CHAPTER 19
Sailor Uranus impatiently hacked at the draping vines with her
sword. The air was hot and stuffy, causing a thin layer of sweat
to appear on her brow.
"Where in the bloody world am I?" muttered Uranus as she squished
through the soggy ground.
She had awoken to a humid forest, with none of her friends around.
Try as she might, she could not even sense Neptune. Finally, she
decided to find the way out of this infernal swampland.
"...uggh.." she grimaced as her right leg suddenly sunked half a
foot into the mud, her dark-blue boots now covered with black slime.
"yuck! I can't wait for this battle to be over...where is the exit
to this stupid forest?! SPACE SWORD BLASTER!!!" Uranus swiped her
sword and released a huge bolt of energy, clearing a straight path
for her.
"Hmmm...that was much easier." She strode forward gingerly,
suddenly aware of someone...some-thing following her. "Looks like
I'm not alone..." She quickly sprinted forward and jumped up onto
a large flat rock, crouching into a protective stance, her back against
a tree. "Ok, I don't know who's there, now come out and fight!"
Her challenge rang clear in the forest. For a moment, nothing happened.
Then a lithe shape steped out from the shadows of the trees. Sailor
Uranus blinked in surprise. Her.....opponent was a...young man....a
very odd looking one...
"I am Janus, and you must be Sailor Uranus." Janus bowed, his blue
hair tumbling over his shoulders. Given his slim body, anyone could
mistake him for a girl.
Sailor Uranus tightened her grip on her sword. "Are you my opponent?"
"I am the third Commander of the Shadow King." replied Janus, his
greenish eyes glittering. "You entered my dimension and I am merely
seizing you up."
Sailor Uranus watched him. Something wasn't right. Then she frowned.
"Why aren't you dirty?"
"I beg your pardon?" Janus seemed genuinely surprised.
"Mud...you're not even touched by a speck." Uranus eyed his white
outfit critically.
"Ahh...I am master here, my pets carry me everywhere." Janus' eyes
still glittered.
"Pets?"
"My pets are all around me....but they are harmless...unless provoked.
There's one behind you."
Sailor Uranus swirled round as something gave a light tap on her
shoulder. To her surprise, she found herself staring into a...mouse??
"Surprised? Aren't they adorable?" cooed Janus as several more of
those...mice appeared. Sailor Uranus blinked and noticed that the ground
beneath Janus was actually swarming with moving mud...and mice. She
shuddered slightly and brushed away the over friendly mice climbing up
her leg.
"...yea..sure.." Sailro Uranus struggled to maintain her composure
as some mice climbed over her shoulder. "Could you call them off?"
"But they like you..." said Janus, his green eyes turning slightly
darker.
"Well...I'm honoured but I am also in a hurry. Tell me the way to
the Shadow King's castle."
Janus seemed to ponder for a moment then he smiled. "I can't."
"You..!" Uranus gaped at him in disbelief.
Janus smiled and snapped his fingers. A humming sound was heard and
before Uranus could react, her arm suddenly spurted blood!
"Ah! World Shaking!" Uranus quickly dealt a blow as she clutched her
bleeding arm. But Janus only shifted and easily avoided her attack.
"I am the master of my dimension, Sailor Uranus. My pets would protect
me. But then...Shattering Fist!!!" the rock beneath Uranus suddenly
fragmented into dust, causing Uranus to stumble into the muddy ground.
"Play with my pets, they like you...it's been a long time since they ate
human flesh.."
Sailor Uranus jumped backwards and nearly slipped. But the sudden
stinging bites on her leg alarmed her to the fact that the 'friendly'
mice were surrounding her. She quickly slashed them, their red, sticky
blood drawing them into a frenzy.
"World...Shaking!" But more mice appeared to take the place of
their dead friends. "AAh!!" Sailor Uranus screamed sharp teeth tore
at her left thigh. "WORLD SHAKING!!!" This time it was directed at
Janus. But Janus only smiled and vanished.
"Wha...ouch!" Uranus continued slashing and retreating, her body
nearly covered with mice and screaming of torn flesh and flowing blood.
"..ugg...stu..stupid...mice!!" She stumbled as her legs gave way, her
mind nearly unconcious with pain...so much pain....paaaaiiinnnnn..........
The mice converged onto Sailor Uranus' shuddering body, their sharp
teeth ganshing away bits of flesh and bones. Sailor Uranus gave a soundless
scream as more mice covered her body...her face, cutting off any sound she
emitted....only leaving her obvious to the metallic tang of her own blood
...their smelly bodies...and the ever increang pain.....
"Neptune......" Sailor Uranus gargled as her larynx was bitten through....
that was her last thought as she lost conciousness...
=======================
"Uranus?" Sailor Neptune turned round, a frown marring her perfect
features. For a moment, Uranus' desperate cry echoed in her head....
Biting her lips, Sailor Neptune surveyed her surroundings. She was
in room...with medieval decorations...Judging from the tables and chairs,
this must be the eating room. She cautiously stroded out to the door and
stood facing a long hallway...torches were hung along the walls and
giving a dull light to the dark hallway. There were portraits on the
walls...
Following the poratraits, Neptune noticed something strange. The
first few portraits show men and women with noble and kind features,
their very faces exuding a kind of warmth. But as she proceeded, the
faces became more crueler and colder...and inhuman...
How long she walk, Neptune didn't know, she continued to gaze as
each portrait as she passed it. Now, each poratrait had eyes as red
as blood, burning with an intensity that sent a shiver down her spine.
The very eyes of the Shadow King....but they also reminded her of some
one.
Her thoughts were interuptted by the appearnce of a wooden oak door.
On it were engraved the words:
Open the Door of the Double Faced Trickster,
And learned the secret he hides;
For he is the guardian to the entrance;
Also the loyal servant of our Queen.
"Queen? That means this is the entrance to the Shadow King's lair."
Neptune quickly materialized her mirror. "The others must be near."
But to her surprise, her mirror remained motionless, showing her
nothing of the whereabouts of the other senshi and Tuxedo Mask. "Odd..."
Sailor Neptune suddenly remembered Uranus' cry and shivered. "Please let
nothing happen to them." she prayed as she slowly pushed opened the oak
door.
The sight that greeted her eyes made her take a step backwards. It
was a large and luxurious room..completed with a burning cheery fire and
reclining couches. On one of those chair lay a young man with starking
blue hair. He opened a green eye and smled at her lazily.
"Hello." he said and promptly sat up, casually running his hand
through his unruly hair.
Taken aback by his manners, Neptune onyl stared at him.
"....Cat got your tongue, girl?" he inquired as he poured two glasses
of wine. "Want one?"
"No..no thank you...are you the Double Face Trickster?"
"There's nothing double faced about me." he replied, gently carressing
a marble statue that looked suspiciously like him. "I am known as Janus,
what about you?"
"Sailor Neptune, senshi of the Planet Neptune. Who are you?"
"Neptune...also meaning Poseidon, the sea god. I once knew someone
called Poseidon, he was a real bore. We never could see eye to eye."
Janus snapped his finger and the oak door slammed shut. "I am Janus,
third Commander of the Shadow King. Welcome to my dimension, Sailor
Neptune."
For a moment, a sense of deja vu came over Neptune, like all this
was said and done before.. "then you must be my opponent."
"yes...I am..." sighed Janus. "All good things come to and end, I
guess. Now let's see whether you can survive longer than the others."
"Others??...AAAIIIH!!" Sailor Neptune stared in surprise at her
bleeding arms. Janus hadn't even moved. "You..." A sharp pain slashed
through her shoulder, making unable to finish her sentence
"ugh...Deep Submerge!"
Janus quickly doved down but was thrown backwards when Neptune's
attack hit the wall. He got up and narrowed his eyes. Then he moved
forward and began a close combat.
Hands...Fist...Kicks...Swipes...all pass in a blur...but Neptune
felt something was very wrong. She quickly retreated against a wall
and breathed heavily. She was bleeding from a thousand cuts, some deep
enough to render her vulnerable. Yet Janus only had a few bruises...but
he hadn't eevn touched her....
"Give up?" inquired Janus as he pull off his white gloves. "I'm
just starting to have fun. MANNEQUIN SLASH!!"
Sailor Neptune gasped as thousands of glowing strings appeared.
Before she could even react, those strings quickly sliced through her
body, making a horrible squishing sound.
"AH!" Neptune nearly stumbled and coughed up blood. "Dee..DEEP
SUBMERGE!!!" She dashed forward and quickly grabbed a fencing sword
from the wall. Without missing a beat, she turned and pointed it straight
towards Janus' heart. But then her shoulder was suddenly seized.
'CRACK!' Sailor Neptune was flung against the wall. Her shoulder was
broken...looking up through pain filled eyes, she saw Janus grinning at
her....his hand still resting on the statue....the...statue...strange...
wasn't the statue near the fireplace?...who was the one who threw her...
"You fight well." complimented Janus to the senshi who was covered
with blood. "I almost regret killing you...but at least you'll have the
honor of dying beneath the portrait of the Shadow Queen."
SAilor Neptune tensed her screaming muscles, preparing for the worst.
Her hand was still clutching the sword...but...Neptune gave a curse as her
vision began to grow hazy....Janus spliting into two..
"Sayonara...Sailor Neptune." Janus watch the approach of the trembling
senshi with a smile, he suddenly released a bolt of crackling blue energy
towards her.
But Sailor Neptune, in a sudden burst of adrenalin, doved and narrowly
missed that bolt. Before Janus could blink an eye, Sailor Neptune was
already behind him, the sword pressed against his neck.
"Well well...you're still active." said Janus. "But you can never
defeat me...."
"Ma..Maybe..but at...least I can destroy you...YOUR PARTNER!" With
that, Sailor Neptune swirled and slashed the statue beside her.
"NOOO!!!!" screamed Janus, horror-stricken. "AHHHhh....." both he
and the statue groaned and daubled in pain as blood came gushing out
through their necks. Sailor Neptune panted and watched in amazement as
the statue's once white skin turned pink...turning it into a complete
duplicate of Janus...now the two Janus lay groaning in their own increasing
pool of blood....
"Twins...they're twins..."whispered Neptune. "Unable to survive
without the other...the Double Faced Trickster...." she stumbled forward,
her own wounds now making her dizzy. "I..I've won...but so sleepy...."
Neptune finally collapsed onto the last intact sofa, she dizzily raised
her head. "So that's the Shadow Queen...quite a beauty....hahaha...Uranus
would think the same..." Neptune finally closed her eyes in exhaustion,
her blood now staining the pristine white cushions. She absently wondered
why did the Shadow Queen seemed so familiar to her......
The Shadow Queen stared unblinkingly down from her portrait at the
three dead bodies. Her red eyes a solemn beholder to the chaotic room....
==========================
In another place, Sailor Pluto emerged from a large cave...her uniform
was cut and she was bleeding from several claw marks. Using her staff to
prop herself...sailor Pluto jerked and and a tear ran down her
serious face.
"Uranus...Neptune." Pluto sighed as she sensed her two friends'
demise...Now she was the only Outer Senshi left....
The Garnet Orb glowed and the two other Talismans appeared. Sailor
Pluto watched as they were absorbed into her orb. "Until we meet again...
I'll keep an eye on the Talisman and our Princess."
Her quiet promise was drowned out by the twittering of birds.....
Sailor Pluto resolutely got up and limped onwards...away from the dark
dreary cave and into the valley of beauty.....
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