Sailor Moon: The Rise of B'aal
Chapter 17
Deep in the recesses of Hell, the demons, both High Level and Low Level, each screamed and yelled in anticipation of the time when they will be released. Each wanted nothing more than to just create havoc on Earth and take back what they thought was theirs, to have revenge on the ones who had banished them, sent them to a place where except for a few of the more powerful of the demons that were able to get out once in a while, they would be stuck for all eternity and watch the humans have all the fruits of the lands.
Lost and condemned souls, once human, wailed and gritted their teeth at the noise and the pain of the torment they were given for the evil deeds they have done throughout their lives on Earth. Oh, if they only knew what had awaited them in the afterlife, they would have done their best to live good lives. They would have believed in God and asked for forgiveness, but it was much too late. Now...they could only watch with tearful eyes and wailing voices as the demons all gathered and got ready to take back the Earth Realm. Just then, the immediate area of the realm near the throne suddenly turned darker, and the unmistakable immense figure of B'aal slowly walked forth, his thick, muscled feet crunching crusty yellow human skulls under him, reducing them to dust. His every step causing a slight tremor as his feet made contact with the filthy ground.
From bottom to top, his body was all muscle, covered with grey skin and clothed in an ancient Roman centurion’s red and black armor and kilt, complete with a large and heavy looking sword. Muscles bulged from his chest, arms and biceps, making him look like he could snap just about anything in two. On his head was a Roman centurion helmet, with the red plumes aligned in a row waving in an unfelt wind. It was only his face that was still slightly hidden in shadow, letting only his red, glowing eyes shine through. After engulfing only two of the crystallized Purity Souls, the evil Prince of Demons was still not at full power, and his hands clenched and unclenched at the frustration of that.
B'aal stood in front of the throne and waited for the noise to die down, but it didn't. Then taking a deep breath, he held up one of his big hands and clenched it tightly. "SILENCE!"
The realm became so quiet then, one would ever have believed the noise that was rattling it just a moment ago. Drips of waters could be heard, and after a moment, the Demon Prince smirked and lowered his hand. "The humans known as the Sailor Senshi are on their way here. I know I do not have to tell you what will become of us if they succeed in stopping us from taking back what was once ours." His eyes glowed redder, and a deep growl escaped his throat. "I have conversed with my father, still trapped in the Lower Levels, and He agrees our time to attack...IS NOW!"
Another burst of howls and screams erupted, and B'aal raised his hand up once again with his fist clenched, and the place quieted down again. "My father, Satan himself, trapped against his will like a common thief, only his spirit form able to walk upon the Earth, thanks to the existence of those mere mortals. Soon, all will know what will await them. Why, those fool humans don't even believe we exist anymore! They will soon know the truth."
B'aal stopped for a moment, and looked around at the gathering at his throne. "Who is brave enough to go with Legion and meet these senshi, and show them once and for all who will be their masters?"
"Let us all go!" screamed out the demons, throwing up their hands and hooting loudly. But B'aal only smiled maliciously and pointed to a large group of vicious, purple looking demons standing behind the green-skinned Legion, their fangs long and yellow and hanging down to their chins. Their eyes glowed a cat-like yellow, and razor-sharp claws clinked against their tough skin.
"Go!" B'aal commanded, holding his head up high in confidence and arrogance. These demons were known as Nemesis Demons, trained assassins that no one escaped from, even Angels themselves. "Go and see if you can welcome our little guests. Do not come back until you have their beating hearts in your hands." An idea then came to B'aal's mind, and he smirked once more. "But before you do, look for some more Purity Souls. There's a group of humans camping a ways off here. Have fun with them!"
The group of silent demons, along with Legion, bowed, then looked at each other in anticipation of the battle. "We will not disappoint you, my Lord!" Legion said. With an evil, vicious smile, they quietly disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.
When they were gone, B'aal threw back his head and laughed loudly, inviting all the other demons to laugh along with him. "There is no way those Sailor Senshi will escape them!" his voice boomed out. "Prepare yourself for your doom, little mortals, for you will not escape alive!"
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Across the barren desert land, the night air chilly and blowing hard, the Sailor Senshi and Miriam traveled on, each trying to forget their fatigue and get to the place where there was a rip between Earth and Hell itself. For each, the journey would take them to a place they had never been to before. Facing Beryl, the Death Busters, Nehelenia and the Dead Moon people, and even Galaxia seemed like it was all just a preparation for what they were about to face. Nervousness crept into them before they could help it, but deep down, they knew they HAD come out of this victorious as they did their other battles.
Sailor Sirius sighed and looked up at the shining stars, wishing more than anything that she could forget about everything and just sit there and admire how beautiful the stars were, shining on even though the world was in turmoil. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked to her right to see Sailor Moon smiling at her gently.
"Are you going to be alright, Sirius?" the Senshi leader and future Queen asked quietly.
The smaller girl smiled sadly and nodded, trying to put on a brave face. "Y..Yeah...I'll be fine." But looking into Moon's eyes and the concern shining there, Sirius knew she couldn't lie anymore, and sighed once again. "But I'm scared...very scared. What if this is not like all the battles we've fought before? I mean..what if...if...?"
"We're all a little scared Sailor Sirius, not just you." Moon said. The two girls looked at the Outer Senshi quietly conversing with each other, then looked to the remaining Inners as they carried on their own discussions. "Look, I know I'm not the brightest person in the world, you don't have to remind me of that...but I do know that if we stick together and believe in ourselves, we can do anything. We've done it before, you know that. We'll make it out, you'll see." Sailor Moon smiled confidently and nodded.
Sailor Star Healer quietly came up behind Sirius and took her hand in his. He brought it to his lips and kissed it gently. "She's right, as long as we're together, it'll be fine. Come what may, we'll make it through." The young man winked as Sirius smiled back in gratitude, and Tuxedo Kamen also walked up and took Moon's hand in his own too, saying with his eyes to Sailor Moon what Star Healer just said.
Just then, Miriam, who was up ahead, stopped abruptly and pointed out farther ahead. "There! Over the sand mounds! You can see the smoke there!" The rest of the senshi rushed up the large mound to stand next to her. They looked down...and gasped in horror. Right in the middle of the grounds was a huge crater-like hole, black and belching out horrid-smelling black smoke. Because of the strong wind, the smoke did not rise too high that they could see if from afar, but they knew that this was the place. All around it and near it, there was no shrubbery of grass or anything, and a few bodies of dead sheep were scattered here and there.
Sailor Mercury quickly took out her mini computer and began typing furiously. "This is it guys! This is the rip between the dimensions. We've got to close it somehow if we're to save the Earth."
"Right!" said Jupiter, punching her fist into her left palm. "It's time to show this B'aal creep that we mean business, and we're going to stop him once and for all!"
"Oh, I don't think going to be as easy as that!" a voice said in the darkness.
"Nani?" Tuxedo Kamen took out his cane and stood protectively in front of Sailor Moon. In a bright flash, Legion stood a few feet away from them right in front of the crater lip, smiling evilly.
"YOU!" yelled out Uranus. "What the devil are YOU doing here?"
The demon laughed out and disappeared, then reappeared closer to them, his eyes glowing red and evil. "The devil you say? HA! How poetic! The Devil is EXACTLY why I'm here, and soon you all will perish when he begins his revenge!"
"Oh please, enough with this "devil" nonsense!" said Mercury, narrowing her eyes. "Either you're here to fight us, or not. Whatever your plans are, it will NOT succeed! There is NO devil!"
"Is that so?" Legion smirked. "You little fool, haven't you heard the expression, 'the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled, was convincing the world he never existed?' And you fell for it! But it will be too late for you all..."
"Fool?" Anger blazed in the normally calm eyes of the Senshi of Mercury, and she balled her fists in a tight clench. "How dare you! The only fool around here is YOU if you don't surrender right now!" For all her life, Sailor Mercury was regarded as many things; genius, mastermind, brainchild...even a loner, but no one had ever called her a fool. She was the one who usually made fools out of everyone who tried to compete with her and her high intelligence, especially the ones who ridiculed her and snubbed her because of her grades. She was the one everyone came to when they had problems in class or anything else, and now this...this...whatever he is, dared to call her a fool!
She narrowed her eyes and was just to give him another piece of her mind when Legion growled loudly at her biting words and snapped his fingers. One by one, a group of about three dozen Arab men walked out of the shadows around the smoking crater, their eyes pitch black as their souls were tainted by the presence of the evil inside.
"Oh no!" Miriam screamed out, stepping back in horror. "Those are the men from my camp! But...our head priest, he's not there among them. They must have...they...they must have killed him! I don't believe this!" Miriam moaned in despair, thinking about her mother, and sobbed loudly.
Sirius quickly took her hand and dragged her away behind the mound. "Miriam, you have to stay here! We'll take care of them, okay? You have to trust us!"
The girl nodded sadly as she wiped away a tear with a nod. Sirius ran back to where the others stood. No sooner has she joined them than Legion pointed at the Sailor Senshi and screamed "Destroy them!"
The men roared with rage and rushed at them, swinging their arms and large sticks in the air. Chaos then began again as nearly each of the senshi had to fight off a possessed man on their own. Neptune barely ducked out of the way before a man could smash her in the face with a two by four. "Now THAT'S no way to treat a lady!" the aqua-haired senshi said as she smirked. She grabbed his arm as he rushed by and she twirled out of the way, and with her heightened strength, picked him up by that arm, flipped him in the air, and slammed him hard into the ground, knocking him out. "But no one said I had to act like a lady with you!" she said, then smirked again and went back to fighting.
Mars and Jupiter backed away from two men walking up menacingly to them. The two senshi looked at each other, smiled, and artfully dodged the men as they rushed up. The two jumped high in the air as the men turned back around and rushed at them once more, and at the same time, kicked the men dead on in the chest in surprise, knocking them back several feet and smashing into the ground. No sooner had they done that, than another two men rushed up to them, screaming loudly.
The two used expert martial art skills to block and parry the punches and kicks. Then, the two crackled their knuckles, and with a loud yell, punched the men in their faces, knocking them flat on the floor. Jupiter and Mars looked at each other, and after shouting "YES!", they high-fived each other, then rushed off to help their friends.
Mercury and Venus desperately dodged heavy chains some of the men were swinging in the air high above them. "Now there's something I haven't seen before!" Venus said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. The blonde Senshi of Venus raised her hands in the air, and yelled out "VENUS, LOVE ME CHAIN!" The golden chain of hearts lashed out and knocked out the steel chains from the men's hands, making them fall heavily on the dust. The next moment, one of the men rushed forward and tackled Mercury to the ground, knocking the wind out of her.
But the blue-haired girl reacted quickly and raised her knee high, smashing it into the very sensitive part below his waist. The man howled, and Mercury smashed her fist in his face, breaking his nose and knocking him far away on the ground. Venus quickly rushed over after she kicked away another man, and helped her up. "Didn't know you had it in you girlfriend!" she smiled.
"I know!" Mercury retorted, smiling mysteriously. "And I like it that way!"
Meanwhile, Sailors Star Maker, Fighter, and Healer, along with Sirius, each stood back to back as they were surrounded by at least a dozen of the men, each swinging a large club in their hands. "Ready?" whispered Star Healer to Sirius.
"Yep!" She gave the thumbs up sign, and breaking off, stood in front of one of the men, and called out to another, "Hey, come and get me!" Both men roared and rushed forward at the same time, not seeing each other, and just as one was about to smash his club down at Sirius, she jumped out of the way, and the club instead smashed into the head of the man she was standing in front of. The man gave a gurgled moan and slumped to the ground.
"STAR SERIOUS, LASER!"
"STAR GENTLE, BLAZE!"
The enormous energy of light and powerful star energy the color of rainbows blasted out of the medallions of the two Starlight warriors and mixed together in the air, then struck the ground in front of the surprised men. The impact of the blast was so strong, it blew them back and they smashed into the mounds of rock many feet away.
"SIRIUS SCEPTER, ILLUMINATE!" The scepter appeared in a shimmer in Sirius's hand, and she pointed it at another advancing group of men that was just about to reach her and the Starlights. The men screamed and grabbed at their eyes, and after a moment, lay still, the pain too intense for them.
"Sailor Moon, you have to cleanse these possessed men before anymore of them get hurt!" yelled out Pluto as she stood with Uranus and Saturn. She smashed the butt end of her staff into the face of a man with a large sword, knocking him down, as Uranus smashed her elbow into the next unfortunate man. He screamed in a high-pitched voice. Saturn gave a battle yell as she kicked her leg into the stomach of the same man, causing blood to come out of his mouth.
Yes, try to purify them, foolish humans! thought Legion as he stood by not too far away and watched. I've already checked to see if they and the others had Purity Souls, and I found one, so the others are of no use to me. Go ahead and get the biggest surprise ever! The demon giggled insanely and rubbed his hands together, loving every moment of it.
Sailor Moon nodded as she watched Tuxedo Kamen extend his black cane and knocked it against the head of one of the men. "Okay! SILVERMOON, CRYSTAL POWER KISS!" The Moon Senshi raised her magical Tier high in the air, and the purified light raced out and struck each of the men.
Immediately the men began to moan as the evilness in them was being forced out. A moment later, a black crystal-like ball floated out of them, and hovered in the air above them for a second or so. But instead growing brighter and becoming purified, the balls began to grow larger and larger...forming into hideous, purple-skinned demons with long fangs that reached to their pointed chins. When it was done, the demons turned to the senshi and growled low in their throats.
"Uh oh!" said Sailor Moon. "What's going on?"
"I think we might be in trouble...BIG trouble!" said Mercury, gulping hard. The rest of the group stood by one another looking at the fierce-looking demons, feeling the evil just radiating out of them, and knew this would be like no other battle they ever had.
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To Be Continued....
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