Power Transcendent (part 10 of 31)

a Sailor Moon fanfiction by Jessica

Back to Part 9
Haruka leaned forward slightly on her steering wheel, her posture the 
only outward hint of her worry as she raced through the late night 
streets of Tokyo. The top was up, partially due to the cold, partially 
so Michiru could hear her communicator. Though it certainly seemed like 
very bad news all around. 

"This is Mars!" The young miko's voice contained a mixture of anger and 
distress...mostly anger. "They have me pinned down for now, but I'm 
keeping them away from the wedge." There was a crashing boom from the 
communicator. "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up!" 

"Pluto here." Even with the top up, her voice was difficult to hear, as 
she almost seemed to be whispering. "The daeva here still aren't 
moving...they don't look very bright, I think they're waiting for 
direction."

"These ones don't seem to want to do anything but tear the building 
down!" Luna said in a panicked voice. "Someone needs to get over here 
right...ROOAAAWWWWR!" There was a crashing boom. Haruka and Michiru 
looked at each other worriedly, only to sigh in relief when the cat 
spoke again. "Right away, hurry!"

"Luna?" Usagi's voice came on, sounding both very sleepy and very 
worried. "Hold tight, I'll come with Chibi-Usa right away." 
 
Michiru spoke. "Good...we're moving the fastest, so we'll support Mars. 
Where's Jupiter and Mercury?"  
 
"Right here!" Jupiter said tersely. "I'll go help Pluto then."

"I will as well." Mercury said. "Where's Venus and Saturn?" 
 
"Saturn's still not well enough to fight, so we left her behind with 
Venus to look after her." Michiru replied. "Don't worry, they'll be 
fine." 

"I hope we'll be." Haruka muttered, shifting gears and forcing the car 
ahead of her to the side of the road as she sped past.

-------------------

"Will they be all right?" Hotaru asked Minako timidly as the blonde 
girl's communicator fell silent for a moment. Minako smiled brightly at 
the thin, dark-haired waif perched rather uncomfortably on the very edge 
of Minako's mattress.  
 
"Of course Hotaru-chan...thanks to Ami, we're ready. They're trying to 
ambush us...attacking in three places at once and so late at night. It's 
not really a bad idea, but they don't know that we already knew where 
they'd attack. There's no way they're ready for well-prepared 
resistance." Minako nodded firmly. 

The blonde senshi's confidence assuaged the more child-like aspect of 
Hotaru's personality, and her well reasoned response spoke to the 
ancient warrior within her. Hotaru relaxed a little bit, scooting back 
to a more comfortable position on the bed. "I worry a lot about Chibi-
Usa." She said softly. "I never talk to her about it...but she's not as 
strong as the rest of us, and she likes to act like she is. I'm always 
afraid when she fights without me, because I'm not there to protect 
her."

Minako smiled softly. "I know how you feel." She said gently. "You care 
for Chibi-Usa very much, don't you?" Hotaru's cheeks reddened deeply, 
and Minako chuckled kindly. "I'm not trying to embarrass you. I think 
that's terrific." She sat up a bit straighter, crossing her legs beneath 
her covers. "If you ever need any help or advice, just come to me, 
okay?" 

"Is there anyone you love?" Hotaru asked timidly. 

"Yes...but she doesn't know." Minako said softly. She was worried for a 
moment when she realized she had used the word 'she,' but then she 
remembered who she was talking to. Hotaru probably took it for granted 
that she'd love another girl. 

"Why not?" Minako considered how honestly she should really answer that 
question, given her own uncertainty about it. After a moment, she 
decided nothing could be hurt by being truthful. 

"Well...this is just between you and me, okay?" Minako smiled. "Secrets 
between the leaders of the Senshi, Inner and Outer, right?" Hotaru 
smiled and nodded. "I'm afraid...I'm afraid she won't return my 
feelings, and that our friendship will get hurt because of that." 
 
Minako sighed a bit. "But that's not all. I'm afraid that I'll get 
hurt." 
 
Hotaru tilted her head curiously. "What do you mean?" 
 
With a small hum, Minako chose her words. This was an idea she was only 
just now starting to formulate for herself, so it was difficult to 
express. But she wanted to talk to someone, and she felt comfortable 
talking to the young girl sitting with her. 

"I've been hurt a lot." She finally admitted. "People who have been 
supposed to love me always seem to end up hurting me. It still hurts, 
and I'm really scared to open myself up to that again...I know she never 
would, at least not on purpose, but I can't help it."

"Wounds like that don't heal on their own." There was a different pitch 
to Hotaru's voice, and Minako glanced up. The young girl's eyes had 
changed, becoming wiser, sadder somehow. Minako suddenly had the sense 
of being with someone far, far older than herself.

"We can learn to live with that kind of pain." Hotaru continued. "But it 
can never go away as long as we remain on our own. If you ever want to 
be free, you have to be brave enough to risk getting hurt again...only 
being loved can heal you." 

Minako considered that, and the person telling it to her. Hotaru's 
father...though it was in, for all intents, a different life, a betrayal 
that extreme by a parent put Minako's predicament in perspective. After 
being used and abused as she had been, Minako couldn't even begin to 
imagine how hard learning to trust must have been for Hotaru.

"Maybe you're right, Hotaru-chan." Minako said softly. "But it's going 
to take some time to convince myself."

Hotaru smiled softly, and seemed to somehow ease into her younger 
persona again. "The person you love...is she in danger right now?" She 
asked softly, looking at the communicator Minako still held in her hand. 

Minako blushed softly and nodded. 

"I hope she'll be okay too." Hotaru stated. 

"Don't worry." Minako said confidently. "She'll be fine, and so will 
everyone else." She meant that...she had absolute faith in the Sailor 
Senshi's abilities to carry this fight easily.

-------------------

Sailor Mars peaked out from behind a concrete pillar. The daeva had come 
to this place, the ground level of a tall parking complex. It was about 
half full of cars, but fortunately there was nobody actually in the 
place at such a late hour. 

There were four daeva here. Two seemed to be for defense, two to move 
the wedge, another eerie black pyramid. On defense, there was a short 
creature that looked like an emaciated shark with arms and legs and a 
female daeva with dark red skin and long white hair. Mars now knew from 
experience that Shark-Face could fire bolts of lightning from it's 
mouth, and Red could morph her limbs into all sorts of bladed weapons 
harder than steel. Red currently sported a huge scorched burn across 
half her body, courtesy of her first clash with Mars. After that, she 
seemed content to play a more defensive game with the Senshi of Fire. 

The two daeva that seemed to be charged with pushing the wedge looked 
like ogres of yore, blue-skinned creatures that were all muscle, horns 
and fangs. The two other daeva were currently driving them back towards 
the wedge and forcing them to push again. 

Mars ran out from her pillar towards the next, turning as she did. "FIRE 
SOUL!" The flames engulfed the pyramid, causing the two daeva to stagger 
back in alarm, running back into the shadows. Shark-Face sent another 
bolt of electricity at Mars, and Red ran off after the others. 

Mars looked grim. This scene had played out three times now, and it 
couldn't last. She was worried the ogre daeva were pushing the wedge 
close enough to the point that she wouldn't be able to destroy it 
anymore. And even if she could now, Red was getting angry enough to come 
after her again, and that would make it all but impossible to stop the 
wedge before it moved into position. 

Red came back into view, the ogres running ahead of her as she chased 
them down with her arms converted into sword blades. "If you leave your 
post again, I'll skewer you!" She screamed harshly. 

"Soon, we'll be finished." Shark-face said, its voice burbling wetly. 

"No more." Red grated, her hands morphing into wickedly barbed hooks. 
"I'm pulling her out from behind that pillar myself." Mars narrowed her 
eyes and stepped out from behind the pillar. "Don't bother, I'm ready 
for you!" She shouted. She danced aside nimbly as a bolt of lightning 
sped past her. 

"Nice try, but you're fried." She said grimly, running forward. Red 
charged as well, but as she leaped, Mars ducked and rolled beneath her. 
She bounded to her feet just a short distance away from the shark, an 
ofuda in hand. 
 
"AKU RYO TAI SEN!" The scroll flew through the air and hit Shark-face in 
the forehead, freezing it in place with lightning still cracking in it's 
fanged maw. Mars spun around, looking around for the other daeva. She 
had to finish this fast, the ogre daeva were pushing the wedge again, 
and it seemed to be getting much heavier. 

Red catapaulted out from behind a van, speeding down towards Mars and 
converting her legs into a single huge spike as she did so. Mars managed 
to duck out of the way, and then began scrambling as quickly as she 
could, blades and spikes hammering into the concrete behind her as the 
daeva pursued her. To the side, she could see her ofuda vanishing in a 
puff of smoke and the disorientating Shark-face looking around for it's 
victim. 

There was a huge crash then, as Haruka's yellow convertible smashed 
through the barrier of the parking garage. Neptune and Uranus jumped 
out. Shark-face, who had been readying to fire on Mars, spun around, a 
massive ball of electricity filling the air with the scent of ozone as 
it crashed towards Uranus. 

"SPACE SWORD BLASTER!" The crescent blade of energy split the ball 
lightning down the middle, and then did the same for Shark-face, who 
screamed wetly and collapsed in on itself in death. 

Red had glanced up as the car had crashed, but then redoubled her 
efforts to bisect Mars. "I'll gut you, little firefly!" It howled. Mars 
finally felt her back hit a car, and she closed her eyes tightly.  
 
"DEEP SUBMERGE!" The energy washed over Red like a tidal wave, sending 
her flying over the car and into another. There was a huge crash, a 
scream, and then nothing. Mars looked up to find Sailor Neptune standing 
over her, holding out a hand. "Are you okay?" 
 
Mars blushed softly and took the offered hand, pulling herself up. "I'm 
fine, these guys were a joke." She said loftily. Almost regretfully, she 
let Michiru's hand go and turned to face the wedge.  
 
"Hey, eyes this way, daeva!" Wearily, the ogres looked up from where 
they had their backs set against the pyramid and were pushing with all 
their might. They looked almost comically afraid as they groaned at Mars 
scowling at them. "MARS FLAME SNIPER!" The arrow of flame embedded 
itself in the wedge and detonated in a huge yellow flash, completely 
disintegrating it and the two daeva pushing it. 

Haruka grinned. "Nice work Mars...sorry we couldn't get here earlier." 
 
Mars grinned in return. "Well, we missed you." She spoke into her 
communicator. "This is Mars...we're done here." She looked over at the 
car. "Let's go...I hope the others are alright."

Michiru smiled and nodded. "If this is any indication, I'd say they're 
fine."

-------------------

Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi-Moon screamed and ran. Behind them, a daeva 
with a blue human torso and the dark red body and claws of a crab 
skittered at them, snapping its massive claws at the two senshi 
alarmingly. When the two of them had arrived at this bathhouse, the 
daeva had been using those claws to tear apart the baths and a fair 
chunk of a wall, pulling free huge chunks of architecture and throwing 
them behind it. Apparently, someone had rudely built over the point to 
which the wedge had to be dragged. 

Luna groaned and covered her face with her paws from her perch on an 
attendant's counter. Next to her, Artemis and Diana just looked down at 
their feet, embarrassed. "Would you please stop running away?" Luna 
shouted down. 

"Shut up Luna!" Sailor Moon shouted back. "Why don't *you* come down 
here and fight this thing?" 

"But the other one is still moving the wedge!" Luna cried. The other 
one, a beautiful woman wearing virtually nothing but long, golden chains 
around her neck, had a ten-foot long snake's tail instead of legs, clas 
in emerald green scales. She had this wrapped around the wedge and was 
pulling it into position.

Sailor Moon glanced back. "You're right!" She looked over at Chibi-Moon, 
who nodded. They suddenly split off in different directions, and the 
crab continued on in a straight line between them for several lengths 
before pulling itself to a stop. As it turned around, it yanked up a 
nearby stone bench and threw it at Sailor Moon, who wailed and dodged 
nimbly out of the way. 

"Hey, cut it out!" Sailor Chibi-Moon rushed forward. "PINK SUGAR HEART 
ATTACK!" The tiny pink hearts flew out and collided against the daeva's 
hard red shell. The daeva looked around, trying to determine the source 
of the noise. Finally, it looked down in surprise and almost casually 
hooked Chibi-Moon around the ankles and pulled her into the air, her 
face level with it's own and peering at her curiously. 

"Creatures like you destroyed the Ryoujin?" It said incredulously, in a 
hissing whisper. Sailor Chibi-Moon blushed furiously, trying to hold her 
skirt up as she dangled. Finally she went rigid, glaring at the daeva. 
With her free hand still holding her skirt, she pointed her wand at the 
creature.

"PINK SUGAR HEART ATTACK!" The daeva's head snapped back repeatedly as 
the attack hit its chin with stinging force. With a roar of frustration, 
it grabbed the wrist holding the wand, which clattered to the floor. 

"Enough!" With an evil expression, it began pulling Chibi-Moon in both 
directions by ankles and wrist. The pink-haired senshi cried out and 
hammered on the claw holding her wrist with her free hand, but to no 
avail. "Make a wish." The daeva said cruelly.   

"You let her go!" Sailor Moon shouted, rushing forward. The air was 
forced out of her as her arms were pinned tightly to her side by the 
other daeva's incredibly strong tail. She yanked her captive backwards 
and twined around until she was facing the pigtailed leader of the 
Sailor Senshi. 

"Now now...don't you want to play with me?" She said in a sibilant, 
seductive whisper. Her hands came up to stroke Sailor Moon's cheek, and 
she brought her face in so close they were almost touching. Sailor Moon 
blushed furiously and shook her head violently from side to side.

Sailor Chibi-Moon let out a pained scream and Sailor Moon suddenly 
stopped writhing around, her expression changing from frightened 
embarrassment to grim determination in a second. "Chibi-Moon!" She 
shouted. With a cry, she wrenched her arms free, to her captor's 
surprise. Before the snake-daeva could react, Sailor Moon attacked. 

"MOON TIARA ACTION!" The daeva holding Sailor Moon had just enough time 
to dodge out of the path of the glowing disc. Her crab-like companion, 
however, was not so lucky. The disc caught him full in the chest and 
burst out through the other side before beginning to curve back around. 
The daeva screamed in pain and dropped Chibi-Moon, who rubbed her 
shoulder and legs painfully. 

"That's more like it!" Luna cheered from the sidelines. As the crab 
daeva began to collapse in on itself, Sailor Moon held out her hand to 
catch her returning tiara. 

But the snake holding her had other ideas. She used the tip of her tail 
to deflect the projectile and sent it clattering over the tile. She came 
close to Sailor Moon's face again, angry. "You'll pay for that." She 
hissed, her face becoming more and more snakelike as she spoke. Her 
widened mouth gaped open, revealing two dripping fangs. Sailor Moon 
turned her head to the side and cringed. 

With a flash, five red roses embedded them into the daeva's scales where 
the tail held Sailor Moon. The daeva screeched and writhed, her twisting 
coils throwing Sailor Moon free. Tuxedo Kamen dashed forward, catching 
the flying senshi easily. 

"Tuxedo Kamen!" Sailor Moon exclaimed, smiling happily. 

"Sorry I'm late." He replied, smiling back. He gently set her on her 
feet and looked back at the daeva. It had changed, her body now entirely 
covered in green scales and her head completely that of a snake. She was 
coiled around the black pyramid, reared up to her full height. Greenish 
venom dripped from it's long fangs, sizzling as it hit the floor below. 
"I think this is yours." Tuxedo Kamen said with a small smile. He threw 
his hand into his cape and pulled out another rose. It hit the daeva 
full in the face before she could move away, making her rear back and 
scream again. "Now!" 

"Right!" Sailor Moon stepped forward. "MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK!" The 
daeva recovered just in time to see her death coming towards her. The 
resulting detonation made all observers hide their eyes, and when it was 
over, there wasn't even a trace left of daeva or object. 

Sailor Moon rushed over to Chibi-Moon and helped her stand. "Are you 
alright?" 

Chibi-Moon smiled and nodded, blushing softly in admiration. 
"Yeah...thanks for saving me."  
 
Sailor Moon knelt down and hugged her daughter close. "No problem." She 
smiled. She turned to look back at Tuxedo Kamen. "I hope the others are 
doing this well." 
 
Tuxedo Kamen smiled and nodded. "I'm sure they are."

-------------------

Sailor Pluto was hiding herself in the shadows under a tree in the park, 
looking out into a plaza with a fountain in the center, watching the 
three daeva standing around the wedge they had brought. The Guardian of 
Time was experiencing an emotion largely new to her. Confusion. 

The three of them seemed to be identical, vaguely humanoid shapes 
obviously made by large chunks of rock and crystal of varying texture. 
Each one had a large, square chunk of what looked like pink quartz for a 
head. Pluto had been watching them for several minutes now, and they had 
done absolutely nothing. They just stood there, completely immobile. 

Finally, Pluto had had enough. She stepped out into the plaza, holding 
the butt of her Garnet Rod against the ground firmly. "I am Sailor 
Pluto." She said softly, forbiddingly. "I am the Guardian of the Door of 
Time and Space. What you seek to do is a violation that cannot be 
allowed. Return from whence you came, or be destroyed." 

Not one of the creatures even twitched. Sailor Pluto stepped forward 
cautiously, her Rod held in a defensive position. She finally got close 
enough to prod the closest rock creature. As she pushed, it moved very 
slightly in that direction. Sailor Pluto sighed deeply. "What in the 
world...?"

She pushed the creatures away from the wedge, to the edges of the plaza. 
With a shrug, she turned back to the wedge. "Dead...Scream." The garnet 
ball of energy flew from the tip of the staff, hitting the black pyramid 
and scattering into a cloud of black dust. She turned to look at one of 
the creatures. "I almost feel bad about destroying them..." She said to 
herself. 

A high-pitched shriek of pure rage made her look up. What she assumed 
was a daeva was bobbing in the air. It was nothing more than a ball of 
flame, with a vaguely defined face shifting and twisting on the surface. 
"How dare you! How dare you do this!"  
 
Pluto just lifted an eyebrow. "It was actually very easy." 

The daeva darted this way and that through the air in a panic. "Master 
Gluon will annihilate me for being late! No, no no no!" It suddenly 
stopped dead and looked down at Sailor Pluto. "But he might spare me for 
bringing the head of a Sailor Senshi...ATTACK!"  
 
With a rolling crash, the three rock creatures ran forward, galvanized 
into sudden movement. Sailor Pluto abruptly found herself on the 
defensive, her Rod moving in a blur to block attacks that were 
surprisingly swift coming from opponents who had been so inert. 

"Pluto, move!" The shout came from the trees. Pluto didn't hesitate, 
leaping free of the battle and landing on the other side of the fountain. 

"SHABON SPRAY FREEZING!" The icy fog enveloped the three rock daeva, but 
they began to shake free almost immediately, the light shell of ice 
breaking as they moved. 

Sailor Jupiter was already moving though. "SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!" The 
orb of lightning collided with the nearest daeva and detonated. The 
lightning climbed through the connections made by the frozen moisture of 
Mercury's attack and shot through the stone forms of each daeva. After a 
moment their crystalline components shattered with loud retorts, and 
they fell apart into piles of rocks. 

"AHHHHH!" The daeva floating above them shrieked. "No, this can't be!" 
It flamed up, swelling and glowing brighter. It fell to earth like a 
meteor, aimed directly at Jupiter. The Senshi of Thunder looked up 
smirked. 

"SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!" From her concealed location in the shadows, 
Sailor Mercury attacked again, the freezing water engulfing the daeva in 
a cloud of steam. When the steam cleared, the daeva hung in the air, 
turned entirely into a sphere of ice. An instant later, it fell to the 
ground and shattered. 

Sailor Jupiter grinned widely. "Wow, they're not so tough when we know 
they're coming." 

Sailor Pluto walked over to the other two, a small smile on her face. 
"These were not the brightest of opponents." She allowed. As she spoke, 
their communicators flared to life, reports of victory coming from both 
Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars. Mercury smiled in relief and returned the 
sentiment. 

"Well." She said. "I guess it's over." 
 
"Perhaps." There was a soft detonation of air by the fountain. "But you 
will not have time to celebrate victory." The three of them turned. 
Gluon stepped out of a portal, his face filled with rage. "I don't know 
how you managed to do this, but you three at least will never live to 
see tomorrow!" He said, his voice growing louder and louder by the 
instant. "Now DIE!" He bellowed, throwing his hands forward. The ground 
beneath the senshi rippled and began to open. Each found themselves 
being drawn down into the rock, pulled by an irresistible force. 

"SUPREME THUNDER!" Jupiter's attack crackled forth, but Gluon gestured 
and the lightning abruptly turned and slammed harmlessly into the ground. 
Jupiter stared in disbelief. She turned to look at the other two senshi, 
both of which, like her, were now set in stone up to their waists. "Now 
what?"

Mercury frantically pushed down with her arms, trying to pull herself 
free. But it was useless. Her visor appeared, and her worst fears were 
realized. "We're not just getting pulled in." She said in a frightened 
tone. "We're somehow merging with the rock!" She twisted around more 
violently. -Minako!- Her mind shouted.  

Gluon laughed cruelly. "Yes...soon you will be one with the stone, 
perfectly imprisoned for all eternity." He smirked arrogantly. "Such is 
the fate of those who would try to defeat Gluon."

"I think not." Sailor Pluto said softly. She was calm, her head turned 
down slightly and her eyes closed. Her hand was still firmly against the 
shaft of the Garnet Rod, just a bit lower down than normal. A dark green 
aura began to shine around her, and she turned her weapon, touching the 
Orb to the stone that was hungrily drawing them in. 

There was a flash of green mixed with red, and the spell was broken. The 
three senshi simply appeared on the ground, which was firm and whole 
beneath them. Gluon took an involuntary step back, his eyes showing fear. 
"No...how?" 

"The natural forces you manipulate are nothing compared to the temporal 
power at my disposal." Pluto said almost gently. "Such a trick could 
never work on me."  
 
Jupiter had opted for a more direct response, and reached Gluon just as 
Pluto stopped talking, laying down a massive right hook that caught the 
green-haired villain squarely in the face and sent him falling to the 
ground. Jupiter caught him by the shirt with both hands and yanked him 
up, his feet barely touching the ground. 

"Why did you come here?" She shouted, shaking him roughly. "What are you 
trying to do?"  
 
Gluon laughed weakly, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. 
"Silly little girl...we come to devour your world." With an arrogant 
grin, he simply vanished from her grasp, leaving her standing there, 
holding nothing. Jupiter growled in frustration and slammed her right 
fist into her left hand. 

-------------------

Gluon appeared on a rooftop, just a short distance away from the park. 
He wiped the blood from his mouth and looked down at his hand. "That 
bitch! I swear, I will make her pay..." He suddenly grabbed the sides of 
his head, grinding his teeth. "No...I cannot. I have to go, now. Lady 
Meson will kill me for this transgression." He fell to his knees and 
slammed both fists against the surface of the roof, his eyes closed 
tightly. 

"How? How could this have happened? They should all be dead! How could 
they have done this? What *are* they?" 

"Good questions, Gluon." The voice made Gluon look up, all the blood 
draining from his face. Meson's image appeared before him, wavering 
slightly. Her dusky face was absolutely expressionless, and Gluon felt 
all hope leave him as he saw her. "Report to me immediately. Don't even 
think about trying to flee. If you do, trust me, things will be worse 
for you." 

The image of Meson vanished, and Gluon sat back on his knees, trying to 
control his shaking. "No..." He whispered. "This cannot be..." 

-------------------

A short time later, Gluon was on his knees again, his face pressed to 
the glowing floor of Meson's control center. Though he could not see her, 
he could hear her pacing in a circle around him. Tachyon and Muon were 
there as well, and beneath his fear Gluon seethed with rage at this 
humiliation. 

"You failed, Gluon." Meson said quietly. "What should be done about such 
a waste of resources? How can I make you pay for this incredible blunder? 
And what's worse...you ran. It would've been far, far better had you 
fought and died against the Senshi."  
 
"I am sorry, Lady Meson." Gluon said in a trembling voice. "Please, have 
mercy. It was not my fault. Somehow, Tachyon's defenses have failed. The 
Sailor Senshi knew precisely where the attacks would come." The 
footsteps stopped, and Gluon inwardly cringed. 

"Tachyon." Meson said shortly. 

"No, no, no!" Tachyon said happily. "My shields are working just fine. I 
can feel a couple of them pushing from time to time, but they don't see 
anything I don't want them to!"

"The answer is obvious." Muon said flatly. 
 
"Explain." Meson replied. 

"Gluon's first abortive attack must have provided the Sailor Senshi with 
enough data to determine our course of action and find the dimension 
faults we would target. With so many warriors at their disposal, it 
would be very simple to keep a watch over the sites." 
 
Gluon's head jerked up and he glared at Muon murderously, who looked 
back with blank indifference. "That's impossible! This planet does not 
have anything close to the technology that would require." 
 
"Did you not think that the Sailor Senshi might have access to tools 
that go beyond this planet's capabilities?" Muon said patiently, as if 
speaking to a child. "These warriors are not to be underestimated, not 
at all. This much I have determined." 

"So." Meson said. "You see, it's your fault, Gluon. The blame lies with 
you. And there is but one penalty for failure, as set by Lord Hadron." 
There was a high-pitched whining sound as Meson gathered her energies. 

"Wait! Please!" Gluon shouted desperately. "Lady Meson, please! I will 
do anything! Give me one final chance, and I swear the Sailor Senshi 
will die, all of them." 

The whining faded slightly. "All of them." Meson said. "You idiot!" 
Gluon suddenly found himself thrown against one of the stalagmites 
jutting from the ground. The breath was crushed out of him and he looked 
up to see Meson glaring at him like Death itself. "You do not deserve a 
stay of execution. You will not die fruitlessly against the Sailor 
Senshi. I will simply kill you now." Tachyon giggled softly, and Gluon 
closed his eyes. 

"My Lady Meson." Muon interjected. "A moment." Meson turned to look at 
the blue-haired man. "I think I may be able to make use of Gluon's 
request. My studies have yielded some interesting results, and I believe 
I have weapons that will prove most effective against the Sailor Senshi. 
They must be tested, however, and they can only be directed in the 
field." 

"So you would use this fool as your test pilot?" Muon nodded, and Meson 
became thoughtful. She smiled cruelly and looked down at the cringing 
Gluon. "So be it. You belong to Muon, now. Do as he says, or your 
sentence will fall due immediately. I will kill you slowly." She glanced 
at Tachyon, who was humming to herself as she turned a glowing pink ball 
of energy in her small hands. "What do you see, Tachyon?" 
 
"He'll die, he'll die..." The child said in a soft, teasing singsong. 
"Gluon will die, but it's too good, so I won't spoil the en-ding." 

Meson actually grinned. "There we are, then." She turned to Muon. "I 
hope your tests go well. It would be nice to see...this...prove useful 
at last." She gestured contemptuously at Gluon.

Muon nodded. "Of course." He looked down at his new possession. "Come." 
Muon teleported out of the chamber in a flash of blue. As Meson and 
Tachyon watched, Gluon pulled himself slowly to his feet. His face was 
turned to the ground so neither could see the tears of humiliation on 
his cheek, or the look of blind rage in his eyes. After a moment, he 
vanished as well. 

-------------------

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, high action in this chapter and little else. Still, 
not to worry, we're still on track. ^_^ There's not much else I can say 
for this chapter, so stay tuned!

Onwards to Part 11


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