Author's Note: If you wish to comment on my story, either positively or negatively, don't hesitate to contact me at treetop@voicenet.com. Sailor Moon and all related characters are the property of Takeuchi Naoko, Toei Animation and DIC. All references to Vulcan are the province of Gene Roddenberry and Paramount Studios. So, please, don't sue me because I haven't any money. I do this strictly for entertainment purposes, not copyright infringement.
Across The Millennia
by Jeffrey C. Branch
Part Nine: Terror in the Tower
Rating: PG-13
"I can't find a pulse, Torrent. I think she's dead."
When Molly heard those words, her insides turned to ice, her mind went numb and her entire body suddenly ached from grief. Serena, her best friend since childhood, the girl she loved like a sister was gone.
Staring mutely at Serena's lifeless body as it lay in a puddle of water, Molly's mind flashed back to the past. Memories of all the good times she had with Serena while growing up, playing games, slumber parties, chatting incessantly about boys and food, helping Serena with her studies and enjoying her friend's wonderful, carefree, though occasionally accident-prone life.
But, there were dark times too, the darkest having been after Nephlyte was killed a year ago. Molly hadn't known until almost the end that Nephlyte, calling himself Maxfield Stanton was an alien out to conquer the world, all that mattered to Molly was that she was in love with him. When Nephlyte had died, protecting her from the devious Zoicite, her entire world collapsed.
Yet, through all the long, lonely days after Nephlyte's death, when the agony became so unbearable that Molly considered suicide to end the pain, Serena was there for her. For weeks on end, Serena talked to her, comforted her, gave her a shoulder to cry on. Whenever Molly needed Serena, she was there, putting her own life on hold to bring Molly back from the brink.
"I'm doing this for you, Moll," Molly remembered Serena saying before the water creature killed her.
With tears streaming from her eyes, a whimpering Molly crawled towards Serena. While the students, teachers and the monsters looked on, Molly gently gathered Serena's sopping wet body in her arms and held her tightly while gently stroking her hair. No one dared to utter a sound.
"Oh, no. Please, God, not again. DON'T LEAVE ME, SERENA!" Molly screamed. Her cries of bottomless anguish echoed down the halls.
Torrent became annoyed with Molly's wailing. "Jeezus! What a racket. You'd think she was married to the chick from the way she's carrying on."
"Insensitive beast. Don't make light of her grief. The bond girlfriends share, especially in their teenage years is particularly strong," Cyclone said to the water creature in a harsh, condescending tone.
"I could care less."
"What about the corpse? Do we leave it behind?" Inferno asked.
"Nahh. Better bring it along. That asshole Riley will want proof that we whacked the bitch," said Torrent. "Cyclone, you've got the detail."
Cyclone glared at her teammate. "Merci," she said sarcastically. Reverting back to her wind form, she reached down for Serena.
"NO! Don't you take her from me!" Molly yelled, holding Serena's body close to hers. "Please. I'm begging you. She was my best friend."
Cyclone gave Molly a sorrowful expression. "I know, cherie. You loved her a great deal, did you not? You have my sincerest condolences on your loss."
"Enough already, woman! Grab the stiff and let's blow this dump!" an impatient Torrent snapped.
With a heavy sigh, Cyclone gently pulled Serena's body away from Molly who sobbed and whimpered pitifully. The wind creature, still very much a woman felt the young girl's awful pain. "Happy?" Cyclone growled to Torrent.
"Estatic. C'mon."
"Hold it right there!" an angry voice shouted from behind the creatures. They whirled around and found themselves facing Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter, enraged at seeing the unmoving form of Serena in Cyclone's arms.
"What did you do to her?" the Scout of Thunder demanded.
"What do you think? We killed her," said Torrent with an evil grin.
The Scouts were momentarily stunned from what they heard. They both looked at Serena and saw that her chest wasn't heaving. Then they stared at Molly, sobbing uncontrollably at the feet of the creatures.
"Molly! Is he right? Is Serena....?" Mercury couldn't bring herself to say that grim word.
Molly, too distraught to talk merely nodded.
The anger Jupiter already felt increased a hundredfold. If their leader, their friend was dead, then she would exact a terrible vengeance on her killers.
"Murdering bastards!" she roared, the antenna on her tiara shooting up while tears spilled from her eyes. "You're gonna pay for killing Serena!"
"I kinda doubt that, sparky," said Torrent. "This hall is chock full of innocents. And we've got no problem about killing everyone in sight. If you wanna rumble, fine, but folks could wind up wasted if you do!"
Jupiter, insane from rage moved forward but was stopped by Mercury. "No! We can't! They'll kill everyone! Let them go!" she hissed to Jupiter.
"But Merc! What about....?"
"No buts! Our responsibility is to all these people! Please!"
Gritting her teeth, Jupiter lowered her antenna and dropped her head. "Okay, Torrent, get out of here. But this isn't over, you sick monster! Do you hear me? Not by a long shot!"
Torrent laughed. "You got that right, sweetcheeks. We'll be seeing you kids again real soon. Let's roll, people!" And with that, the creatures, bearing Serena's body left the building.
The hallway remained silent as everyone stared at the two Scouts, ramrod stiff and scowling.
"Blast! What went wrong? And where the hell is Talia?" a seething Jupiter demanded.
"I don't know. But we can't worry about her now," said Mercury, tears trickling down her cheeks. She was having a very difficult time keeping her emotions in check. Like Jupiter, she was in agony from the loss of her best friend. "Let's get outside! Maybe we can track the monsters to their lair. They're going to pay for what they did to Serena!"
"And what did they do to her?" a very familiar voice asked. The Scouts whirled around and were shocked at who they saw.
"So. You--have--come--at--last," said Stonecutter to Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus as they cautiously approached the eight foot tall stone monster.
The police, paramedics, newscrews and the crowds of onlookers parted their ranks to let the Scouts passed when they approached the devastated school. The Sailors itched for a chance to get battle the creatures again.
"You bet we have, freak," Mars growled. "Let's take this to some nice secluded spot so Venus and I can kick your rocky ass!"
The monster's mouth curled into an approximatioin of a smile. "I--would--like--that--very--much."
"Stonecutter! Belay that!" came a voice from behind him. "We've got what we came for! Let's book!"
The stone brute and the Scouts looked up to see the Inferno and Cyclone monsters hovering over them and Torrent walking up to Stonecutter. Mars and Venus were horrified to see Serena in the arms of Cyclone.
"Oh, no! Serena!" cried Venus.
Torrent chuckled. "Like I said, we got what we want. See ya!" Torrent dove into the trench, followed by Stonecutter while the others flew away.
"They got her! Shit! They got her! C'mon!" cried Mars. Just then, her communicator sounded. "Mars here! Go!"
"This is Mercury. Join Jupiter and I around the corner."
"There's no time! They've got Serena!"
"Mars! Please! It's important!"
"More important that this?" cried an incredulous Venus.
"Believe it or not, yes."
The Scouts glanced at each other, then nodded. "We're coming!" Mars snarled. "This had better be good, Mercury, or I'll break your freaking neck!"
Mars and Venus hastily followed the communicator's signal to a secluded area behind the school and gasped in wide eyed shock at seeing Mercury and Jupiter flanking Sailor Moon.
"What in blazes is going on here?" a stunned Mars demanded.
"We just saw you carried off by the monsters!" said Venus.
"That wasn't me, guys. That was Talia," Moon said.
"What? How?" Mars wanted to know.
"Tal knocked me out while we were hiding in that classroom. When I came to, she was gone....and so was my disguise pen!"
"Good Lord! Talia used the pen to impersonate Serena! She purposely set herself up as bait to keep those monsters from killing everyone!" said Venus.
"What a damn crazy thing to do!" growled Mars, smacking a fist into her palm. "No wonder she wouldn't tell us what she was up to! This really bites!"
"But, according to Molly, she was dead. How could Talia fake that?" Mercury asked Moon.
"Back when we lived on the Moon, Tal told me Vulcans can put themselves into death-like trances where they shut down their bodies. Heartbeat, pulse, breathing, the works," Moon explained. "That's how she fooled the monsters into thinking they killed her. Trust me, guys, Tal's still alive. I can feel her in my mind."
"Well, that might not last long. If those psychos find out they've got a ringer on their hands, Tal's life won't be worth spit," a worried Jupiter grumbled. She then turned to Mercury. "Amy, please tell us she left a trail to follow. Tal doesn't stand a snowball's chance alone against Stefan's freaks!"
Mercury pulled out her mini-computer and punched a few keys to call up a grid of the city. A blinking red blip, moving left to right on the grid appeared on the screen. "Yes! I've got a signal! Talia activated the homing circuit on her communicator! They're headed downtown!"
"Okay! Let's move, Scouts!" ordered Moon, a hard, fierce scowl creasing her face. "If those monsters hurt Tal, may God have mercy on them all, because I sure as hell won't!"
From the spacious rooftop penthouse of the headquarters of Infostar Tokyo, Eric Riley, formerly Administrator Stefan, traitor to Queen Serenity and the Moon Kingdom vacilated between being elated and disappointed.
Staring down the body of the young girl as it lay on a cold metal slab, Riley frowned. While he was pleased that Serenity's resurrected daughter was finally dead, he felt unsatisfied. Riley rationalized that was because his lackeys dealt Serena the killing blow instead of him. But then, he always hated getting his hands dirty, even when he was a nobleman in Serenity's court.
"Well? Does that fill your prescription....boss?" Moses Cleary asked.
Riley nodded. "Most definitely, Mr. Cleary. You did the right thing in bringing the body here. I would not have accepted your say so that the princess had been eliminated."
"What do you plan to do with the corpse?" Helmut Schmidt asked.
Riley thought that over. Then he stared at the body and grinned. "Perhaps I'll have it frozen in order to forever preserve the princess' beauty."
Yakov Ben Nasser scowled. A deeply religious man, he didn't like the idea of Riley defiling the dead. "Now that we have done your dirty work, it is time you lived up to your end of the bargain."
Giselle Dupre nodded. "Yes. Return us to normal."
Riley chuckled. "I'm sorry, Mademoiselle Dupre, but I'm afraid that's not possible. I can't change you back. Ever."
Dupre, Schmidt and Ben Nasser gasped from horror. Cleary just glared. He had seen that coming.
"What do you mean you can't change us back?" Schmidt demanded.
"When Queen Beryl gave you your powers a millennia ago, she permanently altered your DNA. It's now part of your genetic makeup," said Riley. "Besides, why would you want to return to normal? The four of you are almost godlike. Your powers put you as far above humankind as the personal computer is above an abacus. You can rule this city, or raze it to the ground."
"To blazes with that! All I want is to return to my family!" Ben Nasser cried. "I don't want to rule, or destroy! None of us want to be freaks!"
"Speak for yourself, Ali Baba. I'm having a blast," Cleary rumbled. "Being superhuman is the ultimate trip. I can go anywhere, do anything. I don't like Riley, but he's right about this much: this burg can be ours for the taking!"
Just then, the building shuddered and explosions could be heard from below. Frowning, Riley went to his desk and hit the intercom button. "Riley here! What the hell's going on down there?"
"Sir! The building's come under attack from the Sailor Scouts!" came a voice over the speaker.
Riley frowned at his cohorts. "What? That's impossible! How could those brats have tracked you here?" Suddenly, Riley had an awful feeling of unease, as if the world itself was pressing in on him, and it gave him a terrible chill. He slowly turned around and stared at the body on the table. "Unless...."
He walked up to the body, then let out a cry of surprise when the eyes of the disguised Talia snapped open. She sat up and glared at the fivesome, frozen in place from fear.
"Holy shit! The cunt's alive!" cried a wide-eyed Cleary.
"Yes. But that will soon change for you," snarled Talia in Serena's voice. Standing up, her eyes blazing from murderous rage, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her transformation pen. "I feigned death and led my teammates here with a homing device. Now, to shed my disguise. Vulcan Star Power!"
A brilliant pyramid of golden light shot down from the pen and Talia spun within it like a ballerina. As she spun, her features returned to normal, then her body was enveloped in that golden light, changing her clothes into her Scout uniform. An instant later, the transformed Talia was ready for battle.
"I am the Scout of Order, the enemy of chaos, I am Sailor Vulcan," she proclaimed, her fists tightly clenched. "If any of you believe in deities, I strongly suggest you pray to them now. For you are all about to die."
Five minutes earlier:
The Scouts stood across the street from the Infostar skyscraper as it towered over the street. They looked at it warily.
"You're sure Tal's in there, Amy?" Venus asked.
Mercury nodded as she stared at the screen of her mini-computer. "Positive, Mina. Talia's homing signal is strong, and stationary."
"Let me guess. She's on the top floor, right?" Mars growled.
Another nod from the Scout of Water. "Yes."
"Terrific. Why am I not surprised?" grumbled Jupiter, staring up at the building. "Screw it. We haven't wrecked a skyscraper in months. Okay, 'Rena, how do we handle this?"
Moon, also looking up at the gleaming glass structure took a deep breath before she spoke. "The frontal approach. Hard and fast. I'm in no mood to sneak around," she snarled, her voice uncharacteristically cold and filled with rage. "Stefan betrayed my mother, had a hand in the fall of the Moon Kingdom. Now he's got Talia. I want that madman to know we're coming. I'm going to make him pay for all the grief he's caused!"
The others were stunned, never having seen Moon so enraged before. Mars, most of all was deeply troubled over her best friend's attitude.
"Does your war party have room for one more?" a strong, male voice asked from behind The girls turned and saw Tuxedo Mask walk up to them.
Moon nodded. "I'm glad you came, Darien."
Mask smiled. "That's what I'm here for. Is Talia up there?"
"Yes. And we're about to rescue her," Moon replied. "Let's go, team!"
Five minutes later....
Riley was furious. His well thought out scheme to kill the daughter of Queen Serenity had fallen apart. The corpse of Princess Serena turned out to be a very alive and dangerous imposter while the Sailor Scouts were raising havoc below. He and his cohorts cautiously eyed Sailor Vulcan.
"You....BITCH! You've ruined everything!" Riley yelled, all but apoplectic.
Vulcan smirked. "Yes, I have. Now, who wishes to die first?"
Riley returned the smirk. "You don't have the nerve. I studied up on your people during my tenure on the Moon. Vulcans are sickeningly pacifistic. It is against your nature to commit violence, save for self-defense."
Vulcan's smirk widened. "Is that a fact? Allow me to prove you wrong." It took only a moment for the alien Scout to determine which of the creatures posed the most immediate threat.
Having made her choice, Vulcan sprang from where she stood like a tiger with lightning fast speed and pounced on a surprised Giselle Dupre. Vulcan put Dupre in a headlock, similar to the hold she had Lita in yesterday, then she gave the woman's head a quick and brutal twist. Dupre never had time to scream or feel pain as Vulcan snapped her neck like a twig, the sound loud as a gunshot in the stillness of the room. Riley felt a sudden and tremendous chill throughout his body when Dupre died.
The remaining thugs were horrified as Vulcan, grinning like a shark casually dropped Dupre's lifeless body as if it were a scrap of paper. It reminded her of two years ago when, as Talia Kirk, she had been accosted by a brutish upperclassman from her school's football team who tried to force himself upon her. Enraged, Talia snapped his spine at the base of his neck with a powerful knife edge blow, leaving him a quadraplegic for life.
Talia explained at an inquiry that she acted in self-defense, which was the truth, and, noting the student's past reputation for being a bully and having a criminal record, she was cleared of any charges. But the experience shook Talia to her very soul and left her frightened to give in to the darker side of her emotions. Thinking back on the incident, Vulcan found her fears about giving in to her anger foolish. Now, she welcomed the rage, the fury, the darkness.
"That was most satisfying," she said. Her smile made her look demonic. "You see, Stefan, unlike the rest of my people, I have no reluctance against killing. And I will take exceptionally great pleasure in spilling your blood."
Don't just stand there, you fools! Change!" cried Riley. "She'll kill us all if you don't stop her!"
Vulcan's cruel smile remained in place as she stood her ground. "By all means, gentlemen, come. Come to your doom."
The security team employed by the management company that owned the skyscraper Infostar kept it's offices in was among the very best in the city. Staffed by toughened, highly trained professionals, some of whom were veterans of the police or the military, they were a most effective force.
But, against the Scouts, Tuxedo Mask and a furious Sailor Moon, they didn't stand a chance.
Following Moon's lead, the heroes stormed the building's front enterance, using a massive lightning bolt from Jupiter to blast open the facade and were already five stories up before anyone could blink. The security force assembled quickly and made it's stand on the tenth floor, using express elevators while the Scouts used the stairs, bounding entire flights of steps in a single leap.
The confrontation betweeen the Sailors and the buildings defenders was brutal and one sided as the men, unable to use their weapons in the enclosed space of an atrium were overwhelmed by the Scouts, using just enough force to subdue them. But Moon, caught in the grip of her fury ruthlessly pummeled anyone who got in her way, leaving battered, bleeding bodies in her wake.
One guard tried to sneak away but was caught by Moon who lifted him off his feet by his throat with one hand and glared menacingly at him.
"Where is he? Where's Stefan?" she demanded.
The guard was hopelessly confused. "Huh? What are you talking about!"
"Wrong answer, dirtbag! Talk! Tell me where Stefan is or I'll snap your neck like a twig!" Moon roared.
The others were horrified, especially Mercury who remembered the last time Moon lost control and tried to strangle a police detective.
"Sailor Moon! Let him go!" shouted Mask, putting his hands on Moon's arm to forcefully lower the man to the floor. "He has nothing to do with what's going on. And murder isn't in our repertoire. We're supposed to be better than the bad guys we fight. Remember that!"
Moon blinked several times, then released the man. She stared up at Mask with a remorseful look in her eyes. "Tuxedo Mask, I....I'm sorry. You're right. I'm just so worried about Talia that I can't think straight."
Hearing those words, Mars felt an old, familiar pain cruely sear her heart as her mind flashed back to her days on the Moon a millennia ago, and of the monstrous jealousy and burning hatred she once had for Talia. Much as she tried to control her emotions, tears filled and stung her eyes. She had forgotten just how much those feelings hurt.
After all this time, she still loves Tal more than me! It's not fair! Then, the Scout of Fire became angry with herself for feeling the way she did. Damn you, Hino! Stop being so selfish! Talia's your teammate! Your friend! She risked her life to save others! She needs us now! ALL of us!
"Well, if we're gonna save Tal and put Stefan away, we'd better get moving," said Mars. "This ruckus is bound to bring the cops running!"
With her element of surprise gone, Vulcan, using speed borne of desperation, dodged fireballs from Inferno that came within inches of incinerating her while setting the suite's furnishings on fire. No sooner had she avoided death from one corner that it came after her from another as Stonecutter swung a haymaker at the alien Scout. Once again, her superhuman reflexes served Vulcan well as she ducked under the swing that surely would've taken her head off She retaliated by launching a thrust kick at the monster's midsection, but it did no damage to the rock monster. She crumpled to the floor, wincing from pain that shot up her leg.
"I gotcha now, you cunt!" yelled Torrent, firing twin jets of water at Vulcan, blowing her off her feet and slamming her against a far wall. Unlike at school when she was playing dead, Vulcan, soaking wet jumped up, ignoring the pain in her leg, hefted a large oak desk over her head as if it were weightless and hurled it at the water creature. The desk hit Torrent squarely in the chest and he collapsed into a puddle of water, but he didn't stay that way for long as he quickly reformed. As Inferno moved in from behind, Torrent fired again, but Vulcan, knowing there was danger at her back rolled out of the way and Inferno took the full brunt of the blast.
The fire creature screamed from agony as the streams of water hit his fiery body and voluminous amounts of steam filled the huge space. Inferno slumped semi-conscious to the floor. Torrent, Stonecutter and Riley coughed from the thick steam, but Vulcan, used to the stifling heat from life on her mercilessly hot and arid home planet was not affected. As the steam dissipated, a vicious smile formed on Vulcan's face when she saw that Inferno had reverted to human form, thus making him easy prey.
Vulcan pounced on Schmidt and easily lifted him off the floor by the neck with one hand. Schmidt, frightened and barely able to breathe with Vulcan squeezing his throat realized he was about to die. He saw in Vulcan's sadistic grin and her burning, hate filled eyes, a monster even worse than he was.
"Mein Gott," he croaked.
Vulcan shook her head. "I am afraid He will not be able to help you." Before Vulcan could kill him, the double doors at the far end of the suite exploded inward and the Scouts and Tuxedo Mask rushed in.
"Oh, no!" cried Moon, shocked to see Vulcan holding Schmidt in what looked like a death grip. "Sailor Vulcan! What are you doing?"
"What does it look like? I am eliminating our opponents, Sailor Moon," Vulcan snarled. "As you can see, I have already dispatched Cyclone, and this maggot is about to join her."
The Scouts and Mask looked to their right where they saw Cyclone in her human persona of Giselle Dupre lying motionless on the floor. Her eyes were wide open, but her head was twisted at a grotesque angle, telling all of them that the woman's neck had been broken. The heroes collectively blanched.
"Good Lord!" cried a heartbroken Moon. "Sailor Vulcan, how could you?"
The expression on Vulcan's face was feral, her voice chilling and cruel. "Quite easily. Logic dictates that death is the only deterrent that will keep these monsters from ever threatening you again."
Riley, confused at first put two and two together and was shocked. "Again? Of course! Why didn't I see this sooner? Sailor Moon is Princess Serena! Attack, you fools! Kill them all!"
Stonecutter, furious at the murder of Cyclone attacked Vulcan from behind, striking her in the back with a punishing blow that sent her flying at the heroes. Once again it was Tuxedo Mask who caught the alien Scout, saving her from serious injury.
"We have to stop meeting like this, Sailor Vulcan," Mask said.
Vulcan nodded. Her face was calm and serene as the blow, and the pain she felt seemed to snap her out of her murderous frenzy. She tried to feel guilty over having killed Cyclone but couldn't. Her logic wouldn't permit it. That worried her. "I quite agree. Nevertheless, thank you."
"Fools! You--will--die!" growled a still enraged Stonecutter. He raised his huge fists and prepared to slam them down on the floor.
"Oh, no you don't!" yelled Jupiter, the antenna shooting up on her tiara. "Jupiter Thundercloud....ZAP!"
Jupiter wasted no time hurling the largest ball of lightning she could summon at the stone monster, striking it squarely in the chest, staggering it. "C'mon! Guys! Hit him hard!"
Mars nodded. "Mars Celestial Fire... .SURROUND!"
"Venus Crescent Beam... .SMASH!"
"Shine Aqua....ILLUSION!"
Mars' fire rings, Venus' crescent beam and Mercury's ice blast hit the monster hard, sending it stumbling backward against the window. The building shook and shuddered from the raw force of the Scouts' unleashed powers.
"My turn!" shouted Mask, getting into the act by throwing a trio of roses at Stonecutter. The stems pierced the monster's chest with deceptive ease and it roared from pain.
"Sailor Moon! While he's weakened! Decapitate him!" ordered Vulcan.
"Right!" said Moon, removing her tiara which morphed into her powerful energy disc. "Moon Tiara... .MAGIC!"
With unerring aim, Moon hurled the disc at Stonecutter, severing it's head which fell to the floor. The headless giant teetered on braced legs and looked to be pitching forward while the head rolled towards the body. Vulcan, seeing that, stood and crossed her arms over her chest. This time though, Vulcan couldn't bring herself to smile as the power surged through her.
"Vulcan Shockwave....STRIKE!"
Vulcan released her sonic energy blast and it sent the headless monster crashing through the window and it fell forty stories to the ground, breaking into a million pieces upon impact. Stonecutter's head, it's eyes open rolled towards the window, but Vulcan grabbed it, and, using all her strength, slammed it down on the floor, shattering it into rubble. The fierce winds blowing through the broken windows blew the dust into the air. When that happened, Riley felt his body grow incredibly dense and heavy.
A collective shudder ran through everyone in the suite as Vulcan stood up and calmly dusted off her gloved hands. "Two down. Three to go," she said, her face stone hard and impassive.
"And that's as far as you go!" growled Schmidt, recovered enough to revert back into Inferno. He hurled fireballs at the heroes who just managed to evade them.
"You got one thing right, freak! It ends here!" snarled Mars, her own pent up fury reaching a crescendo as her body glowed bright red. "You tried to cook me alive yesterday! Now it's payback time! Mars Firebird... ATTACK!"
A huge, birdlike construct of flame, not unlike a phoenix emerged from Mars' body and swooped towards Inferno who met it with a wall of fire. The Scouts, Mask, Torrent and Riley dove for cover as Mars and Inferno continued their fiery onslaught, each combatant's face tight and drawn from concentration in their private war to destroy each other. Mars, her body white hot, her dark hair an orange mane of fire pressed forward, pouring the power of her lifeforce itself into her attack, and the phoenix grew in size, quickly overwhelming Inferno who once again felt death coming for him.
"No! Please! Spare me!" cried Inferno, unable to withstand the fiery might of the phoenix as it prepared to claim him in it's claws.
"Talk to the hand, asshole! BURN!" And with a last burst of concentration from Mars, her appearance no longer human, the phoenix devoured Inferno who screamed from agony. A moment later, the remaining windows and the interior walls were blown out from the tremendous release of heat and energy. Mars then drew the flames of her lifeforce back into herself before the suite and everyone in it were incinerated and she slumped to the floor, her body smouldering. But nothing was left of Inferno, not even ashes. Riley felt his body flush extremely hot, like he was in a furnace.
"Mars! RAYE!" cried Moon, rushing to her friend's side. Ignoring the heat Mars still radiated, Moon cradled the Scout of Fire in her arms. "Speak to me! Oh, God! Please, Raye! Speak to me!"
Mars opened her eyes, looked up at Moon and gave her a little smile. She then reached up and gently brushed away a tear that fell down Moon's cheek. "Relax, Serena. I'm fine. Just a little tired. And who said revenge is a dish best served cold?" Exhausted, Mars passed out.
Vulcan put herself in front of Moon and the unconscious Mars and assumed a defensive stance. "Scouts, form on me," she ordered, quickly taking charge. The girls immediately complied, Jupiter and Mercury stood to her left, Venus to her right along with Mask. The fivesome glared at Riley and Torrent.
"The conflict is over, Stefan. You have lost. Just like before," said the alien Scout. "At this point, your chances of success against us are non-existent. I would advise that you and Torrent surrender. Unless you are eager to join your companions in death. It does not matter either way to me."
Riley frowned, then, he shrugged and chuckled. "Under normal circumstances, I'd be inclined to agree with you, Princess T'alya. However, I do have one last ace left up my sleeve. I guess it's time to play it."
"What ace? What are you babbling about?" Torrent wanted to know.
"This." Riley's brow furrowed and he gritted his teeth as though from intense concentration. And that was when the incredible happened. Before the eyes of the heroes and Torrent, Riley's features began to change. His body grew and expanded like a balloon, bursting out of the Armani suit he wore, Riley morphed into a form that was not unlike Stonecutter's but more muscular with iridescent, transparent skin and was larger, much larger, it's head touching the suite's twelve foot ceiling. The only constant about the monster Riley transformed into was his face, which was as hateful as before, his eyes glowing a bright red. His mouth curled into a cruel, evil smirk.
"Oh, shit!" an cowed Jupiter whispered.
"Riley, you bastard! You held out on us!" yelled a furious Torrent. "You could do this, but you stood by and watched my people die?"
The monster that was once Administrator Stefan and Eric Riley roared from laughter. "Poor, deluded fool! Haven't you figured it out yet? From the very beginning, the others were never 'your people'. They, and you belonged to me, to use and discard any way I saw fit! As for this, call it a....contingency, one I hope I wouldn't have to use because I hate getting my hands dirty."
"What sort of contingency?" asked Mercury, scanning the monster through her visor. The readings of power she got horrified her.
"When Queen Beryl entrusted me with my cohorts, she also manipulated my own DNA so I would receive their powers, but at a greatly amplified level should they perish in battle," the monster explained, his voice a booming, echoing roar. "Call it a failsafe that would enable me to continue the mission to bring Queen Serenity and Princess Serena to my ruler. However, because my lackeys were overcomed during our first battle on the Moon and were not killed, the failsafe was never activated."
The monster then stared right at Vulcan and grinned. "Thanks in part to your bloodlust, T'alya of Vulcan, you have given me power beyond imagination. But, I am not yet complete."
With a speed that betrayed his bulk, Riley clamped a hand, glowing white hot on Torrent's head and the water creature screamed from agony as steam erupted from his body.
"What are you doing to me?" Torrent shouted.
"The same thing that always happens when heat comes in contact with water. I'm evaporating you."
Torrent tried to wrest himself free but couldn't. The Scouts and Mask, frozen in place looked on in horror as the water creature's body literally boiled away in plumes of steam. Seconds later, all that was left of Moses Cleary was a bleached white skeleton which the monster casually dropped to the floor.
"Dear Lord in heaven," croaked Venus, close to throwing up.
The monster laughed, feeling a sweet watery coolness wash over him. "Ahh, that was satisfying. Now my ascension is complete. No longer am I merely mortal, now I am a god!" As his entire body glowed white hot, Riley glared at the heroes who retreated from the terrible heat and painfully blinding light. "The end has arrived for you, Princess Serena, and for your protectors! Let me show you and your puny friends just what a god can do!"
A few seconds later, in an explosion that could be heard all over downtown Tokyo, the entire top floor of the skyscraper disintegrated in a huge ball of flame.
Next: The Logic Of Revenge