Author's Note: 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.
The Witches Of Philadelphia
by Jeffrey C. Branch
Chapter Six: Magic in the Night
Rating: PG-13
Samantha Cho's face was a mask of hate and rage as she glared at the helpless Sailor Mercury, caught fast in a giant concrete fist.
The Korean girl, her right arm outstretched clenched her fist and Mercury screamed from the monstrous pressure against her torso. In her mind, warped from the evil that corrupted her soul, the sound of the Water Scout's horrific, pain filled screams were pleasing to Samantha's ears.
"Look who's back in the fold, girls," said a grinning Blair as she, Sabrina and Jeannie walked up to Samantha. Their clothes had been shredded by Mercury's attack, leaving them bniised and bloodied. "No hard feelings, Sam?"
Samantha scowled at the redhead. "Plenty. I don't like you, Blair, never have, never will. But at least I know where I stand with you and the others." The Korean girl turned back to glare at Mercury. "Unlike this deceitful little bitch who kept secrets from me." She closed her fist a little more.
Mercury, feeling ribs snap like twigs screamed at the top of her lungs from the unimaginable agony that wracked her body. Her strength gone, Mercury focused bleary, pleading eyes on Samantha. "Sam....please....believe me. I....never meant....to deceive you. You....were my friend."
Samantha was unmoved. "That's right, Amy. Were. It's way too late now. Say goodnight.....forever!"
"Jupiter Thunder... CRASH!"
Just as the Korean girl was about clench her fist tight, a massive lightning bolt smashed the concrete fist that imprisoned the Water Scout into rubble. Before Mercury, having passed out could hit the sidewalk, Sailor Venuscaught the unconscious heroine in her aims. The four witches whirled around to see Sailors Jupiter, Mars and Vulcan standing only twenty feet away as they shielded Venus and their injured teammates. Blair smiled evily.
"So, we meet again." Blair motioned with her arms to her friends who flanked her. "As you can see, ladies, this time, the odds are even."
"I don't give a damn what the odds are!" snarled Jupiter, her teeth bared like a wolf. "Venus! Protect the others until they come to! Mars! Vulcan! With me! We're gonna waste these psychos!"
"Watch your backsides! All of you!" warned a worried Venus. "Serena's out cold! And Mercury's in bad shape! We don't need any more casualties!"
"Don't sweat it, babe! The only casualties will be on their side! C'mon, girls! It's clobberin' time!"
In the lobby of the hotel, Molly and Melvin chatted with Miss Haruna, the group's chaparone as they entered the restaurant for breakfast.
"Golly, Miss H., I can't imagine where Serena could be," said Molly. "I went to her room, but no one answered."
"Same with Talia, ma'am," said Melvin. He was secretly hoping that the taciturn girl whom he had come to admire for her magnificent mind was interested in another trip to the Franklin Institute with him.
Haruna scowled, trying to keep her temper in check. "Typical. Serena and her little clique are always running off without telling anyone. I especially didn't want them doing that here. I'm getting rather fed up with their antics."
"Hey! Look at that!" said Melvin, pointing to the windows which people were gathered at. "Something must be going on outside!"
The trio went to the window, and when they looked outside, they were shocked at what they saw. Mars, Jupiter and Vulcan were fighting four girls, their bodies glowing while Venus shielded the unconscious Mercury and Serena.
"It's the Sailor Scouts! What are they doing here?" cried Molly. She then saw Serena and gasped from horror. "Oh, my God! Serena's out there!"
"Stay here, you two! I'll call for help!" said Haruna.
"No. You won't," came a voice from behind her. Haruna and the kids whirled around to see a grim faced Charlotte McCoy. She knitted her brows, and the trio suddenly went stiff, their eyes glassed over. "You never saw the Scouts, or Serena. Go to your rooms and sleep until noon."
Haruna and the kids silently left the restaurant. McCoy looked outside and frowned at the chaos she saw. "Oh, great. The excrement's really hit the fan!"
The skies outside darkened ominously and thunder rumbled as Sabnna, her body glowing a bright blue summoned her power and pointed at the Scouts.
"Cumilous....Formulae....ELECTRON!" shouted the blonde, and a massive bolt of lightning shot down from above, scattering the Scouts as it impacted with an ear piercing boom, reducing the ground to rubble. Jeannie, seeing Venus trying to protect both Serena and Mercury launched her own attack.
"Gravitas....Altera....CANCELOUS!" shouted the brawny girl, pointing at a parked car which was lifted off the ground and flung it at Venus like a missile.
"Oh, shit!" cried Venus. "Venus Crescent....SHOWER!" The blond Sailor's powerful storm of laser beams shredded the car like paper. One beam hit the gas tank and it exploded in an oily ball of flame before it reached her. The force of the blast pummeled Venus and left her stunned and while portions of the flaming wreckage crashed through the windows of the restaurant which was set afire, killing six gawkers before they could flee.
"Close call, my dear, but not close enough!" snarled Blair as she approached the defenseless Venus. "I'll fry your brain like so much bacon!"
"Not today, sugar!" growled McCoy who struck first, hitting Blair with a brain seizure, causing the redhead to scream from anguish, driving her to her knees. The black woman rushed to Venus' side and roughly shook her. "Wake up, blondie! This is no time to be sleeping on the job! You okay?"
"Yeah! Just stunned!" said Venus, regaining her senses. She then saw the flaming restaurant and was horrified. "Good Lord!"
"And then some! We've gotta get away from here before your hotel becomes a chamel house!" Hefting the unconscious Serena in a fireman's carry, McCoy, maintaining the pressure on Blair motioned across the street to a large, construction site up the block. Venus nodded and activated her communicator.
"Mars! Jupiter! Vulcan! We're endangering innocents, including our classmates being this close to the hotel! Follow my signal! We're taking this fight across the street! Respond!"
"Mars here! I read you, V!" said the Fire Scout.
"Roger that, babe! I'm moving!" said the Thunder Scout.
"Acknowledged!" said the Scout of Order.
"Move your ass, blondie!" snapped McCoy, her face lined from strain. The black woman could feel Blair fighting back in her mind. "I can't hold Blair off for long! She's stronger than I thought! Grab your friend and let's go!"
"Hold your donkeys! Mercury's busted up inside! I've got to be careful!" yelled Venus, gently picking up her friend. She knew from a quick check that the Water Scout had broken ribs and didn't want to risk her suffering internal injuries while Mercury's healing powers repaired her wounds. "Cover me!"
"Gladly!" as Blair struggled to stand, McCoy hit the redhead with a second mindblast and she crumpled. The parapsychologist staggered briefly on braced legs from the exertion. "The holy rollers ain't paying me nowhere near enough to deal with this kind of shit!" she muttered disgustedly.
While Serena was unconscious, the spirit of Susannah Martin, lurking inside her subconscious awakened. The thing was elated, feeling stronger than ever.
My time is nearly here, Serena. My power has grown and I will soon take over, said the spirit. And once I have been reborn, the age of man will come to its long deserved end! Isn't that right, my dear?
There was a silence that seemed to last for years, then Serena wordlessly replied:
Yes.
"Stand still so I can kill you!" shouted an angry Jeannie, using her powers to uproot parking meters and hurl them at Sailor Vulcan like missiles.
No sooner had Vulcan regained her footing, she saw Jeannie user her powers to lift a pick up truck, a glass panel in back and threw it at her. Vulcan, her anger mounting scowled.
"Enough," she growled, crossing her arms over her chest and a gleaming golden sphere enveloped her body. "Vulcan Shockwave....STRIKE!"
Vulcan's sonic energy blast hit the truck head on, blowing it to pieces with a thunderous explosion. A shard of glass deeply sliced her left upper arm. The alien Scout screamed from the pain and dropped to one knee.
Jeannie, having protected herself from the debris with a gravity field, gasped in horror at seeing Vulcan clutch her left arm which was pouring bright green blood as she slowly stood up.
"Jesus H. Christ!" the brawny girl cried. "Your blood! It's....it's green! What the hell are you?"
"I'll....never tell," snarled Vulcan as she placed her index fingers on the gem of her tiara, ignoring the tremendous pain from her wounded left arm and a purple aura enveloped her head. "Vulcan Mindstorm....ENGAGE!"
Jeannie screamed from the sudden brainfire and she collapsed. Vulcan walking up to the fallen girl, her left arm limp and dripping blood glared at the girl. For a moment, Vulcan considered driving one of her spike heels through Jeannie's eye socket and into her brain, but thought better of it. Barely.
"Pathetic human," Vulcan snarled before pushing off.
Sailor Mars was fighting two enemies: a furious Samantha and fatigue.
The Scout of Fire was weary from having used her psychic powers for readings two days straight, and it left her exhausted. While her recuperative powers were helping Mars combat her fatigue, she just managed to dodge a fist that thundered down on the spot she just stood on from a ten foot tall creature Samantha composed from the street and sidewalk.
As Mars continued to dodge, her right foot caught on the curb and she fell hard to the ground, hitting the back ofher head and she saw stars.
"Now I've got you!" roared Samantha. Manipulating the concrete horror, it lifted the semiconscious Mars in its paw. "I'll crush you like I did that slut, Amy!"
"Don't....call....my friend....names!" growled Mars, producing a spirit ward and slapping it down on the fist. "I command you....spirit of evil....begone!"
The ward erupted in cold crimson flames that caused the fist to shatter like glass while Samantha cried out from the psychic feedback. Touching down on the sidewalk, Mars concentrated and a flaming bow and arrow appeared in her waiting hands. With a wicked grin on her lips, Mars pulled back the arrow on its fiery string and aimed at the creature's head. "Mars Flame....SNIPER!"
Mars released the flame arrow and it sped like a rocket at the head of the rock monster, blowing it apart with a loud, sharp crack as it exploded. She then heard sirens in the distance. Not waiting to see what happened to her foe, Mars dashed across the street.
Sabrina and Sailor Jupiter held the most frightening battle, tossing death dealing lightning bolts at each other.
"We can dance like this all day, girlie!" growled Jupiter.
"I control all phases of weather! You'll never beat me!" yelled the blonde.
"Cumilous....Formulae....FROSTERIUM!"
At Sabrina's command, Jupiter was hit by a driving barrage of snow and ice, propelled by freezing winds. The Thunder Scout screamed as she was battered by the snow and sub-zero winds, blowing her down the block, leaving her, bruised, bleeding and frozen to the bone.
"Beg me, tramp!" ordered a smirking Sabrina, approaching Jupiter. "Beg me for a quick death!"
"Screw....you!" Jupiter croaked, sparks flying from her tiara as she held her right hand high. "Jupiter Thundercloud....ZAP!"
A ball of lightning appeared in Jupiter's hand, then she slammed her fist down on the ground. The ball traveled along the sidewalk, rupturing the concrete until it impacted with the still glowing Sabrina who stood in a puddle from the snowstorm she conjured. The blonde screamed as she conducted the electrical current with near fatal results. Sabrina was blown off her feet.
Shivering, Jupiter forced herself to her feet as the first police cruisers screeched to a stop at the corner and half a dozen cops drew on her.
"Freeze!" shouted one of the cops closest to Jupiter.
"Been there! Done that!" she snarled, grabbing the startled cop by the arm with a speed he hadn't expected. Before the others could react, the Thunder Scout threw the cop into his companions with brutal force, bowling them over like tenpins. "Hasta la vista....baby!"
Serena, having just come to, was startled to find herself in an empty lot. Venus and McCoy looked at her while Mercury lay unconscious near her.
"Mina? Charlie? What happened? What's going on?" Serena demanded, bolting up. When she gazed at Mercury, she was shocked. "Amy! What happened to her?"
"She's in bad shape, Sere! I think her ribs are broken!" said a worried Venus. "God only knows if she's bleeding inside! You've got to transform and heal her with the crystal!"
"Yeah! And make it fast! We're gonna have company soon!" growled McCoy. She sensed the four witches recovering and preparing to retaliate.
Rising shakily to her feet, Serena opened her brooch and held it high in the air. "Moon Crystal Power!"
Crimson bands of energy emerged from the brooch and enveloped Serena's body, causing her to glow like the sun from the power of the Imperium Silver Crystal as it transformed her into Sailor Moon. Just as the morphing sequence ended, Moon thought she heard wicked, girlish laughter deep in the recesses of her mind, but she shrugged it off as just imagination.
"Cool beans!" said a grinning McCoy. "I'm impressed!"
Ignoring McCoy, Moon, her face set and hard held her right arm high and the Cosmic Moon Scepter appeared in her waiting hand. She then pointed it at the stricken Mercury. "Stand back, you two! Moon Healing....ACTIVATION!"
The silvery energies from the crystal in Moon's scepter blanketed Mercury, healing her injuries and restoring her vitality. Just like the other day, Moon grimaced from pain and nearly passed out again, but she managed to stay awake, though not with a considerable amount of effort. Damn! It's happened again! What's wrong with me, she wondered.
Once the crystal had done its work, Mercury stirred and opened her eyes.
Moon dropped to one knee beside her friend and looked at the Water Scout in concern. "Amy! Are you okay?"
Mercury's expression was dour. "Physically, yes. Emotionally, no. Can the crystal mend a broken heart?"
The threesome were puzzled. "What are you talking about?" Moon asked.
"Nothing," Mercury replied. A moment later, the others joined the trio.
"You've looked better, Tal," said Venus, staring at Vulcan. Like the others, Venus still had trouble getting used to their teammate's green blood.
"I believe the proper response would be, 'I've felt better'," Vulcan replied dryly, the searing pain of her wound reduced to a dull throb thanks to her healing powers. "What about our opponents?"
No sooner had Vulcan asked her question when, with a roar, the earth rumbled mightily beneath the Scouts' feet, toppling them over. Then walls of concrete, dirt and asphalt, rising twenty feet into the air sprang up all around them and quickly pressed in on the shocked Sailors.
"Gods above! Quick! Blast it before we're crushed!" screamed Mars. "Mars Fire....IGNITE!"
"Vulcan Shockwave....STRIKE!"
"Jupiter Thunder....CRASH!
"Venus Crescent....SHOWER!"
The concentrated attack of fireballs, sonic blasts, lightning bolts and laser beams shattered the walls into rubble with a thunderous explosion that could be heard half a mile away while Moon used the scepter to protect everyone from the debris with a force field. McCoy, in the middle of the chaos was stunned.
Jesus! Maybe Jupiter was right, the black woman thought. For the first time in years, McCoy felt the icy fingers of fear grip her heart. Then the parapsychologist became angry for being afraid. Fuck this! Why should I be scared? I can hold my own in this three ring freak show!
When the dust finally dissipated, the Scouts and McCoy saw the witches, all glowing brightly, their faces twisted from rage and hate stalk towards them.
"It's taken some effort because their powers are blocking me, but I can see into their minds," said McCoy, her face lined from concentration. "They're nearly gassed because they've never pushed themselves this hard before and are gonna throw the bathroom sink at us!"
"That's 'kitchen sink', darling," said Venus, flashing McCoy a wry grin. It wasn't often that she of all people got to correct someone else's comments.
McCoy returned Venus' smile. "I stand corrected, honey."
Before the two groups could clash, a third party made its presence known. Three dozen SWAT cops, in full body armor surrounded the Scouts and the witches, training M-16 assault rifles on them. Behind them were twice that many more cops who, standing behind squad cars with their guns out. The sound of rotors from above caused everyone to look up as they saw two police helicopters with snipers leaning out to aim rifles at them.
"This is the police! We have you surrounded!" came a voice from behind one of the cars. "Put your hands in the air! One wrong move and we'll shoot!"
"Shit!" snarled Blair, looking around her. She never figured on intervention by the police.
"This stinks!" Sabrina grumbled. "I don't know about you, Blair, but I'm whipped. We're in no shape to fight the Scouts and the cops!"
"Bree's right. We have to retreat," Samantha growled at the redhead.
Blair turned to Jeannie. "Jean?"
"What they said, boss. Witchcraft or not, we ain't bulletproof," said an apprehensive Jeannie. "I say we make like the invisible man and vanish!"
While Blair didn't like the idea of running, she recognized the necessity of retreating. "An excellent idea, Jean. The book says we'll deal with the Scouts later. Quick! While we still have the energy, let's vanish. Raise your hands."
The others did as Blair ordered, but they clasped hands, closed their eyes and concentrated. McCoy, partially blocked by the girls' powers realized too late what they were about to do. "Oh, no! they're gonna book!"
"Corporeous....Energitious....TRANSPORTUM!" the girls shouted as one.
Before the startled eyes of both the Scouts and the police, the girls were suddenly enveloped in a ball of crimson energy. An instant later, the sphere shot up into the sky like a rocket and was gone like a bolt of lightning.
"Son of a bitch!" spat Jupiter, staring up at the sky. "Left high and dry!"
"Not hardly," said Moon. "Mercury! Blind them while they're distracted!"
Mercury was distracted herself, thinking about Samantha, but she recovered quickly. "Right! Mercury Bubbles....BLAST!"
At the Water Scout's command, a huge, thick and freezing fog instantly settled over the entire area. There was sporadic gunfire by the cops, muffled by cries of superiors to cease firing. In the midst of the bedlam, the injured and battle weary Scouts and McCoy ran for their lives. The girls headed west until they stopped to hide in Franklin Square Park.
"Well, that went over great," Mars growled. "Talk about a screw up!"
"Speak for yourself, pyro! We're still breathing! That's good enough for me!" Moon argued. "What do we do now?"
"We don't dare go back to our hotel," said Jupiter. "Now that those nuts know where we're staying, we'd be putting the gang from school at risk."
"But in the meantime, where do we go?" Venus wanted to know. "We need a hideout so we can recover."
"Well, I'd put you up, but I'd never fit six teenagers in my rinky dink hotel room," said McCoy. The black woman then grinned as an idea came to mind. "But I think I know where I can stash you kids for a few hours. C'mon."
In a flash of brilliant red light that filled Blair's bedroom, she and the girls materialized on the floor, barely conscious and badly weakened from the spell they used to escape the Scouts and the police.
"Lord in heaven! That was close!" Sabrina croaked. Laying on her back, she was afraid to move because her head was severely spinning.
"You can say that again, sister!" growled Jeannie as she sat up. "If we were any weaker, we'd be nothing more than a memory right now!"
Blair, laying on her stomach, nodded. "Considering we never used the teleportation spell before today, it's a wonder we weren't killed."
"What about the Scouts? They're still out there. That bitch, Mercury is still out there!" snarled Samantha. The hurt and anger over Amy's supposed betrayal still lingered. "We've got to destroy them, especially her!"
"Relax, Sam. We will," said Blair, sitting up. She could feel the eldritch energies of the book, sitting on the stand nearby restoring her vitality. The others also felt stronger. The redhead fixed them a steely gaze. "We're approaching the point of no retum. Soon, the avatar I told you about last night will be awakened, and the new world order will finally be bom. Now, more than ever, we must stand united to achieve our goal. Are you with me?"
"All the way, Blair. To the end," said Sabrina with a nod.
"You bet. I'm ready for anything," said Jeannie.
"As long as we can kill the Scouts, I'm in," snarled Samantha.
Blair grinned, pleased with what she heard. "Good. I knew I could depend on you. Let's get some rest. We've got a lot of work to do."
At the headquarters of the Archdiocese, when Father Thomas O'Neill returned to his office after the monthly budget meeting, he gasped from surprise at seeing the Scouts and McCoy waiting for him inside.
"Hiya, Father," said a grinning McCoy. "I brought some guests."
"So I see," O'Neill replied wryly. "When I told you about the Sailor Scouts, I never figured on actually meeting them. I thought they were just a myth."
"A lot of people say that about us, Father," said a smiling Venus. "We're kinda like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny."
"Yes, but not as....provocatively dressed," O'Neill returned, noticing the girls' short skirts. "I wonder why my secretary didn't tell me you were here."
"Er, she doesn't know. We sneaked in," Moon replied sheepishly, pointing to the open window.
O'Neill's eyes widened. "But....but we're three stories up! How?"
"We jumped," said Mars in a casual tone.
"They jumped, Father. I took the elevator," said McCoy. She then turned serious. "I'm really sorry for the intrusion, sir, but a situation came up a short time ago and the Scouts need a place to crash for a few hours."
"What sort of situation?"
"Got a few minutes? It's a long story."
O'Neill nodded, then sat down behind his desk and smiled. "Along with my duties here at the Archdiocese, I take confession at my parish three times a week. I'm always eager to listen to people in trouble. Go ahead."
For the next fifteen minutes, the Scouts and McCoy recounted their exploits with the four witches, from their initial encounter on Thursday to their most recent battle only an hour ago. During that time, Mercury, heartsick over Samantha sat silently in a comer. When the women finished, the priest leaned back in his chair with a look of amazement on his face.
"Incredible. I had no idea the situation with the Darkhold had gotten so out of control. Just how dangerous are these young women?" O'Neill asked.
"They're psychotic, Father. Stone cold, straitjacket crazy," said McCoy.
"And they are equally as powerful as we are," Vulcan added.
O'Neill's brows furrowed. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Like Charlie said, sir, we just need a place to rest," said Jupiter.
"That I can provide, my dear. We have a dormitory to house visiting Clergy and Theology students. It's not the Ritz-Carlton, but it's comfortable. You're welcome to stay for as long as you like." O'Neill then grinned. "However, I might have a problem explaining your rather....gaudy attire."
"No problem," said Moon. The Scouts stood up. "You may want to close your eyes, Father."
O'Neill did so along with McCoy. The Scouts glowed from a blinding silvery light, and they changed back to their civilian guises. The priest gasped.
"Remarkable!"
Raye grinned. "Yeah. We think so."
Upstairs, the girls unwound in the Archdiocese dormitory, welcoming the opportunity to rest their weary, aching bodies after the battle. But Amy felt no peace in her troubled heart.
"Father O'Neill wasn't kidding. This is cool," said a grinning Lita, lounging on one of the beds. "After that slobberknocker, I could sleep for a week."
"Don't get too comfortable, honey. We've still got work to do," warned McCoy. "Our playmates are still out there. We have to stop them."
"And we've got to do it fast." said Raye. "We return home Tuesday morning."
"I feel like I'm to blame for what happened today," said Amy.
The others stared at her in puzzlement. "How do you figure that?" asked Mina, sitting next to Lita.
"The Asian girl, Samantha, I met her outside the library on Friday. We became fast friends because she loved books and computers like I do," Amy explained, tears filling her eyes. "I had no idea she was one of the witches until an hour ago. And I brought her to our door. This is all my fault!"
"Nonsense!" said Serena, sitting next to the distraught Amy and putting an arm around her shoulders. "You can't blame yourself for what happened."
"Maybe. Still, Sam hates me because she saw me transform and thinks I deceived her. I don't want to hurt her, but I'm scared that the next time we meet, only one of us will survive."
"Hey! Don't be such a killjoy! We can still end this show without any bloodshed," said McCoy. She fixed the girls a steely glare. "Ladies, it's time we went on the offensive. Our enemy isn't those wingnuts, it's the book. We get our hands on that, Blair and her buddies are kaput."
"How do we do that?" Amy asked.
"We know where the Darkhold is, thanks to our reading. We'll go get it tomorrow morning. At two am."
The girls were shocked. Even Talia arched an eyebrow from surprise. "Two....in the morning? Are you crazy?" Lita demanded.
"Like a fox, sweetcheeks. Look, Blair doesn't know we found her house. She'll be alone and won't expect us to come calling at oh-dark thirty."
"But, two a.m.? That's insane!" Serena cried.
"Actually, Serena, it is a very logical strategy," said Talia. "The perfect example of taking the enemy by surprise. What do you have in mind, Charlie?"
"A four step plan. One: we sneak into Blair's house, I'm an old pro at picking locks and bypassing alarms. Two: I use my powers to immobilize everyone. Three: we grab the book, Blair probably keeps it in her bedroom. Four: we sneak back out and take it to some nice, secluded spot where you kids can blow the danmed thing to smithereens. Voila! Threat over. Objections?"
The girls were silent for several moments, unable to argue the merits of McCoy's plan. Then, as one, they nodded. "None," said Raye. "Let's do it."
McCoy grinned. "Excellent. I'll go to your hotel and tell your chaparones that you'll be spending the day with some friends you met. Get all the rest you can. We've got a busy night ahead of us."
The girls picked out beds and soon had fallen fast asleep. Serena, most of all was eager to sleep, letting the thing inhabiting her subconscious to gain more and more control. Soon, it would take over completely.
At two ten a.m., the Scouts and McCoy, disoriented from the Sailor Teleport secreted themselves behind some bushes across the street from the Witasick home in Bryn Mawr.
"Everything's quiet," said Jupiter. She turned to Mc Coy, dressed from head to toe in black. "How do we handle this, Charlie?"
"No need for all of us to go in. Our goal is to sneak inside like ninjas, not rumble through like a street gang," said the parapsychologist. "Two will come with me. Mars, your psychic senses will come in handy to detect any trouble. Mercury, we'll need your VR visor to find Blair's bedroom. Questions?"
"No, but I'm going in," said a stem faced Moon. "Mars stays outside."
Everyone looked at Moon. "Any reason why?" McCoy asked.
"We don't know squat about those girls. For all we know, they probably practice spells in the middle of the night," Moon pointed out. "If they were to show up unexpectedly, Mars can sense them and wam everyone."
"Guys, I don't believe I'm actually saying this, but Meatball Head's right," said Mars. "I would be more useful out here as a rear guard."
McCoy frowned. Something bothered her about Moon attitude. She's not this brave on TV, she thought. But then, things tend to be different in real life. Still.... "Okay, Serena. You're in. The rest of you, keep your eyes and ears open. Moon, Merc, let's go."
The black scientist led Moon and Mercury around to the back of the house. Removing a small black case from a fanny pack she wore, McCoy opened the case and removed several tools which she used to bypass the alarm which was hooked up to the doors, then picked the locks to get the trio inside.
Once in the darkened house, McCoy shivered as she could feel the terrible evil that radiated from the book. The power she felt made her knees weak, her stomach roil and her head spin. Moon, bringing up the rear listened intently to a malevolent whisper in the back of her mind, a whisper that went undetected by McCoy, the same whisper Moon heard in her sleep the last three nights. Moon nodded ever so perceivably, as if receiving instructions.
Mercury activated her VR visor and, switching to night vision mode, led Moon and McCoy through the spacious downstairs area and to the stairs which they climbed with an almost painful slowness so they wouldn't be heard.
"Merc, where's the master bedroom?" McCoy whispered into Mercury's ear, trying to keep her wits as the evil from the book frayed her nerves. "I need to see my target to use my powers."
Mercury scanned the upstairs area and pointed ahead. "That way."
Slowly and carefully, Mercury led McCoy to the master bedroom. The black woman grasped the knob of the door and opened it. Before them lay two people, a dark haired man with gray at the temples and a blond woman in bed. McCoy took the lead, crept up to the bed and stared down at the couple. When McCoy touched their minds, her eyes widened and she recoiled from horror, having found nothing, just a yawning emptiness.
"Oh, damn! Oh, DAMN!" she hissed.
"What is it, Charlie? What's wrong?" Mercury asked.
"Blair's parents are dead! Their brains fried like that cop on South Street Thursday!" As the realization set in for McCoy, so too did fear. "Oh, dammit! I think I've walked us into a trap! Screw the book! We're pulling out! Now!"
When McCoy and Mercury whirled around to leave, they were shocked to find Moon gone. "What the hell? Sailor Moon? Where'd she go?"
"Right here," came a familiar voice from the darkened hallway. Just as McCoy and Mercury moved for the door, their brains exploded from sudden and brutal pain, causing them to cry out and drop to the floor where they lay immobilized. As McCoy and Mercury lay helpless, Moon came into the room with a smirking Blair, holding the Darkhold in her arms like a baby, followed by Sabrina, Jeannie and Samantha. The Scout of Water and the black parapsychologist gasped at seeing the ramrod stiff, glassy eyed heroine.
"Sailor Moon?" moaned Mercury. She then glared at Blair. "What did you do to her?"
Blair chuckled. It was a cold, cruel sound. "Me? Not a thing. The spirit that resides inside the book was responsible for your friend's condition. And now, it's time to return that spirit to this world."
Blair placed the book on the floor at Moon's feet, then removed the ceremonial dagger from a scabbard tied to her right thigh. Moon, her face expressionless took off her right glove and held out her hand, palm up. As McCoy and Mercury looked on, the grinning Blair used the dagger to slice open Moon's palm, cutting it almost to the bone. Moon, her face unchanged, turned her hand over and her blood poured onto the cover of the book like water from a faucet.
"Dear Lord in Heaven!" a horrified McCoy whispered.
"Sailor Moon! NOOOOOOOOOO!" a hysterical Mercury cried.
As Moon's blood coated the cover, smoke rose from the book as began to glow from a blinding, pulsating, crimson aura which expanded into a sphere that enveloped the entranced Sailor Scout leader. While McCoy and Mercury watched, Moon's meatballs came undone, spilling her long hair to the floor while her uniform disintergrated, leaving her naked. The sphere then contracted, molding itself to Moon's body which grew taller while her skin turned deathly pale, morphing into a dark, almost blackish red gown with long sleeves, a voluminous train and a neckline that plunged to her waist. Mercury gasped at seeing the Imperium Silver Crystal materialize and imbed itself just above her breasts. The most disturbing sight was Moon's face, sans her tiara, now long, lean and hawkish with eyes. that glowed like twin red suns. Her lips, painted a bright crimson, parted in a cruel, demonic smile.
Standing over six feet tall in spike heeled pumps the color of her gown, the creature that used to be Sailor Moon spread her arms out wide and took a deep breath. She stared at her hands, tipped with unnaturally long, blood red fingernails, then titled her head back and laughed, a loud, harsh and chilling sound like that of glaciers shattering.
"Ahhhh. To breathe once again. To feel blood coursing through my veins. To see, to hear....to BE again!" she said in a deep, echoing voice that was colder than the Arctic and utterly inhuman. Blair and the girls bowed low in the creature's malevolent presence.
"Oh, my God," said Mercury. "Who....who are you? And what have you done to Sailor Moon?"
The creature fixed glowing red eyes on the frightened Water Scout. "My name, dear child, is Susannah Martin. As for Sailor Moon, she is gone....forever!"
NEXT: Could It Be Magic?