Sailor Moon: The Rise of B'aal

Chapter 2:

As soon as the loud school bell rang to signal the end of a class, the huge halls of Juuban High began to fill with students hurrying off to their next class or heading out to lunch. Tanya slowly walked out of her classroom doorway after the crowd rushed by, her head hung low. The big math test she had just taken was a lot harder than she expected. Most of the things she went over with Ami and the other girls at Rei's shrine and home was barely recognizable on the actual test paper. For the first few moments after the teacher nodded her head to begin the exam, Tanya chewed the end of her pencil nervously. Then, thinking she could always take a make-up, went at the confusing figures the best she could. Now, the dark-skinned girl sighed and could only hope that it was worth all that studying. As she made her way to her locker, a tall figure came up behind her.

"Heya Tanya-chan! So how do you think you did on that test?" The tall brunette girl smiled and laid an understanding hand on Tanya's shoulder. After taking the test with her class earlier that morning, she understood what the smaller girl was thinking.

"Oh, hi Mako-chan!" smiled Tanya, trying to be cheerful. "Awww, it wasn't so bad. I...I don't think I made that much mistakes..." The girl's smile faltered, and she suddenly couldn't say anything else. Like the other students, Tanya understood how important testing was for high school students. It would decide which college they would go to, what profession they would have...basically decide the rest of their future! But try as hard as she could, Tanya just didn't see the point of making the tests so...so..darn hard!

"Daijobu Ti-chan! It'll be fine!" Mako-chan reached over and gave Tanya a big bear hug. "You probably did better than you thought!" The green eyed girl leaned Tanya away from her and looked with concern into her eyes, "Did you remember to use the breathing and relaxing techniques Ami-chan taught us? She said it's great for releasing the stress,"

A huge sweatdrop appeared over Tanya's dark head. "Heheheh! Gomen, somehow that sort of slipped my mind!" she chuckled as she put a hand behind her head. Makoto frowned and shook her head in mock annoyance, and just as she was about to give Tanya a little scolding, three more figures walked up out of the noisy crowd to join them, "Hey guys! Wasn't that math test a killer today?" said Usagi as she leaned tiredly against the row of lockers near Tanya. She sighed with relief that the first series of tests were over for the day.

"Yeah, my brain is STILL on overdrive!" chuckled Minako, flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder. After having just finished a bit part in a highly anticipated movie, the aspiring actress was amazed to have found the time to study at all.

"Oh really? Maybe that could be an improvement for you Minako-chan!" joked Makoto. Tanya and Usagi chuckled at the joke as Minako frowned for a moment, then laughed along with the others. They remembered her "ditzy" days when Minako was just as bad in grades as Usagi. But with the joking, they were glad to finally find something to relieve the stress they just went through.

"You guys, this is no time to joke," said Ami. "I really hope you took my lessons on relaxing seriously. It could mean the difference between passing and failing," Ami, the ever responsible one of the group, gave each girl a hard look.

"We know Ami-chan, we know..." sighed Usagi, patting the blue-haired girl on her shoulder. Just then, the communicator inside of the petite blonde's book bag went off. With concerned eyes, the girls nodded to each other and quickly went into an empty classroom right at the end of the row of lockers. Making sure no one else was inside and closing the door, Usagi took out the small device and click it on. "Usagi here! What's up?"

After a few seconds, the static cleared on the tiny screen, and Sailor Mar's faced appeared. "Minna! You guys, you've got to get down here at my school right away! There's a...a demon of some sort here attacking one of the students!"

"Demon? You mean, from the Dark Kingdom or something? I thought we defeated them!" Tanya rolled her eyes, "Oh perfect! These morons sure have perfect timing, don't they?"

"NO! This is like nothing we've fought before! Just get down here, NOW! He's really strong!" With that, the image of Sailor Mars disappeared.

"What did she mean by that?" Minako asked, concern showing in her eyes.

"I don't know, but we better get down there and do something fast," Ami said. Her hands were already balling into a fist.

"Minna, IKIYO! Let's go!" Usagi rushed out of the classroom, the rest of the girls following closely behind her. As she and the girls dashed out of the school building, Tanya couldn't help but feel angry at this new development. Another chance of her being a normal girl...no...a normal young woman dashed yet again by the forces of evil. When will she ever truly live her life peacefully? Then, as she looked into the faces of the other girls, Tanya knew they were thinking the same thing. They all just wanted to live in peace, to live normal lives as the late Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom wanted them to do when she sent their souls to be reborn. But sadly, Tanya knew it was not to be...not as long as they were Sailor Senshi and evil still strong.

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Eternal Sailor Mars screamed loudly in pain as she fell to the concrete school ground. The heavy blast of red energy the hoofed demon threw at her struck her heavily, and it seemed as if her whole body was burning as she struck the ground. She shakily tried to get up as she struggled for breath. When she had transformed into Sailor Mars and confronted the creature, it had only laughed and started blasting her with his strange powers. It was unlike anything the Senshi of Fire had ever seen or felt.

Usually the Shinto Priestess was able to sense and feel the many youmas and enemies the Sailor Senshi fought against. But this time, it was different. This demon felt as if it was...ancient somehow, as if it was finally releasing a feeling...a force that it held for a VERY long time. Sailor Mars narrowed her eyes and shakily got to her feet. No matter, it was still a demon, still evil, and that was HER department. With a smirk, she reached behind her and brought up a strip of paper with an incantation on it.

She closed her eyes for a second as she prayed silently, Ancient Fire of Mars, help me defeat this evil! Her violet eyes snapped opened, and she rushed forward towards the red monster. "Akouryou, Taison!" Mars jumped high into the air and threw the ofuda towards the creature. The paper landed right between the pair of horns on his head, and with a shocked look on his face, he screamed and stood still for a few seconds.

But before Mars could yell in victory, the paper suddenly burst into flames and disintegrated. He blinked his eyes for a moment, then looked at her with a face full of contempt. "Weak, pathetic mortal! Is that the best you can do? Your God was a fool to waste His time with you!" He smiled slowly and bared his sharp, pointed teeth.

"What the...!" Mars breathed out. Her energy spent, she fell to her knees and looked over at the still body of the young girl. She looked close to death with her pale skin and unmoving chest. She turned to look back at the advancing monster. "Please...whatever it is you took from her, give it back! She'll die!"

"Do I care?" smirked the demon. He raised his free hand and prepared to fire at the exhausted senshi.

"Stop right there!" screamed out a voice. From out of the dark shade, five figures, the Eternal Sailor Senshi team, ran up and stopped near Sailor Mars. Eternal Sailor Moon bent down and helped the black-haired Mars to her feet. "Are you alright?" asked the Moon senshi, carefully looking over her close friend.

"H..hai", whispered Mars, squinting against the pain in her chest and sides.

"Just who are you, and where the hell did you come from?" demanded Eternal Jupiter as she stepped in front of the others. She took a fighting stance and narrowed her eyes.

The demon raised a black eyebrow and smirked, "Where the hell did I come from?" He took a step forward, still holding the glowing ball of the girl's soul, and glared evilly at the girls, "Hehehe, funny you should mention that. I am Bzuzu, and I am the bringer of your deaths! Soon, you mortal humans will be given what you deserve. What was ours will belong to us once again, and your God will be no more!" The horned demon tilted his head back and a booming laughter erupted from his throat.

"Oh yeah, well you obviously haven't heard of us!" shouted out Eternal Sailor Moon. "We are the Eternal Sailor Senshi, and we will protect everyone on this planet from evil scum like you. I am Sailor Moon, and in the name of the Moon, I will punish you!"

"And that goes for the rest of us!" Sailor Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, and Sirius stepped up next to Moon and assumed a fighting stance.

Bzuzu gave an unimpressed looked. "Sailor Moon, is it? Well, do me a favor. Shut your mouth and fight!" The demon raised his free hand once again and fired a heavy blast of evil energy at the group. They quickly jumped out of the way as the place they were just standing in exploded, sending pieces of concrete and debris everywhere.

"You're the only one here who needs to keep his mouth shut!" yelled out Super Sailor Sirius, "SIRIUS...KISS OF DEATH...

"Wait!" Mars rushed up and stopped the smaller senshi for shooting forth her powers. "No, we can't yet! See that glowing crystal ball he's holding in his hand? He took it from that girl!" She gave the other girls a pleading look. "I don't what is is exactly, but we have to get it back to her or else she won't make it. If we attack him and miss, we might destroy it!"

"The girl's soul is mine!" screamed out Bzuzu. He let out another blast of energy, this time in a series of blasts, sending explosions one after another into the sky and debris flying on the Catholic school grounds.

"I have an idea!" yelled out Eternal Sailor Mercury. She touched her earring and her blue visor flashed across her face. "MERCURY SHABON SPRAY!" A blast of bubbles erupted from Mercury's hands, and immediately, the area was filled with fog, and the senshi disappeared from the evil demon's sight.

"I will make you each die a thousand unbearable deaths!" screamed out Bzuzu as he looked desperately around him. "Show yourselves, or else the girl...OOOF!" A hard kick to the back sent Bzuzu crashing to the hard floor. As he fell, he dropped the glowing sphere. Quick as a flash, a figure jumped down and snatched it up.

"Got it!" yelled Eternal Sailor Venus. The fog cleared slightly, and the five Sailor Soldiers stood before the demon as he struggled to his hoofed feet. Eternal Sailor Moon stepped up to him and pointed her Tier straight at his chest. Sailor Venus quickly rushed over to the unconscious girl and held the glowing ball to her chest. It slowly floated towards the girl, then absorbed back inside her. Within seconds, the girl's color began to come back, although she still remained knocked out. When it was done, Moon turned to look back at Bzuzu. "I don't know who you are, or why you're here, but we're not about to just sit by and let you harm innocent people. We're going to protect them, no matter what. We will fight you, if it's a fight you want," The blonde Senshi Leader narrowed her eyes, "Don't make the mistake of underestimating us,"

"You fools!" snarled out the evil creature as he glared at all of them, "You have no idea what forces are at work here! You are all nothing compared to the Prince of Darkness! When we get through with you, you'll be sorry you ever existed!"

"Yeah, like we never heard anything like that before!" smirked Sailor Sirius.

Bzuzu gave a loud, rageful yell, and was about to shoot forth another round of deadly blasts before the Moon stepped forward and yelled "SILVERMOON, CRYSTAL POWER KISS!" The demon was surrounded and then engulfed in a purifying white light, but instead of yelling "BEAUTIFUL!" as everyone thought he would, Bzuzu screamed and disappeared in burst of light that caused everyone to shield their eyes.

"Is he gone?" Sailor Sirius looked around along with the other girls.

"I think so. Nothing could have survived that," commented Mercury.

"WRONG!"

The group looked up in the sky in surprise at the booming voice. The figure of Bzuzu materialized above them, blood running down the side of his face and arms. The girls all gaped in shock as he looked down at them with barely contained fury.

"You may have won this round, but I'll be back!" the horned demon yelled out in pain. "You WILL suffer for your insolence, I promise you!" With final grunt, Bzuzu disappeared in a bright flash.

"Is everyone alright so far?" asked Sailor Moon a moment later as she turned around to look at her friends.

"Yeah, I'm alright," sighed Mars, "But I'm more worried about her," The Fire Senshi rushed over to the girl and gently helped her to sit up. Her eyes fluttered gently, and she slowly opened them and looked up the red and purple suited Mars. She gave a tiny smile at being in the presence of one of the world famous Senshi, then her eyes widened as she remembered what happened.

"It's okay, you're safe now!" smiled Mars. "We're going to get you some help and you'll be fine," She nodded her head and took the girl's hand in hers.

"Gracias..." the girl whispered before closing her eyes in exhaustion again.

Mars looked up at the other girls. "Minna....everyone, after school, we need to have an emergency Sailor Senshi meeting. By what I felt today from that demon, this is not going to be like one of those enemies we fought against before."

"What do you mean, Mars?" asked Sirius as she knelt down by her.

"Trouble," whispered Mars, narrowing her eyes, "Big trouble,"

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Hikawa Jinja Shrine

Later that afternoon:

Rei and the other girls sat in a circle with their legs crossed underneath them as the fire blazed high in the fireplace in the Prayer Room of the old shrine. After they had returned to school, they had made arrangements to meet at the Sailor Senshi meeting place to discuss what had happened. Since then, the girls had been nervous the whole day. Although they didn't really want to admit it to themselves, they couldn't ignore what the implications of what happened meant; more fighting, more innocent lives at stake, and more sacrifices that probably had to be made to ensure that Earth will be safe. Even as their hearts sank at losing another chance to live normal lives, Tanya and the rest of the senshi knew that it was up to them to protect their future.

"So Rei-chan, what's so urgent you have to talk to us about?" Usagi wanted to know, "I mean, isn't it obvious that some enemy may have come back or something?"

"That's just it Usagi," sighed Rei, "It isn't "just some enemy that may have come back" or anything like that," She looked up at the girls with worried eyes. "It's much more than that, much...I don't know...older than that."

"Older?" asked Tanya as she frowned in confusion.

"Yeah, that's the best I can explain right now. That's why I wanted you all here with me. I'm going to do a fire reading and I need all of your strength. I just need you all to concentrate, okay?" Rei looked around at her friends and pleaded with her eyes for their help. Knowing how crucial and informative the fire reading was to Rei and themselves, the girls nodded in agreement.

"Of course Rei, anything to help find out what we're up against," said Makoto, ever ready to defend those she love against an enemy. The girls then turned towards the high blazing fire and held hands together.

The Shinto Priestess moved closer to the fire and clasped her hands together. "Oh Great Fire of Mars, an evil has invaded our home! Please tell us who it is, and how to defeat it. Show us our enemy, I beg of you! Rin, pyu, tou, shai, kai, zen, retsu, shai ZEN!" At each word, the black haired girl made a special movement and sign of her hands, drawing strength from the other girls as they concentrated.

The fire suddenly blazed higher seconds later, and immediately, a pair of glowing red eyes appeared, glaring at the girls with evil and fury. The eyes blinked as a low growl erupted from the flames. "I have you now, weak mortal!" said a dark and hate-filled voice from the burning flames. Then, as quickly as it came, the pair of evil eyes disappeared.

"What in the world?" whispered out Usagi in fear, shivering slightly.

Right then, Rei gave a high-pitched, heart wrenching scream, then slumped forward on the bare floor, unmoving as her skin turned a paler shade.

"REI-CHAN!" yelled out Tanya. She and the other girls rushed over to the fallen girl.

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To be continued...

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