And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints... Book of Revelations, 17:4-6 ------ Neptune buried her face in her hands as she began to cry. Uranus quickly hugged her, looking skyward where the demon and her daughter had disappeared from sight. "We have to get Mamo-chan" Sailor Moon declared, "We need Tuxedo..." "There's no time!" Mars answered, "We need to move now!" "She can't be all that tough," Venus thought out loud, "I mean, Minerva was able to..." "Minerva had to blow up a star cruiser to defeat her last time, remember?" Mercury broke in, "And star cruisers aren't exactly as common to come by as sci-fi films and anime would have you believe. Even with Usagi's Eternal Sailor Moon transformation, it might not be enough." "What if..." Jupiter began, "What if we were to try to combine the joint attacks, say Usagi's Moon Eternal Make-up transformation with the Sailor Planet Attack? Or the Sailor Planet Meditation?" Uranus, still holding Neptune, shook her head, "Do you honestly think that... that monster is going to just stand there and wait for you to power up a Sailor Planet Attack?" she asked, her voice harsher than she'd intended it to be. "What is the Sailor Planet Meditation?" Minerva whispered to Mars. "A combined attack." She whispered back, "We each call out our planet's name, then kneel while joining hands." Sailor Moon hung her head, "She's right." The princess said sorrowfully, "Remember in the fight with Kaolinite, Mamo-chan had to keep him occupied while the attack was charged up." "We'd need at least five minutes." Mars admitted, "And that's five minutes we won't have." Pluto, listening to the conversation, felt her heart sink. "Besides," the Time Senshi began, "We... don't even know... where she... took..." she couldn't get any more out before she too began to cry. Kihomi went to her love and was about to try to console her, when she thought of something. "Rei-san," she began as her eyes widened, "You said that everything I'd seen and experienced, it had all been real, right?" The priestess gave her a look, "Yes, why?" The Senshi of War and Wisdom's face lit up a bit, "Then I think I know where to look for Hotaru." ------ "Mmmm... Verrry nice..." one of the men in the group said as he looked down at the unconscious young girl bound in duct tape who was lying on the stone altar in the circle. He started to reach a hand out toward her chest, "A bit underdeveloped, but..." Marika angrily swatted his hand away, growling as she did so. Beniko came up behind her. "Fool!" the blond yelled, "The child was picked because of her purity, and here you are trying to rob her of it!" Just then, Professor Miyagawa came over. "Ladies, I beg you to reconsider." he began, "It's way too soon to use the machine again for..." "No! Now!" Beniko shouted as the others began to strip, "Even if all you have is enough juice for one minute, it has to be now!" ------ She could see the triangle again, smell the incense and candles, see the man in the lab coat operating the machine as the grotesque spectacle in the circle continued. Finally, just as before, she felt herself stop, and saw the redheaded demon roar angrily at her as she flew back, entering her own body again with a jolt. She opened her eyes as Pluto and Mars removed their gloved hands from their foreheads. Uranus face had turned white, as Sailor Moon and Mercury both looked sick. Neptune looked like she was in shock. "Kami-sama..." Mars gasped, "What kind of enemies are we facing?" "That machine!" Pluto said, "That thing was causing the time distortions, sending me off while they've been accessing the time gate." Sailor Moon took a deep breath to calm herself, "Everyone, join hands." she orders, "We have to do a Sailor Teleport." ------ "O ye Guardians of the West Gate, Lords of the Waters, we summon ye to protect this circle." the High Priest called out, thus sealing the circle. As the magus put the sword down and took up his dagger, the professor crossed his fingers and hoped his machine didn't blow up under the strain. The group began to whip themselves as Marika lowered herself on top of Beniko next to the altar. "We command you, open!" the High Priest shouted a short time later as the circle started to glow and a blue and purple mist began to swirl around the participants, "We command you dimensional gates, open! We command you, gates of time, open!" he cried as he held the knife above the still form of the sacrifice below him, "We..." "Stop!" All turned their attention to the speaker. Most of those present had long ago simply assumed the redhead was a mute, and were thus quite surprised to find her rising off her blond partner to yell for the ritual to stop. "Wha... What do you think you're doing?" the magus demanded angrily. "You can't just..." "Silence!" Marika ordered. Turning to look at her confused partner on the floor, the redhead smiled, "Koibito (beloved), do you remember that little contract we made?" Beniko was confused, "Wha... Well yes, but..." "The contract has been fulfilled." Marika declared. Beniko nervously got up to her feet. "What are you talking about?" she asked as the others in the circle looked around confused, "The contract was for the tenth Senshi to be trapped within the triangle and..." she was cut off by Marika's laugh. "Reread the contract." she said, "You asked for a Senshi to be trapped within a magical container. She," the redhead said, pointing at the young girl still unconscious on the stone slab, "Is a virgin sacrifice. She is also a Senshi." Marika's eyes widened in terror, "B... But it was always understood..." "You may have understood, dear. Unfortunately, all that matters is the writing of the contract. She is a Senshi, and she is being held captive in a magical container, this circle to be exact." Beniko slowly started to take a step back, "But... But I loved you. In order for me to give you my soul, I'd have to..." Marika frowned at the blond. Turning around, she grabbed the sword from the altar to the side of the stone sacrificial table and, with a quick swing, decapitated the High Priest. She then took the ritual dagger from his hand as he fell and flung it into Beniko's chest. As the blond sank to her knees, the ten other men and women in the circle tried to escape, but found that they couldn't escape the confines of the circle. Professor Miyagawa watched in horror from inside his circle drawn around the machine as the slaughter continued on for another minute and a half. The thing, now drenched with the blood of the others, looked down at the young Senshi. Energy released from the multiple deaths joined that of what was already raised, surrounding the demon with dark power. Once she killed the Senshi, the ten of them would never be able to unite against her. Before she could act out her plan, however, a glowing light suddenly lit up the warehouse. Seconds later, the Sailor Senshi were within the building. Sailor Pluto immediately directed her attention to the professor's machine as the others went after the circle. "Dead Scream!" the Time Senshi called out. Professor Miyagawa ran away, scared out of his wits as his machine blew up. Not seeing where he was going, he found himself bumping into something. Looking up, he saw a woman with green wavy hair staring at him angrily. Miyagawa was scared out of his wits, "I... I..." "Deep Submerge!" the woman screamed. The professor was slammed against a nearby support pillar with tremendous force, falling to the ground unconscious. She then turned her attention to the horrific scene within the circle. "Deep Submerge!" "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!" "Mars Flame Sniper!" Babylon began to laugh as each attack bounced harmlessly off the outer perimeter of the circle. She began to raise the sword above her head, unaware of the blond with the dagger in her chest who was slowly crawling toward the edge of the circle behind her. "War Arrows!" "World Shaking!" "Jupiter Oak Evolution!" The demon ignored the ineffective attacks as she looked down at the Senshi, "Die!" Babylon shouted, "Die, you filthy little..." "Guardians of the North Gate..." a weak voice whispered. Babylon turned around to see Beniko holding up her hand to the candle in the northern quarter of the circle, "I... release... you..." she said, collapsing as her arm fell outside the now opened circle. Babylon looked on in angry shock as all the magical energy raised began to dissipate out into the surrounding air. The sudden loss left her feeling temporarily weak. "War Arrows!" A yellow ball of energy containing dozens upon dozens of electric plasma arrows collided into Babylon, encircling and piercing through her even as its momentum knocked the sword from her hand and slammed her forward into the far wall some eighty feet away. The demon shook her head as she slowly got up. Minerva turned to Sailor Moon with a frighteningly intense look in her steel grey eyes. "You have five minutes." she declared, hoping her fear at what she was about to try to do didn't show in her voice. She then turned back to her old nemesis, "Great Shield!" "No!" Pluto yelled out, realizing what her love intended to do, "Wait..." But Minerva was by that time already moving. Babylon turned around just in time to have the wind knocked out of her as the Senshi crashed into her shield first with the force of a bullet train. The two collided through the brick wall as Babylon began to gather the dark force around her. Landing outside on the pier, derelicts and other bystanders ran for their life as the two began to fight. ------ "Kihomi!" Pluto shouted as Uranus ran to Hotaru, "Come back, you've never fought before as a ..." "No!" Sailor Venus interrupted, "She's doing this for us, to give us the time necessary for our attack. No matter what happens, we have to concentrate on the attack." Sailor Moon nodded grimly, adding, "We have to believe in her, Pluto." Sailor Pluto nodded numbly as Uranus removed the last of the tape from Hotaru and carried the child over to the others who were forming a circle. ------ "You killed my people!" Sailor Minerva screamed as she used her shield to hit Babylon in the side of the face, knocking her into a stop sign hard enough to bend the street sign over, "You destroyed my kingdom! You took everything from me!" she yelled as went to swipe with her shield again. The demon, now enveloped in darkness, blocked the swing as she struck out with a fist of her own. The blow knocked Minerva into a parked car twenty feet away, denting the side and knocking the wind out of the Senshi. "Been awhile since your last fight?" Babylon asked as she picked her up from behind. "Here, let me remind you how it's done!" she roared as she flung Minerva in the air with terrific force. The Senshi flew up and smashed into a billboard up on a commercial building, crashing through the wooden advertisement and dislocating her right shoulder in the process. As she landed hard on the building's roof, surrounded by wood splinters and chunks of plywood, she heard the demon land behind her, laughing. Sailor Minerva was seeing spots dance before her eyes. She raised herself up to her knees just in time for Babylon to kick her hard in the face. As the Senshi fell over from the blow, the thing grabbed her by the back of the hair. "Yes, I killed your people." she gloated, smashing Minerva's already injured face into the roof, "And I laughed as I heard their cries of fear and pain." she added, intending to once again slam the young woman's face into the hard surface. Unfortunately for her, however, Minerva had caught her breath by then. Bringing her shield up fast, she caught the demon off guard with an uppercut. As Babylon staggered back, Sailor Minerva rose to one knee as she brought both hands in front of her. "War Arrows!" she cried. The impact knocked the demon off the roof, down to the busy streets below. The thing landed on a sports car, leaving a blood-red stain behind as it bounced off and crashed through the glass windows of a jewelry store. Minerva turned away, quickly going over to the side of the billboard. Taking a deep breath, she slammed her right shoulder into it, crying out in pain as her shoulder was knocked back into place. She then reached up, wincing in agony as she twisted her now broken nose back into place. Finally, swirling her tongue around in her mouth, she spat out one of her front teeth, along with a good quantity of blood. Turning back around, she leapt from the roof after Babylon, leaving the warehouse and the seaside piers behind her. ------ The Senshi closed their eyes as they tried to concentrate on raising up the power necessary for the combined attack. They'd hastily decided amongst themselves to use the Sailor Planet Meditation attack. They would have to wait until the last minute for the Moon Eternal Make-up transformation, since she wasn't going to be able to both hold it and give her power to the Sailor Planet Meditation attack for too long a time. "Pluto." the Time Senshi called out, kneeling on the ground as she did so. "Neptune." the Senshi of the Seas said, kneeling down and joining her hand with Pluto's. A white light began to surround the two as their hair slowly began to rise. ------ The owner of the jewelry store and her patrons stood gaping at the nude woman covered in blood who was slowly getting back up to her feet. At first worried for the woman's safety, the woman and a customer, a young man shopping for an engagement ring, began to run over to see if she was okay. "Miss!" the middle aged woman asked from behind her spectacles, "My god, what happened? Who are you? What..." she stopped when the woman turned to her, eyes glowing red, and let out a roar as she showed off her forked tongue. As she began to float above the ground, the terrified owner and patrons ran for their life. Behind her, a loud thud announced that Sailor Minerva had arrived. Turning around, she smirked at the bloodied and bruised Senshi standing in the street clutching a badly dented bronze shield. Concentrating, the darkness once again surrounded her as all the display boxes, tables, chairs, and cash registers began to shake. As Minerva took a step closer to the store, everything inside the jewelry store suddenly floated up a foot above the floor, and rocketed out at the Senshi. The entrance to the Italian restaurant across the street exploded inward as jewelry displays, shards of glass, and tables flew in, along with a badly beaten and bruised Senshi of Wisdom and War. Babylon smiled grimly. The woman had her memories to draw from, but they were memories of a time long ago, and of a person she'd once been but was no longer. She obviously had no idea how to properly channel her powers, and was fighting purely by emotions. Furthermore, since she wasn't a Senshi when the others received their more powerful forms and attacks, she only had two basic attacks that she could remember from her previous life to draw from. "War Arrows!" she heard before everything exploded outward toward her again, smashing her once again into the jewelry store. As the demon slowly crawled out from underneath the wreckage covering her, Minerva stumbled out, a large gash on her forehead and a deep cut to her left hip were both bleeding profusely. As she thanked the fates that she'd landed in the restaurant during the between lunch and dinner lull in business, she looked back towards the direction of the sea. Hoping that Babylon took the bait and that she'd given her fellow Senshi the time needed, she leaped into the air, heading back towards the warehouse. The angry roar coming up from behind her told her the thing had indeed fallen for it and was chasing after her. ------ "Mars." The Senshi of Fire declared, kneeling down next to Venus and taking her hand. The circle was complete now, except for Sailor Saturn who was still unconscious, and Sailor Moon, who was still waiting for Babylon's return before she went through her Eternal transformation and joined the circle. It was then that Hotaru slowly opened her eyes. ------ Blood was traveling in small rivulets down the Senshi's forehead, over her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, and her split lower lip. Ignoring the pain the wound to her hip was causing, the Senshi jumped from one roof to the next, Babylon always just a step behind. At last, just as the demon was about to grab her, Sailor Minerva turned in midair, grabbing onto the foul thing and twisting her body so that they both began a descent toward the roof of the warehouse. Babylon grabbed Minerva's throat as she opened her mouth. Minerva saw something glowing in the back of the demon's throat and swept the thing's arms away with her shield, just as the creature was about to belch fire at her. She held her shield up just in time to block the attack, but the force from the blast sent her crashing through the skylight of the warehouse like a comet, careening down to the cement floor near her fellow Senshi. She hit the concrete hard, cracking the floor on impact and breaking her femur and hip bone on her right side. Sweeping the broken glass off herself with shaking hands, she looked up and gritted her teeth as she saw the thing coming through the opening in the skylight toward her, hands extended as if ready for the kill. When she was less than thirty feet away from the floor however she stopped, seemingly unable to move. Bringing her hand up to her face to brush away her hair that was now clumped together with blood, sweat and shards of glass, Sailor Minerva saw that the demon was obviously not expecting to be stopped in midair. "Wha... What's happening?" Babylon screamed, "Who dares..." "I am the Senshi of Destruction," an angry young voice declared, "My guardian deity is the planet of silence. The Senshi of Death and Rebirth... Sailor Saturn!" As the young woman finished addressing Babylon, she looked to see the others gathered around her in what looked like a Sailor Planet Meditation attack. She took a step back to join the others, when she heard moaning coming from behind her, followed by a scraping sound. She turned around and gasped as she saw her teacher and fellow Senshi pull herself up to Mars, her legs dragging behind her as her shield slowly dematerialized. "M... Minerva." she groaned out, placing her hand in Rei's. Unable to kneel, she simply lay on her belly with her hand in her fellow Senshi's. Saturn, feeling her eyes involuntarily begin to tear up at Kihomi's condition, turned back to the demon still floating above them. "Saturn." she said, kneeling down and grabbing hold of Kihomi's hand. Sailor Moon, her eyes closed like the others, opened them as she looked up at the foul thing, "Moon Eternal Make-up!" she called out, transforming into her true form. "Moon!" she shouted, kneeling down and completing the circle. A huge energy beam rushed out from the circle towards Babylon. The last time the attack had been used, the target, Zirconia, had survived. Of course, last time Sailor Moon wasn't in her Eternal form, and Saturn and Minerva hadn't been part of the attack. The demon screamed in agony as she felt her body disintegrating in the blast. The beam ripped upward through the roof, carrying the fiend with it. Its body destroyed, the thing still felt itself being ripped apart as its consciousness was evaporated into nothingness, the demon ceasing to exist as what was left of its spirit was dispersed throughout the cosmos into space. Sailor Moon fell over to her side, exhausted. Opening her eyes, she let out a cry. The others, alarmed, opened their eyes to see what the new menace was. They saw the princess crawling over to Minerva, who was being held in Mars' arms. The Senshi's face was horribly disfigured by the combat she'd been in, and her right leg was lying at an unusual angle. Her fuku was torn and ripped, exposing multiple cuts and wounds. Minerva felt a hand softly stroke her bloodstained cheek, and she could hear someone crying. Opening her eyes, she could see Sailor Pluto bending over her. Her breathing became more and more shallow as she closed her eyes, and everything went black. Minerva began to see a beautiful white light, radiating with warmth... And then everything went black again. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw Sailor Saturn glowing purple as she smiled down at her. The Senshi of Death stood up, offering her left hand to her. Minerva took it, and found herself raised up to a standing position, amazed that her broken bones and other wounds seemed to have been healed. Behind Saturn, she saw the others looking on. "I... I take it we won?" Sailor Minerva asked. She was answered by Pluto rushing over to her, pressing her lips to hers. Minerva closed her eyes and deepened the kiss as she put her arms around the Time Senshi, forgetting for the moment the presence of the others. After a few seconds, Pluto pulled away and gave her love a funny look. "Kiho-chan?" she asked, "What happened to your front teeth?"
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