire. The
light was scouring her eyes. But she had to work past the pain. She had to
continue living, because Ukyou needed her to live.
	Blue light, the colour of tropical seas, flashed out across the room.
Akira raised her head painfully. Ukyou was beginning to float up off the ground,
her arms stretching out to her sides. On her forehead was a symbol, a trident
with a slash across the bottom, the symbol of Neptune. The light washed down
Ukyou's body, and as it did she changed subtly.
	She was still wearing the same clothes, for the most part. Her coat
seemed to gleam a little more brightly. Her shirt became a white leotard, and
her pants became black tights. The ties around her shins seemed to fuse straight
into the leggings, forming something like boots. The tattoos on her arms flared
aquamarine, pulsing with magical light.
	Akira gasped; not in pain, but in shock. She could feel them. The
memories of Lotus Infinite, rising to the surface. She had absorbed seven years
of torment at Bison's hands. Akira and Nabiki had agreed that Ukyou did not need
to realise what she had lived through. They had decided to remove them. Akira
had taken the horrible memories, to spare Ukyou. But now she could feel them
rising up from the part of Akira's mind that Akira had forced them down into.
	Then everything went still. The massive chamber the fight was happening
in seemed to fade slightly. The armies of Alucard's familiars halted in place.
Everyone held their breath. Ukyou settled to the ground with the sound of a drop
of water falling into the ocean. Her eyes opened.
	When she moved, Akira knew what had happened. Ukyou did not move exactly
like herself anymore. Her motions were more efficient, more hypnotically
dangerous. She took a single step forward and reached out her hand. Akira heard
Pluto gasp. She realised that Ukyou had just stepped directly into the area of
stopped time around Ranma. She didn't even seem to notice.
	Her fingers plucked the bullet from Ranma's forehead. She held it
between thumb and index finger as she walked easily back out of the zone of
stopped time. With a moan Pluto let her hands drop, the Time Key Staff smashing
against the ground. Ranma began to fall backward, his hand snapping up towards
the tiny bloody dot in his forehead. This was the cue for everyone else to start
acting again.
	Alucard reacted first. He turned towards Ukyou, his face splitting into
a demonic grin. "See, was that so hard?"
	Ukyou's head snapped up towards him. Her eyes narrowed. Akira could see
the air around her cooling. Mist began to rise up from the ground, swirling up
around her legs. She could hear the hiss and crackle of water freezing. Alucard
stepped forward.
	Ukyou snapped up her hand and the Silence Glaive was there. She slashed
the blade towards him, and Alucard's eyes widened as he stepped backwards. The
mist around her vanished, then Akira felt it push against her, a wave of
pressure. She grit her teeth and dug in with the fingers of her good hand. The
creatures standing over her dissolved.
	The beasts and monsters and madmen were turning to ash. The colour of
them faded first to impenetrable black, then down the shades of grey until they
were the colour of a washed-out photograph. Then they began to fall apart. Small
parts of them at first, then more and larger chunks as the ashen bodies
collapsed under their own weight. A soundless wind ripped through the room,
exploding out from Ukyou. The ash was blasted to clouds which swirled and
dispersed and faded until there was no trace of it left.
	Alucard fell back against the wall, clutching at his heart. His brow was
coated with sweat. His eyes were bulging. "You... you severed the connection..."
	Ukyou turned away from him. Her eyes settled on Akira, and Akira saw her
cold eyes soften. Akira felt a surge of relief flash through her. She hadn't
lost her. Ukyou walked over to her and leaned down over the woman.
	"It's going to hurt for a while longer, Akira. Please forgive me." Her
voice was pitched low. These words were for Akira alone. Akira wanted to reply,
wanted to tell her that it was nothing. But when she tried to speak all that
came out was a whimper of pain. She reached up and clenched at her shoulder,
helpless. She hated this.
	Ukyou placed her hand on the wound. Akira felt a sense of something cold
there. When Ukyou brought her hand away, the bleeding had stopped. The wound was
perhaps even more gruesome now, but she might survive it. Ukyou rose to her feet
and walked the few steps to Pluto.
	"Pluto, I need to borrow your staff."
	"Ukyou?" Pluto rose her head wearily. There were a bunch of bloody holes
in the back of her costume. Ukyou reached down and pulled the Time Key Staff up
for a moment. She reached out with her hand and touched the bullet she was still
carrying to the garnet orb atop it. Akira bit back a scream as she felt more of
the Paradox roll into her. For a moment, the bullet flashed with purple light.
	Then Ukyou pulled it away. "Mamoru, come here please."
	There was a soft clatter as the man who had saved her life landed in
front of Ukyou. He looked at her, his expression awed. The woman reached out and
pulled up his hand. She placed the bullet in his unresisting palm and curled his
fingers around it. "You'll know when to use it."
	"I..."
	"Take care of my friends."
	"Ukyou..."
	"I have a battle to fight."
	Ukyou released his hand and turned sharply. The Silence Glaive appeared
in her hands again. She held it loosely as she walked toward Alucard. The red-
clad vampire had regained his composure. He chuckled.
	"You destroyed my familiars. I didn't even think that was possible,"
Alucard noted.
	"I'm going to kill you." Ukyou's voice was level, emotionless.
	"That's my girl," Alucard said with a laugh. "This is what you were born
for. You were born to destroy. Let me witness it!"
	"Ucchan!" Ranma groaned, trying to get to his feet.
	"Stay out of this, Ranma." Ukyou shifted her grip on the Glaive. Then
she looked over her shoulder at him, and smiled. "It's time for me to play the
hero, just this once. Okay?"
	Ranma blinked. Then, amazingly, he just chuckled. Despite his injuries,
he could not have looked happier. "Go for it, Ucchan!" He gave her a thumbs up.
	"Thank you." She looked at all of them. "Thank-"
	The crack of the gun going off was deafening. Nabiki gasped. Ryouga
screamed. Ranma stared. Akira narrowed her eyes. Alucard's black hand cannon was
smoking, white whips of gunsmoke flowing from the barrel. But Ukyou had moved so
fast that Akira hadn't even seen it. Her weapon had snapped up in front of her,
the blade edge pointed directly at the cannon.
	There was a series of small cracks that broke the silence. Akira glanced
at the wall behind Ukyou. Tiny holes had been blown into the thick stone,
forming a pattern around the woman. The fragments of the bullet, Akira realised.
	Then Ukyou moved, her body flashing forward. Alucard grinned one last
time before rushing in to meet her.

*

	Purgstall was flying as fast as he could. His body was surrounded by a
streak of white lightning. And he strained more, trying to push himself faster.
Trying to become the lightning. Trying to move with the speed of light itself.
He knew he was already too late.
	The black blade had pierced Tethys exactly where her heart should be.
Purgstall knew she was not human. No mortal sword could have delivered a fatal
wound like that. You might as well try to slay the ocean with a twig. But that
was no ordinary sword. Purgstall could feel it. It was evil. He had encountered
few things in his life that he would call pure evil. Major Krieg, leader of
Millennium, he had been evil. The strange young woman who had placed him in his
coma, she was evil.
	And this sword.
	Tethys was fading away. Her body was thinning out. It was like the water
that made up her form was simply draining away, leaving only the shell of her
body behind. She was growing translucent, her struggles increasingly feeble. She
was dying.
	Then there was a blue flash. A figure appeared above her. Blue hair and
pale purple skin flashed. A sword of blue light formed in his hands. "Unhand
her, beast of the underworld!" the young man screamed.
	There was a crack like thunder as the boy brought his sword down. Gyro
hissed and flashed backward. His sword pulled free of Tethys and folded through
space to intercept Ikazuchi's attack. Purgstall snuffed his aura as she caught
the plummeting youma queen.
	She looked half-dead still. Gyro was fencing with the neo-zoanoid.
Ikazuchi was fast. His blade was lightning itself. But even he was no match for
the demonic zoalord's ability to simply will his blade anywhere he wished. The
brave young fool wouldn't last long at this rate. Purgstall found himself torn.
	It was strange. Even a few days before leaving for Paris, he would never
have even thought about this decision. Tethys was his enemy. Ikazuchi was his
servant. Gyro was his colleague. He would have beaten the boy down for his
impertinence to challenge a zoalord, and slain the upstart Dark Queen for
defying Chronos.
	But now he was torn between rushing Tethys to safety and staying to help
the boy kill a fellow zoalord. And it didn't really feel strange at all. It was
as if the coma he had been in had simply made everything clearer. Like he knew
now what things were important, and which were not. Like he understood what he
had to fight for, and what he had to fight against. It just came to him.
	"Run, Lord Purgstall!" Ikazuchi shouted over the roar and crash of the
swords clashing together. Each time they struck there was a thunderclap and the
sizzle of sparks. "I shall not fail to protect you!"
	Purgstall didn't hesitate. He surged back down to the flooded city. He
almost smiled. He had just taken an order from Ikazuchi. Ikazuchi of all people.
Perhaps he had gone mad?
	No. This felt all too right to be madness.
	Purgstall landed on the remains of a larger office tower which had been
toppled over by the tsunami. He looked down at Tethys. To his dismay, she was
still fading. Her normally blue flesh had turned white and her eyes had rolled
back into her head. She was shaking like a leaf, and despite her being large
enough he had to carry her with both hands, she weighed about as much as a leaf,
too.
	"What do I do?" he mumbled.
	"Put her in the water, of course."
	He turned his head around. The woman wasn't very tall. She had long
black hair and brown eyes. He recognized her instantly. Rose, the woman who had
taken over Bison's empire. "How do you know that will help?" he asked.
	Rose frowned. "Do you have a better idea?" she snapped. Purgstall
grunted and had to admit he didn't. He climbed down the side of the building and
gently floated the Dark Queen into the water. He gasped when she vanished,
dissolving like milk into a cup of dark coffee.
	"She'll be fine." Rose said. "She needs a while to recover. In the
meantime, we have to keep up the fight."
	"We?"
	That's when Purgstall saw them. They rose from the water in groups of
three and four. There wasn't more than a few dozen of them, but he could sense
the power radiating from them. Men and women, each radiating a palpable aura of
energy. Martial artists, he realised, as he recognised more than a few of them.
But also something more. It was their eyes. They did not look exactly human
anymore. There was something behind their gaze now.
	"Let's take this bastard down!" a red-haired woman shouted, snapping a
clip into one of her firearms.
	Everyone nodded. Then the new army exploded into the air, taking flight
like birds. Some of them actually formed wings, but most just shot up without
any visible means of support. Purgstall looked around. Then he nodded and
followed them.

*

	Ukyou shifted at the last moment, flipping up and over the vampire king.
He spun with inhuman speed. His red coat swirled around, her blade vanishing
into it. She realised instantly that she had missed. His hand snapped straight,
pointing right up into her face. Her head vanished sideways, the bullet cracking
the air next to her ear. Black hairs floated out in its wake.
	Her leap turned into a spiral. Her free hand clasped the hot metal
barrel. She pivoted around it and drove her feet into Alucard's stomach. He was
knocked up and back. She held the gun, allowing his momentum to carry them both
back towards the edge of the room.
	His smile never wavered. His red eyes widened in amusement and pain. His
body was twisted sideways. He twisted his arm up behind his neck. The elbow bent
unnaturally. Ukyou snapped the haft of the Glaive sideways. There was a hollow
crack moments before the cannon fired. The bullet shot wide, smashing into the
floor.
	Alucard wrenched at the gun in her grip, pulling her in. She released it
and allowed the force to drive an elbow into his grinning face. She heard the
jawbone shatter. She felt his face cave under the impact. She dropped, allowing
the force of the blow to push him past her.
	"DELEO!"
	The Silence Glaive snapped up so fast there was nothing but a grey blur
even to her enhanced sense. The floor and roof in front of her vanished, unmade
in an instant. The nothingness spread like fire across oil, spreading out in a
wedge. Alucard snapped one arm to the side, the limb stretching grotesquely. He
caught a black marble pillar in his hand, his fingers sinking into the stone.
With a snap he swung just out of the path of destruction.
	Ukyou wrestled with the Silence for a moment, taming it. Alucard came
around the other side of the pillar with his huge handgun levelled at her. His
face was uncollapsing, the dented skin filling out like a balloon. A bullet
erupted from the barrel.
	Ukyou could sense the attack to every degree. Aaron didn't just float
in the back of her mind anymore. He was there, his consciousness evaluating
every move she made. He was her eyes and ears, her every sense. He was their
thoughts. She was their reactions. She was their spirit. It was like all the
walls between them had vanished. All the strain, all the pressure had just
ceased to exist.
	Ukyou's legs had already begun moving even before Alucard had appeared.
She leaned back just far enough that the bullet passed harmlessly over her
shoulder. Then the next and the next bullet came. Aaron could feel them. He
could sense the bullet sliding into the chamber. He could smell the gunpowder
igniting. He could feel the puff of air from the barrel a moment before the
bullet exited. He could watch the flash of the shot unfold in slow motion.
	Ukyou shifted back and up, lifting her arm just enough so the next
bullet passed just under her arm. She slid forward. Another bullet was avoided
by the slightest step to the left and rotating her torso. The giant chunk of
lead passed so close to her that the ripple of air in its wake tickled across
her leotard. It blew through the back of her coat.
	Then she was on him.
	She came in with the Glaive held back and low, allowing her to bring it
up in a vicious swing. Alucard snapped up his arm, catching the haft of the
weapon on his forearm. Aaron could feel the muscles in his body tensing. He
could sense the dark chi, the corrupt undead energy, flowing through his dead
veins. He could hear the pulse of Alucard's undead heart. He saw the vampire's
eyes flicker, the slightest of expressions.
	Ukyou was waiting for the parry. The glaive bounced off Alucard's
forearm. She transferred the momentum, twirling the nine foot long polearm
around her body like a baton. The solid end smashed into Alucard's shoulder with
enough force that his bones shattered into dust.
	The red-eyed monster snapped down his blocking hand, grabbing for the
haft of the weapon. Ukyou was already stepping back, beyond his reach. The
weapon spun in her grip, a chaotic pattern that rapidly switched the blade and
blunt ends around and around. Alucard took another blow to the stomach before he
wisely stepped back. Ukyou slid backwards on the soles of her feet, before
bringing her weapon to a rest held slightly behind her.
	Alucard was hunched over, his head twisted up to face her.
"Magnificent." He chuckled. The bones in his shoulder began to regenerate.
"Everything I had hoped for."
	Aaron was aware of the others. They were clustered together. Nabiki was
leaning over Akira. Ryouga stood protectively over them both. Ranma was crouched
near them, his mouth agape.
	"I... I can barely follow her moves!" Ranma gasped.
	"She isn't just a martial artist anymore," Pluto pointed out. "She is a
Sailor Senshi now. The magic of our transformations eliminates limitations,
multiplies its capabilities. When combined with her training... the effect is
dramatic."
	"It's more than that..." Akira groaned. "That isn't just Ukyou fighting
there."
	Alucard had finished regenerating. Ukyou might have attacked him, but
she needed to make certain she could land a telling blow. Nothing short of the
Silence itself would be able to prevent him from recovering from any wound she
inflicted. Even with her newfound speed, even with Aaron's ability to analyse
everything Alucard was doing, it would be hard to land a decisive strike. No,
best not to push too hard too fast.
	Alucard was a wily bastard. They had the advantage now, but that could
shift at any moment. Giving him a chance to recover was a gamble. He might just
figure out a strategy to defeat her in that time. But on the other hand, if she
indulged his desire for a glorious final battle, she might prompt him into
making a critical mistake.
	Plus, she had her trump card now.
	"She's right, Alucard." Ukyou shifted back towards the edge of the room.
A huge section of the tower had been blown outward by some force. It left a
gaping hole into the dark sky. Outside, the massive presence of Pharaoh 90
hovered.
	Even Aaron's senses shied away from it. It wasn't just large. A mountain
was large. A mountain was something that you stood at the base of and felt
humbled. It was something that you stood at the summit of and felt elated. It
was so much bigger, so much more THERE than you.
	Pharaoh 90 was a planet. Not a large planet. Barely larger than the
moon. But still so large it covered the entirety of Tokyo with its massive bulk
blocking out the rest of the sky. Its tentacles were the size of mountains. Its
massive eye was the size of Tokyo all by itself. Tornados and waterspouts
swirled and roared behind them, hundreds and hundreds of stories tall. Great
chunks of the ruined city floated into the air, caught in the awful gravity of
the behemoth.
	"This place is too small for our fight." She balanced on the edge of the
hole. "Let us go someplace more suitable."
	Alucard smiled as she leapt out and back. He sprung after her without
hesitation. Both of his guns roared, releasing round after round. Ukyou guided
the glaive to where Aaron sensed the bullets would be, shattering the lethal
rounds into nothingness with short sharp movements.
	Her foot inched backwards and caught the edge of an office tower. She
ran backwards up it. Her glaive spun around, slashing through the air in front
of her. It gave off a single perfect note. A razor-thin line of nothingness
carved down through the glass and steel before blasting through the air. Alucard
bent, shifting in mid-air with the grace of a bat. Ukyou launched from the
floating debris and soared backwards and up again.
	Alucard followed.
	She had to trust Aaron. His mind probed out, finding all the floating
debris. It swirled around without pattern or purpose. The pieces varied from
the size of a button to the size of a bus. They moved as fast as bullets or as
slow as glaciers. And Aaron needed to keep track of every little piece. Every
movement. They ascended through the storm, always leaping up and backward. From
debris to debris they rose. The slightest misstep, the smallest fraction of a
second would spell the difference between landing safely on a pencil-thin piece
of metal and having that same metal drive through her chest like a spear.
	And as they moved, the fight continued. Alucard didn't have Aaron's
senses, but he had powers they didn't. He did not quite fly, so much as glide.
When he smashed into the side of a piece of shattered office tower with the
force of a speeding train, he barely slowed down. He didn't even notice when his
leg was sliced clean through by a spinning chunk of metal the size of a CD.
	He just kept laughing and firing. Bullets whizzed through the air all
around Ukyou. She dodged some, parried others and even used the occasional shot
as a stepping stone when no others were available. And she returned fire. Waves
of Oblivion snapped free from her Glaive with each swing. All around Alucard the
cyclones and debris were sliced and slashed by the razor-thin attacks. But the
bastard flowed and shifted between them. He moved like a spider, like a crab,
like a snake and like a wolf. He leapt and glided and ran and scuttled.
	With a final cry Ukyou poured power into the glaive and produced a
massive wave of nothingness. It smashed down, expanding out in a cone. Alucard
fell back, floating down and to the side to avoid the destruction. His bullets
vanished from the air, not even coming close.
	In the brief reprieve Ukyou twisted, spinning her legs above her and...
dropped upward. Her feet came to rest against the impossibly smooth surface of
the giant eye. Her feet stood on the edge of darkness, a deep darkness. She had
landed in the middle of the great orb. For a moment, Ukyou wondered if the
behemoth could even see her. Or if Ukyou was like a microbe, no more noticed by
the thing she was on than a normal human would notice bacteria.
	"Above" her Tokyo stretched out in all directions. She could see the
ocean and the lands beyond. The horizon here curved away just under her line of
sight. It was breathtaking; beautiful and horrible in equal measure.
	Alucard landed on the eye with little fanfare. He came down in a crouch.
His red coat flowed around him. He tilted back his head slightly as he rose. His
eyes rolled across the destruction.
	"Armageddon," he whispered. "The final battle, where the chosen of God
shall triumph over the infidels. And in so doing bring about the kingdom of
heaven."
	"If you believe that, you know that you're destined to lose," Ukyou
replied.
	"Destiny?" Alucard chuckled. "Ukyou. I don't fight because I want to
fulfill any destiny. I fight because it is what I am. I am a tool for killing. A
weapon refined for the joy of pitting himself against the likes of you. I am the
army of the unrighteous." He lifted one gun and pointed it at Ukyou. "And if, in
the process, I get to kill you and fuck with God just a little bit, then I will
descend into hell with a smile on my lips."
	"Indeed." Ukyou ran a hand through her hair. "Let's give them a show
they'll never forget, then."
	"Of course."
	Ukyou rushed forward again. Alucard dashed. His handcannon started
firing. The twin joined it a second later. The reports of the shots were so
close together it sounded like one long thunderous roar. Ukyou narrowed her
eyes, pouring on the speed. Aaron carefully tracked each bullet as Ukyou
zigzagged through the attack.
	The vampire stood his ground. He chuckled as he braced himself and
brought his weapons to bear. Even with her speed, Ukyou couldn't hope to engage
him fast enough to land a telling blow and still avoid the lethal counter-
attack.
	So she didn't.
	Alucard's eyes widened as a half dozen bullets flashed through her body
in fountains of purple sparks. Ukyou was already bringing her Glaive around. Her
blow was aimed for his neck, but even caught off-guard Alucard was a wily
bastard. His body snapped backward, just out of reach. Aaron smiled. Ukyou
reacted to his input, adjusting the path of the attack with the slightest nudge.
	The vampire fell back, both his hands coming off at the wrist. He hissed
as the hands fell to the ground, Like his familiars before him, the hands
rapidly greyed out until they became nothing more than ash.
	His pistols, knocked free of his grip by the attack, were next. Ukyou
reversed her attack before they even had a chance to reach the ground. With the
harsh scream of metal cutting metal the Silence Glaive ripped Alucard's weapons
in two. Unlike his limbs, these weapons literally unravelled.
	Alucard staggered backward, breathing heavily. "You could have done that
at any time..." he snarled.
	"And you could still regenerate the wounds... if you had any human
beings to devour for blood nearby." Ukyou gestured around them. "I learned that
lesson fighting Rip Van Winkle."
	"So that's why you lured me up here." Alucard threw his head back and
laughed. "You knew I couldn't resist following you," he said when he had calmed
down slightly. His eyes narrowed grimly. "A brilliant strategy. I commend you."
	"We could still end this peacefully," Ukyou said slowly. She hated doing
it, and knew it was likely to fail. But a part of her desperately wanted to
spare Alucard. Even with all the evil he had done, even with all the danger he
posed, he was as much a victim here as she was. "You said yourself you hate the
Nameless. If you can help me, together we could..."
	"Could what?" Alucard smirked. "Fight God?" He chuckled. "No." He raised
his handless arms to his side. "Strike me down, Ukyou. You've earned this
victory."
	Ukyou forced her expression to remain cold and neutral. Then she flashed
forward, drawing the Glaive backward like a spear. With a wordless scream she
drove the tip of the weapon into Alucard's heart. His body bent forward, blood
exploding from his lips.
	"Goodbye..." she whispered.
	Then his arms snapped around her. Her eyes widened. Alucard hadn't
stopped smiling. "God Himself ripped out my heart, girl. You'll have to do
better than that." Ukyou did the absolute worst thing she could do, she froze.
Aaron was scrambling, running through all the data his senses were revealing.
That blow should have worked... "And you forgot about one source of blood."
	Alucard's neck snapped as he jerked his head forward. His jaw distended
like a snake, row upon row of fangs appearing there. Ukyou tried to jerk back,
but it was too late. The ivory teeth sunk into her neck so fast she didn't even
feel them.

*

	"How are we supposed to follow her?"
	Nabiki looked over at Ranma. The water rushing in through the hole in
the wall had failed to trigger his curse; a minor enchantment Tethys had given
to him and Ryouga. It was almost surprising it was still intact, given Tethys'
current condition.
	"You're not serious," Nabiki replied. She was still nursing the welts on
her arms. The soldiers Alucard had summoned hadn't done any permanent damage,
not like with Akira. Mamoru and Pluto were doing what they could for the girl.
But while Akira had the worst, none of them were up for any more fighting.
	"Of course I am," Ranma said, turning around. He crossed his arm and
nodded outside. "In case you haven't noticed, the world is still in danger."
	"How are we supposed to do anything about that?" Mamoru asked. He
gestured out towards the mammoth thing in the sky. Nabiki glanced at it and
shuddered.
	She could feel its mind. It was full of hate. More hate than Nabiki had
thought possible. Not even Bison had come close to this. That thing out there
hated them all, everything that lived. It was an affront to it. It wanted
nothing more than to devour them all. To destroy everything.
	And underneath it all was a frighteningly human mind. It was buried deep
within the core of the behemoth. But there was a woman's mind up in that
monster, directing its rage and hatred.
	"We're not in any condition to fight that," Nabiki pointed out to Ranma.
	"I... may be of some help."
	Nabiki turned to the blonde-haired vampire girl. Nanami looked away. "I
was created by Hotaru. When she passed her blood on to me she also passed on
certain traits as my sire. Such as the ability to heal injuries."
	"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Pluto asked slowly.
	"Because I'm not certain if there won't be side effects," Nanami said.
"If I healed your wounds, I would have to transfer a bit of my blood to you. I
have no idea if I could... infect you with something."
	"God never told you one way or another, did He?" Pluto mused.
	"This is outside of His plan." Nanami shrugged. "But I do know that you
and I have to be at the top of that planet. We have to go into Elysium with
Ukyou."
	"I'm coming too." Akira growled. "Do it."
	"Akira, don't!" Ryouga snapped, stepping between her and Nanami. "You
have no idea what will happen. You could be cursed like me..."
	"I'll take that risk," Akira growled. Then she winced, and coughed.
Nabiki noted grimly that the wounds Pluto had been trying to staunch started
flowing fresh again.
	"If she doesn't do this, she may die, Ryouga," Pluto admitted. "And if
she does, then all the Paradox built up in her..."
	"Will flash into Ukyou, probably killing her instantly." Akira nodded.
"I can't afford to die here." She looked at Nanami. "Do it."
	Nanami nodded and pulled one of her curved duelling swords from her
belt. She walked over to Akira, slowly running the tip down her wrist. The blood
started welling up instantly. Akira braced herself as Nanami began to drip the
red liquid into her wounds.
	The effect was immediate. Nabiki gasped. It was like throwing baking
soda and vinegar together. The wound on Akira's shoulder foamed, red blood
bubbling out in all directions. Akira bit down, refusing to scream. Nanami
paused as the foaming blood filled up the section where Akira shoulder had once
been. Then it began to seep off.
	The flesh looked raw and thin, but it was there. Akira gasped and
shuddered.
	"So, do any of us look like lunch yet?" Ranma asked.
	"Haha." Akira grunted. "I... I can't tell. The Paradox effect, it blocks
out everything else..."
	"It's too risky," Ryouga grunted.
	"I need my foot back."
	Ryouga turned his eyes away as Nanami repeated the process on Akira's
foot. Akira did cry out this time, but she managed to choke it off. In a few
moments there was a healthy, if slightly pinkish, foot back on her ankle. She
rose slowly.
	"Now, we just have to get up to that place."
	"I think I could do what Ukyou did..."
	"Don't even think it, Saotome," Nabiki said with a snort. "That wasn't
just Ukyou's skill. That was Lotus Infinite as well. She's recovered all her
memories of her time as Bison's doll. Which means she remembers how to ghost
through things now." She nodded. "Ukyou is in no real danger in that hellstorm.
You, however, would be torn to shreds."
	"So, how do we get up?"
	"You could say please."
	Everyone shifted quickly. Nabiki cursed herself. She should have sensed
them coming. But the Amazoness Quartet were still one of the only group of
people in the world who could block themselves from her senses unless she was
actively looking for them. Of course, once she knew they were there it was no
trouble dealing with them...
	But something was different about the four girls that had appeared in
the room. They looked pale. They looked... older. Cologne was leaning on the
green-haired girl, JunJun.
	"We can get you up to the planet," Vesves said. Her ridiculous huge red
braid bounced behind her as she stepped forward.
	"Why are you here?" Pluto asked.
	"There is... someone we need to see in that planet," JunJun admitted.
	"And we saw you guys were hanging around being worthless lumps, so we
decided to recruit you as bodyguards!"
	"PallaPalla!" the pink-haired one hissed. "You're not supposed to tell
them that part."
	"Oh, sorry, CereCere!" The blue-haired girl looked at them and smiled
while sticking out her tongue. "Could you guys forget I said that?" She rubbed
the back of her head.
	"Already forgotten," Akira said with a wave of her hand. "You can get us
up to Pharaoh 90?"
	"Yeah..." They nodded. "Frankly, we were surprised you guys weren't down
in the big battle."
	"What battle?" Mamoru asked.
	"All the people Tethys saved from the tsunami versus Gyro," JunJun
pointed out.
	"It's awesome!" VesVes added with sudden enthusiasm.
	"Everyone..." Mamoru walked to the edge of the floor. "Are they...
alive?" He looked back at the others. "I..."
	"Go." Pluto said. "We'll understand." He nodded. "One more thing,
Mamoru." The boy paused. "The bullet Ukyou gave you. She extracted a small part
of my temporal power to fuel it." She paused. "Earlier, when I attacked Gyro, I
was the only one able to cut through his defence."
	Mamoru looked at the bullet in his hand. "So... one shot?"
	"One shot," Pluto agreed.
	"Good luck, all of you," Mamoru said before leaping out into the chaos
once again.

*

	Gyro folded sideways, shifting through space so fast that for a moment
there appeared to be two of him. A half dozen opponents flashed through his
previous position, cursing as their attacks were wasted. They landed on the
remains of a shattered parking structure.
	Fevrier tracked Gyro with her pistol. Her eyes narrowed. The black-
skinned demonic creature was parrying a series of attacks from above. Purgstall
was going all out, sending bolt after bolt crashing down into the ex-zoalord.
With the storm around them, Purgstall apparently had a lot of lightning to draw
upon.
	Fevrier waited until the moment when she thought Gyro was the most
occupied. Then she fired. The bullet that exploded from her weapon flashed green
as it flew, trailing green sparks in its wake. According to her new "partner",
the shot would have ten times its former power.
	Gyro didn't even acknowledge her attack. His blade flashed down,
parrying her bullet. He seemed to be surrounded by dozens of swords. Fevrier
cursed and swooped to the right, trying to line up a better shot. Her wings
creaked as she flew.
	"I need to get closer," she said. "I have to try and catch him unaware."
	"But we could break a nail!" the voice in the back of her head whined.
She stopped in mid-air. The eagle wings her youma partner had grown for her were
useful, but unfortunately seemed to be totally under the youma's control.
Fevrier strained a bit, but couldn't force them to move forward.
	"You useless..." Fevrier growled. "Grow a spine, already!"
	"I have a shpine, and I'd like it to shtay in one piece, shank you very
much," the youma replied. For some reason it spoke in an overdone lisp. Fevrier
resisted the urge to smack herself in the head with the butt of her pistol. She
wondered idly if Satsuki and Marz were having as much trouble with their
partners...
	"Fevrier, why did you stop?" Marz' voice came to her suddenly. Fevrier
started. She was still getting used to that. The girl wasn't even anywhere near
them. She was literally blocks away, having been left behind by the battle
minutes ago. But she seemed able to communicate with them at any distance.
	"I'm having a disagreement with Ganymede," Fevrier replied. "I need to
get in closer and she doesn't want to."
	"Just a moment..." Marz murmured. "Io says that Ganymede always was a
bit of a coward..."
	"Hey!" the voice in the back of Fevrier's mind protested.
	"Shut up, you," Fevrier snapped. "How is Satsuki doing?"
	"Patching her through..."
	"I am in position," Satsuki's voice came in a moment later. "However,
even my improved weapon will do little good if I can not strike effectively."
	Fevrier frowned, trying to locate Satsuki in the shadows that kept
shifting and moving around Gyro. The pyrotechnics of the battle around him and
the storm overhead made the lighting erratic at best. However, she couldn't spot
the girl.
	Gyro, however, had stopped to make another stand. He was floating a
dozen meters over the water. His sword flashed and folded through space as he
deflected the incoming attacks from every angle. With his free hand he began to
fight back. Fevrier cursed and dodged right. Ganymede eeped like a child and
relinquished control of the wings as Fevrier dove between a pair of pin-point
gravity wells. She'd seen how much damage even a tiny blast from Gyro could do.
They'd lost two people the first time Gyro had pulled off this trick. Nobody
Fevrier recognised.
	But they were slowly losing. Ikazuchi had lost one arm and leg to Gyro's
sword. He was back with Marz and Aprile. He was one of the lucky ones. In all,
about a third of the force that Tethys' youma had merged with were either dead
or disabled.
	And Gyro was grinning. He wasn't even close to running low on power.
	"Marz, tell everyone to back off for a moment," Fevrier said, knowing
that her friend was likely monitoring her. "Give Gyro a few moments to gloat
while we try to think up a new strategy." Fevrier cursed as she flew behind a
series of still mostly-erect skyscrapers to get out of the monster's line of
sight. As much as she hated to admit it, they needed more firepower here. Why
wasn't Tethys back yet? She couldn't be dead. If she was, Fevrier was pretty
certain her pact partner would have noticed and said something.
	"If you're looking for suggeshtions, I shay we make a run for it."
Ganymede said in her silent voice.
	"I thought Tethys saved you because you were a fighter," Fevrier
growled. She checked her magazines again. Both guns were fully loaded. Her
partner had the ability to just materialise ammo as she used it. But old habits
died hard. "We can't run away. There's no place to run."
	"Fevrier?"
	"I'm here, Marz. Tell me you have good news."
	"I'll try..." Marz gulped. "I've analysed Gyro's defence. He is bending
space around him. While we see his sword moving to intercept an attack, he is
actually barely moving at all. He just bends any attack coming in to that sword
of his. In fact, his defence is even stronger now, and growing stronger every
moment. The gossamer energy being expelled from the portal to Elysium is making
space around here even more fluid and chaotic every moment. He has to expend
less and less energy on every attack."
	"That must be the real reason he opened the portal." It was the voice of
Frederick von Purgstall.
	"Zoalord Purgstall?" Marz sounded surprised.
	"Sorry to eavesdrop on your link, girls." Purgstall made a grunting
sound. "Do you sense any weakness we can exploit, Marz?"
	"I..." Marz hesitated. "None that WE could exploit. But the limitation
of the technique seems to be that he does bend space/time around his body. If we
could generate some sort of extradimensional energy, a force that travels
outside the flows of normal spacetime, then we could bypass his defence
entirely."
	"So that was how Pluto did it," Tethys' voice whispered over the
communication link.
	"Marz, is everybody on this channel?" Fevrier snapped.
	"I'm sorry!" Marz sobbed. "I'm new to this telepathy thing. Io assures
me I'm doing very well for a first timer."
	"Don't blame yourself," Tethys replied. "Io is my servant, and Purgstall
has been a telepath longer than you have been alive."
	"Where have you been?" Purgstall asked.
	"Recovering..." Tethys hissed. "Even now, my injury is still serious.
That blade of his does not just cut physical forms, it seems. I've recovered
some of my strength, but not nearly enough to overpower him again."
	"Gyro appears to be finishing up his megalomaniacal declarations,"
Satsuki came over the link as Tethys finished. "I suspect he will soon begin to
renew the attack."
	Fevrier peered around the corner. A quartet of youma-human hybrids were
standing in front of Gyro as he finished his raving. The monster had done
something with the local space so his voice carried over the entire battlefield.
But one of Marz' first actions had been to "mute" his voice for Fevrier and a
dozen others. Fevrier reminded herself to really thank the girl for that later.
	"Adrasteia suggests I try to strike while he is distracted," Satsuki
said.
	"Forget it," Fevrier replied. "You can't do enough damage. And he might
take you out in the attempt. It's too much of a risk."
	"The risk is acceptable..."
	"I said no!" Fevrier growled. "We need to..."
	"Mamoru!" Marz gasped.
	Fevrier snapped her head up. Her eyes focused in, much faster and
clearer than they had any right to. Another gift from her partner. She could see
him. He was leaping across the battlefield, staying to the shadows of the
shattered buildings. His sniper rifle was held tight to his chest as he bounded
with supernatural grace among the debris.
	"Mamoru..." Fevrier muttered. Her vision blurred a little. She wiped at
her eyes absently.
	"Whoa. He's cute..." Ganymede murmured hungrily. "You never told me he
was cute."
	"Shut up!" Fevrier growled. "What is he up to..."
	"I'm contacting him now..." Marz replied quickly.
	"Marz?" Mamoru paused, flattening himself against a wall. An explosion
nearby forced Fevrier to fly across what had once been a boulevard and down
between a few buildings that had collapsed against each other to form an arch.
	 The four warriors confronting him earlier had decided to engage Gyro.
Fevrier recognised Skullomania. He didn't look different in the slightest. The
three with him she didn't recognise. But the important thing was that they were
keeping Gyro busy. She turned her attention back to Mamoru, flapping closer
while trying to stay out of Gyro's line of sight.
	"I'm going to take a shot at Gyro," Mamoru was explaining.
	"It won't do any good," Tethys replied through the mental channel. "We
need an attack that can pierce through his space fold with extradimensional
energy. If you could return to the tower and fetch Sailor Pluto, we might be
able to open up a hole in his defences long enough..."
	"Pluto is on the planet," Mamoru cut her off. Fevrier looked up and then
down again. Her mind simply refused to accept the enormity of the thing above
them. Even with all his casual power, Gyro was still humanoid. He was still
something she could confront. But the planet hovering above them was too vast
for her to even see it all. She had an easier time imagining fighting the ocean
than the behemoth in the sky. "But I have a small fraction of her power here.
One bullet. I should be able to cut through his defence with it, we'll need..."
	"Thank you."
	Everyone stopped dead.
	"Did you fools truly think you could prevent me, the most powerful of
all zoalords, from following this inane mental chatter?" Gyro's voice grumbled
over the mental link. "I am Reichmann Gyro! My will is LAW!" He turned his body
and pointed a hand at the building Mamoru was hiding behind. "Now watch as I
show you how futile hope truly is!"
	"MAMORU!" Fevrier screamed, flying forward. She felt Ganymede resist her
for a moment, but she just screamed and pushed past that with a feat of raw
will. Her body blurred as she flew across the sky toward the black-clad man who
meant more to her than almost anything else in the world. There was no way she
would be in time.
	Gyro laughed and launched a ball of darkness from his palm. It grew,
expanding to the size of a bus in a fraction of a second. A moment later, it
smashed into the building. The entire structure merely vanished, imploding
inward with a shriek and a pop. For a moment, there was a dimple in the water,
which began to rapidly fill with water again.
	Fevrier could only stare. Then she screamed and threw herself at Gyro.
The black-skinned monster grinned, his yellow eyes flashing with glee as he
beckoned her forward.

*

	"BAKUSAITENKETSU!"
	Ryouga pulled back his hand, wincing a little. He'd almost broken his
fingers that time. "No good," he growled. "The technique only works on unliving
matter. Stone, metal... this entire planet is alive. Even this rock is suffused
with this thing's life force."
	"There has to be a way inside," Ranma growled, clenching a fist in front
of him. He looked a bit better now that he had been given a few minutes to
regain his breath. Ryouga narrowed his eyes at his old rival.
	"He's right, Ranma," Cologne replied evenly. "We've tried everything we
can. Nothing we can do will do more than dent this thing's hide."
	"We need to get inside!" one of the girls who had introduced themselves
as the Amazoness Quartet shouted. Her blue hair bobbed as she looked around at
everyone. "We have to get to the core. That's where she'll be!"
	"Who?" Akira asked, crossing her arms. She was looking down the curve of
the moon-sized monster they were on. Ryouga could easily guess what she was
thinking. Somewhere out there, Ukyou was still fighting Alucard. He could tell
because the girl kept wiping at her nose and lips to brush away the blood.
	"Queen Neherenia," the red-haired girl replied.
	"Our former master," the green-haired one explained.
	"Our Amazon Stones can feel her," the pink-haired one added. She held up
a pink orb somewhat bigger than her fist. "She's drawing power through them. I
can feel it. It's like a funnel leading straight down to the heart of this
beast."
	"I thought this was Pharaoh 90?" Ranma blinked.
	"It is, and it isn't." Nabiki was kneeling against the dark purple
stone, her palm stretched across it. "There are two minds, two souls within this
thing. They've... merged."
	"Yes," Nanami nodded. "When Akane sealed Pharaoh 90 inside Elysium all
those years ago, Neherenia had already been there for hundreds of years. Of
course, time has no real meaning inside the dreamworld. The two of them must
have fought."
	"Who won, then?" Ryouga asked. "Which one is in charge?"
	"Neither," Nabiki replied. "What I sense inside this thing is not what
I'd call sane. The minds of the two of them haven't been merged so much as
they've been mixed. It's like somebody melted their brains down and then forced
them together before letting them freeze solid again."
	"Paradox," Akira responded. She looked down. "It was the Paradox.
Oblivion is made up of it. When Ukyou created the Paradox rift in Elysium, it
must have started growing. They must have gotten caught in it."
	"None of this matters," the green-haired Amazoness said. "This giant
body is just a shell. Inside, at its core, is where the real monster is. If we
can make it there, we can destroy this thing!"
	"How are we supposed to do that, JunJun?" Cologne asked mildly. "Even
Ryouga wasn't strong enough to crack the surface open all the way. We could dig
our way in, but it would take us years." She sighed and rubbed her forehead.
	"Who the hell...?" Akira gasped, looking back "up" towards the city.
	Ryouga snapped his head up and around. "Above" them floated the flooded
ruins of Tokyo. The gravity storm ripped through the air between the rogue
planet and the Earth, creating tornadoes and lightning strikes and all sorts of
chaos. The Quartet had carried them through that in a three-coloured sphere,
avoiding the worst of the storm with their magic.
	But there was something else climbing up through the storm towards them.
Ryouga rubbed his eyes to make certain he hadn't seen wrong. It was a
helicopter. Someone was insane enough to try flying through that mess? Whoever
it was, they were a good pilot. But they were having a hard time keeping stable.
	"They'll be torn apart," Nanami gasped.
	"Go back, you idiot!" Ranma shouted, cupping his hands over his mouth.
"You can't get up here like that, it's hopeless!"
	Ryouga wasn't certain how Ranma could have expected to be heard over the
storm, when a faint reply came back. "Nothing is hopeless!"
	The helicopter jerked sideways for a moment, coming perilously close to
one of Pharaoh 90's giant tentacles. A loud crash exploded out from it, and a
shape exploded from its side. It was a motorcycle, a huge American machine, with
a leanly muscled man astride it.
	"Shingo?" Akira gaped in disbelief.
	"And you know why?" The man on the cycle shouted, his voice just barely
carrying to them. He flew through the air, rearing his bike like a stallion.
First one, then the other wheel touched down on the giant writhing tendril.
"Because I have the strength..."
	Ryouga realised, for one transcendent moment, that he was seeing perhaps
the most insane thing he would ever see. A man was driving a motorcycle up the
length of one of Pharaoh 90's tentacles. The writhing pulsing mass failed
utterly to throw him off. He zigged and zagged around blasts of lightning that
erupted from or struck against the tendrils. The hurricane-force winds didn't
push him free. The flying debris was deftly avoided.
	"...of the great United States..."
	The boy reached to his side and grabbed a katana sheathed at his side
with one hand.
	"..of America!"
	The boy threw himself from the bike with a wordless scream of defiance.
He flashed through the air, drawing the blade back and over his head. Some
instinct in Ryouga made him brace himself. Then the boy hit the planet at full
force, driving his blade in front of him.
	The behemoth exploded.
	Ryouga snapped his hand down, grabbing hold of some of the rocky folds
of the planet-eater's flesh. He could hear the others scrambling for support as
well, but his eyes remained glued on the spectacle in front of him.
	A giant geyser of rock was spraying out of the side of Pharaoh 90. It
was the size of a mountain. A blast the likes of which Ryouga had never seen
before. He felt his mouth dry out.
	Then a moment later the shockwave hit. The ground around them bulged
upward, buckling as it rippled like water. He snapped his head around, looking
for Nabiki.
	Akira had caught her, holding on to her with one hand while she clenched
the tearing earth with the other. With a roar Ryouga threw himself at them,
bringing them both to the "ground" with his weight. Nearby he could see the
others doing similarly.
	Then he heard it scream. It was a roar of pain, unlike any Ryouga had
ever heard before. He didn't hear it with his ears. He heard it in his bones. He
heard it in his flesh. It roared through his body. It roared in his mind. He
could feel it hissing against his soul. It was everywhere, it was everything...
	Then it was over. He realised that the screaming he heard now was his
own. He rolled over, pulling his hands away from his ears. Everyone was slowly
coming to their feet now. From the looks of it, they hadn't lost anyone.
	"What just happened?" Pluto asked, obviously shaken.
	"That was their scream," Nabiki moaned. "I shielded us from the worst of
it. If I hadn't..." She shook her head. "He actually hurt it. I didn't..."
	Everyone looked over at the area where Shingo had landed. There was
nothing there but a giant chasm. The boy had landed at the base of the tendril,
and his blow had severed the tendril from the rest of Pharaoh 90s body. Ryouga
didn't dare look up. He didn't want to see what sort of damage that falling
tentacle had done to the Earth. The chasm was more than a few kilometers across.
	And climbing out of it was a man, no, a teenager, with a giant grin on
his face. Tied around his arms and legs and waist were dozens of Shinto prayer
strips. "Not bad, huh?" he said. He held up his sword. The blade had shattered
halfway up its length. "Looks like I broke my sword."
	"How did you do that?" Ranma demanded as he ran forward.
	"I'm the strongest man in the world, Ranma," Shingo said. He was swaying
drunkenly.
	"He's right," the blue-haired girl said.
	"What?" Pluto turned to her.
	"Those wards he has on are designed to protect him from the dreamscape,"
the girl explained. "But I think whoever made them was guessing; they're kind of
amateurish. They're only partially protecting him." She nodded. "He's being
affected by Elysium. When he made that attack, he was as strong as he dreamed
himself to be."
	By this time they had reached Shingo. He was sitting down, a manic grin
on his face. "What's that, Mr. President? Yes, I would like to meet your
daughter, now that you mention it..."
	"He's losing it," Akira pointed out. "The wards are breaking down." She
turned to the Amazoness Quartet. "Can you shield him from the dream effect?"
	"But we might need him to hit something else... ow!" the red-haired girl
glared at Cologne. "Okay, okay!" She walked up to him and touched him with her
orb.
	The boy blinked. "Aren't you a little young to be the president's
daughter?" he asked.
	"Shingo, you were dreaming," Nabiki explained.
	"I was?" The boy frowned. "Then I didn't really almost kill a planet?"
	"No, you did that all right," Akira said, peering over the edge. "I
think we have our way in now."
	"That's good," Ranma muttered nervously. "Because I think we've
overstayed our welcome."
	Ryouga glanced around. They were growing out of the ground. They looked
like statues made out of sculpted glass, completely white. They were in the
shapes of beautiful women... no, a single beautiful woman with long hair and a
pretty face, with slitted eyes and pointed ears. They were giggling as they
slowly grew and grew until they were the size of human beings. And there were
thousands of them.
	"What are they?" Cologne asked the girls.
	"Don't ask us!" the red-head replied. "I've never seen them before."
	"They have no minds," Nabiki supplied. "They're puppets, created by the
force inside the planet."
	"Like white blood cells," Nanami offered. "Coming to eliminate the
intruders."
	The things had finished forming. Their soft laughter echoed all around
them. Then the things flexed their fingers, which snapped into long talons in
the blink of an eye.
	"We can't take them all on!" Akira protested.
	"Then run!" Cologne shouted, and jumped over the edge of the crevice and
into Pharaoh 90.

*

	"Don't try to move, Artemis..."
	Artemis didn't really want to die. His body, it seemed, had other plans.
It had been foolish of him. He didn't know why he did it... No, that was a lie.
He had done it because he was the only one who could.
	The battle between Rei and the witch had been apocalyptic. But it had
been a battle between them. He and Luna had been forgotten. Not without cause,
he admitted ruefully. He winced as a chuckle passed through his body. What
difference could a talking cat make in the end?
	Just enough, he hoped. He admitted that he had enjoyed the expression on
Akio's face when Artemis had landed on him, leaping from the top of the Rose
Gate. For a moment, Artemis had felt like a big jungle cat, something powerful
and fearsome. He had struck with abandon, drawing red lines across that pretty-
boy face.
	Then reality had reasserted itself. Akio had grabbed him by the scruff
and with an inelegant snarl had smashed him against the gate. Artemis had felt
something inside him break. He wasn't certain what, but it hurt. He couldn't
breathe very well anymore. But the very moment Akio had struck him against the
unyielding gate, he had been driven away from it.
	The girls had driven him away. They had retaken the gate. They
controlled it now. The crack running down its center was ominous, but not
growing. He had done it. He had made a difference.
	Luna stood over him protectively. She looked so tired, so afraid. Her
eyes kept flicking back and forth, changing from the battle and back to him. He
wanted to tell her it was okay. He wanted to lie and tell her he would be fine.
But he couldn't seem to speak.
	His attention drifted back to the battle. It was a stalemate. The three
Senshi could hold the gate and prevent Akio from getting to it, but they
couldn't strike at him or Anthy effectively. So it had come down to a standoff.
The girls grimly guarding the Rose Gate, and Anthy standing in front of her
brother, wielding the chaotic Paradox sword that made her so dangerous.
	Except Artemis thought he had seen something that no one else had. Akio
kept glancing at the sword he carried. He did it subtly, when no one but Artemis
was looking. The girls, all of them, were too involved in trying to predict the
enemy's next move to pay much attention to Akio's eyes. But Artemis wasn't. Akio
was looking ever so faintly worried.
	Like he wasn't certain if, when he looked, the sword would still be
there.
	That was when it hit Artemis almost as hard as the Rose Gate had. Akio
was running out of time. Usagi, Sailor Moon, Princess Serenity... she was dying.
And if she died, her soul would go on to whatever final reward it had earned.
That sword was her soul. He had left her alive, Artemis knew. He had done it not
because he cared about her in the slightest, but because as long as she lived,
he could wield that sword. When Usagi passed on, his sword would be gone too.
	And that was that. He lost. They won. By default, but still a victory.
All the Sailor Senshi had to do was run out the clock. He winced again as he
realised what he was thinking.
	He was hoping a girl would die, so that Akio could be stopped. What
would Minako say to him? She had run off to save that girl. Everyone had called
her a fool for it. They had said that Usagi must already be dead. But if Artemis
was right, and he was certain he was, then Usagi was still alive. Minako could
find her.
	She was right, he realised. He just wished that before he slipped away,
he would have a chance to say that...
	"LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!"
	Anthy screamed as the blast took her from behind. She toppled forward,
collapsing to her hands and knees. Her grip on her sword faltered. Artemis felt
his heart skip a beat. Everyone paused.
	She came through the storm, slumped to one side. Around her body was a
shield, a sphere of rapidly shifting and rotating golden heart links. Her Love
Me Chain wrapped around her as a bubble, keeping most of the Swords of Hate at
bay. Most.
	There were cuts along her body. She had not emerged from the cyclone
unscathed. But her grin was proud and unfailing. It was the grin she had learned
from Ranma. It was the 'you all doubted me, but I'm just so badass I saved all
your lives' grin.
	Artemis was never more happy to see that grin in his entire life.
	"You have something that doesn't belong to you," Minako said. Only then
did Artemis notice the girl Minako was carrying. She was being held up by one
arm, leaning against Minako's shoulder. She looked so small and frail. Her hair
had lost most of its luster and hung limp. Her entire body was limp. She looked
unconscious.
	But she was breathing.
	"You never could resist making an entrance," Akio said, faintly
approving. He rubbed absently at the scratches Artemis had given him. Shallow
and temporary, but the sight of them made the moon cat feel much better.
	"Give me the sword, Akio," Minako said, holding out her hand. "It's
over."
	"Usagi..." Makoto said in awe. She was clutching her side where Anthy
had managed to sneak past her guard. Ami was speechless, simply staring in
disbelief. Rei was smiling.
	"You hurt me..." Anthy said as she slowly rose to her feet.
	"Yes, and I'll do it again," Minako warned, gesturing to her.
	"No... you really hurt me." Anthy's eyes narrowed. She had long ago lost
her glasses. Her face looked exotic and malevolent. "I've been tortured for
eternity and a day, and nothing has ever really hurt me. I can't die. But you
hurt me.... how?"
	Minako lowered her hand slightly.
	"God's work," Akio said simply. "He chose you, Minako. All those years
ago, back in England." Akio chuckled. "It's funny, really. Did you think He
designed you solely to kill vampires?" Akio laughed. "Oh, He is a tricky
bastard, I'll give Him that. That was His plan all along."
	"What are you talking about?" Ami asked.
	No, girls, Artemis thought. Don't let him speak. That's his game. Don't
play it. You have the advantage, seize it! He drew hin breath to cry out a
warning, but ended up hacking and coughing.
	"Artemis!" Luna gasped, turning to him in worry. He saw Minako's eyes
turn to him, and they widened slightly. No. She was worried about him now. She
was worried about getting this over with and saving him now. He could see it in
the way her eyes refocused, he could read it in the shift in her stance. She
wasn't thinking about defeating Akio anymore.
	"Minako was once touched by God, one of the few people that have been.
He gave her a gift. He made her able to kill the unkillable. He gave her that
power." Akio shrugged. "Except He hid it. He made it look like she was given
that power to destroy vampires. And her power worked very well on them indeed.
In fact, even I was fooled as to her true purpose.
	"Because she wasn't made to kill vampires. She was made to kill
immortals. Like Anthy and me." Akio gestured with Sailor Moon's sword at the
three guarding the gate. "You three were never important. She was the chosen
one. God made her to kill me. All along, trying to guide her to this moment.
Quite a genius move. He placed me in check, without me even noticing."
	"Then you'll surrender?" Minako said, her voice filled with hope.
Artemis wanted to cry. This was what he wanted!
	"Of course..." Akio held out Sailor Moon's sword. He opened his fingers
and it began to slip through-
	Usagi screamed, her body arching backward. The sword flickered. Minako
clutched at the girl, her eyes widening. The Sailor Senshi gasped. Luna screamed
her ward's name.
	Akio grabbed the sword before it could slip through his fingers
entirely. It solidified in his grasp. Usagi fell silent, slumping against
Minako.
	"Oh, I should probably mention something before I hand this over..." he
mused. "You see, Usagi is dying. Her Star Seed was ripped out. Without it, she
should be dead. Except I took this sword." He waved it around a bit. "Do you
know what a soulsword is?"
	"Bastard! What are you up to?" Rei snarled.
	"Nothing, Miss Hino, nothing at all." He gestured to the howling cyclone
of flashing steel all around them. "Each of these swords is a soulsword. When
the souls of these unfortunates were cast into Oblivion, all that they were was
drained away. All except this." He slipped a finger along the edge of the sword.
A bead of blood appeared on his fingers. "The thing which cuts."
	"Of course..." Ami murmured. "Basic symbolism."
	"Very good, Ami." Akio smiled at her and she blushed, before forcefully
shaking it off. "A sword divides, Sailor Senshi. It cuts. It rips and tears. It
is an instrument of breaking." He paused for effect. "It is the thing which
separates us from the Oversoul."
	He spread his arms wide. "That is why when we are cast from the Oversoul
into Oblivion, all that is left is a sword. That is why I use a sword to try and
cut through the Rose Gate. Because it is the thing about us that is most unique
and personal. It is the thing which makes us... us. Which keeps us alive. Which
makes us LIVE."
	He sunk the blade into the ground. "Usagi is already dead. All that is
keeping her here, all that is keeping her from being drawn back to the Oversoul,
is this blade." His grip loosened and Usagi screamed again.
	"Stop it!" Minako shouted, clutching onto Usagi tightly. "You're killing
her!"
	His grip tightened again and Usagi once again slumped into
unconsciousness. "Quite the contrary, Miss Aino. I am the only thing keeping her
alive." He tapped the blade. "I am eternal. The Paradox backlash that stripped
me of my powers also granted me eternal life. And that same force can make other
things eternal." He smiled. "Like this sword. So long as I hold it, it is as
eternal as I am.
	"So you can see, if I were to release this sword to you, it would only
kill the woman you care so much about, Minako Aino." He gestured towards her, an
open palm extending peacefully. "You are free to take it from me, if you are
willing to kill Usagi to do so. But that would make your whole quest pointless,
wouldn't it?" He chuckled. "Did you go all that way, fight through all that,
defy the very will of GOD Himself... just to let Usagi die now?"
	Minako's mouth opened and closed helplessly.
	"I didn't think so."

*

	It was strange. They were running straight down into the heart of the
beast. They were charging down the slope of the great chasm Shingo Tsukino had
cleft into the body of Pharaoh 90. They should have been forced to climb down,
or something. Ranma was fairly certain that you didn't just run into a planet.
There were things like gravity to worry about. But it appeared that they didn't
have to deal with that.
	Just an endless supply of glass women. They bloomed before them like
flowers. They poured out of cracks in the earth, and leapt from side tunnels.
They fell from overhead and ripped through the earth at his feet. But he wasn't
about to let that stop him.
	He ducked under a pair of claws. His arm swung up, catching the creature
under the arm. With a grunt he levered it up and over him, smashing it sideways
into two that had been approaching him from behind. Even as the three of them
fell behind him six more appeared in front of him. He leapt. His body twisted
sideways, their claws flashing diamond bright all around him. He felt one of
them brush against his skin. Then his feet slammed into a pair of faces, sending
them crashing back. He caught the next four with his outstretched arms, driving
his limbs into their necks. The monsters made no sound as he smashed them into
the ground.
	Unfortunately he landed on his back. He kicked to his feet, but it was
enough time for more of the creatures to encircle him. He grimaced. He'd lost
his momentum for just a moment...
	A trio of shots cracked through the air. Three of the mannequins' heads
exploded in shower of glass. Ranma dived through the opening, giving a thumb's
up to Shingo. The boy was busy reloading his pistol. He'd lost the other one
earlier.
	The others were spread out all around them. Akira was slipping through
the endless crystal women like water, somehow finding her way through the
tiniest cracks and holes in their formations. Her fists and feet lashed out as
she moved, leaving detached limbs and divided torsos in her wake. Ryouga just
barrelled through them like a runaway train. Anything foolish enough to get in
front of him was swept aside. Occasionally he would lash out with a pair of
fingers, exploding the unliving mannequins with a wordless bark. Cologne
followed him closely, her staff flashing out and finishing off any that Ryouga
left too mobile. She had been limping heavily before, but had made a taciturn
request for some of Nanami's healing powers during a brief respite from the
attacks. Now she moved with a fluid grace that was nonetheless perversely
vicious, dealing destruction in movements so economical even Akira was put to
shame.
	Pluto was breathing heavily. There were a trio of claw marks on her arm,
oozing blood. She wielded her Time Key Staff with one hand, firing round after
round of magic blasts from it into the horde. Nanami stayed near her, her twin
sabres flashing almost too fast for Ranma to follow. She kept anything from
getting close enough to do any more injury to the time Senshi.
	Nabiki was in the centre of their loose formation. She was doing
everything she could just to keep up the pace they were forced to set. Everyone
took turns protecting her. Even so, Ranma knew she was doing far more than just
running. He could feel her, at the back of his mind. She was acting as a link,
helping them all coordinate. As erratic and as haphazard as their headlong rush
into the core of the planet seemed, Ranma knew that Nabiki was coordinating it
like a concert conductor.
	Which left only the Quartet. They were leading the way. The three armed
with those strange orbs seemed to be the muscle, gesturing and producing blasts
and explosions of magical might. At first they had been using weird tricks,
producing cages of flowers and illusions and all sorts of other funky stuff. Now
they had exhausted their imagination, and were down to just throwing out raw
power.
	"Everybody stop!" Nabiki's voice exploded across the group.
	Ranma skidded to a stop. Everyone else did so as well, glancing around
nervously. The sky had long since vanished overhead. Only a small glimmer of
light reached from overhead. Most of the light was being provided by the glows
of the auras of everyone.
	"What is it, Nabiki?" Pluto grabbed her bleeding arm. Ranma tensed up;
for some reason, the horde had backed off. He could see them, just at the edge
of the light provided by his flaring aura. They giggled and shifted amongst
themselves.
	"Something big is coming..." Nabiki warned.
	Then it was upon them. It exploded through one of the walls with enough
force that Ranma was forced to crouch to avoid being thrown off his feet. Others
weren't so lucky. He heard several groans as people began to try and orient
themselves again.
	It was another crystal woman, but this one made the others look like
dolls. She had to be fifteen stories tall, and she completely blocked out the
passage in front of them. Her slitted eyes narrowed and her glass face shifted
into a grin. She brought down a set of claws the size of a city bus. Ranma leapt
backwards, just barely missing being slashed to ribbons.
	"Bakusaitenketsu!" Ryouga roared, smashing his fist into the palm of the
other hand as it descended towards him. The hand exploded and Ryouga screamed.
He collapsed, oozing blood from a dozen wounds. Ranma frowned. Up until then,
his and Cologne's technique had been their trump card. But the shards of this
mannequin would be far deadlier than any released from one of the smaller ones.
	And worse yet, the thing was regenerating. The stump of its hand was
rapidly regrowing, huge crystals popping into place with a disturbing cracking
sound. The giggles around them intensified.
	"I can handle this..." Akira said, cracking her knuckles.
	"You should save your strength," Ranma told her, stepping in front of
the girl. "I can take it down."
	"Stop being a macho idiot, Ranma," Akira snapped. "You're in worse shape
than I am."
	"I'm not being killed by Paradox!" Ranma replied, turning to her.
	"That has nothing to do with this!" Akira responded angrily.
	"Children!" Cologne shouted in warning. A shadow fell over them as the
colossus decided to attack the only two unwary-looking targets.
	Ranma and Akira slid apart. The hand smashed down where they had been.
"Look at you, you're bleeding from your eyes!" Ranma accused as he leapt up onto
the thing's arm.
	"At least I'm only bleeding from the holes I was born with," Akira
accused as she ran sideways up the arm, keeping exact pace with Ranma. "You have
more holes in you than swiss cheese."
	"Says the woman who not ten minutes ago didn't even have a foot," Ranma
snarled. He reached the shoulder and bounced up off it as the colossus tried to
shrug them off.
	"Macho idiot!" Akira shouted as she flew up over the thing's head.
	"Crazy tomboy!" Ranma grunted as he slid under its chin.
	His fist smashed into its jaw just as Akira's double overhand blow came
down on its brow. With a shriek of exploding crystal the colossal mannequin's
head imploded, the majority of the shards flying out behind it. Ranma and Akira
landed, glaring at each other as it slowly toppled.
	Shingo ran in and grabbed the body by one ankle. "Everyone duck!" he
roared. Akira and Ranma did so. Ranma seethed, trying to think up a better
insult. The massive crystal creature flew over them and back up the tunnel.
There was a series of crashes and cracks as it plowed through the packs of
mannequins before becoming lodged in the narrow tunnel.
	"That should give us a few seconds..." Shingo gasped. He was sweating
heavily. Power was one thing Shingo had in abundance, but his training hadn't
been very well-rounded. He was already running out of energy.
	"Are you two quite finished?" Nabiki asked Ranma and Akira.
	"It's not my fault!" Ranma pointed at her. "She keeps trying to steal my
thunder."
	"Ranma," Akira sighed and put a hand over her face. "Listen, this isn't
a competition between us. I have no intention of TRYING to steal your glory,
okay?" The others all began to nod. "I just can't help it. I'm so much better
than you I do it naturally."
	"See!" Ranma pointed at her again. "Totally after my thunder!"
	"We have to go!" one of the quartet yelled. They pointed back up the
tunnel. Ranma could see the giant body beginning to shift. Bits and pieces of
crystal were popping out of it. They were beginning to look like faces and hands
and legs.
	"You guys go," Ryouga grunted. He stepped towards the mass of mutating
crystal. His checkered scarf waved around him. "I'll hold them off."
	"Ryouga!" Nabiki gasped.
	He smirked at her. "Don't worry, I can't be killed." He held out his
hand and a green glow began to surround them. There was a pop as a mannequin
fell from the colossus' body. "Hurry!" Ryouga shouted.
	Nabiki hesitated, then Ryouga looked at her. "Get out of here! You have
to live, dammit!"
	"R-right!" Nabiki turned and started running. Everyone else followed her
a few moments later. They ran for almost twenty seconds, until the twists and
turns of this strange innerspace had blocked Ryouga from sight. Then they heard
him.
	"Jisatsu Bakuha!"
	The first explosions was loud enough it blocked out all other sound.
Then there was another shout, and another explosions. Gradually as they ran, the
sound grew dimmer and dimmer until they could hear it no more.
	"We have more company," Akira warned. She glanced side to side.
	More of the mannequins had arrived, but these ones were different. Their
faces had elongated and their mouths filled with fangs. Their arms and legs bent
at odd angles and they scuttled along the walls and ceiling like spiders. Ranma
felt a shiver run up his spine.
	"What do we do?" Shingo said. His gun kept shifting from target to
target. Ranma guessed there were far more of them than he had bullets remaining.
Cologne's eyes narrowed.
	"Girls, which way to the core?" she shouted.
	"Straight down here!" the red-head in the lead shouted back, gesturing
towards a narrower tunnel leading off from the one they were in.
	"Good." Cologne was beginning to lag behind them, slowing down subtly as
if she were still injured. Ranma glanced back and caught her eyes. What he saw
made him pause. He looked at Nabiki. Nabiki nodded to him.
	They reached the tunnel just before the things attacked. Ranma saw
Cologne falling back amongst them. Soon he would lose sight of her. He grit his
teeth. He looked at Nabiki again. She looked grim, but refused to meet his gaze.
They both knew what the woman was planning.
	Ranma leapt between a pair of spider-mannequins and rolled into the
tunnel. The others were only a step behind him. The Quartet was already running
down the tunnel ahead of everyone else. Ranma noticed, not for the first time,
that none of the creatures really seemed to attack them. They only used their
magic to defend the rest of the group.
	Cologne's voice suddenly sang out loud and clear, and Ranma heard an
explosion behind them. But Cologne's target hadn't been one of the mannequins.
The entire entrance to the tunnel was collapsing behind them, with Cologne on
the other side.
	"Old hag!" the green-haired girl screamed, turning around. Ranma grabbed
her and kept running. The others swept up the remaining members of the Quartet
as they moved. Behind them the tunnel continued imploding. Ranma grit his teeth
and pushed all the speed he could out of his legs. It was enough to keep them
ahead of the cave-in, which was more than the remaining spider-mannequins could
say.
	They emerged into a large chamber, a plume of dust following them. The
girls were staring at the rockfall in shock.
	"We have to go back for her!" the green-haired girl in Ranma's arms
shouted. She began to struggle with him. "Let me go, we have to..."
	"We have to save the world," Nabiki pointed out. "Cologne knew that."
She smiled then. "Don't count that old woman out yet. It will take more than a
countless horde of unliving crystal killing machines to finish her off."
	"Which way?" Akira asked the girl she was holding, the pink-haired one.
	"T-that way..." she gestured towards another tunnel. Ranma leapt towards
it, and as he did he could see more of the things emerging. Once again they had
changed shape. Now they lacked legs, having fused them together to form
something like a tail. Their faces were more reptilian, and their perpetual
giggle had taken on a snake-like quality.
	Ranma landed and put his passenger down. He turned to face the
approaching horde. His hands curled into fists.
	A series of gunshots rang out, and in a few seconds dozens of the
mannequins died in showers of glittering dust. Shingo grunted and dropped his
handgun. He looked at Ranma. "You better get going." He reached down and grabbed
the ground. "After all..." With a grunt he stood up quickly, wrenching a boulder
ten times his size from the tunnel floor in a shower of dust. "...you don't want
to get left behind."
	"Shingo?" Ranma frowned.
	"Go." Shingo smiled and pulled a cigarette from his leather vest with
one hand. He stuck it between his teeth. "I'm not going to miss my turn to do
the whole heroic sacrifice thing." He grinned, the unlit cigarette dangling
between his teeth. "Besides, you're the best there is, aren't you? They'll need
you more than me."
	"Damn it," Ranma hissed, clenching his teeth.
	Shingo turned to face the horde, which was approaching more slowly after
Shingo casually wiped out the entire first rank. "If you see Sakura..." He
paused. "Heh. Never mind. She'll know."
	Ranma clapped the man on the shoulder. "You're a good man, Shingo."
Ranma said. "You... you'd make your sister proud."
	"Hey, no chick flick moments. Just go."
	Ranma ran, and a second later he heard the boulder crash down over the
entrance behind them. He didn't like this. He could see the pattern. They were
losing people, one by one. The planet, Pharaoh 90 or Neherenia or whatever it
was now, was dividing them up.
	They came to a fork in the tunnel. One led down, the other led up. The
girls looked at each other. "Which way?" Akira asked.
	"I..." the red-head looked at her orb. "I can't tell... they both feel
right."
	"Now what?" Ranma asked, crossing his arms. More of those things could
show up at any second.
	Nanami stepped forward, placing her hands on the wall between the two
passages. She closed her eyes. "I smell..." She opened her eyes. "Pain and
bitterness. Paradox." She looked down. "That way."
	"So that's the direction we're headed?" Akira said, starting towards it.
	"Not so fast," Nanami held up her hand. "I think it's a trap."
	"How?" Ranma asked.
	"I just... feel it." She looked up. "Up. Head up."
	"What about you?" Akira said suddenly.
	"I..." Nanami looked at Pluto. "The trap needs to be sprung. If we don't
do it here, then Neherenia could shift it to ahead of us along the other path."
	Pluto looked at her. Then she sighed. "You could be destroyed. Even
vampires can die."
	"Maybe." She stared at Pluto for a moment. "But I think this is our
path." She gestured to the downward slope. "I think the Nameless isn't finished
with us yet. We both need to face this."
	"This is insane!" Ranma shouted. "It wants to split us up!" He looked at
the others. "Can't you see that?"
	"Of course we can, Ranma," Akira said slowly. "But what choice do we
have?" She chuckled. There was something... off about her laughter. It made
Ranma very nervous for some reason. "Let's go. We have a destiny to fulfill."
	Ranma ground his teeth, but nodded. He hated this. Every fibre of his
being hated this. It was wrong. They shouldn't have left Ryouga behind. He
should have stopped Cologne. He should have stood with Shingo. He should not be
letting Pluto and Nanami walk into a trap, just to give the rest of them a
better chance. It wasn't the way he worked. It wasn't his style.
	But he went with Akira and the girls as they ran up the sloped
passageway. He forced himself not to look at Pluto and Nanami running down the
other way. He didn't want to think about it.
	For a few minutes, there was a strange peace. Then they came out into
the most massive chamber yet. Ranma stood at the lip of the tunnel, his jaw
hanging wide.
	It was a castle. Something right out of a fairytale stood there, real as
day. It was the home of every evil witch ever dreamed up to scare children at
night. It was every lonely tower in the woods. It was every decaying keep
hanging atop a looming cliff. It was every fortress on a mist-shrouded island.
It was all those things at once.
	Ranma felt fear. He knew it wasn't his fear. It was unnatural fear,
seeping into his bones, seeping into his very being. He was a child again. He
was a tiny boy, screaming in the night while the storm pounded down outside. The
lightning was ripping open the sky. He was screaming. His father wouldn't come.
He was supposed to be strong, he was supposed to be above fear. That's what
Father said.
	But this place was worse than any storm. This place was where he was
going to die. He was a child and this place was death. In it dwelt every horror
he had every imagined. He backed against the walls, clawing until his fingers
were raw and bleeding. He needed to escape. He needed to get away. But he
couldn't. He was going to die and...
	"Fuck off, bitch!"
	Ranma gasped and fell forward. He looked up. Nabiki was in front of them
now, her hand extended outward. Ranma could see it. He could see the fear in
front of her. It was like a cloud of poison. Nabiki hissed between clenched
teeth. "I can't... I can't hold it forever. GO!"
	"Nabiki," Ranma stood up. "If something attacks you... you can't affect
those mannequins."
	"If I move, it will escape," Nabiki looked at the others, who were just
now regaining their feet. "This is my fight, Ranma. Go find yours. Find this
bitch. Put her out of her misery!"
	Ranma looked at her. Seven years ago, they had become engaged. It had
been a false engagement. A thing arranged by their families that neither of them
had wanted. Back then, she had been like an enemy to him. But now, they were
friends. He would never love her the way he did Minako. But this woman had
become one of his important people. He put a hand on her shoulder.
	"Nabiki, don't you dare die on me!" he ordered.
	Nabiki smirked. "Saotome, I plan to live forever."
	He nodded and then sprinted into the castle, the others on his heels.

*

	Hotaru was tired.
	The air here was thin. It smelled of dust. The cold here was so intense
that even her undead bones were being leeched of their warmth. The light was dim
and flickered fitfully. Everything in this place was fading. There was no drama
to it. There was no spectacular rift, no massive swirling cosmic spectacle of
destruction. There was nothing to this place, nothing at all.
	Just a slow, encompassing sense of fatigue. The end of world was so soft
it could hardly be called a whimper. Hotaru clenched her hand around the handle
of Dylek.
	The sword shifted slightly, its massive bulk rumbling in the grey and
hollow earth. The spirit that had once been within the blade had dimmed so much,
been so consumed by Oblivion, that it could barely be called alive any more. It
responded to her will now, but it did so without emotion or thought. Hotaru
envied it.
	How much better this world would be, how much easier to endure if she
simply did not feel. If she was a mindless creature, a tool of God, that killed
what He said to kill and made no thought of it, then she would not have to
endure this. This waiting.
	She felt His presence within her. She slumped slightly, the pressure of
Him filling her up almost to bursting. She felt His awareness on her mind. And
her mind shrunk back from him, like it always had. Like it always would. He was
so... so MUCH. Every time He came to her, she was surprised that the utter
presence of Him did not erase her. The slightest brush of His soul against hers
threatened to eradicate Hotaru Tomoe much like Hotaru had eradicated Dylek.
	But then He was gone. Patience. Always patience. She had to wait. She
had to be strong. She had to stand longer. She had to endure. She had to endure
the hunger. The burning need in her throat, the ache in her heart. The desire to
feed. She had to endure the pain. The ripping, tearing force of Paradox inside
her. The constant build-up as He worked His will upon the world. He could not
risk bringing His full power to bear. She would shatter like an egg if He did
that. He was forced to work through coincidence, through chance, through Destiny
and Fate and all those other things. Even doing that built up enough Paradox
that Hotaru had long since forgotten what it was like to not be in agony.
	But most of all, she was tired.
	Her eyes opened and she looked out across the blasted emptiness that was
once Elysium, the world of dreams. From here her gaze could follow the entire
world. The fitful sparks of soullights shone like fireflies, rising from the
ash-grey ground and hovering for a moment before succumbing to the terrible
gravity of this place again.
	She could feel the struggle in the world. Every soul engaged in the
battle was pushing hard. Their hopes and fears and struggles burned bright in
the bleakness. But the brighter they burned, the shorter they would last.
	"I wonder if they would fight so hard if they knew the truth?"
	"Kalia," Hotaru said, her voice carefully neutral.
	The chaos puppet floated next to Hotaru. Of course, she hadn't been here
a moment ago. But in this place, the walls of reality were mere suggestions.
Hotaru was neither surprised nor particularly annoyed by the thing's presence.
She wondered idly if Kalia would be irked by that. Did it realise how little
Hotaru thought of it? Did it care? Did it even have a mind, or just a twisted
sort of programming?
	"You sound so happy to see me, big sister!" Kalia gushed, floating
around in front of her. She was lying with her head across her wrists, kicking
her legs idly.
	"Why did you come here?" Hotaru asked.
	"I just dropped by to be annoying," Kalia said with a giggle. She
rotated, now miming lying on her back. "Little sisters do that." She floated
back away from Hotaru.
	"Very well," Hotaru replied, and turned her attention away. She looked
out and found the one spark she was most interested in. It was no brighter, no
stronger than any of the others, really. But where each of those sparks
resembled a single light, this one seemed oddly double. If Hotaru were to
compare it to anything, it would be to the ouroboros. It flickered fitfully now,
dimming by visible degrees as she watched.
	"What would you do if she died?" Kalia asked suddenly. She appeared
behind the spark, cupping her hands around it. "What if she was simply...
snuffed out?"
	"She will live," Hotaru assured her. Kalia grinned, closing her hands
around the bright spark. Hotaru did not react. She simply stared. Then just as
the empty puppet's hands began to enclose the spark, she hissed and pulled them
back.
	"Ouchie..." Kalia murmured and sucked on her fingers.
	"There is nothing you can do to Ukyou," Hotaru told her. Kalia giggled,
her voice echoing obscenely across the empty landscape.
	"You still didn't answer my question," Kalia said, wagging a finger at
Hotaru. "What would you do, if this all fell apart?"
	Hotaru didn't respond. She didn't trust the words that would come out of
her mouth. Because the truth was that if His plans for Ukyou came apart now...
it would be over. It would just all be over. All this rotting flesh, all this
burning hunger, all this empty pain.
	All the meaningless, excessive, juvenile sadistic struggle. All the
empty promises. All the lies and deceit. All the shattered dreams. All the empty
hopes. The wretched worthless struggle to just go on and on and on... with no
end, no reward. Ever.
	It would just be over. It would be done with. He would scatter this
world like ash in the wind.
	"You are trying to provoke me," Hotaru informed the thing. "It will not
succeed."
	The girl-thing rose to her feet, stretching her arms to the side. And
she danced. Back and forth, swaying to a rhythym only she could hear and with no
discernible beat. "Imagine it, Hotaru, if it all just stopped."
	Hotaru didn't reply. She could feel Him, distant now. He was busy. So
many things had come to a climax, so many threads of the tapestry he was weaving
coming together at once. He needed all His attention there. Hotaru could feel
the empty, angry pain of Paradox fill her like a gentle trickle as He tugged on
the strings of Fate and Chance. She realised this was why Kalia was talking to
her now.
	Hotaru smiled, a thin and sad smile. "Say what you have to say. Your
time is almost up."
	Kalia stopped and glared at her. Then she shrugged it off and smiled
herself, a smile devoid of sanity. "All this fighting, Hotaru. It's meaningless,
don't you agree?" Hotaru made a noise that might have been agreement. "If only
they knew. If only they knew that all their power, all their endless strength
and struggle, was just a game. If they knew how many times they failed, how many
mighty hero Ranmas had to die so that one of them could strike the final
dramatic blow. If they knew how many Nabikis had to go insane so one of them
could peek into the mind of another. If they knew how many lives were lost, over
and over and over again.
	"They wouldn't want to play that game anymore, would they?"
	"So that is the difference between you and them?" Hotaru mused. "They
have fooled themselves into thinking their struggle has meaning. You have fooled
yourself into thinking it does not."
	Kalia blinked. Then she chuckled. "Touché." She floated back, curling
and uncurling her fingers in front of her hand. "I just want to play the game
too, in the end." Her white teeth flashed in the fading light. "I just want
someone to play with me. Why don't you play with me?"
	"Because my purpose is here," Hotaru replied.
	"Of course." Kalia laughed, a full blown body-shaking maniacal laugh.
"You are the end." She stopped abruptly and looked at Hotaru. "I... I guess I'll
just have to settle for being the Trigger of Destruction."
	And with that, she was gone. Hotaru hadn't seen her leave. It was hard
to tell if she had ever even been there. Perhaps Hotaru had only seen what she
wanted to see. Something to distract her, for a few moments. To keep her from
looking out across the endless expanse of the world. To see what she saw now.
	All the worlds stretched out before her. That was His gift to her. She
saw it all, all the many worlds. She saw all of the failures, all of the death
and misery and misfortune of all the people of the world. Every victory, every
triumph was so empty. There were so many ways that it failed, that everything
went wrong.
	So Hotaru closed her eyes and leaned up against the mindless husk of
Dylek again. She was left alone at the edge of Oblivion. Alone with the silence,
and the dust and the gradual inexorable fading of the light.
	She was so tired.

*

	It couldn't end like this.
	She wouldn't let it end like this.
	Ukyou was surprised with how quickly she reacted. Her hands released the
Silence Glaive and latched onto Alucard's jaw. The needle-teeth had pierced her
neck, but not ripped it in two. She strained, barely holding the vampire at bay.
Even that was not enough to prevent his tongue from luridly slithering between
her fingers, licking away the blood oozing from her wounds.
	Then she tried to ghost out, phasing up into the body of Pharaoh 90.
That would have saved her from any other vampire in this situation. But Alucard
was no ordinary vampire. With nothing more than a chuckle, he never even
loosened his deathgrip as he too sunk into the flesh of the planet-eater with
her.
	Oh fuck, he could phase through matter?
	"Of course I can, have you forgotten already?" Alucard's voice seemed to
whisper from right beside her ear.
	"Get out of my mind!" Ukyou screamed. Alucard winced slightly, but
tightened his arms around her. They were falling deeper and deeper into the
planet now. There was no light here. No way to tell if they passed through solid
rock or vast caves within the behemoth. They were floating through empty
darkness. There was nothing there but each other.
	"You know I can't do that," Alucard purred into her mind. His grip on
her neck tightened. She whimpered a bit as the teeth dug deeper into her. "You
said that together we could fight God?" He chuckled. "No, Ukyou. But I can hit
Him where it hurts. I can destroy you, and ruin everything He has made. I can
pay Him back for this world of misery and hate. I can make it right."
	"Don't try and make this sound noble," Ukyou growl. She felt faint. He'd
managed to tag her artery, she realised. Not all the way, or she'd be dead
already. But she was bleeding out. "You're not doing this for anybody but
yourself. This is revenge."
	"Perhaps it is," Alucard murmured. "But don't you deserve it?"
	"Fuck you." Ukyou needed to think of something. She and Aaron were
struggling, trying to find some way out of this. But they needed every bit of
concentration, all the chi and magic they could summon to fight off Alucard's
implacable grip.
	"You've said it yourself, Ukyou, or Aaron, or whatever you prefer to
think of yourself as," the vampire said lightly. His eyes flashed with
amusement. "You don't have what it takes to be God. That's what it would take to
defeat Him. To fight the Nameless, you must become Him. But you don't want that,
Ukyou. You've fought against it all your life, haven't you?"
	It was impossible to tell where they were anymore. It was all darkness.
The vampire clung to her, pressing himself up against her obscenely. She felt
disgust and fear rising in her throat and the emotions only made Alucard laugh.
	"Aaron, such a useless person. Never having the slightest hint of
ambition. He had an iron will to accomplish what he set out to do, but never any
goal worth accomplishing. And Ukyou, with so many noble goals. An entire future.
But never the will to do what was necessary. You erased yourself, erased the
girl Ukyou when you thought you had lost what you really wanted. When things got
tough, you crumbled. And then, when you found Ranma again, you gave up on even
your dreams of vengeance." He chuckled. "And him. You have nothing you wanted,
Ukyou. Where is your restaurant? What happened to your happy life with Ranma? Do
you even care about separating from Aaron anymore?"
	She wanted to reply, but her vision was dimming. Her grip was slipping.
If she let go, he'd tear her throat out. She would die here, in the dark. Alone.
	"No..." She groaned, and managed to push Alucard's fangs back. He
tightened his grip around her shoulder. Her bones felt like they were being
ground together. She pushed harder.
	"Even now, you're not actually fighting FOR anything, are you?" Alucard
hissed into her mind. "Just mindless struggle against the darkness. You react to
this world. You make pretty speeches about how you've changed. How you've taken
your destiny into your own hands, but they are hollow and empty. You are empty.
Your life is a string of meaningless battles against great men and women."
Alucard's eyes narrowed. "Like Integra."
	Ukyou's eyes narrowed. "So that's it... Alucard?" Aaron smiled. His
fingers began to dig into Alucard's jaws, pulling them back further. "That's the
truth."
	"What are you talking about?"
	"This is about vengeance too," Aaron said, his voice level. Somehow, he
and Ukyou were growing in strength. They were pushing Alucard back, inch by
inch. The vampire was clawing at their shoulders, trying to hold on. "But not
against the Nameless. This isn't about "God" at all. This is about you. This is
about the woman you dedicated your life to." Ukyou and Aaron screamed and gave
one last push, flinging Alucard back. "The woman I led to her death!"
	"This has nothing to do with that!" Alucard snarled, and hurtled
through the darkness at them. Ukyou clutched her neck with one hand and leapt
upward. She wasn't certain what she was leaping off of, but it was there.
Alucard's fingers brushed against her heel, but then she was past him. In a
geyser of purple sparks she emerged atop the malevolent planet. Alucard oozed up
from the ground in front of her. He hissed.
	"You talk a big game about being a monster, Alucard, but you're just as
human as the rest of us," Aaron continued.
	"Please. You know what I'm capable of," Alucard said with a frown.
	"What? All those flashy undead tricks?" Aaron chuckled. "It's just
power, Alucard. Anyone can have power. Ranma can run up a smooth wall of solid
ice, and he's still human. Nabiki can rearrange your brain like a Rubik's cube,
and she's still human. Pluto, Setsuna, can stop the flow of time itself... and
she is human, too."
	"There is a difference between me and them!" Alucard roared and came in.
Aaron sensed his attacks before they even began. Ukyou danced between them. She
felt her power returning to her. All the energy drawn from the Third Circle hole
the Nameless had drilled into her was rejuvenating her.
	"No, there isn't." Ukyou whispered she slipped past his guard, sliding
just to the side of his body and coming to a stop behind him. "You want to
believe there is. You revel in it. In your vampire nature. But that doesn't make
you not human. You kill and you rape and you turn everything you touch to ashes,
and that doesn't make you not human." Ukyou smirked, dodging another blow. "You
think there aren't human madmen?" Alucard just missed tagging her with a
haymaker. "You think there aren't thousands of people just like you in this
world?" She leapfroged over a clumsy charge. "Abusive husbands. Serial rapists.
Hatemongers and robber barons and war profiteers. You're just another version of
human scum."
	"SHUT UP!" Alucard spun towards her, roaring and frothing.
	Ukyou snapped her hand out and the Glaive appeared. She slipped
backward, her body bending so his grabbing hands brushed within inches of her
neck. Then she came to a stop behind him.
	"In the end, Alucard, I don't need to fight for a high ideal," Ukyou
informed him. "I'm a human being. I fight for the things I hold precious to me,
just like you do." She rose to her feet. "You once said that only a real human
could defeat you in the end, and you were right. But you forgot about the human
in your own heart." She turned to face him. "It was that humanity that destroyed
you."
	Alucard was dissolving. The slash had perfectly bisected him from crown
to sternum. He was turning to ash from the inside out, and the ash was being
carried away by the wind. "Well played," he gasped. "Remember that lesson. It is
the only thing that may save you from the Nameless..."
	And then he was gone.

*

	Tethys materialised and grabbed Fevrier from behind, holding her in a
full nelson. The eagle-winged woman screamed and struggled, trying to throw
herself at Gyro. The mad demon was laughing, his head thrown back. He was
exulting.
	"Let me go!" Fevrier screamed, her voice hoarse. Tears flowed from her
eyes. "Let me GO!"
	"You'll only get yourself killed," Tethys answered levelly. The hybrid
youma-martial artist was very powerful, much more than Tethys had actually hoped
for when she had begun experimenting with this process. But compared to Tethys,
she was still a mortal. She may as well have struggled against the bottomless
depths of the Pacific.
	"It doesn't matter," Fevrier insisted through grit teeth. "I have to
HURT that bastard!"
	"Your hatred only makes him stronger," Tethys advised.
	"Then I hope he chokes on it!" Fevrier screamed.
	"Come now, Queen of Darkness," Gyro said, beckoning with his sword. "Let
her fight me. The seconds it shall take me to end her misery will give the rest
of you a few more moments of life in this world." He howled in laughter. "It's
all you can hope for now."
	Purgstall floated down beside the two of them. "Is there another plan?"
he asked.
	"No," Tethys said grimly. "Mamoru's magic bullet is our only hope."
	Purgstall glanced at her. She kept her expression grim and focused on
Gyro. She could only hope he picked up on the hint. She dared not say anything
else. Gyro was far too clever. Tethys had hoped that Io's telepathy could keep
them out of his reach, but there was no such luck. His powers were just too
great for any mere hybrid to defeat.
	"Purgstall, we only have one chance left." Tethys continued to hold
Fevrier. "We need to kill Gyro in one blow. He must have no chance to survive.
You are the next most powerful being to me, and capable of generating more raw
power. Can you do it?"
	"A bolt of that magnitude..." Purgstall nodded. "But there would be no
way for me to guide it. He could avoid it with ease."
	"Don't worry about that." Tethys looked down at Fevrier. "I'll take care
of it when the time comes." She looked back. "You three," she said to a group of
hybrids, "take care of her."
	She threw Fevrier at them. The huge green-clad man caught the winged
woman, holding her down. Everyone was here now, having come out of hiding. With
Gyro's display of power, everyone now knew hiding was futile. Good, they would
all get to see this.
	Tethys refused to smile. It was time not only to win this battle, but
far more importantly, it was time to win the next as well.
	Behind her she could feel Purgstall gathering up his power. The storm
around them would serve as a massive energy field for him. He stretched up his
hands, calling more and more lightning into the area. Soon the area was lit up
like noon. The air overhead was literally incandescent with the power Purgstall
was building up.
	Tethys floated closer to Gyro, conjuring up another ice lance. She
floated up and to the side, putting herself between him and a crumbled piece of
what had once been a stadium. Gyro followed her, holding his corrupt black blade
at the ready.
	"Your stubborn struggle begins to bore me," Gyro said with a needle-
toothed smile. "It is time to end this."
	Tethys needed one last distraction. Something, anything, to hold his
attention for a fraction of a second. Then a miracle happened. Pharaoh 90
screamed.
	It was a roar that rippled through the entire city. It tore into their
minds. It exploded across the entire Earth. Tethys flashed forward. Gyro had
looked up, just the slightest glance. It was enough. His sword snapped out,
parrying her ice lance with ease.
	"Adrasteia, now!" Tethys screamed.
	Behind her, a woman threw off a black cloak. Magic and mystic martial
arts combined had made her almost invisible. Her and the man she had grabbed out
of the path of danger at the very last second. Mamoru was already aiming.
	The retort of his rifle going off was nothing compared to the scream
from overhead. Tethys felt the bullet flash through her shoulder. It tingled,
but did no real damage. Then it slammed into Gyro's forehead. Directly into his
zoacrystal.
	He screamed as the crystal exploded out from his head in a fountain of
yellow and silver shards. "Purgstall!" Tethys roared, knocking Gyro's nerveless
hand away. She drove her lance into Gyro's chest.
	Purgstall roared and unleashed the lighting. It came down, a bolt of
destruction worthy of Zeus or Thor, a single arc of electricity almost a hundred
meters across. Tethys stuck her hand up and into it.
	Water conducts electricity, as she knew well.
	The current surged through her, snapping down her arm, across her chest
and down her other arm. It flowed through her lance, right into Gyro. Right into
his dark beating heart. All the power of the storm, channelled all at once.
Gyro's mouth opened and light exploded out from it. His eyes shone from the
inside. The crater in his forehead sparked and surged. His body galvanised,
twitching like an insect pinned to the ground.
	"No... this... this cannot be!" Gyro's voice roared out over the
explosion. Tethys could barely hear him. Her body couldn't take much more. The
lightning was ripping her apart. "I am... immortal! I am... invincible! I am a
law, unto myself!"
	"All laws exist to be broken," Tethys managed to gasp, before letting
the last of the energy flash through her body. Gyro exploded. He simply ceased
to be, his body ripped apart. His form was swallowed up in the dreamstuff,
vanishing into chaos. Tethys grinned.
	Then darkness took her.

*

	Once upon a time...
	That was how the story always started, wasn't it? Once upon a time,
there was a prince in an ancient castle. Once upon a time, there was a princess
on the moon. Once upon a time, there was a witch. Once upon a time, there was a
place where dreams came true. Once upon a time.
	And for every once upon a time, there was supposed to be a happily ever
after. That was just how the story ended. Except it didn't, did it? Not really.
	Usagi was mainly unconscious, but she was aware enough to know she was
dying. She had lost so much of herself. She had lost everything. How could she
continue on?
	She had family, once upon a time. She had a father who worried too much
and mother who nagged too much. She had an annoying little brother who was
nothing but a pain. But she had sent them away, far across the sea. They would
be safe without her. She had protected them.
	She had friends, once upon a time. Friends she loved with all her heart.
Friends she would have died for. Friends she would have given anything to keep
from hurting. She had listened to Akio, and driven them from her life. It was
for their own good. She had protected them.
	She had dreamed she'd had love, once upon a time. He had been a man in a
mask, a man she still didn't even know the real face of. But that dream had
faded. She had found a new face. The devil's face. He had never once claimed she
could trust him. He had never asked to be saved. But she had set out to save
him, and his sister. She had thrown herself into his world knowing full well the
mistake she was making.
	She just hadn't cared.
	And so, she had lost everything.
	Then someone had come for her. A golden knight. She couldn't see who it
was at first. She barely saw anything now. The world was dimming all around her.
But the knight had shown up just as the monsters had loomed large. The knight
had struck down the monsters and taken her into her arms.
	It had been Minako.
	Was this some dream? Was her mind conjuring this knight out of her own
guilty conscience? She had driven away Minako. She had tried to 'protect' her
like she had the others. And she had, in her arrogance, pushed away the voice
that was telling her to think. To look at herself and see what she was doing. To
look down at the void she was flying over, just waiting for gravity to catch her
and drag her down.
	Her mind faded in and out. She was vaguely aware of being taken
somewhere. She could hear Minako's voice, catch bits and pieces of words. The
woman had sounded worried, sounded scared. But her words were comforting. She
was telling her it was going to be okay. She was going to live. She would
survive.
	She saw the world they travelled through in brief flashes. She saw a
world in chaos. A world falling apart. She saw a wall of water descending
through the city. She saw the sky burn like fire. She saw green light swirling
madly above them. And, just as they had approached the city, she had seen
something coming down from that sky. Like a massive eye, the eye of God...
	Then she had faded away. She was aware that something important was
happening, something she should be awake for. But she had no strength. She was
spent. For an agonising moment pain had spiked through the numbness that had
settled over her. She felt arms tighten around her. She heard people scream her
name.
	Then the pain had faded, and the numbness returned. But now, now she
could see a bit. She was aware a little bit. She was being held gently. Someone
was crying, their hot tears falling onto her cheeks. She wanted to comfort them.
She wanted to take away their pain.
	Except that wasn't the way it worked. There was no happily ever after.
There was no magic princess who could make everything right. She had been a fool
to believe that.
	And many, many kilometers away, she felt herself die. She gasped, her
back arching. It felt like the bullet had smashed through her own chest. She
felt the Ginzuishou, the almighty Silver Crystal, shatter. And somehow she knew
that he was responsible. The man in the mask she had once loved had killed her.
	She smiled. She wanted to thank him.
	"USAGI!" a voice screamed.
	"I can save her." It was Akio's voice. She recognised that voice. She
would recognise that voice forever. It had burned into her mind. It was like the
smell of him, the touch of his warm flesh, the colour of his eyes... it was him.
It was all part of him. "If you let me do this, I can save her."
	She wanted to hate him, but found she was incapable. She was dead. She
knew she was dead. Something held her here. But it wouldn't for long. She was
going to fade away. No force under heaven could hold her here forever.
	She wanted to hate him, but knew she never could. Perhaps it just wasn't
a part of her. Even now, with the world ending, with everything being lost
because of her arrogance and his ambition. Even now, she couldn't hate him. She
needed to make things right.
	She was dying. There was nothing she could do. She had fallen. Akio held
her sword. Her Star Seed had been shattered. She was gone. There was no magic.
There was no salvation. God would not save her. He wanted her destroyed. She
didn't know how she knew that, but she knew. Perhaps now, as she was floating at
the edge of death, she could finally begin to see the truth.
	She saw it all. Stretching out back so many years. She saw the all, the
Oversoul. She saw it stretching back and back, forever and ever back before the
beginning of time. From it, all the souls came. Every life, every mind was born
of it. And of it, all things returned. Each child, each world, each universe was
born of the Oversoul and to it they would always return.
	And there was a sickness in it. A darkness, an emptiness. Like a cancer
it ate away. Paradox. When a soul failed to return to the Oversoul, it became a
part of the sickness. It was ripped free of the all, and became nothing but
emptiness and hate. It struck out, finding more and more victims and dragging
them with it.
	Except one. It hid. It hid outside the Oversoul, outside the universes.
It was too large to fit inside anymore. It had grown too huge. Its endless
infinity was beyond comprehension. It could not touch the Oversoul, because its
touch was too large. If it did, the Paradox would find it. It would make it
suffer. It would drag it down into darkness.
	It sat apart from all the worlds. It looked upon all that was, and it
desired. It wanted in, but it could never achieve that desire. It was too huge.
Its very presence would tear everything apart. So it searched, and it searched,
looking for that right combination... that impossible combination...
	Usagi's eyes snapped open. She gasped. Minako looked down at her.
"Usagi...?" her voice was choked with pain.
	"Minako... I'm so sorry..." Usagi moaned.
	"She's awake..." Akio mused. "It's no matter. Her fate is sealed." The
fallen prince moved slightly. "Hate me if you will for what I did to her, for
what I let her do to herself, but you have to realise that I am her only hope."
	"We won't let you win, you bastard!"
	Was that Ami? It was. And Makoto, too. They stood proud, in the Senshi
uniforms once more. Rei, Sailor Mars, stood with them. They stood between Akio
and the Rose Gate.
	Always the gate. The symbol of that which was beyond. The final barrier.
Now Usagi had seen beyond it. She had seen what was on the other side. And it
was great and awesome. It was terrible and hungry. There was no salvation beyond
the Rose Gate.
	"You have no more time, girls," Akio told them. "Anthy, let them see the
world." Usagi only noticed the cyclone of swords as it vanished. The Swords of
Hate slowly faded, one by one, to reveal the world.
	It was terrible.
	Above them loomed a monstrous thing. A planet, massive beyond all
meaning of the word. It spread from horizon to horizon, curving gently up and
away from them. Great tendrils, thick and grey, swirled from its titanic form.
Usagi could see one of them where it had smashed into the Earth in the near
distance. It was like someone had smashed a mountain into the world, cracking
the crust of the planet. Storms raged. Lightning flashed. Thunder roared. Great
cyclones tore at the land. The ground began to quake.
	And all around them, for as far as the eye could see, was devastation.
It took Usagi a moment to realise they were back in Ohtori, because Ohtori was
all but gone. The buildings that had not been shattered by the storm had been
rent apart by the earthquakes. The people that had not died in the cataclysm,
had died in the chaos that flowed through the world.
	"This is your last chance, Sailor Senshi," Akio said. "This is
Armaggeddon. This is the end! This is what God wants! This is His judgement!" He
pointed the sword he had taken at the planet. "There is no saving the world from
this. It will rip this planet apart. Already Japan is no more. Every living soul
on the islands is dead, save for us and a few desperate people crouched in the
ruins of Tokyo waiting for the end. And the devastation grows. Tidal waves.
Earthquakes. Storms like you have never imagined. The very life force of the
planet, vanishing drop by drop.
	"There is no-one who can save you!" Akio brought his sword down swiftly.
"Except me. I was once God. I can be so again. Step aside and let me go to the
Rose Gate." He held out his hand imploringly. "I will become God, and I will
fight Him. I am not just the best choice, I am the only choice. I know what it
means to be God. I can fight Him on His own terms. I can WIN! Give your hope to
me! I will save us ALL!"
	The world suddenly shifted. A great crack shattered across the ground,
as if to punctuate his words. Minako screamed and lost her grip on Usagi as the
world shattered all around them. Only the Rose Gate was unaffected. Usagi landed
hard against the rock.
	"Save humanity! Save yourselves! Save Usagi!" Akio yelled over the roar
of the wind. Lightning crashed down nearby, sending up a geyser of dirt. "But do
it now!"
	"Damn you..." Minako snarled. She looked down at Usagi. "No. I won't do
it."
	"That's God talking-"
	"SHUT UP!" Minako screamed. "I won't let you win, Akio!"
	"Even if it means dooming the entire world?"
	"I don't believe that, I can't believe that!" Minako rose to her feet.
"I will not surrender, not even in the face of Oblivion! Because I have hope,
Akio. Hope. It's all we have to fight this, and I refuse to surrender as long as
I have it!"
	"Hope..." Rei murmured. Then, more forcefully, "We still have hope!
While there is fire in my heart, we have hope."
	"While there is breath in my lungs, there is hope," Makoto added.
	"While there is blood beating in my veins, there is hope," Ami added.
	Usagi's hand reached out. She had no strength, but she had hope. That
was what she had surrendered, she realised. What she had let Akio take from her.
She had believed so much, so much that she could save the world, that she had
lost hope. She had know that she could save the world, so there was no reason to
hope for it. And without the need for it, she had forgotten how to do it.
	But now she knew.
	"Akio..." Usagi climbed, unsteadily, to her feet. "There is still hope."
	Akio's eyes widened. She heard her comrades... no, her friends, her good
and true friends, she heard them gasp in shock. Luna stared at her. Anthy
stepped back, her expression stunned.
	"No..." Akio murmured. "How can you...?"
	"Have you forgotten, Akio?" Usagi asked, her voice sad. "What it is to
hope?" She staggered forward. But there was something she was reaching. She
could feel God. She could feel His anger.
	The storm ripped through the arena. The earth in front of her cracked.
Lightning struck less than a meter away. Makoto gasped and made to run for her,
but Rei and Ami held her back. Usagi kept walking.
	"And Anthy, I'm so sorry..." She looked at the girl. "I thought you
needed saving. But I was wrong. You always had it in you to save yourself." She
started towards the girl. "Can you forgive me, for my arrogance? For thinking
that I could fix you?" She chuckled. "Because I can't give you hope, Anthy.
That's something you have to give yourself. Neither me, nor God, nor Akio can
take that away. No amount of torment or punishment can take it away. While you
still live, there is hope."
	"No... that isn't true..." Anthy murmured. She was holding a sword. The
sword of Paradox. It was her burden, the one she had accepted willingly to save
her brother. The one that could never be taken from her, the torment that would
continue eternally, no matter what.
	She knew that to be true.
	But she had hope.
	Behind her Usagi heard a loud crack. Akio gave out a strangled gasp.
"The Gate!" Rei shouted. Usagi didn't look behind her, she just kept walking
towards Anthy. With each step, there was another crack.
	"NO!" Akio screamed. He pulled back his hand and cast away the sword. He
threw it into a crack into the earth. It fell and fell, vanishing into a rising
pool of steaming magma.
	But Usagi didn't stop. It was like the world was opening up before her.
She could see it all, see how it all connected. She understood. And she knew
that, in the end, it was meaningless. That even this final epiphany was useless,
because in the end she would just start the cycle again.
	She could feel the Paradox building. Every step she took. Every crack
that formed in the Rose Gate. Every word she said. She was defying everything
now, and the Paradox would come. It always came. That was the price of the
ultimate power. The price of being God, even for just a moment.
	She reached Anthy, and her hands wrapped around the girl's wrists. She
looked into the Rose Bride's shaking green eyes. "You never really lost hope,
Anthy. You have always had it inside you." Usagi smiled. "You hope that Akio
will one day smile at you, and mean it. You hope that one day, he will love you
again." Anthy just stood there, stunned into silence.
	"But he doesn't, does he?" Usagi asked. Anthy nodded mutely. "But that
hasn't stopped you from hoping. That hasn't stopped that secret part of your
heart. You hid it away, because it hurt too much, more than any torture. But you
could never get rid of it entirely. Because a person without hope can never
truly be hurt. Isn't that right?" Anthy nodded again, and as she did her eyes
began to water. Tears leaked down her cheeks.
	"You don't have to punish yourself anymore, Anthy," Usagi told her. She
could hear them coming now. The Swords of Hate. The Rose Gate gave one final
great crack, then it shattered, falling in a cloud of dust. Every grain of dust,
every tiny bit of it, became a sword. They swooped up and around, streaming
through the broken sky towards Usagi. "Let yourself feel hope."
	Anthy looked up at the swords. They paused, hanging in mid-air. Their
tips seemed to quiver, shifting minusculely. It was like they couldn't make a
decision. Usagi ran her fingers up until she was clutching Anthy's hand, the one
wrapped around the sword she carried.
	"Believe."
	Anthy let go.
	The swords came down like rain. Usagi didn't scream out as the first
buried itself in her shoulder. Nor did she cry out when the next pierced her
hip. She turned and started to walk. The swords came and came. She heard Anthy
fall back.
	"No... USAGI!" Anthy screamed. "What have you done?"
	"Nothing," Usagi replied, her words clipped. They just kept coming. She
could feel each of them slide into her. She could feel her body being torn to
shreds. She kept walking.
	"Usagi, no, don't do it!" Minako called out. "You don't have to do this!
This isn't what I wanted!"
	"Usagi!" Rei cried, tears falling from her eyes.
	Makoto could not force herself to look. Ami choked, falling to her
knees. Usagi kept walking.
	Akio waited for her. Where could he run? He looked down into her eyes.
"You have come to punish me?" he said, softly.
	"No, Akio." Usagi staggered towards him. She could barely walk now. The
pain was intense. She had no idea. She had taken it all. All the Paradox, all
the centuries of torment. She had just taken it away from Anthy. But it had to
go somewhere. Paradox refused to be destroyed. It just kept building. There was
no escape from it.
	But she had hope.
	"I just wanted to hold you, one last time..." she murmured. She wanted
to hate him, but she could not. She fell forward, and he caught her. There was
still enough of the Prince in him to do that. "I... love... you..." she gasped
out.
	"Usagi..." He turned his head away. "You aren't going to kill me?"
	"No..." She gasped. "But Anthy has lost her powers now, Akio." She
smiled. "She has lost the Paradox. I took it from her. You are no longer
eternal. It's over, Akio. I can't save you, but I can give you one last chance
to save yourself. Find hope, Akio. Please, for me..."
	Usagi gave one last breath. Then her body dissolved, until there was
nothing but a vague shadow among the swords. Then the swords themselves
vanished, one by one. Then there was nothing.

*

	Akira entered the castle last. She was walking on autopilot. She was
drifting. Her heart was racing so fast, she could barely hear the individual
beats. But outside she was calm, collected. She moved simply and easily.
	There was pain, of course. Ukyou was still fighting, still drawing upon
the Third Circle. The Paradox felt like every torture ever imagined, all at
once. She felt like her skin was being flayed off. She felt like her intestines
were burning. She felt like her bones had shattered and her blood had turned to
glass. Her lungs breathed in acid and her eyes were being stabbed through with
sharp needles.
	But for some reason, it didn't seem to be affecting her as much as it
should have. She should have been on the ground, wailing. But instead she was
walking, following Ranma and the Quartet into the core of the beast. It was like
her mind had a certain capacity to experience pain and it had simply been pushed
beyond that. She felt oddly detached. Like the pain was happening to somebody
else.
	For the moment, she was thankful.
	Neherenia was waiting for them. She sat on a throne of brass crow wings,
curtains of spidersilk waving around her. She was beautiful, in a horrific sort
of way. She had long black hair that shone with blue highlights, and a face of
sculpted artificial flawlessness. Her indigo eyes were slitted and her ears were
leaf-shaped. On her forehead was a trio of crescents, arranged in a triangle.
One of them was gold, another silver and the third black as pitch. She wore a
gown cut low on her chest and sat with a relaxed sensuality that made Akira
pause.
	Then she realised that Neherenia was not sitting. Her arm was not
draped across the arm of her chair, it grew from it. Her feet were not touching
the floor, but fused into it. Her hair was not wavering in the half-light, it
was the air itself, thick and blue-black. If you looked carefully, you saw past
the illusion.
	Neherenia was not there. Or more accurately, she was not only there. She
was also in the air, in the floor, in the walls and the ceiling and every other
part of this place. What sat on that throne was no more Neherenia than Akira was
her spinal cord.
	"Our Amazoness Quartet, you have returned to us." Neherenia voice echoed
strangely. It had an oddly baritone echo to it, considering her voice was high
and sharp, like a blade raised to strike. "We have hoped this day would come."
	"Mistress Neherenia..." the red-head, VesVes, said softly.
	"You look terrible!" PallaPalla said. The other three gaped at her.
Neherenia's eyes fixed on the blue-haired girl. "It's like you're not even there
anymore," the girl continued despite her sisters' frantic attempts to motion her
to silence. "You used to be beautiful and creepy and interesting. Now you're
just creepy."
	Neherenia's lips twitched upward. "In our old life, we would have
destroyed you for that." Akira noticed that her voice did not exactly sync up
with her lips. "But we have moved beyond an empty quest for beauty, child."
	"Yeah, yeah..." Ranma stepped forward, rubbing the back of his neck.
"This is the part where you tell us your sob story about how you've been trapped
in Oblivion for seven years and you've been driven insane and now you want to
destroy the world in the name of some bullshit or other and blah blah blah..."
He shrugged. "Can we just skip to the part where we kick your ass and save the
world?"
	Neherenia frowned and gestured imperiously. Ranma slid sideways as a
bolt of darkness erupted from a nearby shadow. It left a crater in the ground he
had been standing on. "I'll take that as 'yes'," Ranma said with a grin.
	The boy leapt forward, arcing through the air. Akira briefly considered
joining him, but something held her back. Earlier, when they had been arguing,
she had just gone with her first instinct. This time, she felt like she should
wait, so she did.
	To call it a battle would have been an exaggeration. Ranma dashed across
the room, avoiding a barrage of bolts. He reached Neherenia in the time it took
for Akira to blink. He roared and unleashed a punch, putting all his energy
behind it. There was a blue flash as his fist connected with the woman's skull.
	She exploded.
	Ranma stood in the centre of a meter-deep crater, breathing heavily. He
looked around warily. The Quartet shifted nervously.
	"Do you think a fist alone is strong enough to defeat us?" Neherenia's
voice, with its peculiar feminine/masculine quality, echoed across the chamber.
"I am this world. It is me and I am it. When Oblivion consumed us, we came
together in our pain. There is nothing your mortal strength can do to hurt us."
	"Worth a shot," Ranma said with a shrug. Then he skipped backwards as
another bolt of darkness leapt from the shadows. "I don't suppose you're one of
those villains insane enough to tell us your one true weakness, are you?"
	The voice laughed. "We cannot be killed, Ranma Saotome," it purred.
"Seven years ago, weakened by the battle between the two parts of ourself, we
were overcome by Oblivion.
	"Were we mortal beings like yourself, that would have been the end of
us, but it was not." The voice chuckled again. "We had ties to the outside
world. Even dragged down deep in the depths of that hellish nothingness, there
was something we could cling to."
	"The Amazon Stones," the green haired girl, JunJun, said slowly.
	"Clever girl." Neherenia faded out of a wall nearby. Ranma glanced at
her, his fingers flexing. He made no move to attack. "Long ago, when I-that-is-
Neherenia discovered you four, she gave you four magic stones. With those
stones, you could do magic. But through those stones I-that-is-Neherenia could
feed. Your beautiful dreams... so bright and powerful, were like fine wine. I-
that-is-Neherenia could glut on them and grow strong, and all you lost was your
age. You would forever stay the children you are, never growing or maturing in
mind or body. An even trade, you would have said."
	"Is that why you brought us here?" JunJun asked. "You want our
life force?"
	The Neherenia shaped thing smiled. "No, child. What need have we of your
small life force?" Then her eyes narrowed. "In fact, I curse you all for what
you have given us."
	"What?" CereCere, the pink-haired one, sounded shocked. "But we... we
saved your life!"
	"You have no idea, NO IDEA!" The room shook enough that Akira was forced
to alter her footing. "We were consumed by Oblivion, but we could not be lost in
it. The ties to your life force were too strong, your happiness too bright to be
lost entirely. So we were forced to live, always on the cusp of death, never
able to cross over. Seven years of existing as something-which-is-not!" She
reached a grasping hand towards the Quartet. "We called you here, so we could
destroy you personally. So that our nightmare of being one-who-is-both can end!"
	Akira watched as the woman unleashed a bolt of power. It was a thousand
times stronger, a thousand times faster than anything she had used against
Ranma. The Amazoness Quartet didn't stand a chance. They were caught in the
blast, vapourised instantly, screaming their last...
	Or that's what would have happened, had Akira not stepped between them.
She lowered her arms. The leather of her coat had been burned away by the
attack. The flesh was raw and bleeding underneath. But it was only pain. She
realised dimly that if she had gone with Ranma, she never would have been able
to intervene.
	"Akira Kazama..." Neherenia murmured. "I see now that you truly are the
fetich soul."
	"Akira, are you okay?" Ranma said, appearing beside her.
	"I'll live," Akira informed him. She laughed a little and waved her arms
a bit. Blood spattered on the floor. Ranma looked at her. His expression was
strange. He seemed... frightened. He couldn't be afraid of Neherenia, could he?
	"And Ranma Saotome," Neherenia said. "Two out of three." She smiled.
"Did you wonder why I let you two, of all those who came to visit, actually see
me?"
	"I figured it's because you're insane," Ranma murmured. Akira chuckled.
	"Because you are two of the three people in this world that Ukyou cares
about most." Neherenia held up her hand. The flesh seemed to ripple. It was the
air around it, and it wasn't as well. Akira felt her focus narrowing. At the
same time, she could see more things than ever. "Ukyou, who created the Well of
the Void, who created the sickening cancer of Oblivion. When she tore apart the
Destiny of Mamoru Chiba, her actions affected all the worlds. It was she who
destroyed the we-that-was." Her eyes flashed. "And you will suffer. She is
beyond my power, but you are not."
	Akira turned back to the Amazoness Quartet. "So long as you carry those
stones, Neherenia can not truly die." She turned back to the woman-thing. "I
won't let you do anything to hurt us."
	She started forward. Her heart was thudding in her chest. She could feel
the Paradox all around her. It was flooding her. It was ripping her apart. She
choked on it. She drowned in it. Neherenia backed up a step.
	"You can not stop me," Neherenia warned. "You are still just a fetich
soul. Nothing but a repository for pain and misery."
	"You're right." Akira felt her face splitting into a manic smile. "Allow
me to share that with you."
	She ran across the room, hands trailing behind her. Neherenia threw her
hand up and the world was full of black lightning. It smashed into and through
Akira, ripping out her torso and blowing her into ash... or it would have, had
Akira not slipped sideways at the last moment. Neherenia began to vanish,
escaping back into the nebulous darkness. But that didn't happen. Instead, Akira
managed to leap up and behind her. Her hand snapped firm around the woman's
throat.
	"How...?" Neherenia gasped as Akira put a bit of pressure on her grip.
Akira pulled her tighter. She was warm. Her body was close to female perfection.
Akira enjoyed the feeling of the struggling body against hers.
	"I can see you," Akira whispered into her ear.
	"W-what... what are you!?" Neherenia screamed.
	"I can make you die."
	Across the room there was a shared scream of frustration, then a series
of cracks. Like glass shattering against the floor. Akira twisted her hand once,
sharply. Neherenia could have survived any number of ways. She could have simply
dissolved her body, like she did against Ranma's attack. She could have ignored
the injury. Her body was the planet, and breaking this small part would be like
destroying a single brain cell to a human. She could have thrown Akira off. She
could have made her neck so hard Akira could not possibly have snapped it. She
could have done a thousand things.
	But instead, her neck snapped like a twig. Neherenia died. Pharaoh 90
died with her. Akira giggled, like a child devoid of innocence.

*

	"Really, I have to hand it to her. I certainly underestimated Tethys. I
suppose my only consolation is that I'm not alone in having done that." Chris
shook His head, a slight smile playing on His lips. "I almost want to see if she
can pull it off and live through the day. Of course, if she doesn't, neither
will much of anyone else on the planet."
	"And if she does pull it off?" Akane's voice was terse, barely
controlled. Her hands had clenched so hard while watching the destruction that
had befallen Japan that her nails had bitten into her palms. She didn't seem to
have noticed. "What then?"
	"Why, what she's wanted all along," Chris replied with a shrug. "It's
really quite clever. Her pet vampire kept the official American presence away,
and can't be traced to Tethys since she's been in an iceberg for the last five
years. Zoalord Purgstall played a large role in her victory, but Chronos'
deliberate inaction here and inability to protect Japan will have tainted their
public relations. Tethys is more than just a winner of the fight - now, she's
the undisputed saviour of the world." He tapped His cheek thoughtfully. "And
she's also now created a great army, one that fought under her command and are
permanently tied to her through their very souls. Most of them will eventually
join her. Her good public image is now unassailable; the Americans will have to
moderate their stance on her or be seen as petty as well as ineffectual.
Shadowloo is already her ally, and no other significant power is actively
hostile to her except the Vatican, who are similarly petty and ineffectual. If
she lives through today, many will flock to her banner. She'll make them all
immortal like she and her servants, and wait." He chuckled lightly. "That's the
beauty of her position, I suppose. She can take all the time she wants to take
over the world."
	"She sounds just like you," Akane said. Her voice was not so much
hostile as suddenly tired.
	"If you fancy all of humanity being turned into a weapon for her
personal revenge against Chaos, yes," Chris said. "She's not interested in
empowering humanity, Akane. She's going to use you, not free you."
	A long silence fell after His statement. Angel shifted her feet
uncomfortably. She still had no idea why Chris had abruptly summoned her. When
she had arrived, the climax of the great battle against Gyro and Pharaoh 90 had
been occuring. She, like Akane and Chris, had just watched. Angel couldn't help
but feel a bit of jubilation. She'd watched everyone fight, from Ukyou to Ranma
to Akira to the revived Rose to V - although a few minutes ago, the battles at
Ohtori and Pharaoh 90 had abruptly vanished from Chris's observations. Chris had
blinked at that, then shrugged it off.
	But what everyone had done in Tokyo... it had taken Angel's breath away.
She'd seen plenty of battles and been in a few herself, but nothing like that.
She wished that, somehow, she could have been down there.
	Of course, that wasn't possible. That battle was for the heroes. It
wasn't Angel's duty to participate. That didn't stop her from wanting to cheer
when they finally wiped out that bastard Gyro, though.
	"You shouldn't be so happy, Angel," Chris said.
	Angel blinked. "Wh-what?"
	"Certainly it was a great victory. But look at how many died to achieve
it. The people Gyro killed. The people Tethys drowned or let die. The people of
Japan. I don't think they're so happy, do you?"
	Angel stared, and then suddenly remembered that Chris could now listen
in on her thoughts as if she were shouting them. But then, hadn't she been
taught in childhood that her most private thoughts were an open book to God? She
felt her face flush. "I'm sorry! I know that was terrible..."
	Her words drifted off, as Chris had already turned back to Akane. "I
know you're horrified about what happened, Akane. This is exactly why I am doing
what I'm doing. Certainly, the theoretical good guys have won for now, but your
home country and much of the Middle East are devastated. Entire countries gone
in moments. And the day is not over. Arkanphel is still watching. Galaxia will
come. This was just the prelude. You see, Akane, why Ukyou is wrong? Maybe she
and her friends will survive, but there's no guarantee for the rest of humanity,
is there? They're not ready to handle this yet. They need time. And not Ukyou,
and not Tethys, can give them that time."
	Akane refused to meet his gaze. She turned her head away from him, her
face draining of colour. Her eyes squeezed shut as her jaw clenched tight. Her
entire body was trembling. Angel could tell the woman wanted to do something,
anything. But she was controlling herself. Tightly. Then, with a suddenness that
startled her, Akane seemed to deflate. Her shoulders slumped. Now she just
looked tired again. She was shaking her head softly, but saying nothing.
	Chris continued looking at her for a moment, then sighed. "I can see you
need more time as well. Well, Angel is here, like you asked-"
	"Like SHE asked?" Angel blurted.
	Chris smiled a bit at her. "Yes. I'm sorry I didn't explain when you
arrived. Akane wants to speak with you about me before she makes her decision."
	Angel stared at Akane, but the older woman wasn't looking at her,
either. She was just staring at the crystal wall. Maybe at the ravaged remains
of Japan that were still shown on several panels, maybe out into space. It was
hard to tell.
	 "I suppose I should let her, as time is growing short," Chris noted.
"Don't worry, I won't listen in on you two. I'm going to be in my private
chamber." He paused, glancing at the crystal screen. "But hurry, Akane. I'm
going to come back when Galaxia arrives. I'm not certain the planet can survive
her."
	"What will you do?" Akane said suddenly. She still wasn't looking at
Him.
	"Excuse me?"
	"What will you do, if I decide to go along?"
	Chris raised an eyebrow. "Whatever you want, Akane. I'm prepared to be
flexible here. This is so big a tragedy it's rather disheartening rather than
empowering, I think. So if you want, I'll change it. I'll send you to stop Gyro
before he takes the Silver Crystal. There will be no battle. Neither Japan nor
the Middle East will suffer devastation. Gyro will be defeated, and you can do
it rather than Tethys. Then, when Galaxia or Arkanphel come, you can defeat
them. Or somebody else, if you think someone else is trustworthy enough to bear
that responsibility..."
	"You could do that?" Angel said slowly. "Just like that?"
	"Of course I can," Chris replied. "Just like in the City of Black Ice.
'Time' is really just a word, when you get down to it. Just a limit. But I don't
have limits unless I want to, Angel. That's the difference between me and
everyone else."
	"All right, Chris, you've made your point," Akane said, finally turning
around. "But I still want to talk to Angel."
	Chris nodded. "Very well. But when Galaxia arrives, I'm going to act.
With or without you. I might be able to fix everything when she destroys Earth,
but it'll be considerably trickier than fixing this. I'm going to stop her
before she has a chance. And I think you want to make sure you're part of the
process when I decide who's going to get to stop her." When Akane said nothing,
Chris glanced at Angel. "So tell her whatever she wants to know, Angel. I'll see
you both soon."
	And then He was gone.



				To Be Continued...
Epsilon: Hey there! Welcome back after our one month hiatus!

Blade: Which would have had SOMETHING to tide you over if SOMEBODY had actually
done the work they PROMISED they would do.

Epsilon: (sweats) I hope you enjoyed this, the longest ever Hybrid Theory
chapter! Or, uh, "half" a chapter.

Blade: I'm sure they WILL, since they WON'T enjoy the THING that was SUPPOSED to
come out LAST month.

Epsilon: (more sweat) And hey, this chapter puts us well over one million words,
making us, I believe the longest running fanfic on all of fanfiction.net.

Blade: The longest running story on FANFICTION.NET, that is certainly an
ACHIEVEMENT.

Epsilon: Uh... are you feeling okay? That is actually an achievement.

Blade: I KNOW, but I can't STOP.

Epsilon: ...

Blade: ANYWAY, there's no PREVIEW this MONTH. This is because EVERYTHING WOULD
BE MASSIVE SPOILERS.

Epsilon: Yep, it's certainly not because the length of this monstrosity means
we're scrambling to catch up even after a month off and don't have enough to do
a preview with yet!

Blade: (GLARE)

Epsilon: (SWEAT)

Blade: SEE you next MONTH.

Epsilon: Or not! Anything can happen here at C&A Productions, after all!
Especially laziness!

*


		Hybrid Theory Chapter 29: Faint