Sailor Moon: Dark Stars
Chapter 14
Silence spread across the large black room as the brave, dark-skinned senshi landed hard with a sickening thud and laid in a broken heap, blood leaking out the side of her mouth. As she tried desperately to catch her breath, a sob escaped out of Sirius as she felt her heart shatter. All the pain, all the suffering that she had went through, would be for nothing. A feeling of hopelessness like no other entered the former princess's soul then, making her want to forget about it all and just give up. Would it be so bad if she did? Maybe all the pain would stop if she just handed over her Star Stone.
She was about to surrender, but just then, a vision of her cousin Anna entered her mind, smiling at her and giving her courage. Sirius smiled back and accepted that small gift of strength, and quickly shoved the feeling of doubt back down and tightened her fists. No, she won't give up! This was one fight that she was NOT going to lose, no matter what the odds.
"Enough games!" sneered out King Meerages, "Hand over the Sirius Emerald Star Stone, now!" He walked up slowly to her, menace shining in his eyes and in his every step. "Give me the Star Stone, or else I'll be forced to destroy you. Please...I don't want to..."
"Go..to hell..." breathed out Sirius in a raspy voice, not hesitating for even a second in her answer to him. She shakily tried to get up on her feet, but instead winced heavily with pain and fell back down on the hard floor. Slowly, she raised her upper body with her arms, and with one hand, she whipped the blood from her mouth. "I'll die before I hand it over...to you..." Sirius winced again as pain overtook her.
The king narrowed his eyes. "So be it. Share the fate of this pathetic world you love so much. It's such a shame though. We would have had a wonderful life together." Meerages shrugged, then he brought his hands together again, as if holding a large ball, and started to power-up for a deadly blast. Above him, the Black Star Crystal continued to glow and grow bigger.
"I don't think so! POLARIS MAGNETIC, FREEZE!" yelled out a new voice. King Meerages, about to throw an immense blast before the voice shouted out, looked up in surprise. A massive pink cosmic laser knocked the man back several feet, slamming him to the ground and causing him to wince in pain.
Sailor Polaris jumped out of the blackness like an angel of salvation and landed right in front of Super Sailor Sirius in a crouch. She straightened up and assumed a fierce fighting stance.
For a moment there was no sound except for a soft gasp from Sailor Sirius in the tension-filled silence. The taller Star Senshi regarded King Meerages with heavy caution, waiting to see what his next move was. The tall man got up from the floor with a growl and turned to glare at Sailor Polaris. His dark red eyes narrowed in rage-filled hate as recognition raced through his mind.
"Well, well, Lady Anja I presume," King Meerages said, walking very slowing towards her. "I should consider myself lucky, for not only will I get the Sirius Emerald Star Stone, but the legendary Polaris Sapphire Star Stone at the same time." He arrogantly cocked his head to the side with a smirk. "I think your Earth expression would be "Killing two birds with one stone", wouldn't it?" He chuckled at the senshi standing before him.
"There's no way you are getting ANY of our Star Stones, you sadistic psycho!" yelled out Sailor Polaris as she backed away slightly. "You don't frighten me anymore, and if I can help it, you will not succeed in destroying our home. POLARIS MAGNETIC, FREEZE!" The dark-skinned senshi threw forth both her hands now, sending a double blast of the cosmic rays. Her powers headed straight for the big man, but instead of doing him any harm, he calmly let the power strike him. Sailor Polaris watched in complete bafflement as it merely absorbed into his body, leaving no marks or anything. Sailor Polaris let out a surprised gasp and watched as King Meerage's eyes glowed brighter. With a wicked laugh, the power that Polaris sent raced back out of his body and headed straight for her.
Anticipating the move, Sailor Polaris quickly jumped out of the way and rolled away on the floor just as the power struck the ground where she was just standing. The power, increased by the King, blasted up heavy debris from the floor. As they fell back down, the debris struck the backs of Sailors Polaris and Sirius as they lay curled on the floor, causing them to cry out in pain.
Covered for the time being by the heavy smoke that followed, Sailor Polaris crawled painfully on the floor, trying to make her way to Sailor Sirius. Finally, she saw her cousin's form. "Sailor Sirius, are you alright?" she whispered.
Sirius looked toward Sailor Polaris with a tear-streaked face and nodded. "Yeah...But..I don't know if...if I can make it..if this keeps up..." she whispered. Pain was visible in her eyes as she coughed heavily.
The smoke mysteriously cleared seconds later, and King Meerages slowly floated down towards them, his lips turned up in a grotesque grin as the Black Star Crystal floated high above near the ceiling. His feet softly touch the ground as he landed in front of the two star senshi. "At last, I will finally have my revenge on the Moon Kingdom for my imprisonment. And I think I'll start with you two!" He raised his right fist and energy gathered in it in a flash of sparks and electricity. "It's too bad I have to destroy such brave warriors like you, but...sacrifices have to be made sometimes." The King powered up again.
"Sacrifice this, MORON!" shouted out Sailor Polaris. She swung forward her leg in a quick kick to sweep King Meerages's feet out from under him. With a grunt, the tall pale man fell sprawled on his back on the hard metal ground.
"Sirius, you have to get up! COME ON!" yelled out Polaris as she quickly stood up and grabbed Sailor Sirius's arm, tugging on her to stand. Sailor Sirius blinked, confused for a second, and slowly stood on shaky legs. With a sad look in her eyes, Super Sailor Sirius stared down at the floor.
The pain, the fear, and the feeling of the loss of her normal life all flooded back into her heart and mind then, leaving her feeling cheated and angry at the life Fate had given her. She felt completely powerless to do anything about it...to change it, and she hated it, hated it more than anything she had in her life. She had known she would face tough times as one of the many defenders of Earth when she became a Sailor Senshi, but what would all that mean if her past and her present was destroyed by this madman? How could she go on when Meerages was so...powerful? But then, deep inside, the anger began to grow more and more, and she began to feel all of her emotions spill forth. No, this was it, she couldn't back down, no matter how bad she felt. She wouldn't feel sorry for herself now. Polaris was with her now, and she had to fight! She couldn't let Meerages destroy her present home as he did in the past. Sirius blinked, then calmly took a deep breath and began to speak.
"All I ever wanted was to be a normal girl, living with a family that loved me, living in peace, fulfilling my dreams," Sailor Sirius said softly, a quiver in her voice and her small hands balling into fists once again. She narrowed her eyes and snapped her head back up to give King Meerages a hard glare. For some strange reason, the man slowly backed up from the hate and despise in her eyes, "I..I.. thought all the fighting was done, all the hurt would go away, that...I could return to a normal life after the last battle in Japan. But all of my dreams of a peaceful life is gone now, because of YOU!" she said a little louder.
She threw her hand in the air, fingers spread apart, and brought it back down and pointed accusingly at King Meerages. "You took away all that I loved and made me happy in my former home, and now you want to destroy this one? I won't let you take that away from me, I swear on the innocent lives you've taken! As sure as the Star that shines brightest in the Heavens, I am Sailor Sirius, and you WILL be vanquished!" Super Sailor Sirius yelled out as loud as she could.
"The same goes for me! Representing the Star that has guided Humanity since the beginning of time, I am Sailor Polaris, and when I'm done with you, you'll be nothing but star dust!" shouted out Sailor Polaris.
"Your evil reign is done. Surrender now!" they both said together, standing back to back and pointing at the evil man, ready for battle.
"If I cared, I would have thought that was impressive, but I don't," said King Meerages, hate dripping from his dark voice. He raised both arms in the air and the Black Star Crystal slowly floated down to right above his head. He then gave the girls a wicked grin. The Crystal had grown to about the size of a basketball. "Your talk means nothing to me. Feel the power of ultimate EVIL!" King Meerages screamed. His platinum blonde hair began whipping about his face and shoulders in a strange, unfelt wind. His eyes glowed brighter once again, and with a grunt, he shot forth his hands and shot out a burst of strong, dark purple energy.
"LOOK OUT!" screamed Sailor Polaris. Before Sailor Sirius knew what happened, Polaris threw herself in the path of the powerful beam. With a loud gasp, Sailor Polaris's falling body pushed the smaller senshi up against a thick metal wall as the beam smashed into her from the back. Struggling, Sailor Polaris kept herself from falling by placing her hands palms up on the wall, Sailor Sirius in between her arms.
"Oh my God! Polaris! Why...did you do that?" gasped out Sirius, terror filling her heart. The North Star Senshi tried to speak, but was too weak from the unbearably powerful blast. In desperation, Sirius tried to raise her arms to hold her cousin up from around her waist, but the evil man started pummeling her with his powers, causing Sirius to shrink back in terror on shaky legs.
"Damn it! Why..won't...you...DIE?" screamed out King Meerages in rage. Frustrated, he kept firing blast after blast of dark energy, alternating from one hand to the other as he shot forth. Each time it hit Sailor Polaris's back, her body jerked, and she screamed loudly with each blast, but she still stood protectively in front of Sirius.
"NOOO! Stop it! You're killing her! Onegai, YAMATE!" yelled out Sailor Sirius. Tears welled up in her eyes and fell down her cheeks in large and heavy trails. Then, after the final blast Meerages threw slammed into her, Sailor Polaris gave one last, heart-wrenching scream, then as though time itself slowed for the sad scene, she fell almost lifeless in Sirius's arms. The senshi gasped in horror at the blood leaking out her cousin's mouth and nose, her heart breaking in two. Never in her life did she have to see a person die in her arms, and it chilled her to her bones in the stifling, hot room.
"Sorry...princess.." whispered Sailor Polaris, breathing hard as her eyes watered also, pain racking her young body. She tried to reach up and touch her cousin's cheek, but her shaking hand fell back almost immediately. In shock, Sailor Sirius fell slowly to her knees, still holding her cousin, and could only watch as Polaris's eyes flickered closed. A small tear slipped past her closed eyelid and slowly traveled down her dark cheek. Then, Polaris lay still, her chest not moving anymore.
"Polaris... N...no." whispered Sailor Sirius in disbelief. She gently held her limp cousin closer to her chest, hoping beyond all hope that it would help bring her back. But it didn't, and Polaris only remained still. "No..." Sirius shook her head in denial slowly at first, then faster. She couldn't be. She just couldn't be dead!
"NOOOOO!" she screamed out, agony shredding her heart. She closed her eyes tightly, hoping it was all a dream. A dream...please let this all be a dream! But with Polaris limp in her arms, Sirius knew now more than ever that wasn't a dream...it was a nightmare. A bone chilling nightmare. For a few moments, there was just dark silence except for sad sounding sobs. Then, unknown to her, the tear that escaped her cousin's eye crystallized and slowly lifted off and traveled toward the large black opal on Sirius's bow. Meanwhile, inside her heart, Sailor Sirius felt like she had just died and had no more emotion to show.
"You see, I told you." said King Meerages as he walked up to her. "Now, you have no one left. Your only salvation is to give me the Star Stones." He stretched forth his hand once more to her.
Sailor Sirius didn't even hear him as her eyes remained closed and the sobs that racked her small body continued. Memories of her and Anna as little children filled her mind, memories of them playing together and pretending they were princesses of their own kingdom. Now she understood why playing "princess" was so important to them back then. Somehow, they knew who they were in a past life, and at that young age, they thought it was just a game. Never in her young life had Tanya ever anticipated losing another so close to her after her mother. Never did she think she had to go through this much pain again. Her heart sunk more at the sacrifice her cousin, whom she'd barely seen in so many years, made for her. It wasn't fair! It just wasn't fair! Yet she could do nothing but cry her heart out, letting out all the pain, all the tension and fear in her body for what seemed like long, eternal moments.
Then suddenly, as if by magic, a crystallized tear fell from her eyelid and landed softly on the black opal on her chest as Polaris's tear did. When the tear made contact on the opal, it rippled as though made of water, the same way a river would ripple when a stone was thrown into it. A few more moments passed, and Meerages grew impatient as he waited for Sirius to surrender. But right then, a soft blue glow erupted from the opal just as he was about to speak, and in a flash, it morphed and transformed back into the Sirius Emerald Star Stone, hanging from its silver necklace. At the same time, Sailor Polaris's henshin stick magically appeared in the limp hand of the taller senshi. The large Polaris Sapphire Star Stone on the tip of it flashed and began to glow a powerful pink light, reacting to the powers of the Sirius Stone counterpart and the raw emotions from Sirius herself. There was another bright flash, and each girl was suddenly surrounded in her own respectful aura, bathing the dark, dreary room in its purifying light.
Super Sailor Sirius slowly opened her eyes and looked around her curiously. The glowing of the Star Stones and the auras surrounding two dark-skinned senshi grew brighter and brighter. "What's this?" yelled out King Meerages, covering his eyes with his arm as the glowing grew too bright. He cursed as he reached up, summoned the Black Star Crystal, and held it in front of him, as if to shield himself. The auras turned into large glowing balls enclosing both girls. The balls began to rise in the air towards the ceiling, easily outshining the Black Star Crystal.
Then, as suddenly as it started, the glowing began to dissipate, then stopped all together. When King Meerages finally dared to look up. What he then saw caused his eyes widened and his evil heart to nearly stop; Princess Tonicia Knightstar and Lady Anja Poelaryes gently and calmly floated in the air above him, wearing long flowing white gowns and their eyes closed. Their arms lay calmly at their sides as they were surrounded in a soft, pale glow.
A moment later, they began slowly floating down, their long hair gently blowing around their heads. When their bare feet touched the floor, their eyes snapped opened and they looked up at one another, smiling with joy.
"Princess Tonicia, dear cousin. We're free. We're finally free." whispered Lady Anja, her green eyes filled with tears. The symbol of Polaris glowed gently on her forehead.
"Yes, we're free, dear sweet Lady Anja!" smiled Princess Tonicia. The symbol of Sirius glowed white and pure on her forehead as she looked to her cousin with happiness. Memories of happier times during the Silver Millennium flashed through their minds at that moment; times of great joy, of hope, and of dreaming about the distant future. They remembered their own families and the many things they did with them on their planets. They also remembered the many other planets they have visited and learned about. They remembered the Moon Kingdom and the beautiful and benevolent Queen Serenity they often visited over a thousand years ago. Slowly, they reached out towards each other with both arms and gently held hands with fingers intertwined.
"NO! This can't be! I won't let it!" screamed out King Meerages. With a frustrated grunt, he thrust the Black Star Crystal forward. The Crystal glowed darkly and shot forth a huge beam of dark red energy. Seeing the dark laser coming, Princess Tonicia and Lady Anja turned from each other towards Meerages and raised their right hand. A bright light flashed and a force field appeared before them, deflecting the powerful blast. The smiles faded from the faces of the Princess and Lady as they regarded the Dark King angrily.
King Meerages grunted in surprise, watching as the girls stretched forth their arms before them with their hands turned up. Magically, the Sirius Emerald Star Stone and the Polaris Sapphire Star Stone appeared, floating just a few inches above their respective hands and glowing in their auras.
"King Meerages, your reign of terror is over," said Princess Tonicia, determination in her voice. "No longer will people live in terror because of you, and no longer will you be a threat to us."
Both girls turned their heads to look at each other, then turned back to where Meerages stood and raised the Star Stones high above them. "Evil, in the name of all that is pure and good, BE GONE!" screamed out Princess Tonicia and Lady Anja together. A huge white, pink, and blue light glowed from both Star Stones, and they shot forth two powerful sparkling beams of pure white light energy. As quick as lightning, the beams of energy went straight into the Black Star Crystal.
King Meerages screamed as his body was instantly surrounded by the intense, pure light. Moments later, after absorbing so much of the pure energy, the Crystal began to become unstable, and grew larger and larger. With all his might, Meerages concentrated and tried to hold down the unstable power with his failing magic, but it was no use.
Princess Tonicia and Lady Anja struggled with their eyes closed, gasping for breath as sweat poured down their faces from the force of the power coursing through their bodies. They continued to shoot forth their powers, refusing to give up. Suddenly, in her mind, the Sirius Princess saw the faces of her friends back in Tokyo...the ones she knew from the Silver Millennium and today. She saw Usagi, Minako, and all the rest of the Sailor Senshi of Japan, smiling and giving her looks of approval and encouragement. Love and hope filled her heart at the images of her friends. All the stories she heard about the Sailor Senshi saving the world flooded in her mind then, and she knew what she had to do. She knew it was up to her to save her world, her friends, and her loved ones, no matter the cost. Earth must have a future!
Minna-san! Everyone! Don't worry, I won't let our Earth be destroyed! she promised, smiling secretly to herself. In her heart, she could feel Lady Anja thinking and feeling the same thing she was.
She wanted to save all her friends too, and would stop at nothing to ensure that Earth was safe. I'm here with you, Tonicia! she heard Anja say in her mind. Just then, the eyes of the Princess and Lady snapped opened and they yelled the first words that came into their minds;
"SIRIUS STAR POWER!"
"POLARIS STAR POWER!"
Instantly, the pure white light intensified as it continued to shoot into the dark crystal. With a crackling sound, the crystal's powers began to fade, and the whole ship began to shake and rumble loudly.
The Black Star Crystal instantly cracked, and fissures ran quickly all along its sides, front, and back.
"It's about to blow! We have to get out of here!" yelled out Lady Anja. Princess Tonicia nodded, and with her heart beating rapidly, the two dark-skinned girls closed their eyes once again. In a quick flash, they were surrounded by a soft white ball, and an instant later, the ball carrying the girls inside disappeared with a shimmer.
As soon as they left, the large Black Star Crystal finally burst into a million pieces, nearly cutting King Meerages's face and arms to pieces. With blood pouring down his face, the king collapsed on his knees in exhaustion, "NOOO! THIS CAN'T BE! THIS CAN"T BE! I WON'T BE DEFEATED!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he shook his fist at the disappearing figures. But deep in his heart, even he knew that it was too late for him...that his rule was indeed at an end.
Seconds later in space above Earth, a fireball erupted as the Vortex Ship exploded, ripped to shreds by the force of the black crystal. Then all was silent, as one more threat to the future of Earth was destroyed. But as usual, it was unknown to the people living peacefully below, on a small planet called Earth.
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To Be Continued.
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