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. Batman and all related characters are the property of Bob Kane and DC Comics. So, please, don't sue me because I haven't any money. I do this strictly for entertainment purposes, not copyright infringement.
To Live And Die In Tokyo
by Jeffrey C. Branch
Chapter Eight: War on the Piers
Rating: PG-13
When Sailor Mercury regained consciousness, she found herself on the floor of a cold, semi-dark room, her back against a wall.
For reasons Mercury couldn't comprehend, she felt more like herself instead of the creature that had been driven by rage and thoughts of murder. Yet she had a sick feeling that the beast wasn't dead, but merely slumbering. She was still preoccupied with Sarah. That worried her. Mercury then felt a fierce burning sensation on her throat and gasped at seeing spots of blood on the front of her tunic.
Had some tried to cut my throat while I was out, she wondered in horror. She tried to move her arms, but they were still secured behind her back. Mercury then looked to her right and was surprised to see Batman next to her, bound tightly in chrome chains.
"Batman? Are you all right?" the Water Scout asked.
"I'll live," the Dark Knight growled, his head throbbing. He took several deep breaths to banish the pain to a deep corner of his mind. "We have to stop meeting like this, Sailor Mercury. The neighbors will talk."
Mercury grinned slightly. She didn't think the grim and menacing Batman had a sense of humor. But her smile faded as she recalled the recent past. "Those men at the impound yard, did you...."
Batman nodded. "I freed them. They're all right."
Mercury breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God. I'm so sorry about that. Believe me, I never would've endangered anyone had I been in my right mind."
"Don't torture yourself over it. We all go a little crazy when it comes to our loved ones," said the Dark Knight. "But right now, I'm more concerned with the Yakuza and how they lucked into the technology they're using to create those mutants."
"They couldn't. Not in a million years. I know what's going on here, Batman. And it's much more serious than you can possibly imagine."
Batman subtly tested his bonds, figuring a padlock was keeping the chains in place. Even though his utility belt had been taken while he was unconscious, he had lockpicks which he kept in his gloves for situations such as this. "I can imagine quite a lot when the need calls for it. Enlighten me."
"Hiroyuki Tomba, the man behind this operation, he's not human."
The Dark Knight hadn't counted on hearing that. If it weren't for his experiences with the Justice League, he would've dismissed Mercury's words as those of an unbalanced mind. "Go on."
Mercury frowned. Because of his mask, she couldn't tell if Batman believed her, or had written her off as a raving lunatic. As it was, Mercury wasn't at all sure of her sanity either. "Tomba is actually an alien from another dimensional realm called the Negaverse. For the last year and a half, the Sailor Scouts and I have fought a seemingly endless procession of despots, madmen, psychotics and monsters from that hellish domain, their goal being the conquest of Earth."
"Hardly an original objective. And I've heard it all before. Why is it the world doesn't know about this Negaverse?"
"Because our battles have all been within the boundaries of Japan, primarily Tokyo. We've keep the existence of the Negaverse a secret because people either wouldn't believe us, or would riot if they did," Mercury explained. "I've even privately nursed the belief that our presence here has drawn those fiends to our world. But they've never sought to expand their base of operations beyond this country before."
"Apparently that strategy has changed," Batman deduced.
"And you would be correct, my good sir," came a voice from out of the darkness. Batman and Mercury saw Tomba casually stroll out of the shadows, Falcone and a scowling Genryu close behind. The crimelord smiled at his captives. "I trust the two of you are comfortable?"
"Why don't you shed the disguise? I know who and what you are!" Mercury snapped.
"What disguise?" a puzzled Falcone demanded. "Tomba! What is she talking about?"
Tomba shrugged. "Might as well." The gangster closed his eyes and in a flash of light, his features radically changed. His dark hair grew long and lightened to a sandy blond, falling to his waist while his skin darkened to a deep, ruddy bronze. The last touch was his black suit morphing into a light blue military styled uniform trimmed in gold with matching epaulets on the shoulders, a gold belt, white gloves and polished black boots and topped off with a flowing white cape. He clicked his heels and bowed to his captives.
"Holy shit!" Falcone cried, stepping back a few paces. Acting on instinct, the mobster pulled out his gun, only to have Genryu slap it out of his hand and backhand him to the floor. "Who....what are you?"
"Captain Tomaroch of the Negaverse Scientific Corps at your service."
"So you're responsible for the mutagen that spawned those monsters," said Batman.
"Monster. Tsk. Such a gross, unflattering description. I prefer the term 'mutate'. In any event, you are correct. Your deductive powers are quite formindable indeed."
Falcone was confused. And that made him angry. "Hey! Talk to me! What's going on here?"
Tomaroch rolled his eyes and nodded. Genryu bent down, clamped a hand around Falcone's throat and lifted him off his feet with one arm as if he were weightless. The older man then slammed the Mafiosi against the wall and he slumped to the floor next to Batman.
"Do be quiet, Carlo. This is my brainchild, Batman." Tomaroch snapped his fingers and the lights came on, revealing a huge room, which contained an elaborate chemical processing facility with a four foot tall metal vat against the far wall. In another area, ten blue skinned, pointy eared men in labcoats worked quietly and diligently at tables filled with futuristic laboratory equipment. Also on the edge of one table was a glass beaker filled with a white powder with a slightly greenish tint.
"My field of expertise is genetic manipulation. Prior to our ignominious defeat a millennia ago, I invented a means of turning mortals into slavering beasts through the reconfiguration of human DNA," Tomaroch explained. "However, my ruler, that infuriating, megalomaniacal hag, Beryl refused to wait for me to perfect my mutagenic process, preferring to rely on the military to lay siege to the Moon Kingdom."
"But Queen Serenity stopped Beryl, Metallia, her army, everyone," Mercury pointed out.
Tomaroch nodded. "That she did. Unfortunately. If Beryl had only waited, with a perfected mutagen, I could've sneaked assassins into Serenity's court and had them kill the woman. With the Crescent Queen out of the way, we would've conquered all. Instead, we were laid waste."
"My heart bleeds."
"What in blazes are you talking about?" Batman demanded, just beating a puzzled Falcone to the punch.
"Ancient history, my friend. Nothing that should concern you," Tomaroch replied glibly. "At present, I'm one step closer to realizing a goal that eluded Beryl and her hamfisted generals from the day they had been resurrected. I'm going to raze this planet!"
The Sailor Scouts, Tuxedo Mask and the familiars were puzzled when Sailor Vulcan had them stop and secrete themselves behind a tractor trailer a half mile away from the warehouse they sought. For Mars and Jupiter, severely lacking in patience, the halt was particularly annoying.
"What's going on, Vulcan? Why'd we stop?" an irate Mars demanded.
"Yeah! We've gotta get to that warehouse and smash that monster making factory!" said Jupiter. While the Imperium Silver Crystal healed her head wound from the glancing blow she got from Sailor Venus' Crescent Beam, it left her with a terrible migraine that only worsened her already ugly disposition.
"And rescue Amy!" Sailor Moon added.
"I am fully aware of the situation, but we must exercise both patience and caution," said Vulcan in her always calm voice. "When I probed Tanaka's mind for information on that warehouse, I learned that his superiors have an elaborate exterior security system consisting of hidden cameras and motion sensors with a one quarter mile radius. A blind charge will alert our adversaries, thus endangering Amy."
"I just can't believe Amy's a captive in there," said Luna.
"Surely she would have detected the security set-up you mentioned," said Artemis to the Vulcan Scout.
"Provided she was acting rationally. If, as we suspect, she was not, Amy might well have been careless and caught unawares."
"So how do we crash that place?" Tuxedo Mask wanted to know.
"The Sailor Teleport would give us the element of surprise, making it the best possible option," Vulcan replied.
"And the riskiest. We've never done the Teleport with someone else before," said a glum faced Venus. Even though Jupiter had forgiven her, The Love Scout was heartsick from guilt for having hurt her partner. "Don't take this the wrong way, Tal, but having you take Amy's place could get us killed."
"While the risk factor is considerable, Venus, it can be managed. My telepathic powers will fortify the concentration needed to make the teleportation manuever work smoothly," the Scout of Order explained. "Since I am familiar with the layout of the warehouse from my mind meld with Tanaka, I can ensure a safe entry into the building. We can do this, my friends. All I ask is for your trust."
Moon smiled and placed a hand on Vulcan's arm. "You know I trust you, Tal. With my life."
Mars nodded. "I'll second that. If you say we can do this, then I'm with you. All the way.
"Amen, sister," said a grinning Jupiter. "Tal, I'll follow you to hell because I know you'll watch our backs, just like we'll watch yours."
"You can say that again, babe," added Venus with a broad smile, her mood brightening. "We're the Sailor Scouts, and we can do anything. Besides, you only live twice." This time, no one corrected the Scout of Love as what she said was all too true.
Vulcan nodded, her heart swelling with pride and love for her friends. "Thank you."
"I'll follow behind and keep the bad guys off balance," said Tuxedo Mask.
Moon smiled fondly at Mask and playfully wagged an index finger at her lover. "You'd better, mister. I've got a friend to rescue."
Mask smiled back. "Don't worry, darling. I'll be there."
"Okay! Let's get cracking!" ordered Moon. Clasping hands, the Scouts formed a circle, closed their eyes and concentrated. Their bodies then brightly glowed from the build up of power from within them.
"MARS STAR POWER!"
"JUPITER STAR POWER!"
"VENUS STAR POWER!'
"VULCAN STAR POWER!"
"COSMIC MOON POWER!"
"SAILOR TELEPORT POWER!" they all shouted.
A shaft of silvery light descended from above and enveloped the girls. In an instant, the Scouts vanished, leaving behind a half foot deep crater where they stood only a moment ago.
"Time to go!" said Mask to the familiars. "Wish us luck!"
"Come back safe!" said Luna. "That goes for the girls too!"
Mask gave Luna a tip of his hat before pushing off "Aye-aye, captain!"
Luna let out a weary sigh after Mask left. Once again, the girls whom she loved like daughters rushed off to battle. Once again, like many times before, she silently prayed for their safe return.
"Your boasts don't impress me, Tomaroch," said Batman in a scornful voice. He worked on removing the picks from his glove. "World conquerors like you are all talk and no action."
"Au contraire, mon ami. I most definitely can, in the slang of the day, walk the walk." Tomaroch snapped his fingers and four of his assistants wheeled in metal examination tables on which Falcone's thugs lay unconscious, secured with thick metal bands.
"Tomba, or whatever you call yourself What'd you do to my men?"
"Nothing. Yet." Tomaroch wagged his index finger and the assistants roughly hoisted the captives to their feet and followed the scientist over to the table where he picked up the beaker full of powder.
"This is ninety-five percent pure cocaine, infused with my mutagen. The liquid version is in that vat," Tomaroch explained proudly. He held out his hand and one of his assistants handed him a syringe filled with the greenish fluid. He then stared at Falcone. "While Sailor Mercury and Batman have seen the effects the mutagen has on humans, I'm sure you'd appreciate a demonstration, Carlo."
Tomaroch turned and injected one of Falcone's men----Tony Speed----with the mutagen. Falcone gasped from sheer terror as Tony Speed's body morphed into that of an unconscious lizard beast.
"Mary, mother of God," whispered Falcone, crossing himself. Batman scowled while Mercury's mind reeled, battered by memories of Sarah transforming into such a creature.
"Impressive, isn't it? When I arrived on Earth with my assistants after Beryl's defeat, I decided to take a more covert approach to conquering this world," said Tomaroch. "After establishing myself as crimelord Hiroyuki Tomba, I met Carlo who proposed the idea of an alliance between the two organizations to take over the drug trade in the United States. I would provide the narcotics through Yakuza contacts in Thailand, and the Mafia would distribute it after shipment to the States.
"At first I was highly skeptical about Falcone's scheme, figuring it to be unworkable. But then I began to see it's potential as part of my grand plan. Falcone's resources would provide just what I needed to make the plan a reality since I had already perfected my mutagen, along with a way of condensing it into powder form. If it could be incorporated into narcotics, anyone who ingested them would instantly be transformed into a mutate."
"Like Tanaka. And....and my friend, Sarah," said Mercury, her throat tightening at the thought of her deceased friend. And that stoked the cold fires of her rage once again.
"Ahh, yes. Them. To tell you the truth, Miss Mercury, that wasn't supposed to have happened," Tomaroch admitted. "Thanks to a lapse in security, Tanaka stole an injector with the liquid mutagen along with some of the powdered variety which he sold to your friend. While he must've seen what the chemical could do, he probably didn't know the cocaine had been infused. Despite that glitch, the plan is still viable."
"Don't delude yourself, Tomaroch. It'll never work," Batman snarled.
Tomaroch chuckled, a harsh, evil sound. "Oh, no? Consider this. There are hundreds of thousands of drug users in your country, Batman. Just one exposure to the mutagen is all it takes to produce the change, and I have ten tons sitting on a ship at a nearby pier, ready to be taken to a plane for shipment to those legions of needy addicts in the States. Imagine armies of bloodthirsty beasts loose on the streets from coast to coast. From there, we'll ship the mutagen to every continent on this planet. The level of carnage will make your World Wars pale by comparison!"
"You're insane! You'll never get away with this!" Mercury hissed.
"You got that right!" an angry Falcone growled. "You played me, asshole! Set me up to do your dirty work! Well, the buck stops here! I maybe a lowlife hood, but I won't help you commit genocide!"
Again, Tomaroch chuckled. "But you will, Carlo. After I make you my slave via a lobotomy. With you under my wing, your masters in New York will sign off on the merger, and their demise."
Batman had heard enough. He extracted the picks from his glove and quickly worked on the lock. Meanwhile, Mercury felt the rage envelop her all over again, worse than ever. The Scout of Water felt her humanity vanish. All that was left was her ice cold fury. And now she had a target for her wrath.
Mercury concentrated on lowering the temperature like she had months ago when she and the Scouts were imprisoned aboard Dharsite's spaceship. Batman, feeling the cold glanced at Mercury and saw a murderously insane look in her eyes. The Dark Knight worked faster.
As Tomaroch noticed the sudden drop in temperature, Mercury screamed from rage as she snapped her bonds which had become brittle from the cold and she jumped to her feet, just as Batman unlocked his chains.
"They're loose! Stop them!" Tomaroch roared.
Three of the assistants morphed into lizard creatures without the mutagen and the one closest to Mercury leaped at her.
"Shine Aqua....ILLUSION!" she yelled. A column of water appeared out of midair, then it shaped itself into a huge, spike-like construct that hardened to ice and rammed through the chest of the beast. The beast shrieked from agony as it was fatally impaled, it's body nearly cut in half while spewing a geyser of greenish blood. A moment later, it died, then disintegrated, leaving behind a mound of ash on the floor.
A second creature roared from fury as it charged Batman, having seen the brute Mercury fought vanish. The beast lunged, but the Dark Knight artfully dodged it, taking out its legs with a sweep kick as it passed by him. The beast landed hard to the floor, landing on its belly. Batman leaped atop the brute, locking its head in an unbreakable, vise like sleeper hold. Using all his strength, Batman rendered the beast unconscious as he cut off it's air supply and it lay still, but not for long as it recovered from oxygen loss and sprang to its feet.
Shrugging off the Dark Knight, the beast sprang at him, but Batman slammed both feet into it's midsection, propelling it away. Batman scowled from frustration. Even though the beast was an alien, it was still a living being, and he swore an oath never to take a life. However, the maddened Mercury had no such restraint, firing a barrage of razor sharp ice daggers at the creature's head, reducing it to pulp in a matter of moments. She stared at the twitching, lifeless body as it disintergrated to dust.
"That was unneccessary, Mercury," said Batman.
"Stupid, bleeding heart fool! You don't get it!" snarled Mercury, glaring hatefully at the Dark Knight. "The only way to stop these monsters is to destroy them! You don't live here! You have no concept of the war the Scouts have been fighting against the Negaverse, or how brutal our enemies are! Death is the only answer!"
Batman stared back at Mercury, unsure if her words were spoken out of the frenzy of her rage, or if she was telling the truth.
Falcone, barely managing to keep his wits, scooped up his fallen weapon. Flicking off the safety and chambering a round, the gangster, taught marksmanship at an early age from his late father quickly drew a bead on a creature who came at him and fired three times at point blank range. The sound of his big Colt .45 was loud as thunder as Falcone put all the rounds in it's large head, blowing out it's brains. The beast staggered on braced legs, then pitched forward, fell on its face and disintegrated.
"Not bad, Carlo. You still got the touch," he muttered.
Tomaroch was stunned by the sudden turn of developments. "No! This can't be happening!"
"It is, madman! The game's over!" said Batman. "I'm shutting you down!"
"Never!" shouted Genryu, leaping at Batman. But Mercury intercepted him, rocketing a fist into the older man's face, shattering his nose and driving bone shards into his brain and he slumped to the ground. Before the Dark Knight could stop her, Mercury straddled the man's back, grabbed his head in her hands and gave it a brutal twist, snapping his neck. Standing over Genryu's body, his face morphing into the alien features of his fellows, Mercury smiled.
So this is what it's like to kill, thought the Scout of Water. Her smile made her look demonic. I never knew it could feel so good.
Batman saw Mercury's smile and was briefly saddened. Falcone smirked, impressed with what he saw. "Not bad, chippie."
"You're next," Mercury hissed at Tomaroch, her eyes buming from bottomless hatred. "Because of you, I lost my oldest friend in the world. The first person who ever cared about me. Before I kill you, I'm going to make you suffer as I have suffered."
"I seriously doubt that!" Tomaroch snarled. "Assistants! Destroy them!"
The remainder of Tomaroch's men transformed into beasts. Batman, Mercury and Falcone stood their ground and readied themselves for combat. The Dark Knight was determined to defeat the monsters, even if he was saddled with a Sailor Scout bent on murder and a ruthless gangster hot for blood. Mercury, caught in the grip of madness didn't care if she faced a thousand of the monsters. No force on Earth would stop her from killing Tomaroch. Falcone grinned menacingly, his fear of the creatures gone now that he was armed and had killed one of them. He would make Tomaroch pay for betraying the Mafia.
"Come and get it, boys," growled the mobster, beckoning the approaching creatures with an index finger. "Daddy's waiting."
Out on the main floor, Tomaroch's other assistants and the Yakuza security force were busy airing out the space following Batman's gas attack when a shaft of brilliant silvery light smashed through the roof and an instant later, the Scouts stood in the center of the floor. Just as Vulcan predicted, the assistants and the guards were taken completely by surprise as the Scouts spread out in all directions.
"Let's hit 'em, team!" shouted Moon, whipping off her tiara on the run and willing it into her powerful energy disc. "Don't gve 'em a chance to recover! Moon Tiara....MAGIC!"
With unerring accuracy, Moon hurled her disc at three guards before the recovered from the shock of the Sailors' dramatic appearance and could level their assault rifles on her. Dumbfounded, the men could only watch as the disc neatly sliced off the barrels of the weapons. Without breaking stride, Moon caught her disc on the fly as she launched herself into the air with a fierce scream and planted a foot into the chest of the lead guard from a flying kick, bowling over all the unarmed men.
"You go, girl!" whooped Mars, delighted with Moon's take charge attitude. She then ducked as five guards opened fire with their weapons. One round punched through her skirt, grazing her left thigh. "Son of a bitch! That hurt! Now I'm pissed! Mars Celestial Fire....SURROUND!"
Mars summoned her fire rings and hurled them at the four gunmen, blowing them off their feet. Grimacing from the pain of her leg wound, Mars stood up as a trio of gunmen leveled their weapons on her. Mars produced a trio of wards and threw them at the hoods which adhered on their foreheads before igniting in mystic flames which rendered them unconscious.
Vulcan, confronting six goons quickly brought her powers to the fore. "Vulcan Shockwave....STRIKE!" The alien Scout aimed her hands at the floor as she released her mighty sonic energy blast which rippled along the floor before bowling over the gunmen and causing the entire warehouse to shudder. The Scout of Order nodded at the results of her handiwork. "Sufficient," she said.
Venus and Jupiter, standing side by side dealt with more gunmen.
"Having fun, babe?" Jupiter asked her partner. She grinned at seeing six of the gunmen approach, guns blazing. The Scouts dove for cover while the antenna shot up on the Thunder Scout's tiara. "Jupiter Thunder....CRASH!" Jupiter's lightning bolt smashed into the gunmen, sending them flying while the powerful charge destroyed nearly every piece of electrical equipment on the floor, heightening the chaos.
"Venus Love Chain....ENCIRCLE!" shouted Venus, disarming five more guards with her love chain. Two of those men charged the Love Scout, intent on overpowering her with their bare hands. Venus glared at them with utter contempt before flattening them with a graceful spinning wheel kick that looked more like ballet than violence. "I'm having a blast! You really know how to show a girl a good time!"
"I'll bet you say that to all your dates!"
Venus, her huge blue eyes shining with affection smiled fondly at Jupiter and gave her hand a quick squeeze. "Nope. Only to you, honey."
It took only a minute of controlled fury for the Scouts to disarm and pummel three dozen men. That left the labcoat clad workers, fifteen in all who rose to their feet, glaring evilly at the heroines. Then, before their eyes, the faces of the workers changed to an alien blue while their ears grew pointed, then they morphed into creatures. They hissed from anger at the Sailors.
"Scouts! Beware! We have monsters in our midst!" Vulcan shouted.
One of the beasts leaped at Vulcan, eager to kill, but it was struck in midair by the stem of a rose that pierced it's shoulder with all the force of a bullet and it went down hard. Vulcan looked up and saw Mask descend from the hole in the roof and land next to the Scout of Order.
"Many thanks for the assist, Tuxedo Mask," said Vulcan.
"My pleasure." He saw the creatures and scowled. "Looks like things have gotten interesting, ladies."
"Interesting my butt!" growled Moon, joining Vulcan, Mask and the others. "Those creeps are from the Negaverse! Blast! We should've seen this coming! No way ordinary hoods could do that!"
"That would explain the mutations which normal science could not have conceived," said Vulcan. "According to Tanaka, a laboratory is behind that steel door at the far end. Perhaps Amy----and Batman are in there."
"Then that's where we're going!" shouted Moon. "And these monster movie rejects aren't going to stop us! Let's take out the trash!"
The battered guards, horrified at seeing the labworkers transform into beasts stumbled away as fast as they could, but for some, it wasn't fast enough as the creatures jumped on several of the gunmen and ripped them to shreds. Pandemonium ruled as the monsters charged, roaring from hatred.
"Oh, quit your damn bellowing! You don't scare us!" growled Mars. "Mars Fire....IGNITE!" Mars unleashed a huge fireball directly into the phalanx of monsters head on, frying several of them on the spot. Some of the beasts struggled to stand as their accelerated healing powers worked on their wounds while others were too badly burned and died before disintegrating.
"Moon Tiara....MAGIC!" yelled Moon, throwing her energy disc at three more beasts, cleaving them in two at the waist and they were reduced to dust. Another beast leaped at Moon but was intercepted by Vulcan who grabbed the horror by the throat and, wrapping it's head in her arms, quickly broke it's neck using the ancient tal'shaya execution method of the Vulcan people. Dropping the body, Vulcan leaped at another monster with a flying kick, driving the spiked heel of her right boot into it's eye socket, mangling it's brain in the process. Showing no mercy, Vulcan finished the beast by breaking it's neck.
Jupiter and Venus got into the act, hitting the beasts with lightning bolts, laser beams and, when necessary, bare hands. Jupiter, possessed by her berserker fury took a perverse delight in fighting the creatures hand to hand, pounding one monster to pulp with her great strength before breaking its back by slamming it down over her knee. The Thunder Scout grinned savagely at the sound of the creature's spine snapping like a twig. Giggling like a child, she found it perversely satisfying.
Yet, the monsters that were only injured kept coming as their wounds quickly healed before coming at the heroes again and again. Venus, trying hard not to succumb to the rage of combat, dispatched two more monsters with pinpoint laser blasts to their skulls, blowing them apart in hideous geysers of greenish blood that sickened her greatly. Even the beast that had it's back broken tried to return to the fray. Screaming curses, Jupiter grabbed it's skull and slammed it on the ground several times until it cracked open like a walnut, spilling it's brains and it finally died.
Mask was kept busy as well, plunging rose stems into the bodies of two lizards with all the force of bullets, and the creatures staggered backwards, screaming from the pain of their wounds. But the caped hero gave them no respite, coming at the horrors with his cane. Swinging it like a sword with terrible speed, Mask decapitated the beasts with that single, devastating stroke. The headless bodies fell to the ground, twitching in their death throes.
Moon and Vulcan were nearby, dealing with more of the monsters which refused to yield. Moon, with deadly, inhuman precision, lopped off heads with her tiara while desperately fight back waves of intense nausea from decapitating the creatures. Vulcan, fighting hard not to revel in the carnage like the almost rabid Jupiter destroyed the horrors with sonic blasts fired at point blank range, leaving behind nothing by mounds of pulverized flesh and bones. Brutality like this was not at all logical to her, yet, much to her sorrow, she saw no other alternative. And, for one irrational moment, Vulcan hated that.
Suddenly, all was quiet on the floor. The Scouts looked around them, but all was carnage as the creatures were finally destroyed. But the fight, which seemed to last for days instead of mere minutes took it's toll on the Scouts, both physically and emotionally. The floor was slick with both human and mutate blood while the mangled bodies of the gaurds butchered by the creatures were strewn about like discarded rag dolls while mounds of ash were all that were left of the beasts. The scene left the heroes repulsed, thoughts of their victory ringing quite hollow to them.
"Sweet Jesus," whispered Venus, shaking her head. As the Scout of Love and Beauty, bloodshed was not supposed to be her stock and trade, and the carnage she participated in left her numb to the very core of her soul. "What a bloody mess. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight after this is over."
Jupiter, coming down from the high of her adrenaline fueled rage walked over to Venus and put an arm around her partner. "It'll be okay, angel. Stay tough just a little longer until we end this nightmare."
"Then let us do so, Scouts! The laboratory is behind that metal door!" said Vulcan, pointing at it in the distance.
"Let's get to it! On the double!" said Moon.
"I've had enough of you fools! DIE!" Tomaroch snapped, hitting Batman squarely in the chest with a force beam from his eyes. The Dark Knight tumbled across the floor, thumping against one of the laboratory tables. But then, much to the scientist's surprise, Batman rose to his knees.
The chest area of Batman's tunic had been burned away, revealing a rubber coated kevlar chest plate he wore underneath, a precaution against being hit by lightning from Sailor Jupiter. Grimacing, Batman's hand gripped the side of the table as he struggled to his feet and felt something very familiar, his utility belt. With a brief but savage grin, Batman quickly put it back on and pulled out a batarang.
"Time for round two, madman," the Dark Knight growled at a wide eyed Tomaroch, not expecting his foe to survive his attack.
"Destroy them!" he yelled.
The creatures charged with mindboggling speed. Batman hit one in the face with his batarang while Falcone took out another with three rounds to the head before ducking out the way of a clawed hand that would've torn him wide open. The Dark Knight quickly pulled half a dozen gumball sized globes from his belt and smashed them on the ground. Almost instantly, a thick, incredibly cold mist filled the air, causing the creatures to slow to a crawl as they collectively fell to their knees, shaking and shivering.
"What is this? What did you do?" a shocked Tomaroch demanded.
"I subjected your creatures to the one thing they'd be defenseless against. Extreme cold," Batman replied. "Using a reptilian matrix in your mutagen made them vulnerable to the liquid oxygen derivative in my grenades. Your beasts are on ice. And you're next!"
"No! He's mine to kill! Mercury Ice Bubbles....BLAST!" yelled an incensed Mercury, unleashing a large and deadly hailstorm of rock hard ice globes that hit the lizards with all the speed and flesh shredding force of gunfire. The beasts, kneeling in front of Tomaroch were pulverized from the Scout's relentless and merciless attack.
"Mercury! Stop!" Batman shouted.
Mercury didn't listen. Tomaroch, seeing the deadly hailstorm headed at him directed his eyebeams at the ice bubbles. The two forces of energy met in the middle and the resulting explosion blew everyone off their feet, leaving the space shrouded in thick fog and mist. A weakened Tomaroch tried to flee, but Batman, putting on his infra-red goggles spotted him running and knocked him down with a well aimed batarang that struck him on the back of his head and he fell near the vat of mutagen.
With his plan for conquest fading away like the evaporating mist, Tomaroch grew angry. How dare these humans foil his grand scheme? He would not allow this effrontery to go unpunished. An idea then came to mind. Smiling, Tomaroch sat up, grabbed the edge of the vat and, with a strong pull, spilled its contents, one hundred gallons worth all over himself.
The Dark Knight grabbed Mercury before she could leap at Tomaroch's throat while Falcone used the opportunity to reload his empty gun. They all watched in horror as Tomaroch, thoroughly saturated in his mutagen begin to change. The Negaverse scientist screamed from terrible pain as his body rapidly grew scales and expanded like a balloon, bursting out of his uniform while his face took on a hideous reptilian visage, not unlike that of a alligator, complete with a thick, long, thorny tail while his body was covered with thick, scaly plating. The trio continued to stare as Tomaroch grew with alarming speed, finally topping out at an astonishing fifteen feet tall. The nightmarish creature glared at the trio with baleful, hate filled yellow eyes.
Next: The Chill of Vengeance