Episode 11: The Clash of Sailor Uranus

"Hydro Cyclone!"

“Negative Relation!” The aquatic twister Draconis summoned was eaten by Aether's space warp, and it didn't stop there. Draconis had to dive to the side as Sailor Aether's attack tore through through a series of cars before finally dissipating.

“Petrified Fang Fissure!” Sailor Wan's attack was well aimed as she ran around Aether, but Aether's attack rendered it powerless and forced Wan to move the opposite way she had been. Aether pointed her wand at Wan as she landed, but Daichi snapped her whip at Aether and grabbed her wand wrist, pulling her hard to the ground before running, dragging the senshi a ways before Daichi had to stop and gasp for breaths that weren't there. The whip loosened around Aether's wrist just enough her her to pull the thorns out of her skin and let herself loose completely. As Daichi suffocated, Zhuancha stepped in.

“Flaming Wrath!” The beads flared and flames screamed at Aether, wrapping around her. Aether, having used one hand to apply pressure around the gushing wounds in her wrist, had to turn full around in order to have any hopes of trying to stop the first. She pointed her wand ahead, but was engulfed by the flames and thrown backward.

Wand up, she shouted, “Shrinking Negation!” The flames disappeared into a space warp before said warp was shot at Zhuancha. It stopped just in front of her and tried pulling her in. Aether got to her feet, staring at the attack with intense concentration that was swiftly broken as Sailor Wan bowled into Aether, tackling her hard and disrupting the warp. Aether retaliated by throwing Wan aside. Before anyone else could attempt another strike, Aether created a warped ring around her, engulfing all of her senshi foes and suffocating them from the inside out. Already hit once by this, Daichi hit the ground first and was followed by Draconis, Wan, and then Zhuancha. Just as it seemed Aether would do them in for good, she felt her warp get disrupted at many points, corresponding with a chorus of shouts.

“Crafting Dance!” Four white quills wove over and around Sailor Wan, cutting through the warp like it were butter and weaving a white quilt-like patterned blanket.

“Nankan!” A golden dome did the same, cutting through the warp and securing Daichi and Draconis. With two points disrupted, the warp broke, freeing Zhuancha and leaving Aether confused. She found Anog Ite and Hikari standing by their teammates just before she felt a heavy, powerful “thunk” hit her head. Nebula literally dropped out of the sky and in front of Aether, striking her with her Dohi Mace while Tucana and Ixtab went to Zhuancha. Sailor Dis stayed close behind.

Aether crawled away, her wrist bleeding heavily as her head throbbed. She was barely able to stay conscious as she rolled over, only to find the very sharp end of a lance in her face and a hell of a lot of pressure on her abdomen. She looked up along the shaft to see Sailor Dis' face and, to the surprise of the others, Aether wasn't surprised. “I was wondering when the guardian of the dimensions would find me,” she said bitterly, her voice now sounding ages old.

“Where is your companion?” Dis asked. “Where is this jeweled bottle I have heard of?” Aether grinned.

“I dropped Collector Haruka in a different dimension,” she said. “The bitch interrupted me in the last dimension just when I was having fun. As for the bottle...” Aether smirked. "I can't well get it out with you holding me like this, so..." Dis' face showed surprise when her attack was suddenly dispelled and space bent around them. Aether pulled the bottle out of nowhere, its jewels as shiny as any other time.

“You will give me the bottle,” Dis said, shoving hte lance dangerously close to Aether's face. Aether smiled, but Daichi didn't need to see it to know that Dis' action was a bad one.

“Dis, get away!” she hoarsely shouted. But it was too late. With her other, now-empty hand, Aether reached forward and grabbed the lance, pulling Dis forward into the bright light radiating from the bottle. In a flash, both Dis and Aether were gone. “No, damnit!”

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Everything was quiet, too much so for Sebastian's liking. “Uranus is here, so why hasn't she attacked?” he finally said. Tale turned away from Michiru and Moshi to look at him. She could tell the waiting was driving him crazy. “Something isn't right. It's been too long.”

“Isn't it good that she hasn't shown up yet?” Moshi asked.

“Yes, but it's not like her,” he said. “She is brutal and vicious and doesn't like to wait. Aether hates waiting, too. There must be something big about to happen and that's why they are waiting.”

“How does he know this?” Michiru asked. “How does he know how they think?”

“Because the little rate was one of us!” came a wretched shout. They group jumped a little at it and looked up to find little Sailor Aether crouched on the branch above them. Sebastian and Tale almost didn't recognize her, though. There was a huge red, black, and blue abrasion on her forehead and around her eye. There were also cuts and scratches all over her, but it was the hole around her wrist that caught Tale's attention.

“Daichi!” she said. “You've come across Daichi and the others!”

“Yeah, and I'll hang her by her whip next time I see her,” Aether said bitterly. “But first, I go after easier prey!” She leapt from the tree at them, but was stopped amost sintantly.

“World Shaking!” The bright golden orb of Uranus' attack slammed into Aether, throwing her past the tree and into another. The rest of the team collected around Uranus.

“Collector Uranus won't be far!” Sebastian shouted as Tale, Moshi, and Michiru transformed. As though cued by Sebastian's mention, a dozen or more blades of light sliced through the group, followed by a second wave that threw everyone aside except for Sailor Moon.

“Uranus, you're late!” Aether shouted form her cavity in the tree trunk. Collector Uranus came into focus, her long sword in one hand and her eyes set on Sailor Moon.

“Oh no, protect Sailor Moon!” Sebastian shouted, already running toward the lone senshi.

“Meteor Shower!” Collector Uranus shouted, bring her blade up and then down again. Mimicking the movement of the blade were many blades of light that charged at Sailor Moon. Sebastian wrapped his one good around around her and leapt out just before the blades hit them. He landed among the fallen senshi. “She has a huge grudge against any Sailor Moon in any dimension!” he told them. “She's killed the Moon senshi in other dimensions!”

“You couldn't tell us this beforehand?!” Mars shouted as she stood. She had no sooner stood when another wave came at them. Sebastian held onto Moon, shielding her from the attack. She found this to be incredibly uncomfortable, but then suddenly she discovered that he was unnaturally cold. Fearing the worst, she pulled away, but to her amazement he wasn't just alive, but completely covered in metal. He looked at her with stern eyes before a metal shield came down over them. He stood and turned to Collector Uranus. “This vendetta has to stop!” he shouted. “You can't take your anger out on the Sailor Moon's of other dimensions! It won't make you feel better because they aren't the ones that hurt you!”

“They are all the same!” she shouted. “They are all cowards who don't deserve anything they have, had, or will have!”

“You can't generalize!” Sebastian shouted back. “They are all different! Who are you to decide who deserves to live or who to die?!”

“Because she abandoned us!” Uranus shouted. “Everyone gave their lives for her, and when it was just Neptune and I she ran from battle! She abandoned up and Neptune- Michiru...” Her voice broke for a moment. “She died because of Sailor Moon's cowardice! They are all cowards and they will all die! Meteor Shower!” Uranus launched her attack, but it was stopped by the combined strength of Mars and Uranus' attacks.

Meanwhile, Geb, Neptune, and Earth were playing a game of cat and mouse with Aether, where they were the mice and Aether was a very fast small cat with a very long, sharp spear with a crescent moon on it. She seemed to completely forgo her regular power in favor of a vicious assault with the spear.

“Life Force!” Earth sent the ball of light at Aether, who dodged it before lunging at her with the spear. Geb intervened with her staff, hitting the spear up before swinging the butt of her staff at Aether and knocking her back. Neptune stepped in and threw some punches, but Aether took advantage of her small size to slid between Neptune's legs and smack her in the head with the spear. “Life Force!” Earth sent the second attack, but Aether again dodged and again went after Earth, with Geb again intervening. By this point, Neptune and Earth stepped back at let Geb handle things, but things suddenly got very dangerous nearby.

The two Uranus senshi were fighting one-on-one now, their attacks hitting and causing grand explosions that forced everyone, including Geb and Aether, to move out of range. Aether took this time to go after Sebastian, but the tip of the spear dinged against his metal body and she quickly found herself at the wrong end of his metal fist. It connected with her head, throwing her to the side. She hit the ground and skidded on it, the spear being launched from her hands and becoming wedged in a tree.

This left Aether out cold for the moment, leaving only one Collector to deal with and Sebastian had an idea on how to deal with it. “Sailor Neptune!” He yelled at the senshi on the other side of the group, catching her attention immediately. “You need to get in there! She won't fight against you!” Having been oblivious to the prior shouting, Neptune had her doubts, but she found she would have little choice after Sailor Moon and Earth charged into battle.

“Sailor Moon, Earth! Come back!” she shouted before running after them. The two Uranus senshi were now weaponless and fighting hand-to-hand, with the good Uranus in and out of a headlock and making no progress.

“Life Force!”

“Tiara Magic!”

The two attacks slammed into Collector Uranus from either side, releasing her lock on her opponent before stumbling back. Earth and Moon ran to good Uranus' sides and held her as her knees buckled. “I am ending this now!” Earth and Moon looked up as Collector Uranus lifted her sword. “Meteor-” She stopped its descent mid-way when Neptune suddenly stepped between her and the other senshi.

“That is enough Uranus,” she said sternly. “You have taken this far too far.” The sword promptly fell to the side.

“But Neptune, she left us for dead!” Uranus argued. “She killed you!”

“No,” Neptune said. She pointed back to Sailor Moon. “She has not left me for dead. She did not leave you, or your Neptune, for dead. She is not you Sailor Moon. She has made no crime against you or your Neptune.” She then lifted her hands, revealing her mirror. “I will not let you harm her.” As she spoke, Earth and the unsteady Uranus stepped in front of Sailor Moon while the rest of the team moved to join them. Sebastian and Geb, who now stood near Aether, watched as the titanic Collector Uranus seemed to shrink before their eyes.

“You never questioned me,” she said to Neptune. “You never stood up to me...”

“I am not her,” Neptune said. “Just as your Moon is not my Moon, and you are not my Uranus. I will not judge you by how my Uranus is, and I shall never judge her by your actions today. Likewise, I shall not show you mercy just because you look like her.” Collector Uranus' mouth opened and closed like a fish. Geb was going to say something, but Earth seemed to take the words right out of her mouth.

“It's a little lonely out there, isn't it?” Earth asked. “Surrender, or do you really think you can stand up to all of us?” Collector Uranus looked at Earth, and then to Moon and Uranus, and finally to Neptune. She sighed, and the sword vanished from her hand.

“I know when I am beat,” she said, “And, perhaps I have been dealing with the pain...” She trailed off, and Sebastian picked up where she left off.

“..Dealing with the pain in the wrong ways,” he finished. Collector Uranus nodded and looked at him, and then her eyes grew, alerting them to danger but too late.

“Traitor!” Geb and Sebastian suddenly flew forward toward a newly opened warp. Sebastian stabbed his good metal hand into the ground, anchoring himself while Geb held onto him for dear life. On the other side were Earth and Moon who, having been surprised by the suddenly shout, were being pulled in as well. Mercury and Jupiter grabbed hold of Earth and held on, but Moon's grasp on Earth's arm slipped and she blond was left to slide toward the warp.

“Sailor Moon!” Earth shouted.

“Uranus, attack the warp!” Collector Uranus shouted to her counterpart. She threw her hand forward, her sword appearing, and then brought it down shouting, “Meteor Shower!” The blades of energy sliced through the warp, disrupting it momentarily. “Do it!”

“World Shaking!”

“Meteor Shower!” The two attacks were thrown multiple times and disrupted the warp enough that Moon was able to get back to the others at a safe distance.

This angered Aether to no end. “Traitor! Scum!” She pointed her wand at Collector Uranus. “Negative Relation!”

“Meteor Shower!” The two attacks somehow met and destroyed each other like paper through a shredder without so much as a sound. “Haven't you gotten the picture?” Collector Uranus shouted. “My space powers cancel yours!”

“We'll see! Neg-”

“Sunray!” The light beam's appearance was synchronous with Hikari's appearance out of her golden gate. The beam slammed into Aether's side as senshi suddenly appeared all around.

Sailors Ixtab, Nebula, Tucana, and Dis appeared in Ixtab's teleport bubble next to the tree where the spear was still lodged. Daichi took position next to Hikari while Zhuancha, Anog Ite, Draconis, and Wan stood with the rest of the senshi. Collector Uranus, meanwhile, found the tip of a very sharp, wide sword at her neck. She glanced down it to find little Sailor Celestia holding the too-big sword. The rest of the Palmina senshi surrounded her while Seresha and TumTum helped Geb and Sebastian.

“Wow, all this for little old me?” Aether asked as she sat up. Sailor Dis gripped her spear and whipped it angrily out of the tree and thrust the point of it in Aether's direction, keeping her distance.

“Did you think you could kidnap me, steal my spear, drop me in the middle of an ocean, and trespass across the boundaries of dimensions AND get away with it?” she asked more angrily than she looked. Aether simply shrugged.

“I was certainly close,” she said.

“Well, you are not completely outnumbered,” Hikari said. She stepped forward. “Give it up!”

“Oh, you're still alive, are you?” Aether asked. “I figured you would have died from the grief by now without your partner.” Daichi didn't see it coming until it was too late. Staff discarded and Twilight Dagger gleaming, Hikari lunged at Aether. It was a trap and everyone could tell, but Hiakri's rage didn't care. She was quickly on top of Aether, her dagger a mere inch from Aether's neck and a clod blade through her gut and she still saw nothing by the rage. Then she saw a bright light as Aether used the distraction to vanish. The light hadn't quite vanished yet, though, when Daichi charged forward and pulled Hikari away. The light finally faded as Daichi settled onto her knees, holding Hikari and feeling the worst sense of deja vu.

Everyone was silent, listening as Hikari spent her last breaths crying. “I'm sorry Daichi,” she cried. “I couldn't stop, I couldn't... I'm sorry.”

“Don't be sorry, and don't be thinking you are going anywhere,” Daichi said. “I can heal you, I'm not losing you like I lost. Can anyone-” Daichi's question was interrupted by Hikari's hand covering her lips.

“No, no,” she said. “Let me go. I want to go... I want... to be complete...” Her voice trailed as her eyelids drooped and her breaths stilled. Daichi bit her lip and nodded, clearly straining against her emotions.

“With Mei gone, you felt like half a person,” she said. “It is as I feel everyday without Aria, but Aria will be waiting at home for me.” She let out a shuddering sigh and closed Hikari's eyes.

“Not to be rude to the glorious dead,” Maplus said, “But what are we doing with this one?” She motioned to Collector Uranus, who was still at the wrong end of Celestia's sword.

“Nothing,” Geb said. “She is ours. She is coming with us.”

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“Daichi?” Nebula lifted the candle into the darkness and found Daichi staring at an IPI painting, her attention focused on Mei and Hikari's counterparts. “Sailor Dis is ready to leave.” Daichi didn't reply. “Daichi-”

“I've changed my mind,” she said. “I am incomplete without Aria, and I have a responsibility to Mei and Hikari's bodies, but I made a promise. I have a responsibility to the weapons on the rest of my team, and I will recover them.”

Nebula nodded. “I'll let them know,” she said softly. She turned to leave.

“You are still leaving?” Nebula paused.

“Yes,” she said softly, yet still audible. “I have my mace. It was all Tucana and I hoped to accomplish, and we did so. We have no purpose to remaining.”

“You've never seen people die, have you?”

“I have now.” Nebula started toward the stairs again, but gasped when she felt Daichi's hand on her shoulder. It seemed surreal as Daichi turned her around and planted a single, soft kiss on her forehead. She pulled away from Nebula then.

“I hope you never have to see any more,” Daichi said. “I have seen so much more before now, and I know it is not over yet. Mei and Hikari weren't the last to die. Someone else will die, I have seen it. I just... don't know who.” She nodded. “It is right that you leave now, but I will miss you my friend.” Nebula nodded and quickly turned away. She didn't want to believe more would die, but she knew Daichi's gift would not lie. Feeling more choked up, Nebula hurried up the stairs, leaving Daichi behind in the darkness.

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Outside, Dis stood ready with the Palmina senshi. Near them, Sailor Wan, Draconis, and Earth spoke with Geb. “It is an interesting proposition, but I must decline,” Earth said. “I have my responsibilities here.”

“So do we,” Draconis said. “We have a job on our Earth, though I really do wish I could help you more.”

“You have given us much help as it is,” Geb said. “Please, don't feel guilty that you cannot come with us. We are in your debt to the help you have given.” The took noticed as Ixtab and Nebula arrived.

“Well, there is my ride,” Earth said. “Good luck, Sailor Geb.” She moved to join Ixtab as Wan looked to Sailor Dis.

“If the circumstances were different...” she began to say. She looked to Geb. “Good hunting to you all.” She reach forth and shook Geb's hand before joining the others who were being returned by Dis. Draconis shook Geb's hand as well before jogging after the taller senshi. Nebula made to pass Geb, but she was stopped.

“Nebula, where is Daichi?” she asked. Nebula looked at Geb and shook her head. Understanding, Geb nodded and let her pass. Geb watched Ixtab and Earth disappear before looking to the others. Tucana and Nebula were among the Palmina senshi, but she noticed Zhuancha hanging back. She took notice of Geb's staring, and so walked over to her.

“Daichi is staying?” she asked. Geb nodded. “Then, so am I.”

“You have your beads,” Geb said. “You have no obligation to stay.”

“Yes, I do,” Zhuancha said. “Aether used my beads to kill Mei. I owe something to Daichi for it, and I won't be swayed from it.” Geb sighed and nodded. She then looked to Sailor Dis and waved her arm.

“That's all of them!” she called. Sailor Dis nodded. Moments later, the group of senshi were gone. Geb sighed again. “Well, I suppose we ought to get ready. Sebastian said that Aether has likely returned to the dimension where they are basing themselves. We have to move before she moves again.” Zhuancha nodded.

“I'll get Anog Ite,” she said. She turned to walk away, but then stopped. “What are we doing about Uranus?” Geb blinked.

“She is out key to getting in,” she said. “Uranus will help us. She agreed to, but she would have had no say anyway.” Zhuancha nodded and left, leaving Geb alone. She looked up to the Earth, reminded of her home, and closed her eyes. I am here. This is my life now. This is home now.