Author's Note: Sailor Moon and all related characters are the property of Takeuchi Naoko, Toei Animation and DIC. So, please, don't sue me because I haven't any money. I do this strictly for entertainment purposes, not copyright infringement.
The Vengeance Factor
by Jeffrey C. Branch
Chapter Seven: Victories And Defeats
Rating: PG-13
The billowing, whitish cloud of tear gas quickly overcame the Scouts, Katrina and Goro who all fell coughing and gagging to the ground. Meanwhile, Duncan lay unconscious nearby, his body growing hotter as his power built up.
"Somebody....do something! Quick!" Sailor Mars cried. But no one could move as the gas left them completely helpless.
Suddenly, a rooftop window imploded and a black clad figure wearing a cape and a top hat descended to the floor near the fallen heroines. Tuxedo Mask, silent since he was holding his breath, reached into the folds of his cape and produced his cane which he extended to an incredible six feet long and quickly began spinning it in his hands like an airplane propeller.
Faster and faster Mask spun his cane, producing a powerful gust of wind that blew the cloud of gas away from the Scouts, allowing them to breathe. Only then did the caped hero exhale, dropping his cane, Mask, panting from exertion dropped to the side of Sailor Moon and cradled her in his arms.
"Sailor Moon! Are you all right?" a worried Mask asked.
"Duncan....about....to blow," she croaked, pointing feebly at Duncan who lay only ten feet away, his clothes smouldering.
"Oh, hell!" growled Mask. He rushed to Duncan and grabbed him off the floor on the fly. Ignoring the heat through his gloves, Mask hurled Duncan with all his strength towards the back of the building. Just as Mask ducked for cover, a massive explosion violently shook the building to its very foundation.
Sailor Vulcan, first to recover, she saw something phenomenal. Through the smoke and fire, a large, crackling, gray cloud billowed in the air before suddenly turning gold in color as it slowly started to take on a human shape. She then heard the unmistakable groaning of weakened support beams.
"We must leave! Immediately!" she shouted to the others as they struggled to their feet. "The building is in imminent danger of collapse!"
The Scouts helped each other, Katrina and Goro to their feet and staggered out of the damaged warehouse. Junko Sakurada, just arriving on the scene saw the group stumble towards her. Several moments later, a loud rumbling signalled the collapse of the entire rear portion of the building, a huge plume of smoke and dust billowing up into the afternoon sky.
"At the risk of stating the painfully obvious, that was too close," Sailor Venus croaked as she stared at the wrecked building.
"You can say that again, girlfriend!" Sailor Jupiter grumbled. "All this cheating death stuff is seriously starting to get old!"
"Howell? I didn't know you were in there!" said a surprised Junko.
Katrina glared hatefully at the policewoman. "Oh, really? You bloody lunatic! What the hell were you playing at, lobbing tear gas in there?"
"Doing my job! I was trying to capture a madman!"
"How? By getting us killed?" Katrina shot back. "And now we don't even know what happened to Duncan! Stupid cow! You really fouled this up!"
"Piss off, Howell! I don't have to take this shit from you!"
"Ladies. I suggest you stop arguing like children until we've learned if Duncan's still alive?" Sailor Mercury snapped. Just then, the ruins of the demolished warehouse rumbled. A moment later, a massive explosion threw tons of debris into the air like molten lava from a volcano.
"Good Lord! Nobody move!" cried Moon. Acting fast, she summoned her Cosmic Moon Scepter and erected a huge force field that protected everyone from the rubble than rained down on them. After a couple of minutes, silence filled the area as everyone watched a large, gold colored cloud reform into the human shape of a scowling Duncan. He glared at the stunned spectators.
"Sorry, bitches," he snarled. "But you won't get rid of me that easily."
"That tears it!" growled Katrina, pulling out her handgun. Thumbing off the safety, she fired at the Irish madman. "Shut the hell up and die!"
Before anyone could stop her, Katrina squeezed off six rounds, striking Duncan in the chest, and, with a cry of pain, he was knocked to the ground.
"NO!" cried a shocked Moon. Turning on Katrina, she angrily slapped the gun out of the Briton's hands and glared at her. More than anything, the Sailor Scout leader didn't want to see any more people die, not even a monster like Duncan. "You didn't have to kill him!"
"Like hell I didn't! This was the only way to stop him!" Katrina shouted.
"Um, I hate to disagree with you, Kat, but he isn't dead!" said a wide eyed Venus, pointing just ahead. "Look!"
Everyone looked on as Duncan, his body glowing a bright yellow slowly climbed to his feet and, eyes bulging, stared down at the six holes in his chest which oozed electrical sparks instead of blood. To the shock of everyone, the holes closed and sealed in a matter of seconds before he ceased glowing.
"No way!" cried a stunned, slack jawed Sirius. "No freaking way!"
Duncan, feeling no pain, save for in his head, was equally as confused. Then he chuckled. "Well, well! Isn't that something?"
"Screw this!" snarled Jupiter, the antenna on her tiara shooting up. "Let's see you laugh this off! Jupiter Thunder....CRASH!"
The Thunder Scout hurled a bolt of lightning right at Duncan before he could avoid it. The bolt struck Duncan in his chest with a sharp, loud crack, the energy lighting up his body before hurling him fifty feet away. As the Scouts, Katrina and Junko slowly approached the spot where Duncan lay, he sat up, glowing and arcing again as his horribly charred flesh instantly healed.
"Hells bells! Hit him again!" ordered Jupiter.
"Mars Fire....IGNITE!" shouted Mars.
"Vulcan Shockwave....STRIKE!" said Vulcan.
"Sirius Infrared Laser....DISINTERGRATION!" yelled Sirius.
Once again, Duncan didn't move, this time by choice as the three pronged attack of fire, sound and light energy hit him like a runaway locomotive, pulverizing him on the spot. And, just like before, Duncan glowed and shot off sparks as his body, ravaged beyond repair miraculously healed itself. Like a devilish Jack-in-the-box, Duncan rose to his feet.
"If that's the best you can do, then you're in trouble!" growled Duncan.
"Fall back!" Mercury screamed. "Fall back! He's gonna blow!"
Duncan exploded, obliterating the rest of the warehouse. The powerful shockwave from the blast rippled along the ground in all directions, buckling asphalt, causing buildings to shake like gelatin while blowing everyone off their feet like tenpins. From the nearby rooftops, the police snipers watched in horror as the warehouse was reduced to dust and everyone on the ground pulverized.
Amid the burning and smouldering wreckage, a huge golden cloud coalesced into human form at ground zero. Panting from exertion, Duncan, doing his best to ignore the great pain in his head was exhausted from he energy he expended and puzzled as to his new abilities.
The Irish madman saw Venus sprawled and semi-conscious on the ground. Staggering towards her, Duncan picked up a jagged piece of steel, deciding to make the deathblow personal by ramming the steel shard into his enemy's chest, just like she made his death personal in his nightmares. Towering over the Scout's body, Duncan raised the makeshift weapon over his head.
"Bye-bye, bitch!" he snarled.
"Not today, asshole!" growled Venus, playing dead. She pointed her index fingers at Duncan and leered. "Venus Crescent Beam....SMASH!"
At point blank range, Venus' Crescent Beam punched a hole directly between Duncan's eyes, sending bone and brain matter billowing out the back of his skull. With a scream of pain, the Irishman stumbled backward as his body began to glow again. Hopping to her feet, Venus fired a second beam that punched through Duncan's chest, sending him flying and he landed in a heap.
"No! NOOOO!" Duncan screamed as his glowing body healed from the terrible wounds Venus inflicted on him. His body continued glowing as his body temperature soared. Terrified, Duncan was overcome by fright at his nightmare becoming reality. Despite his power, Duncan as he turned and ran for his life.
"Stop!" cried Moon, removing her tiara and willing it into her powerful energy disc. "Moon Tiara....MAGIC!"
Moon hurled her disc and it struck Duncan in the small of his back, but it went through his body seconds before he exploded. The tremendous impact of the blast knocked everyone down again and wrecked a building Duncan had ran towards. No one dared to move or speak as the dust and smoke faded away.
When the air cleared, the snipers and spotters in police helicopters hovering overhead saw nothing but destruction for over a hundred yards all around the ruins of the warehouse. The Scouts, in combat stances anticipated another attack by Duncan, but after several minutes nothing happened.
The Sailors and Katrina walked cautiously over to the area where they were sure Duncan had been struck by Moon's energy disc. The only thing they found was Moon's tiara on the ground, bent and scorched, the gem cracked. Scowling, Moon picked up her damaged tiara, closed her eyes and, with a short burst of concentration, it returned to normal.
"Blast! He's skipped on us again!" she grumbled, replacing her tiara.
"After what I've just seen him do, I'm not disappointed," said Mask.
"Speaking of which, would someone mind telling me how the hell Duncan survived those attacks?" a puzzled Katrina wanted to know.
"And what made him run?" Sirius asked. "One more blast and we're dead meat, but he bolted like a scalded cat. What's going on here?"
Vulcan's brows furrowed. She had an idea as to why Duncan fled from her mind meld with him, but she needed time to formulate a hypothesis. Moon, on the other hand just shrugged. "Your guess is as good as ours, Sirius. Something tells me the answers are gonna be awfully frightening."
Goro, having watched the battle, shuddered. "Jeezus! After this mess, something tells me this would be a darn good time to go straight."
Duncan, huddled next to a dumpster in an alley was exhausted, feeling like he had run non-stop for days when it had only been a couple of hours.
More than anything, the Irish madman wanted to close his eyes and sleep, but the terrible, throbbing pain in his head wouldn't allow him that pleasure. Then he remembered what happened every time he slept and decided that rest wasn't worth it.
Duncan remembered how different he felt after he detonated inside that warehouse, how the tingling he felt from head to toe increased a thousand fold after he reformed. It made him feel stronger than ever. When he had been shot by the Interpol agent, he thought it was all over, but the pain he felt was brief before his body instantly healed.
The Irishman stared at his chest, devoid of any wounds, not even scars after he had been blasted by the Scouts. He remembered the searing pain from their attacks, but it had been brief as he recovered from the onslaught. Curious, Duncan decided to conduct an experiment.
Duncan spied an empty bottle nearby and picked it up by the neck. He smashed the base and pointed the jagged edge at his bare chest. With a trembling hand, the Irishman took a breath, then rammed the broken bottle into his flesh. He cried out briefly from the pain, but the discomfort was only momentary. He then gasped at what he saw.
His body glowing, he saw sparks of energy, like electricity lancing outward from the wound instead of blood before it closed without so much as a mark, just like at the office park when he faced the Scouts. Duncan's eyes widened, fear and confusion had him in an icy fist.
"What the hell happened to me?" he wondered aloud. His face then tightened into a fearsome scowl as anger and outrage, fueled by his headaches took over. "This is all her fault! It's Venus' fault that I've become a monster!"
Buttoning his shirt, Duncan stood, a look of deadly determination on his now perpetually pained face. "Time to up the ante. No more screwin' around. This time, I'm makin' that bitch come to me so I can kill her!"
At Police Headquarters, the Scouts, Mask and Katrina convened with Junko after a failed search for Duncan. Behind the closed door of an empty conference room, the Tokyo policewoman hated the idea of cooperating with the Scouts, however, since Katrina still was in command of the operation against Duncan, Junko had to defer to her, much as she hated it.
"So, let me again pose the question I asked back at the office park," Katrina addressed the Scouts as everyone was seated at a conference table. "How the hell did Duncan survive your attacks?"
"I'm curious about that myself," said Mars. "He should've been killed half a dozen times over. Why is he still alive?"
"Sailor Vulcan and I surmised that Duncan underwent a new phase in his mutation," said a dour Mercury. "Duncan no longer possesses a flesh and blood form. He's now become a creature composed entirely of energy."
"Energy? But we saw him bleed when Katrina shot him," Mask pointed out. "Not to mention getting fried by Mars and Jupiter and having his brains blown out by Venus. He looked damned normal then!"
"I beg to differ, Tuxedo Mask. He is not normal. What we saw was a simulation," Vulcan replied. "It would appear that Duncan subconsciously transforms his energy into matter, giving him an imitation of flesh and blood. When he was attacked, his mind envisioned the injuries he sustained and his body simulated them. But he no longer has a true physical form."
"Which means he can't be hurt, or gassed like normal human beings," said Moon, glaring at Junko. The policewoman, defiant, glared back.
Mercury nodded. "Quite right. I'm guessing Duncan no longer needs to breathe, or eat, or sleep. At present, he's about as human as this table. But with his power, he's still extremely dangerous."
"And incurably psychotic," Vulcan added. "During my mind meld, I discovered that his subconscious had turned malevolent. Whenever he is not awake, Duncan is relentlessly tortured, then killed by a demonic version of Sailor Venus, thus feeding his insane need to kill her in the real world. The reason he fled was because Venus had acted out Duncan's death in his nightmares."
Hearing that, a scowling Jupiter, holding Venus' hand shook her head. "What a mess. Anything else we need to know?"
"Yes. I believe Duncan is dying," said Mercury. "While I scanned him in the warehouse, I found a golf ball sized tumor in the frontal lobe of his brain. And it's inoperable."
Everyone gasped at what they had been told. Venus turned to stare at a wide eyed Katrina. "Tumor? Kat? Did you know anything about that?"
"No, not at all," said the Interpol agent. "According to prison records, Duncan underwent a physical a month before he escaped, and was given a clean bill of health."
"Do you think Duncan's mutation caused it?" Sirius asked.
Vulcan nodded. "Most likely. Sailor Mercury, your medical expertise is greater than mine. Would I be correct to assume that his tumor grows every time he uses his powers?"
Mercury nodded. "I'd say so. Judging from the size of the growth, Duncan probably suffers incessant pain from headaches. If left unchecked, I believe that tumor will kill him within days. Sooner if he continues using his powers."
Hearing that, Venus nodded. "Best news I've heard all day. Okay, here's what we do. We lure Duncan to some secluded spot outside town and make that bastard use his powers until he drops dead. Problem solved."
Everyone in the room were taken aback at what the Love Scout said. "Venus! You're talking about letting Duncan die!" a horrified Moon said.
Venus' face was impassive, uncaring. "Yeah? So what? He's been trying to kill me! That makes this personal! And death's the only way to stop him!"
"I disagree. There has to be a way of stopping Duncan without resorting to murder!" said Mercury, stunned from what she heard Venus say.
"I don't care to find one!" Katrina argued. "Duncan's already failed twice to kill Venus. He's bound to go berserk and start killing anyone in sight. He's got to be dealt with! Permanently!"
"I don't believe what I'm hearing! That's no way for a law enforcement officer to talk!" Junko snapped at Katrina. "What you suggest is appalling!"
"Wrong! It's practical! Given what Duncan's become, how else do we stop him?" Katrina retorted. "It's not worth risking the lives of the public to pussyfoot with that animal! I say we take him out!"
"I'm with Katrina! Let's kill that son of a bitch!" said a grim faced Jupiter.
"It figures you'd say that!" a disgusted Mars growled at the Thunder Scout. "You're not thinking straight because of your feelings for Venus!"
"Fuck you, Mars! You don't know shit about me!" an angry Jupiter roared back. "At least I have feelings for someone! What's your excuse?"
Mars' anger soared at the retort about her personal life. Just as she and Jupiter jumped to their feet, ready to come to blows, a furious Moon stepped between them. "Stop it! This is no time to be arguing!" she yelled angrily at the duo. "We're supposed to be a team! That means we fight together! Not with each other! Now sit down or I'll kick your stupid asses from here to Osaka!"
Mars and Jupiter glared at each other before following their leader's command. Moon then turned her sizzling stare on Katrina.
"As for you, Agent Howell, get this through your head: we will NOT kill! It's far too easy to take the coward's way out! What takes real courage is to find the difficult, but morally responsible way to solve a problem like this!" she yelled. "As long as there's the slightest chance we can stop Duncan without resorting to murder, then by God, I'll do everything I can to get the job done!"
Katrina, her face stony, returned Moon's icy stare. "That was a pretty speech, Sailor Moon, but it didn't impress me. Nor did it change my mind. The only thing I care about is protecting the public from Duncan."
The Interpol agent stood up, got right into Moon's face and jabbed an index finger in her chest. "So you get this through YOUR head! If you screw up with that bastard, then any lives he takes will be on your hands!"
Before a defiant Moon could respond, a patrolman, a frightened look on his face barged inside. "Inspector Sakurada! There's been an explosion near the Tokyo train station! It may be Duncan!"
"Dammit! And we're right in the middle of evening rush hour!" growled Junko, leaping to her feet. She gave the Scouts a quick, scathing glare. "That madman could slaughter hundreds of people! You'd better dream up a way to subdue Duncan, or you may have no choice but to kill him!"
During the evening rush hour, tens of thousands of commuters pass through downtown Tokyo, either by car, bus or rail on their way home after a long day at work, shopping or school. As the busiest metropolis on Earth, any sort of disruption could prove catastrophic.
Which was exactly what Duncan, surrounded by a mass of humanity had in mind when he stood in front of a major Tokyo department store near the main train station. With a grin of anticipation for the carnage he was about to cause, the Irishman detonated.
Three dozen people around him were killed on impact and over a hundred injured from the force of the explosion which blew out windows for over a block away. Flying glass, hurled with the speed of bullets slashed shoppers inside the store to shreds and left a large crater in front of the store. Startled pedestrians, most bleeding and injured from glass and shrapnel looked around in dazed confusion, wondering what caused the blast. They all gasped at seeing the large, crackling golden cloud descent to the street then reform into the human shape of Duncan. Panic then set in as people fled for their lives, instigating a stampede that hurt more innocents.
The Irishman grinned, pleased at the destruction he caused. But his pleasure was short lived when his head exploded from the pain of his headaches which were worse than ever.
"Blast! The pain! It's drivin' me crazy!" he growled. "Am I dyin' here?
With a shrug, Duncan ignored the pain as best he could. As his strength returned, Duncan looked for a new target. His gaze took him up the street to the sprawling Tokyo rail station. He knew from his research that thousands of people would be in the station. Thousands of people he could kill.
"Hold it right there, Duncan!" came an all too familiar voice from behind him. Duncan whirled around and saw the Scouts, Mask and Katrina, hefting her Uzi standing fifty feet away. Mars, her eyes glancing back and forth felt a deep chill run up and down her spine. In the vision that plagued her sleep for the last five nights, Venus died here, in the middle of the city. Feeling the fear clamp itself around her heart, it was all the Fire Scout could do to keep from shivering.
The Irishman smiled wickedly at seeing Venus. "About time you showed up! Now I can kill you and your friends all at one time!"
"That's what you think!" growled Venus. "Venus Star Power!"
"Mercury Star Power!"
"Mars Star Power!"
"Jupiter Star Power!"
"Vulcan Star Power!"
"Sirius Star Power!"
"Moon Crystal Power!"
"SAILOR PLANET....ATTACK!" the seven Scouts, glowing like the sun yelled. Duncan gaped as an impossibly huge, multi-colored energy beam streaked at him with a roar like a thousand locomotives. The Irishman never had time to avoid the beam as it hit him head on with a thunderous explosion like that of an A-bomb blast that shook the earth for miles around.
"Sweet baby Jesus!" whispered Katrina, her eyes saucer wide.
"I'll second that," an equally shocked Junko muttered.
When the huge cloud of smoke cleared, there was no sign of Duncan, except for a crater where he stood. The Scouts, weary from the attack stood at the ready for what they anticipated would happen, while hoping it wouldn't. Out of nowhere, a large, crackling, golden cloud materialized, then reformed into the human shape of Duncan. He then laughed in contempt at the heroines.
"Just like before, bitches! You can't do squat to me! But I can do plenty to you!" Duncan then detonated, the titanic force of the blast overturned cars that weren't blown up, ruptured the sidewalk, peppered building with debris while smashing windows and blew everyone within range of the murderous shockwave away like leaves in a hurricane.
Nothing moved in the devastated area as Duncan slowly reformed. Once he finished, he cried out from the terrible pain in his head. But he gathered himself and searched the demolished street for Venus. All he could see were smashed, bleeding and lifeless bodies for a block around. Finally, the madman saw Venus laying next to Jupiter fifty feet away. He lurched towards her.
"Duncan! FREEZE!" came a shout from behind him. Duncan whirled around to see Junko at the head of a force of three dozen black armored men toting assault rifles down the street. The Irishman dismissed them with a snort.
"Get away! You can't stop me either! No one can!" he growled.
"I damn well mean to try!" Junko snapped back, enraged at the destruction she saw. "Open fire!"
At her command, three dozen M-16 rifles roared, pummeling Duncan with a seemingly endless stream of hot lead. Duncan grunted from pain and was blown off his feet, but almost immediately, his body glowed and gave off a huge display of sparks as his wounds instantaneously healed from the barrage.
"Keep at it! Keep firing!" Junko ordered.
The din from the assault rifles was ear shattering, but ultimately useless as Duncan, angry at having been interrupted marched towards the cops, wincing from the pain of the assault. The eyes of the SWAT troopers widened from horror as they saw that their weapons were useless against their opponent.
When Duncan was unable to endure the pain any longer, he exploded. Caught in the blast, several of the cops were killed, despite the armor they wore while Junko and the rest were injured. Seconds later, Duncan reformed, the pain in his head greater than ever, making him angrier and more unstable. He glared contemptuously at the fallen law enforcers.
"Fools!" he growled. The Irishman turned back around to resume his real business. The pain had grown intense to the point where it was literally blinding him. Meanwhile, the Scouts were nowhere in sight. That annoyed him.
"Shine Aqua Illusion!"
Before Duncan could react, he was flash frozen in a two foot thick block of solid ice, a look of horror on his face. Warily, the Scouts and Mask, battered and bleeding, their uniforms in tatters, emerged from cover and eyed the imprisoned Duncan. Mercury, her visor in place scanned the Irishman.
"That did the trick," she said. "The temperature inside that block is below zero. I'm not picking up any lifesigns, probably because he no longer has any."
"What about the tumor?" Mask asked.
"It's grown considerably from just two hours ago. He's on pace for a massive cerebral hemorrhage," the Scout of Water replied. "Even though Duncan's composed of energy, every time he assumes physical form, so does his brain, and the tumor that's killing him."
"Good! Let's teleport him to some secluded spot and make him use his powers until he drops dead," Venus growled.
"NO! I'm not going to let him die!" Moon yelled angrily. She held her right arm high and, in a flash of light, the Cosmic Moon Scepter appeared in her waiting hand. "I'll try to heal him with the Crystal instead. Maybe that'll take away his powers too."
"I suggest you do so quickly, Sailor Moon," said Vulcan. "Even though Duncan has been immobilized, his subconscious is still active and could trigger a detonation without him being awake."
"Everybody, stand back! And be ready to attack, just in case this doesn't work!" ordered Moon.
Mask was concerned. "Serena, are you sure this monster's worth it?"
"Yes. The day I start deciding who should live and who shouldn't is the day I quit being Sailor Moon. I haven't done that before, and I won't start now!"
At that moment, Junko limped up to Katrina. The Interpol agent stared at the policewoman in concern. "You okay, Junko?"
"I'm alive, Katrina, which is more than I can say about eight of my men," Junko answered ruefully. "Tell me, did I hear right? Is Sailor Moon going to try and heal that madman?"
"Uh-huh."
Junko grunted. "I'm afraid she's making a horrible mistake."
"You and me both." Katrina then gave Junko a wry look. "Sounds like you've come over to my way of thinking."
"Yeah. And I hate myself for feeling that way."
Moon, her brow furrowed from intense concentration leveled her scepter on the ice block which had begun to melt. "Moon Healing....ACTIVATION!"
A stream of silvery energy shot out from the scepter which blasted away the ice block to envelop Duncan who, miraculously enough, awakened.
"What are you doing to me?" he demanded.
"I'm healing you! And taking away your powers!" Moon replied.
"No! You can't! I still have to kill Venus!"
"Shut up! I'm trying to help you!"
"Screw you! I don't want help! I want to kill! I WANT TO KILL!"
Duncan's body suddenly glowed bright as he quickly built up his power to offset the healing energies from the Imperium Silver Crystal. Moon, feeling the feedback, poured more power into the Crystal, but Duncan, maddened beyond belief matched her power.
"Duncan! Stop! Don't fight me!" Moon cried, the pain from the feedback drove her to her knees.
"I WANT TO KILL! I WANT TO KILL! I WANT TO KILLLLLLLLLLL!" screamed Duncan, clearly insane. He was glowing so brightly now, everyone had to turn away from the blinding glare.
"Oh, no! It's not working!" cried a frightened Mars. "Just like Stefan, Duncan's fighting the Crystal's healing power!"
"Sailor Moon! Switch to a force field! Duncan's going to blow!" Mask shouted at his lover.
"Oh, God! Everyone! Run for cover!" Junko yelled to her men and pedestrians foolish enough to stay close to the battleground.
Moon, sadly realizing she had failed changed her healing energy beam to a force field mere seconds before Duncan exploded. While Moon's protective barrier prevented everyone from being killed on the spot, Moon screamed from agony at the feedback and passed out from the pain. When the force field dropped, the shockwave from the blast shook the ground and mercilessly pummeled everyone into semi-consciousness.
Once again, there was silence, save for the crackling of fires burning unchecked from the terrible devastation that reached a quarter mile all around. At ground zero, the Scouts, injured beyond their ability to immediately heal roused themselves, their bodies wracked and battered, yet they refused to submit to defeat as long as their enemy still lived. Fifty yards away, a large golden and crackling cloud slowly started to gather together into human shape. Once Duncan reformed, he slumped to the ground.
"Spirit of Allah! I don't believe it!" cried Sirius. "He's like the Energizer Bunny from hell! Can't anything stop him?"
"At present, no," said Vulcan. "Duncan is pure energy, and energy cannot be destroyed. We must concentrate on his sole remaining vulnerability."
"His brain," said Mercury. "We must find a way to neutralize his mind. His obsession to kill Venus is literally the only thing keeping him together."
Venus, hearing that, came up with a plan. She remembered Vulcan telling explaining why Duncan fled back at the office park. "Well, if that's the case, then I'm gonna give that madman what he wants."
"What are you talking about?" a suspicious Jupiter wanted to know.
"This! Venus Crescent....SHOWER!" Before the Scouts or Mask could react, Venus hit her friends with her multiple crescent beams, but at low strength so they'd only be knocked out. Heartsick and weakened from the exertion, Venus stood over her friends while tears trickled down her face.
"I'm sorry, guys. But I won't risk your lives any further. I have to stop Duncan alone." Venus knelt down to where Jupiter lay, leaned close and lightly kissed Jupiter on her lips. "If I'm still here when you wake up, I hope you'll forgive me. If not, please remember me."
Rising slowly to her feet, Venus set her face and moved slowly towards Duncan who was also standing, his face a mask of rage at seeing the Love Scout. Neither Venus or Duncan felt any fear over dying. They only felt hatred for each other, deep, dark and all consuming hatred.
"This is where it ends, bitch!" Duncan snarled.
"You got that right, asshole!" growled Venus before launching a spinning wheel kick that connected had against the side of Duncan's head, knocking him to the ground. As the stunned Irishman got to one knee, Venus sent him back down with a vicious thrust kick in his face.
Furious, Duncan tried to detonate, but was so weakened from resisting Moon's healing beam, he couldn't muster the strength. Yet, he wasn't beaten as he resorted to two decades of brawling on the streets on Ulster, he grabbed a broken length of pipe and swung it like a bat into the midsection of the approaching Venus, breaking several ribs as she collapsed to the ground.
Sensing he now had the edge, Duncan moved to the attack. With another brutal swing of his makeshift weapon, the Irishman broke Venus' left forearm, bringing a scream from her lips. A third swing shattered her collarbone while a fourth cracked open her skull. Grinning maniacally, Duncan attempted a deathblow but missed as Venus rolled out of the way. With Duncan off balance from the momentum of his swing, his guard was down long enough for a desperate Venus to solidly connect with Duncan's jaw with another powerful thrust kick, lifting him off his feet before crumpling to the ground.
Venus rose slowly to her feet. Her left arm dangling uselessly at her side, bleeding from a terrible head wound, the Love Scout was barely able to breathe from the searing agony of her broken ribs. Her eyes glazed over from pain, Venus saw Duncan laying motionless on the ground ten feet away, yet, in her wounded state, it looked like ten miles. Coughing up blood, Venus staggered drunkenly over to where Duncan lay and loomed over him like an angel of death.
"No," he whispered, his eyes saucer wide as he stared at the blood soaked apparition towering over him. The nightmare that tormented him for the last two weeks had finally come true. The bottomless terror that filled his heart triggered the return of his power as his body temperature skyrocketed, as did the monstrous pain in his head.
"Last call, Seamus," said Venus in a weak croak, her strength fading rapidly. She shakily aimed her index fingers at the head of the smoldering Duncan for what she figured was her last shot. She was determined to make it count. "I was the very first Sailor Scout, and I'm ready to die for our cause. For love, and for justice----DIE! Venus Crescent Beam....SMASH!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Duncan screamed moments before the laser beam struck him between the eyes. An instant after that, he detonated, but this explosion was different from all the others as the entire city lit up from an incredibly huge flash of blinding light that could be seen over a hundred miles away. Had anyone been able to see what happened next, they would have gasped in shock at a golden colored mushroom cloud climbing into the early evening sky before dissipating.
When the light and smoke faded, onlookers were greeted by the sight of immense destruction that stretched for nearly a square mile. Badly damaged buildings, ruptured and cratered streets littered with tons of debris, thousands of blown out windows, burning vehicles and, worse of all, the dead and dying, strewn all around. In the center of the nightmare was a crater some fifty feet in diameter and ten feet deep. And at the bottom of the crater, alone, lay the shattered, charred and unmoving body of Venus.
The Scouts, having recovered hurried to the hole where they saw their fallen teammate. Jupiter's heart turned to ice at the terrible sight.
"No! Oh, NO! MINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Jupiter shrieked as she dove into the hole, followed fast by the others. Jupiter wasted no time gathering the ruined husk that was Venus' body into her arms while tears poured down her face in rivers. "No, goddammit! NO! Don't die, Mina! Don't leave me alone! Please! I can't live without you! MINA!"
Venus stirred ever so slightly while the others sobbed. But she was blind and her hearing destroyed in the blast. She barely sensed that her friends were around her. With the last of her strength, the dying Scout opened her mouth.
"Good-bye....everyone. Tell Lita that....I loved her...."
And, with that, Sailor Venus died.
TO BE CONCLUDED