*Theme
song: Dare, by Stan Bush*
Baal
broke the mirror in front of him with his fist, which surprisingly enough, had
light muscle and a few pieces of skin here and there on it. On a shot of Baal's entire form, he sat on a
throne in Mephisto's Durance of Hate.
His entire body was changing.
His head was beginning to grow horns in a few spots on it, and the face
was growing muscles and skin.
Baal:
WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?!
Demon:
I can only conclude, your lordship, that the proximity to the Silver Crystal is
mutating you in some way.
Baal: I
CAN SEE THE MUTATION JUST FINE! The
question is, WHY is it doing this?!
Demon:
Well, sir, the Silver Crystal is generating a force that creates life. Apparently, your demonic skeletal form did
not have life for it. So, it is growing
skin and muscles to rejuvenate you.
Baal:
You're saying the crystal is actually helping me?
Demon:
Yes, sir. The transformation will boost
your power beyond that which you originally had in your first form, and what
your more recent form had.
Baal:
It's splitting my legs into more than just two!
Demon:
And that can be quite beneficial, sir.
Baal:
Any luck in locating the World Stone?
Demon:
Extreme, sir. We believe the World
Stone is held under Mt. Arreat, near the Barbarian Highlands of the North. At this moment, we are excavating tunnels
that can get you to the World Stone with only a short jog instead of attempting
to travel to the Highlands itself.
Baal:
Interesting... Leave me! I wish to be alone.
The
demon nodded and walked out of the Durance.
Baal looked at the Silver Crystal, which was attached to his neck. He thought about what his next move would
be.
Baal:
The Titans are not fools. They know I'm
up to something. However, if they keep
studying the old prophecies and legends, they'll figure out what I'm up
to! The second they figure it out, I'm
doomed. I need to distract them, keep
them occupied.
Baal's
thoughts returned him to Sailor Life, when she had given him the Silver Crystal
to save the lives of the other Titans.
He smiled at the thought of the stupidity of this girl.
Baal:
Come to think of it, my brothers and I originally planned to transform Sailor
Asteroid into evil using the Hate plague Asteroids when he was chained to that
island in between Lut Gholein and Kurast.
Perhaps this can be my advantage...
Reuisu:
Congratulations on finally being lifted of punishment, Anna.
The
seven Titans were assembled in Reuisu's void.
Anna:
Thanks; it's nice to be outside of Crystal Tower. Her majesty understands that I was only trying to help you guys
when I gave the Crystal to Baal.
Reuisu:
Indeed. Now, let's get back to the
issue at hand: The eclipse.
Chris:
There've been no more demon attacks since the one a few days ago.
Lucy:
Still, morale in the city is way down.
Hardly anyone's going outside of their homes.
Michelle:
Crystal Tower's not much better.
Everyone's on edge.
Reuisu:
What we need to do is figure out what Baal's planning.
Reuisu
pulls out the third Sailor Wars book and opens it up.
Reuisu:
Previous pages that had already been written in are starting to rewrite
themselves, giving more details as to what exactly is going on. Let me demonstrate. It now says, "As a Prologue for the
despair that would follow, the demon of Destruction released an Angel of Death
from the soul of Life."
Christine:
Any idea what it means?
Reuisu:
No clue. The next part says, "His
darkness would be stopped by the silver crescent, but as it is said, it was but
a prologue." Then the whole
mirroring champions and Titans of darkness is the same, and then there's this
one last part. "The Doomsday
opened the World Stone and released the Lord of Chaos."
Miya:
Lord of Chaos? Wouldn't that suggest
the entity that's been identified as Chaos?
Reuisu:
No, that one's gone for good, this time.
What we're up against is far more evil than chaos could ever hope to
achieve. I'm talking evil beyond
measure. Baal's up to something. Chris, I'd like you and Miya to-
The
communications console lit up, indicating a call was coming in. Reuisu walked over to the console and read
the text message.
Reuisu:
Baal's attacking Crystal Tower!
Anna:
But that doesn't make any sense! He
already has the Silver Crystal!
Reuisu:
Well, I recommend we transform and take care of him before he can use it! Astra, you stay here and study the books,
try to figure out what they mean.
Astra:
Right!
Mars:
MARS FLAME SNIPER!!!
From a
balcony three stories up, Sailor Mars launched a flame arrow into Baal's
side. He grunted in pain for a moment,
but recovered quickly.
Uranus:
WORLD SHAKING!!!
From
the ground, Sailor Uranus launched a World Shaking attack into Baal from behind
him. The attack slammed into his
backside and sent him into the ground.
Baal:
Erg... My transformation is happening
too quickly! I'm losing my speed!
Saturn:
SILENCE GLAIVE SURPRISE!!!
Sailor
Saturn jumped down, her glaive aimed at Baal.
Seeing this, Baal rolled out of the way and the glaive sliced into the
ground, instead. He launched a green
energy bolt at Sailor Saturn, blasting her away and into a nearby wall. Sailor Jupiter then moved in, kicking Baal
in the face. She then punched him twice
in the stomach. Baal growled in
momentary pain, but then released three tentacles at Sailor Jupiter, wrapping
around her and throwing her into the air.
HIGH into the air. Jupiter
gulped as she began to fall back towards the earth, twenty stories in the
air. However, six stories later, Sailor
Angel swooped in and caught her, bringing her back down into the ground.
Baal:
FINALLY! I thought I'd have to kill
everyone before you Titans got here!
Six of
the seven Titans lined up in front of Baal.
Angel:
How dare you continue your assaults even though you have what you want!
Asteroid:
Have you no sense of decency, Baal?!
Love:
We are the Agents of love!
Moonshine:
The Agents of Justice!
Crystal:
Pretty and handsome soldiers!
Life:
The Sailor Titans!
Angel:
And in the names of our Guardians,
Suddenly,
Sailor Cephiros leapt down from the sky in front of the Titans and pointed at
Baal.
Cephiros:
WE SHALL PUNISH YOU!
Baal
gasped and was taken aback.
Baal:
But I killed you! You're dead!
Cephiros:
Just another thing to add on to your list of "Things I couldn't
do." Sending Earth into a fiery
hell pit, retrieving your soul stone, killing me. Shall I go on?
Baal
gritted his teeth and growled at the Titans.
Baal: I
killed you once, I can kill you again!
Baal's
tendrils came out of his back, and they launch at the Titans.
Angel:
Scatter!
Each
member of the group heads in opposite directions. Sailor Angel flies up the balcony where Sailor Mars is.
Angel:
Hello, my love.
Mars:
Don't call me that. Shouldn't you be
fighting Baal instead of attempting to flirt with a married woman?
Angel:
I need you to get the inner and outer soldiers back into the Palace. If the Titans should fall to Baal, we're
going to need you to protect the Queen.
Sailor
Mars nodded, and contacted the inner and outer soldiers to retreat back into
Crystal Tower.
Sailor
Angel flew back up into the sky.
Angel:
FIST OF THE HEAVENS!!!
Flying
high into the sky, it seemed like Sailor Angel finally just punched the top of
the sky itself, and his fist glowed with a golden intensity. Lightning and white beams of energy shot
down from the sky and slammed into Baal.
He roared in immense pain and was blasted away from where he was and
into a nearby tree, snapping the tree in half.
Baal got up as the Titans circled him.
He gulped.
Baal:
Perhaps we could, uh... Negotiate?
The
Titans glared at him.
Angel:
We don't negotiate with demons.
All of
a sudden, a tentacle wrapped around Sailor Life and pulled her over to Baal!
Angel:
ANNA!
Sailor
Life tried to struggle from Baal's grasp, but he held strong against the child.
Crystal:
If you dare harm her, Baal, I'll-
Baal:
Nothing so mundane, Titans. She is of
no use to me dead!
Baal
pulled out of a pocket in his rags a small, black ball. It was the size of a marble, and Baal placed
it in Sailor Life's hair. Instantly,
she screamed in pain as the ball imbedded itself into her skin. She stopped screaming when she closed her
eyes, and when she reopened, them, they were completely black. The other Titans gaped as her outfit began
to change. The entire fuku turned
black, and her gloves grew longer and connected with the shoulder pads. Her miniskirt grew longer and turned
black. It covered all her legs. The baton she used for her attack grew into
a long stick, except with a scythe at the end.
Baal: I
told you, Sailor Angel: There would be no seventh Titan, only death. And so I reveal to you my Sailor Death.
To Be
Continued...