Special Thanks: "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl for editing, good ideas and comments, and providing me with Sailor Moon stories to enjoy! Thanks Will! Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, Sailor Senshi and all terms, names etc associated with the series are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha. The Guardians and everything pertaining to the Star Kingdoms are MINE! Sailor Moon: Guardians of the Star Chapter 10 CounterStorm: The Outer Senshi Strike! Arilith studied the lot carefully. Surrounded by a wooden fence, the lot in question contained an assortment of garbage and an abandoned twenty story building, slated for demolition. "Well?" Uranus demanded impatiently. Arilith turned a glare on the fidgeting Outer Senshi, to quell her. Despite her diminutive stature, she stood only 4'5" tall, something about THIS Dragonkin intimidated the Outer Senshi, and Uranus forced her impatience down. "Sorry," she muttered. Arilith smiled at her. "To answer your question, this IS the site we're looking for," she explained quietly, "The entire lot is under a shield." Uranus frowned thoughtfully. "Can we get through?" Arilith nodded slowly. "Yes, but we'll be detected the moment we pass through the shield!" "Any other way in?" Sailor Pluto asked. Arilith shook her head silently. "Then we go in the front!" Uranus said, smiling grimly, "I always preferred the direct approach anyway!" The five moved along the fence until they stood in front of the entryway onto the grounds. After studying the area through the entryway, they moved through the shield and onto the lot. Each of them felt the tingling sensation as they passed the shield. By unspoken agreement, they moved towards the building cautiously. The air around them began to shimmer when they were halfway to the building. "Back to back!" Uranus shouted as the shimmering forms began to solidify, "Arilith, in the center!" The Senshi backed up, facing outwards in four directions and keeping the tiny Dragonkin behind them, as the shimmering ceased, to reveal that they were surrounded. Arilith took one look at the warriors surrounding them and groaned, "Oh my Goddess!" The creatures were seven feet tall, had tusks protruding from their lower jaws, and wore black armor with a red star sigil on the breast plate. "What are these things, Arilith?" Uranus asked tensely as the creatures readied their weapons. "Warriors of the Killanki Clans, from the Dead Lands north of the Shieldwall!" Arilith replied nervously, "Morgoth has brought Black Legion troops with him. That means we're sure to face Kashalkanite elves!" "Why...?" Saturn began, when with guttural cries, the Killanki charged. The Outer Senshi exploded into action. Uranus ran forward and raised her hand. "WORLD SHAKING!!" Throwing her hand downwards, the power struck the ground and rippled towards the charging warriors facing her. The Killanki shrieked as it slammed into them, destroying them utterly. Neptune raised her hands, streamers of water radiating from them. "DEEP SUBMERGE!!" Pointing her hands at the onrushing enemy, a wall of water left her hands to overwhelm her opponents with crushing force. Saturn calmly pointed her Silence Glaive at her foes. "DEATH RIBBON REVOLUTION!!" Black streamers emerged from her weapon and sliced into the soldiers, disintegrating each one it touched until none were left to oppose her. "Dead scream." Pluto leveled her staff and the energy blast obliterated the warriors facing her. She turned to Arilith with a smile that turned to horror. "Arilith! RUN!!" she cried, abandoning her customary detachment as she ran to the tiny Dragonkin. The others turned and seeing the danger, broke into a desperate run, knowing they would be too late. During the fight, they had gone farther from Arilith, and each other, than they had intended. Somehow, four Killanki had gotten past them and were rushing with drawn weapons, towards tiny Arilith, who stood facing her attackers calmly. She glanced briefly at the approaching Outer Senshi, and smiled grimly. She shimmered, and where a tiny girl had once stood, now stood seventeen feet of snarling Dragonkin. The Killanki tried to pull up at the sudden change when Arilith attacked. Leaping into their midst, she slashed out with her foreclaws, dispatching two Killanki. A third was disposed of when she wrapped her tail around his neck and threw him against the building with crushing force. Before the fourth could flee, she seized and crushed him in her powerful jaws. As she dropped him, his body was already turning to dust, that blew away on the breeze. The Outer Senshi came to a halt, staring at Arilith in shock. They had just seen someone they thought helpless, dispose of FOUR Killanki warriors in less than that many seconds. "Uh...that was, er..pretty good, Arilith," Uranus said dazedly. Arilith took one look at the stunned expression on Uranus' face and a deep chuckle rumbled up from her throat. "Didn't think I had it in me, did you?" she returned dryly. Uranus shook her head wordlessly. "Let this be a lesson for you all!" Arilith said sternly as she met each Senshi's eyes, "NEVER judge by appearances. You may get a MOST unpleasant shock, if you do." "THAT lesson I, at least, should have remembered!" Pluto said, disgusted with herself. "So should we all," Neptune agreed wryly. She turned to Arilith. "Tell me, Arilith. Have you ever trained warriors?" Arilith dropped her jaw in a Dragonkin grin and nodded. "My brother and I, while we ARE young, train warriors for the Kin Guard. Old habits die hard, I'm afraid!" "Arilith?" Saturn asked softly, "Why does the fact that these Killanki were here mean we'll have to face Dark Elves?" The others immediately were attentive. This was something they wanted to know as well. "These warriors wore the armor and sigil of the Black Legions." Arilith explained, "The Black Legions are commanded by the Kashalkanite Elves. If Black Legion troops were here, their Dark Elf commanders will be here as well!" Approaching the door cautiously, they stopped and waited as Arilith scanned it with her Sight. Sensing and seeing nothing, she shifted to her human form and opened the doors to peer inside. "How...predictable!" she commented with a sigh, "Just once I wish they'd do something different." The others followed as she entered the lobby of the old building, curious to see what had prompted that comment. Their eyes widened incredulously as they looked around. Walls, floor, and ceiling were stone and flicking torches hung from brackets on the moss covered walls. "It looks more like a dungeon than an abandoned apartment complex!" Uranus remarked in surprise. "This is Kashalkanite work," Arilith said as she looked around grimly, "They like to alter their surroundings to suit them!" She turned to look at the Senshi. "We MUST tread carefully. There will be traps and possibly ambushes on our way to our destination!" "You know where we need to go?" Saturn queried. "Calm your minds. Let them drift and open your senses!" Arilith instructed. She waited as the four Senshi followed her instructions. She smiled as all four immediately looked upwards. "Just so!" she remarked, "We must find stairs and go up, since that's where the evil is." "Well, let's go then!" Uranus said as she started down the right hand hallway. "Uranus, wait! Watch for traps!" Arilith called after the impulsive Senshi. "Nothing I can't handle, Arilith!" she returned confidently. Arilith muttered to herself. They all froze on hearing a sharp click. Neptune reacted instantly, tackling Uranus and sending both of them painfully to the floor. Something buzzed spitefully through the air where Uranus had been, sinking into the stone wall with a dull THUD. A crossbow bolt, covered with a slimy green ichor, quivered in the wall as the Senshi stared at it in horrified fascination. Uranus looked visibly shaken at her close call, and Neptune was trembling. Arilith let out a bloodcurdling oath that brought their heads around to stare at her in shock. She pointed at the barely visible pressure plate in the floor, that Uranus had tripped. "Traps!" she snarled furiously, "I TOLD you there would be TRAPS! Are you so willing to die that you ignore the voice of experience?! You MUST learn to work with others AND accept advice from others as valid!" "But..." Uranus began. "But NOTHING!" Arilith cut her off, "Do you think you will go after Morgoth alone? The Inner Senshi and the Guardians will be there too! In fact, the Inner Senshi are more experienced than you in this. They have fought Morgoth before! It is their fantastic teamwork that allows them to prevail, despite incredible odds! And what they have already mastered, you must learn if we are to succeed!" Uranus thought a moment and then nodded. "Hai, Sensei," she said, subdued, "Neptune and I are used to working alone, but we'll try!" She turned to Arilith. "It's not because we don't like them that we've tried to keep the Inner Senshi out of things," Uranus explained a bit sheepishly, "It was to protect them, especially the Princess." "True," Arilith replied with a nod, "And that was your mistake. The Inner Senshi are WARRIORS, not wall flowers in need of protection. Remember also that Sailor Moon is the most powerful of you all. Saturn can destroy a planet, but only Sailor Moon can HEAL one. Now, let's see if we can locate those stairs. CAREFULLY, this time!" After about ten minutes, and carefully avoiding two more traps, they located an archway, through which they could see stone stairs heading up. Arilith looked up the stairs cautiously. "Well, I don't see any traps," she remarked, "so we might as well start up." Uranus moved determinedly to the fore. "Hai, Sensei!" she said with a nod, "And I'll take point, carefully!" She smiled at Arilith, who smiled back and nodded. After climbing slowly and carefully, they reached a landing with an archway. The stairs, however, ended in a stone wall. "Huh?" Uranus questioned, "This building has twenty stories. Why end the stairs here? This is only the tenth floor!" Arilith moved to the Archway and peered through. The area beyond was dimly lit and she could see little. "I'm going through first," she said, turning to face the others, "Ready your powers and follow me through." Assuming combat postures, they looked at Arilith, who nodded in approval and stepped through the Archway. As soon as she was through, the Archway wavered and vanished. Arilith stood frozen, her back against the wall where an archway had once been. Facing her, stood the first Dark Kindred she had ever seen. She shimmered and assumed her Dragonkin form as the Dark Kindred spoke. "Well, well, well!" she said mockingly, "What have we here? A LITTLE Dragonkin looking to be stepped on! I am Ubatama of the Dark Kindred. Ready to die, Tiny One?" Arilith regarded her thirty-two foot long foe with derision. "I see Dark Kindred can still talk better than they fight!" she snorted sarcastically, "You going to fight, or are you going to talk me to death?" Ubatama shrieked in fury and flung black lightning at her diminutive opponent. Arilith dodged the blast and returned the favor with her fire. she thought apprehensively as Ubatama dodged the return strike, "SENSEI!" Uranus cried as she rushed to the wall and pounded on it with her fists. "Ari-chan!" Saturn whispered as she looked at the wall in shock. Pluto and Neptune rushed to the wall and began to search for a way through. Saturn shook her head fiercely as she got hold of herself. "EVERYONE, STAND BACK!" she cried. The others moved behind her as she raised the Silence Glaive. "DEATH RIBBON REVOLUTION!!" The deadly black filaments emerged from the Glaive and struck the wall....and were absorbed. "I can't believe it!" Saturn breathed as she stared at the impossible. "Believe it!" Uranus snarled, "And if YOU can't get through, WE sure won't!" Pluto turned from the impassable wall and gasped. "Look!" she said, pointing behind them. The others turned to look and stared in shock. Where a blank wall had been moments before, stairs now ascended. "If we want to help Arilith," Pluto said urgently, pointing up the stairs, "then THAT'S the only way." The others followed her up the stairs reluctantly. Saturn looked back at the stubborn wall one last time, a tear in her eye. Arilith drifted in a red haze, every part of her body screaming in pain. The Dark One had caught her in the side with a lightning blast, knocking her to the floor. Lacking the strength to rise, she drifted, semiconscious. Sharp stabbing pain came from her wounded side with every shallow breath she took, a sure indication of serious damage. Ubatama moved wearily over to where Arilith lay. This little insect had been tougher than she had thought. "Well? Still think I talk better than I fight?" she taunted the fallen Dragonkin mercilessly as she readied the death blow. Arilith brought up an image of Princess Serenity in her mind, concentrating on it with her whole heart and soul. She had dreamed of the day she would be able to swear her loyalty and service to the Moon Princess. With all the stories the younger Kin had heard from the Eldara about her, Serenity had achieved a legendary stature to the young ones. Knowing she would die before she could give her oath was more than she could bear. Keeping the image firmly in her mind, she drew strength from it. She raised her head unsteadily and glared at the mocking Dark Kindred. Feeling her despair and hatred welling up, Arilith directed it all at Ubatama as she cut loose with a mind destroying mental shriek of pure fury. On reaching the top of the stairs, Uranus cautiously approached the archway and peered through. A huge room lay on the other side. The far side was hidden in shadow, but by the light of nearby torches, she could see that there was nothing nearby. Waving the others silently to follow, she entered the room. As soon as the last Senshi entered, the archway wavered and vanished. "Arilith was right," Uranus sighed, "They are rather predictable!" The Senshi came to a halt when torches on the far side of the room flared up, to show that the room was VERY occupied. A large Dark Kindred stood on one side, a dreadful hunger in his glowing red eyes. Three Shadow Demons stood on the other side, flexing their wings and talons. In front, stood what could only be a Kashalkanite elf in black chainmail. He smiled, and unlike Tari, his smile WAS a threat when his fangs were bared. "Welcome, Ladies!" he greeted them with mocking courtesy, "So glad you could join us!" Uranus took a threatening step forward, her fists clenched. "What have you done with Arilith, you black slime?!" she demanded furiously. "Zwart, would you do the honors?" the Dark Elf asked politely, turning to the Dark Kindred. Zwart agreed with a cruel laugh and turned to regard Uranus from burning red eyes. "She had a date with my dark sister, below," he said with vicious glee, "Knowing Ubatama as I do, your little Dragonkin companion should be worm food by now!" He laughed again. Saturn felt a wave of grief overwhelm her. She had really liked that little Kin and had hoped to know her better. She fought the grief off and let a darker emotion take its place, vengeance. Knowledge poured into her receptive mind and she prepared her attack. Before anyone else could move, she leveled the Silence Glaive at the sneering Dark Kindred. "You, at least, will beat your sister to Hell!" she snarled coldly, "MOLECULAR DISRUPTION!!" A pulse of searing white light erupted from the tip of the Glaive and struck Zwart. As he screamed in agony, the terrible light spread out from the point of impact, until his entire body was glowing with terrible energies. With a last cry of despair, he imploded with a blinding flash, as every particle that made up his substance was disrupted and ceased to exist. The Dark Elf stared at where his most powerful ally had been, in disbelief. "You'll pay dearly for that!" he raged and he turned to the Shadow Demons, "DESTROY THEM!!" A black light blast struck Saturn in the abdomen and hurled her against the wall with crushing force. She collapsed, dazed, as the Glaive went spinning out of reach. The three Senshi still on their feet attacked in a fury, their need to avenge their gentle young teacher unlocking their lethal new powers. Uranus raised her fist skyward. "WORLD ERUPTION!!" She thrust her fist downwards and the power struck the ground and disappeared, to reappear when it blasted upwards at the Shadow Demon's feet. It was followed by razor sharp stalagmites which erupted from the floor to impale the Shadow Demon. He exploded into dust with a shriek of impotent fury. One down. Neptune raised her hands over her head, streamers of water radiated from them. "DEEP FREEZE!!" She thrust her hands forward and a wall of water left them to strike the airborne Shadow Demon with the force of an express train. At the moment of impact, the water froze to absolute zero in the twinkling of an eye. The ice encased demon crashed to the floor and shattered into a thousand gleaming shards that turned to dust. Two down. Pluto raised her staff over her head, as the garnet pulsated with power. Leveling it at the last demon, she screamed, "TEMPORAL VORTEX!!" A glowing whirlwind erupted from the staff and engulfed the demon. Its form twisted and distorted in the rapid fluctuations of Time within the Vortex. Unable to bear the Time distortions, it shrieked once before exploding into dust. Three down. The four Senshi, Saturn had regained her feet, her wits and her Glaive, turned to the Dark Elf who was backing away in shock. At seeing the wrath in their eyes, he held out a hand and a small device appeared. "Hold!" he cried imperiously, "One more step and I'll activate this device!" Uranus took that step. "You'll have to do better than that, scum!" she snarled menacingly. He grinned smugly. "This device will activate a timer in the basement of this building," he explained with a mocking laugh, "In sixty seconds, the hostages down there will die and so will we, IF I activate this. Now, BACK OFF!" Gritting their teeth in impotent fury, the Outer Senshi reluctantly obeyed and backed away. The Dark Elf watched them closely as a swirling black gate appeared. "Fools," he mocked when the gate was fully formed. He activated the device and tossed it aside. He turned to enter the gate, laughing, when a wall of flame engulfed him. As his shrieking form was reduced to ashes, the Senshi turned to see where the flame had come from. Arilith stood there, smoke curling up from her nostrils. She trembled violently and her blood dripped to the floor from the dreadful wound in her side where Ubatama's lightning had struck. Saturn rushed forward with a cry of dismay. "Ari-chan! Let me heal you!" she cried. Arilith shook her head unsteadily. "No time!" she whispered in a pain filled voice, "I must 'port to the basement and try to deactivate the timer." Saturn's eyes filled with tears as the other Senshi ran up. Arilith looked into Saturn's eyes and nodded. "There is a way, but we must be quick!" she wheezed as her breath grew labored, "Hop on! You can heal me on the way!" Saturn hesitated only an instant and then placing the Glaive in her subspace pocket, she mounted. She gripped Arilith's neck with her legs and placed her glowing hands on Arilith's neck as she transferred healing energies to the dying Dragonkin. Arilith turned to the others. "Follow as fast as you can!" she ordered, her breathing already easing due to Saturn's efforts. She winked out. The three remaining Outer Senshi joined hands. "SAILOR TELEPORT!" they chorused. They flickered and vanished. Arilith and Saturn appeared in the basement and Arilith looked around cautiously. She spotted the captives at once, the Ainos, Sailor Venus' folks. She also Saw the remains of a Shield spell around them that had obviously failed when she had slain the Dark Elf. The Ainos shrank back at sight of her, though she WAS pleased to note that Mr. Aino remained in front of his wife, to protect her. "Mr. Aino, I'm a friend," she told him, her voice gaining strength as Saturn continued her healing, "I'm here with some of the Senshi, to get you out." She looked around urgently and spotted a computer in the corner. She rushed to it and examined it carefully. she mused, Noticing with alarm that one of the screens showed the timer at thirty seconds, she sent her mind into the computer, searching for the power core in order to disable it. Saturn dismounted and leaned wearily against her Kin Sister. The healing was complete and only time would heal the blood loss. The Senshi 'ported in and after looking around to orient themselves, Pluto and Neptune went to Venus' anxious parents to explain things, while Uranus rushed to Arilith and Saturn. Seeing that Arilith was tranced, she turned to a weary Saturn. "Will she be all right?" she asked worriedly. Saturn nodded. "The wound is healed," she answered, "The blood loss will take time to heal. If I weren't feeding her energy, she'd be unconscious now." Uranus cast a sharp look at Saturn. "You're at the end of your tether!" she snapped as she placed her hands on Arilith's neck, "I'll take over!" When the timer reached five seconds, the computer erupted into a shower of sparks and went dark. Arilith sighed heavily and shimmered into her human form before collapsing. Uranus caught her and lifted her. "Let's get out of here!" she said impatiently. They were approaching the entrance, when the walls wavered and returned to their normal appearance. "Well, it looks like everything is back to normal," Pluto remarked as they exited the building. "Mr. Aino, could you....?" Uranus asked, holding Arilith's sleeping form out to Venus' father. "Of course, Sailor Uranus!" he replied as he took the tiny form tenderly in his arms, "She saved us all!" "OK, let's go to Harakawa Shrine and hope the others were successful!" Uranus said as they all linked hands, the Ainos and Arilith in the center. "SAILOR TELEPORT!" They flickered and vanished, leaving no sign that they, or anyone else had ever been there. End of Chapter 10 NEXT: Chapter 11 Fire and Ice: Inner Fury Hijinks at the Docks, Mars and Mercury's fury, fierce battle! BE THERE!!