Author's Note: If you wish to comment on my story, either positively or negatively, don't hesitate to contact me at [email protected]. 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.
Blood on the Moon
by Jeffrey C. Branch
Part Nine: Countdown to the Apocalypse
Rating: PG-13
11:35 PM
The mansion, situated near a cliff overlooking Tokyo Bay was huge, old and crumbling. Once stark white with magnificent columns and architecture reminiscent of a stately manor in the old South of the United States, it was now a dark, shambling ruin.
Standing atop a hillock a quarter mile away, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus and Tuxedo Mask, looking spent, both physically and emotionally, their costumes ripped and torn from the battle at Tokyo General Hospital stared down at the house. They all scowled at what they saw, feeling the evil that came from it.
"Are we in time?" asked a grim faced Artemis.
Mercury consulted her communicator. "Yes. Once Serena and Raye arrive, we can move."
Mask was apprehensive. Once he and the others got the news that Moon and Mars had rescued the captive Tsukino family and had taken them to the temple, they collectively breathed a sigh of relief. Since then, nothing. Mask prayed nothing had happened. He'd never be able to forgive himself if Serena came to harm. The sound of footsteps from behind made everyone turn to see Moon and Mars trotting up to them with Luna.
"Sorry we're late, guys. It took longer to get my folks to safety than we thought." said Moon. After some hugs from the girls and a passionate kiss from Mask, Moon stared at the others and was stunned at their appearance. "What happened at the hospital?"
"A bloodbath. The vampires fought to the last man. Literally," said Mercury, forced to relive the horror of the battle in her mind. She recalled the blood that was spilled, the subhuman, animalistic savagery of the combat and, worst of all, the near sadistic pleasure she, Jupiter and Venus took in slaughtering the creatures. Mercury shivered, wondering if she'd ever again enjoy a good night's sleep after this.
"We did all we could to stop the carnage, but there were still....casulties. Shiro's dead, so's Melvin," said a grim faced Mask.
"Melvin? Oh, God, no!" Moon reeled, feeling like she had been punched in the stomach. While she genuinely felt sorry about Hiyata, the death of Melvin, someone she had known for years hit her particularly hard.
"And Molly was responsible," said Venus in a broken voice, tears streaming down her face. "She went out of her way to finish the job she started last night. Melvin was helpless, Serena, bedridden and alone, and Molly still killed him! Damn her! Damn that bitch to hell!" Venus turned to cry in the arms of a sullen, hollow eyed Jupiter who hadn't spoken a word since Shiro Hiyata's death.
Moon regarded her fellow Scouts and Mask, all of whom looked like they had been to hell and back, but left their souls behind. Moon knew her friends were falling apart, just as she was still on the verge of doing. She had to help them out of the abyss they were in or risk losing them.
"Guys, I know you're in pain. I'm hurting right along with you," she said softly. "But there's still a lot work we have to do. If you need strength, I'll gladly give it to you. All you want. Just lean on me."
The others nodded, their expressions hardened from determination as they drew power from their leader.
"Enough talk! Let's move!" said an eager Artemis.
Moon shook her head. "No. You and Luna are staying here."
The familiars were shocked. "You can't be serious! We have to come with you!" cried Luna.
"So you can get killed? Forget it! Besides, I have a more important job for you." Moon removed her communicator and placed it at Luna's feet.
"What's this for?" Luna asked.
"Insurance," said Moon. "Just in case we fail to prevent Kiragama's resurrection and he takes us out, it'll be up to you and Artemis to call in the Outers and the Starlights for backup. They'll have to continue the fight if we don't survive."
Artemis was incredulous. "What kind of talk is that?"
"Smart talk!" Mars snapped. "The stakes are astronomically high! Malakhov is close to literally creating a hell on earth! If we go down, the human race may well go down with us!"
Moon nodded. "Mars is right. The fate of mankind rests on our shoulders. As the leader of the Sailor Scouts, I think I speak for everyone when I say we're all expendable tonight, including myself. Malakhov has to be stopped, right here, right now, no matter what....or who it costs."
Moon then held out her hand, palm down and looked around her at the others. "Are you with me?"
Mask placed his hand atop Moon's. "Do you even have to ask? Wherever you go, my darling, I'll be with you. Even if it's to the grave."
Mars placed her hand on Mask's. "Now, more than ever, Serena, my place is with you."
Mercury followed. "My sentiments exactly. You lead, and I'll follow."
Next came Jupiter. "I'm with you, Serena. To the end."
Lastly, Venus. "Same here. We're all in this together."
Moon, her eyes moist smiled fondly at her friends whom she loved more than life itself. Their courage, their devotion and, most of all, the incredible power of their love gave her the strength she needed to lead them into the most important battle of their lives. She swore not to let them down. "Thanks, guys. You're the best. For love, for justice, for humanity itself....let's go kick some vampire ass!"
"SCOUT POWER!" the six shouted before pushing off for the mansion.
Watching the heroes run down the hill, Luna looked heavenward. "Please, God. I beg you. Bring them all back to us."
"No sense bothering with stealth! Malakhov's probably expecting us!" Moon yelled. "Mars! Jupiter! The door! And make it loud!"
"Mars Fire...."
"Jupiter Thunder...."
"IGNITE!"
"CRASH!"
At their command, a huge fireball and a powerful bolt of lightning hit the mansion's double doors at once, destroying them and most of the house's facade with an ear piercing blast.
"Be on your guard, team! There's no telling what to expect!" warned Mercury, her VR visor already in place to scan for potential danger. What she saw made her stop short and gasp. "Oh, no!"
When the smoke cleared, the others saw what Mercury had already seen. More than sixty snarling, bloodthirsty vampires stood before them in the main hall of the house, all of them slavering and eager to kill.
"Welcome to the hotel bloodsucker," growled Jupiter, balling her fists, just as ready to fight as the monsters she faced.
"Yeah. Where you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave," finished Venus.
"Forget the creatures! They're cannon fodder!" Mars snapped. "It's Malakhov and the Circle of Five we have to find! I can feel them! They're in the basement! That madman's already starting the ritual!"
"Then let's get down there, Scouts!" ordered Moon.
And with that, six charged more than half a hundred horrors.
Nikolai Malakhov was still in terrible pain from his burns which were slow in healing. The Russian, garbed in ceremonial robes looked like death itself as he concentrated on the ritual.
In the huge, sprawling basement which glowed from hundreds of candles, Malakhov had just placed his five virgins, including Molly, all dressed in flowing white gowns at points on a large pentagram carved into the floor in which he stood in the center with the scroll when he heard a thunderous explosion upstairs in the main hall that rattled the house's very foundation, startling Roy who stood outside the pentagram. That told Malakhov the Scouts had arrived. There was still twenty minutes to go before midnight, but he couldn't afford to wait a moment longer. He had to begin now, or not at all.
"O' dark gods of chaos and doom, who were old before the world was new, hear me! I call upon you a great boon! Bring forth the terrible one from the dust of death so he may spread his reign of blood and death upon the land once more! Return Kiragama the Demon to life!" Malakhov roared in Japanese, the scroll high above his head.
At first, it began with a low, ominous rumbling from deep inside the earth, a rumbling that grew louder and more powerful by the moment. Suddenly, the entire foundation of the house shook again and five fissures emerged in the ground from beneath Malakhov's feet and slowly spread out as if guided in the direction of the five virgins standing in their appointed places on the pentagram. Roy watched in sheer amazement as a fissure reached the first virgin, and she was enveloped in an eerie, greenish light. The girl winced, cried out in pain then exploded without a sound, her flesh, bones, hair and clothing instantly rended, shredded and crushed, leaving only pulp and blood which seeped into the ground. And the rumbling grew louder as Malakhov began to glow from the emerald light.
Malakhov smiled. It was working. Muttering incantations he knew by rote, already he could feel the power of Kiragama embracing him like a long lost lover. Once the others had been sacrificed, the dreaded demon would live once more. And his dream to see the sun would at last come true. Roy, on the other hand was horrified. Was that to be Molly's fate?
Upstairs in the main hall, chaos reigned. Unlike the monsters at the school and the hospital, these creatures, purposely starved by Malakhov to the point of becoming mindless, ravenous beasts charged the Scouts with such incredible speed, the heroes barely had time to defend themselves, forced to rely mostly on hand to hand combat while giving each member a brief opening to use their powers to whittle down the opposition. Still, the creatures fought the Scouts with a deadly, brutal ferocity which the heroes matched with an increasingly disturbing ease.
For Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Mask, this was old, and ugly territory they had visited before, and once again, they succumbed to the rage of the combat. They, along with Moon and Mars fought like beasts for what felt like days, absorbing gruesome amounts of punishment while dealing out death, be it with fireballs, lightning bolts, energy beams, ice blasts, roses thrown with dagger like deadliness or their bare hands. With every blow they struck, every creature they killed, the Scouts and Mask became more like animals than the vampires themselves, relishing in the savagery. Mars, having just incinerated one vampire suddenly screamed and collapsed. Moon was the first to reach her.
"Defensive circle! Mars is hurt!" she ordered, feeling her humanity snap back as she held the stricken Scout of Fire in her arms.
"N-no, 'Rena. Not hurt. Just felt....the first virgin....die," Mars croaked. Her face ghostly pale. "My fault....too caught up....in the fighting....didn't have mental barriers up....to protect my mind." As Mars struggled to stand, she winced again. This time, she was ready, but the psychic pain was still considerable. "A second virgin just died! Let's go!"
"So where's the fucking basement?" shouted Jupiter, ramming a foot into the face of a vampire, her boot heel smashing it's features. She grinned wickedly at how good that felt. "We can't stay here forever!"
"Over there! I see it!" yelled Mercury, fighting through the melee to spot the entrance with her blood splattered VR visor. As the Scouts fought to the entrance, the remaining creatures formed a shield in front of the door, determined not to let anyone pass. Before the Scouts could respond, a familiar voice from behind them yelled, "DROP!"
The Scouts and Mask, not bothering to question the command dived out of the way, just as the vampires were chewed to pieces by a sudden and lethal barrage of gunfire that seemed to go on for hours. Moon was first to turn around and gasped at what she saw. Fifteen men, dressed in thick, heavy, black body armor and black helmets, toting assault rifles, their barrels smoking stormed into the main hall. When the man leading the charge jogged up to Moon, she saw that it was Fukoda.
"Lieutenant? How'd you find us?" Moon asked.
"Our computers at headquarters spat out the name of the only Russian who bought real estate here in the last year," the cop replied. "Didn't take much effort to figure out who it was."
"Hideki, I heard about Shiro. I'm sorry."
Fukoda, his face etched in a fierce scowl shook his head. "Not now, Serena. I'll grieve later. We've got Malakhov to deal with. Where's that miserable son of a bitch hiding?"
"In the basement! He's started the ritual!" said Moon, startled to hear Fukoda call her Serena. Does everyone know who I am, she wondered.
With the timely arrival of Fukoda and his fully armed SWAT team, the tide turned as between the Scouts, using their powers and the cops unleashing a relentless storm of lead, the remaining creatures were mercilessly destroyed. Finally there was silence, save for the grim rumbling that shook the house. "Malakhov, I presume?" asked Fukoda.
"Yeah! Let's move, people!" shouted Moon.
After Fukoda ordered his men to leave the mansion, the detective joined the heroes in a mad dash downstairs. They arrived just in time to view a mind numbing horror.
The huge space was filled with the eerie, greenish light which came from the center of the pentagram, a light so incredibly bright, the heroes and Fukoda had to shade their eyes from it. A smiling Malakhov stood triumphantly in the center of the maelstrom as a huge, ominous, crimson red cloud slowly coalescing into human form hovered over him while a terrified Roy stood nearby. The ground was cracked, broken and soaked from blood, the stench of death hung heavy in the air, sickening the heroes and the detective. Of the five virgins, Molly was the only one standing, and, eyes closed, arms outstretched, she smiled, ready to accept the fate that had befallen the other four as a last fissure snaked it's way across the floor towards her. Having seen the others die, Molly wasn't at all afraid, if anything, she was eager to join them. She would do anything for her beloved Nikolai, even die for him.
"Take me, o' great Kiragama!" Molly cried at the top of her longs. "My lover demands it! Take me now!"
"MOLLY!" Moon and Roy shouted simultaneously, both leaping at Molly in a desperate attempt to save her. But Roy was closest, pushing Molly out of the way as the fissure reached her. With Roy now standing in Molly's place, he screamed from agony as he felt millions of razors tear at his flesh, literally ripping him apart before the stunned eyes of the Scouts, Mask and Fukoda, unable to move, as if a powerful force kept them at bay.
"ROY!" Molly screamed. With a animalistic snarl, Molly pushed Moon away from her and got to her feet as did the Sailor Scout leader. Both eyed each other intently.
"Serena! You bitch! This is the last time you'll interfere with me!" Molly growled. "Now I'm going to kill you!"
"Shove your threats, Molly! I've had it with you!" Moon shot back. "You betrayed me! You sent Malakhov's monsters after my family after you promised not to harm them! How could you?"
"What did you expect? Promises are for humans! Not the undead!" With that, Molly leaped at Moon, determined to tear her throat out. The others tried to help her, but were still were unable to move. Nor was Malakhov, enveloped by the green light.
The two former friends met in a dance of violence, trading blows with more than enough force to kill. Like frenzied she-lions, Moon and Molly tore at each other's clothes, tearing skin and drawing blood as their fight to the death grew more heated by the second. Dodging a swipe at her face by a long nailed hand, Moon delivered a powerful blow to Molly's chin, sending her to the floor. Straddling Molly, Moon picked up a heavy chuck of rock dislodged from the crumbling floor and held it high above her to smash down upon Molly's head. Suddenly, she stopped. Then stared.
"Molly," Moon whispered, her voice choked. "No. I can't. I can't."
"But I can!" Molly leaped up and pushed Moon off her. The vampire pounded Moon's head against the floor, stunning her into semi-unconsciousness. Grinning evily, Molly ripped off Moon's choker, exposing her naked throat. "But I can!"
"Molly! Don't!" Mars yelled. But it was too late.
Before the horrified eyes of the others, Molly sank her fangs into Moon's throat and began to feed. Molly was estatic. Her former friend's blood was so rich, so warm, so incredibly sweet. Sweeter than any she had supped on since she became a vampire. Molly would enjoy taking every last drop of nectar from Moon's veins, then her revenge would be complete. Then, abruptly, Molly stopped, titled her head back and screamed.
"SERENA!"
Staring down at Moon, bleeding from her badly torn throat, Molly sobbed pitifully, the emotions she tried to supress tormented her once again. Her soul wrenched and devastated from guilt, Molly took the wounded Moon into her arms and hugged her tight. "Oh, God! What have I done? Serena! Can you hear me? I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Moon slowly opened her eyes and smiled weakly at Molly. "It's....okay, Moll. I....forgive you."
At that moment, Malakhov screamed from unending pain as the greenish light became brighter than the sun itself, blinding everyone with it's terrible intensity as the crimson cloud grew larger and larger, seeming to absorb the vampire lord. Then, with a final scream erupting from Malakhov's throat, a tremendous blast of energy erupted from the center of the pentagram, demolishing the basement, completely blowing away the ceiling and everything above it with an ear piercing din.
As the dust settled and the Sailors, Mask and Fukoda crawled from the rubble, battered, bleeding but lucky to be alive, they saw the terror had not ended with the explosion. In the center of the wrecked basement, open to the house above stood a nightmarish horror bathed in bright, pulsing green light. Even the Scouts, who had seen more than their fair share of abominations from the Negaverse were shocked. Fukoda was nearly out of his mind from horror.
The figure, standing on two thick, braced legs was over nine feet tall with an impossibly muscle laden physique that was completely covered in thick, brownish fur. Along with long, sharp claws on its hands and feet, it look more like a beast than a man. The only clothing it wore was a black loincloth while it's large, bulbous head was the most shocking sight of all. It had long, wavy hair, the same color as it's fur with huge, glowing yellow eyes that were filled with endless hate and a bottomless thirst for blood. When it smiled, it displayed two rows of glistening, pointed teeth. Worst of all, the face that wore the smile was Malakhov's.
"Good Lord!" whispered Mask. "It looks like Kiragama....and Malakhov! Mars! You're the mythology expert! What the hell happened?"
Mars, terrified, shook her head. "I'm not sure. According to the legend, it wasn't supposed to happen like this. My guess is that when Roy disrupted the ritual, taking the place of Molly, it somehow caused Kiragama and Malakhov to merge into one being!"
"So, what are we dealing with now?" Fukoda wondered aloud.
"Doom, human! Your doom!" thundered the monster, two distinct and malevolent voices, one Malakhov's, the other a low pitched inhuman growl coming from the same throat. "We are the ultimate joining of spirit and flesh! The spirit of Kiragama the demon, residing in the body of Malakhov the vampire! Together, we possess power untold! And with it, we shall rule this planet! It will run red with the blood of millions that we shall drink and bathe in for a millennia to come!"
"MONSTER!" yelled a furious Molly. Tears pouring down her face, she gently set Moon down on the ground and, with a snarl, charged the horror. "You stole my life! Turned me into a beast! Made me hurt my best friend! I loved you and you damned me! I'll kill you for that!"
The monster regarded Molly for a moment as she ran towards it, and for that moment, its eyes softened from sadness and regret as memories of a time long past, of an innocent young girl a man of the cloth named Nikolai Malakhov failed to protect flooded its consciousness. But the moment quickly passed, the mind of Kiragama asserted itself and the monster's eyes blazed from hatred.
"Kill me? I am invincible! Taste the power of death!" roared the monster. Pointing a hand at Molly, a bolt of green energy shot forth, striking Molly in the chest, blowing a hole clean through her and frying her flesh before she could scream.
"MOLLY! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Moon screamed, helpless as Molly was brutally struck down. Moon's grief filled scream spurred the Scouts, Mask and Fukoda into fiery and vengeance driven action.
"Mercury Ice Storm....BLAST!"
"Mars Firebird....STRIKE!"
"Jupiter Thunder....DRAGON!"
"Venus Crescent Beam....SMASH!"
Mask had no battle cry, instead he hurled roses at the monster like knives as fast as he could produce them from the folds of his tattered cape while Fukoda unloaded on the beast with his assault rifle. The shattered basement reverberated from the terrible cacophony as the heroes threw everything the had at the monster, but it was all useless as the monster was protected by the emerald light the surrounded its body. Roaring from laughter, the monster pointed both hands at its attackers and the green energy lanced forward, blasting the heroes off their feet, sending them crashing against the far wall like bugs against a windshield.
"Fools! You are no match for us!" shouted the monster, standing over the fallen warriors. The monster waved a thick hairy arm and the heroes were lifted off their feet and held fast against the wall in unbreakable shackles of stone. "We could have killed you with ease, but that would be too merciful! Instead, we will make you suffer, in searing, agonizing pain! With our powers which grow mightier by the second, you will endure an eternity of anguish as I reshape this world our image! The glorious image of endless blood and destruction!"
"ENOUGH!" another voice, one filled with wrath suddenly roared.
The monster turned at the sound of the voice and saw Moon slowly stand, bottomless fury etched upon her tear streaked face. Moon held her right arm high and, with a flash of silvery light, the Cosmic Moon Scepter materialized in her hand. Then she began to glow like a star from that same silver light. "It's time to end this tragedy. And you," she growled.
"Oh, God! No! Not that! Not the scepter!" Mask cried.
The monster chuckled. "Is that a fact? Do you think you have what it takes to stop us, dear Serena?"
"Don't call me that! Don't you EVER call me that!" Moon thundered. "Now, and forever, until the day I die, I am Sailor Moon, the Champion of Justice! I shall right wrongs and triumph over all evil! You are a malignant blight upon this planet I love with all my heart, one that must be eliminated! By all I hold dear....I WILL PUNISH YOU!"
Much to the surprise of the heroes and Fukoda, the monster was stunned, unsure of what to make of Moon. Sensing the monster's hesitation, Moon smirked.
"Shall we dance....gentlemen? Or are you going to wait for me to kill you?"
Enraged, the monster unleashed a powerful blast which Moon deflected with the scepter. Roaring from fury, the monster poured everything it had into his attack on Moon, having erected a silvery shield to protect herself, but the sheer force of the blast caused her face to twist and contort from tremendous pain and she dropped to her knees.
"SERENA!" Mask shrieked. He tried to break free of his bonds, as did the others, but couldn't. "SERENA!"
"It's no use!" cried Mercury. "It's up to Serena now!"
Buffeted by waves of unending pain as the monster's assault intensified, Moon refused to let her concentration lapse, using her rage over all the death and anguish caused by the beast that was once Nikolai Malakhov over the last week to strengthen her. As her anger increased, so too did her power, channeled through the Imperium Silver Crystal, it sealed her wounds, altered her tattered, blood soaked uniform into the flowing white gown she wore as Princess Serenity, daughter of the Moon while her tiara vanished, replaced by a glowing crescent moon on her forehead. Moon slowly stood, the silvery energy field surrounding her growing brighter by the second. she pointed the scepter at the monster and the field moved outward towards it, now showing telltale signs of fear on its face. Moon, seeing its expression drew more and more power from not only the Crystal, but her own lifeforce. Moon poured her heart and soul into her attack, determined to finish the monster.
I'm keeping my promise to you, Moll, thought Moon, feeling her life being leeched away as continued to fire endless amounts of power through the scepter, expanding the energy field that crept nearer to the monster who continued to expend its own powers in a now futile attempt to stop it's inexorable progress forward. Malakhov's about to die. He's finally gonna pay for killing you. And if I die along with him, well, I don't mind. It was worth it to end his reign of terror.
"NO! It can't be!" the monster screamed, terrified as it could feel the heat of Moon's energy, hotter than the sun itself bear down on him. "We're unbeatable! All powerful! Invincible!"
"Wrong, assholes! You're toast!" roared Moon, her body racked and searing from terrible pain, yet, she stood tall and proud like the hero she was. "In the name of the Moon....in the name of the human race....in the name of my friend Molly....DIE! MOON SCEPTER....ELIMINATION!"
With one last burst of power, Moon's energy field enveloped the monster who screamed from unimaginable agony. The Scouts, Mask and Fukoda watched as the beast began to change. A blood red mist in the shape of a man was leeched out of Malakhov's temporarily misshapen body. They could see the face of the thing, its mouth open in a silent cry before dissipating into nothingness. All that was left in the energy field was Malakhov, his body returning to normal continued to scream himself before he disappeared. Once he did, the energy field vanished, leaving behind Moon, standing in the center of the wrecked basement as her gown morphed back into her uniform. But she didn't stand long, her eyes rolling back in her head, Moon collapsed.
"SERENA!" Mask and the Sailors shouted as they were freed from their bonds and ran to the side of their fallen leader, Fukoda bringing up the rear. Mask was the first to reach his beloved and, with tears pouring down his face, he cradled the unmoving Moon in his arms.
"No! NO! Don't do this to me, Serena! Don't die! Please! For the love of Heaven, don't leave me!" Mask yelled while the others openly cried like children. Even Fukoda, hardbitten as he was had tears in his eyes.
Mask got his wish as Moon slowly opened her eyes and stared lovingly at her man. "Don't....worry, Darien. I'm much....to hard....to kill."
Mask hugged Moon and unashamedly wept, glad that she was alive. "You scared the life out us! We saw what happened. What did you do to it....to them?"
"I used the power of the Crystal to separate Kiragama's spirit from Malakhov's body," Moon explained in a tired whisper. "Without a flesh and blood shell from which he used as a conduit to focus his powers through, Kiragama was helpless. In other words, I moondusted him."
"And Malakhov? It looked like he vanished," said Fukoda. "What did you do to him?"
Moon's eyes turned glacial cold. "I gave him his heart's desire."
Somewhere else....
The first sensation Malakhov had upon waking up, besides a deep, throbbing pain from every joint in his body was being face down in a strange, grainy surface.
When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was on a beach. Sitting up, the vampire lord was surprised to still be alive, or what passed as alive for him after the battle with Sailor Moon, a battle he realized he had lost as he could no longer feel the spirit of Kiragama inside him. That saddened him, as the power that coursed through his body was wonderful.
It appears I've underestimated the power Sailor Moon possessed. No matter, he thought. This is only a minor setback. I am well, and once I've had time to recover, there will be a reckoning. But, where am I?
Standing up, unmindful of being naked, Malakhov looked around him and his eyes locked on a large, overhead sign a short distance away on what looked like a boardwalk. A sign that read:
WELCOME TO VENICE BEACH
"Venice Beach? But that's in the United States! California to be precise! And with the time difference, that means...."
Malakhov whirled around and saw, over the horizon of the Pacific Ocean, something he had not witnessed in over seven hundred years....
A sunrise.
Already, Malakhov could feel his skin begin to bubble and blister and terrible pain gripped him from exposure to the sun's rays. Yet, instead of panicking at the thought of his imminent destruction, he smiled. Tears of joy trickled down his scorched cheeks as Malakhov held out his arms as if to welcome a long lost lover. As the pain increased a thousandfold and his body began to burn, Malakhov's heart filled with gladness. His dream had at last come true. He saw the sun. The beautiful, glorious, magnificent sun. He couldn't remember ever having been so happy, either before his first death, or in the seven centuries since.
"Thank you, Lord," he said in a raspy croak as the flames hungrily consumed him. "You have restored my faith."
Molly was at death's door, and everyone present in the remains of the basement knew it, including Moon who lovingly cradled the dying girl in her arms. She just wouldn't accept it.
"Oh, Serena....it hurts! It hurts!" Molly croaked pitifully. Her skin from head to toe was badly charred from the monster's blast, most of her hair was burned away while a gaping hole, almost a foot wide was in her chest, exposing her fatally damaged heart. The hideous smell of her roasted flesh nauseated the heroes and Fukoda, but no one dared turn away.
"I know it does, Moll. But don't worry. I can heal you," whispered Moon, so weakened from her battle, she barely had the strength to speak.
The Scouts and Mask knew what Moon was getting at and were frightened. Moon nearly killed herself defeating the monster that was Kiragama and Malakhov. For her to use the scepter in her condition to heal Molly would be suicide.
But Molly prevented that by shaking her head. "No. Don't."
Moon was shocked. "What? Do you know what you're saying?"
"Yes, I do. For the first time....since my death....I'm finally myself," said Molly. "Even if....you could heal me....restore my life....I'll still have my memories of all....the terrible things....I've done....the lives I've taken....including poor Melvin....Roy, who sacrificed himself for me....and the horror I nearly helped to....let loose on our world. I'd....never be able to live with that....on my conscience. Death....is the only option for me."
"No, Molly! No! It can't be! I won't allow it!" Moon wailed.
Molly nodded. "You must. Serena, if you love me....let me go."
"But I can't! I don't want to! Don't you understand? It'll tear me apart to lose you again!"
"Don't be silly. There's nothing....for you to lose. I'm just a....warmed over corpse. Everything that I am....everything I used to be....is gone. Trust me, Serena....you'll be....doing me a favor. Releasing me from this....torment. You know....I'm right."
Moon nodded, reluctantly giving in to inevitable. She held Molly tighter as her tears fell in streams. "I do. I'm gonna miss you, Moll. You were my world."
Molly smiled weakly and gently placed a hand on Moon's cheek. "And you....were mine. Being your friend....made my life so rich....so wonderful. We had such....good times together. I'll always cherish them."
"And I'll always cherish you," said Moon.
Molly's smile faded as she coughed and dark blood bubbled out of her mouth. She could feel her heart beating slower, and slower, and slower. So could Moon. "Looks like....this is it. I'm glad....I could....be with you....one last time. Goodbye....Serena. I love you. Please....remember....me...."
And, with a final breath, Molly's eyes glassed over and her heart stilled. An instant later, Molly's ravaged body turned to dust. As the grieving Scouts turned to comfort one another, Mask knelt by the side of his beloved while a sorrowful Fukoda removed his helmet and lowered his head out of respect.
The basement was quiet, save for the heartbreaking, mournful wailing of an anguished young woman who, for a second time, lost her closest friend in the world.
Next: Dawn