Dream Crisis Saga: Part 6: Through the Mirror of Shattered Dreams

11/10/04 - 11/11/04


Topic is -= It all returns to nothing, it just keeps tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down... =-

[02:57] * Miss Nightmare stands atop a bluish cliff, staring out over a black, boiling sea, as blood-red rain pelts the ground. Below her, Sailors Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Venus stand aghast, numbly taking in their surroundings. Nightmare closes her eyes and inhales the stench of rotting flesh that permeates the air.
[02:58] * @spiritflame changes topic to `The External`
[02:58] <@Dr_Xadium> This change in appearance troubles me.
[02:58] * GERMATOID WAKES UP, MUMBLING
[02:58] <.`~SugaBB_2999~`.> O sit, hez awak!!11
[02:58] <@Dr_Xadium> Souichi?
[02:59] <GERMATOID> THAT THING... IN MY DAUGHTER... TOOK THE MADNESS... FROM ME...
[02:59] <@Dr_Xadium> What?!
[02:59] <GERMATOID> SHE.. SHE'S USING IT TO INCREASE HER POWERS! THIS IS HORRIBLE! (BANGS HIS FIST ON THE TABLE) IT... IT HAS HOTARU AND THE OTHERS!
[02:59] * @Dr_Xadium puts his hand on Tomoe's shoulder
[03:00] <@Dr_Xadium> (yawns) Professor, I'm sure we'll manage to come up with something.
[03:00] * GERMATOID GETS UP
[03:00] <GERMATOID> YOU'RE BOTH TIRED. IT'S CRUCIAL WE STAY AWAKE IF WE'RE GOING TO COME UP WITH SOME WAY OF FIGHTING THIS THING. I'LL BE RIGHT BACK.
[03:00] * GERMATOID COMES BACK WITH TWO CUPS OF TASTY COFFEE
[03:00] <@Dr_Xadium> I don't usually take coffee, but under the cirsumstances... thank you Professor.
[03:00] * @Dr_Xadium and Chibiusa drink their coffee, and slump to the table, unconcious
[03:01] * GERMATOID 'S BODY CRUMPLES AND HITS THE GROUND.
[03:01] * Miss Nightmare smiles a little, eyes still closed
[03:01] * @spiritflame changes topic to `Into the Nightmare`
[03:01] * Miss Nightmare smiles
[03:01] <Miss Nightmare> (to herself) Good work, "papa", maintaining just enough of this world for me to use your body as my puppet. Now the last two are in my hands, and victory is assured!
[03:02] * @Dr_Xadium and Chibiusa find themselves locked in a barred cage.
[03:02] <.`~SugaBB_2999~`.> Were da fack is dis!
[03:02] <@Dr_Xadium> I believe we're in Miss Dream's world.
[03:02] <.`~SugaBB_2999~`.> Da profaaso r tracked us?!
[03:03] <@Dr_Xadium> If he even *was* the Professor.
[03:03] <.`~SugaBB_2999~`.> /mi shaks da burs "l;at us out bich!!"
[03:03] * Miss Nightmare appears in a shimmering illusion
[03:03] <Miss Nightmare> Not yet, my pets, not yet ^_~
[03:03] * Miss Nightmare is gone
[03:03] <.`~SugaBB_2999~`.> BIACH!!1
[03:04] <.`~SugaBB_2999~`.> /mi pulz ot da slivar cistal "onegay slivar ckistal, lat us ot!!"
[03:04] * The Crystal is black.
[03:04] <.`~SugaBB_2999~`.> ha///?
[03:04] <@Dr_Xadium> This world seems to operate under a different set of physical, or dare I say mental rules. I don't think the crystal will work...
[03:04] <.`~SugaBB_2999~`.> fack!
[03:04] <@Dr_Xadium> For that matter, I wonder if...
[03:05] * @Dr_Xadium digs in his pockets and extracts his sonic screwdriver, pointing its tip at the lock. Depressing the top, he watches as it lets out a loud WHIRRRR sound.
[03:05] * the lock pops open
[03:05] <.`~SugaBB_2999~`.> Hall yas!11
[03:05] <@Dr_Xadium> Fortune favours the foolish, it would seem. Come on!
[03:05] * @Dr_Xadium and Chibiusa escape the cell and start wandering around some generic-looking corridors.
[03:06] * Sailor Uranus looks up at the smiling Miss Nightmare, who levitates down off the cliff, landing softly in a blood-red puddle, her tattered black cloak rippling in the wind.
[03:06] * Miss Nightmare smiles a wide crimson grin, her eyes a glowing solid purple.
[03:06] <Sailor Uranus> f[BLEEP]k. Tomoe sacrifices himself to make your ass STRONGER. Usually the power of love WINS battles.
[03:06] * Sailor Uranus holds the bloodied and blinded Neptune in her arms
[03:07] <Miss Nightmare> Ironic, isn't it? Nephelenia made sure that my powers were based on the weaponizing of love. Where you sailor girls appeal to it to win your little skirmishes, I use it as my fatal dart, driving each of you to defeat in its filthy, putrid little name. Love will be your undoing, just as it was for my "father"! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
[03:07] <Sailor Uranus> I see you've "kept it in the family", Nightie. That's a whole 'nother kind of love you're weaponizing right there.
[03:07] <Miss Nightmare> Your petty insults don't bother me. Love is your weakness-- yes, even you, the callously cold and caculating Ten'ou Haruka. Right now, your blind love for Michiru has blinded your tactical senses--all puns intended, of course--. You should kill her, and make yourself strong again.
[03:07] * Sailor Uranus glares at Nightmare
[03:08] <Miss Nightmare> But you won't, of course, because you love her. In fact, every time I suggest that you kill her, you become ever more determined *not to*. So you see, you are just as crippled as she is.
[03:08] * Sailor Uranus looks at Michiru's bloodied eye sockets and feels her fists tighten in rage.
[03:08] <Sailor Neptune> She's right, you know... you should kill me.
[03:08] <Sailor Uranus> f[BLEEP]k that. f[BLEEP]k THAT.
[03:08] * Sailor Pluto turns her head a little
[03:09] <Sailor Pluto> Uranus, take Neptune to somewhere safe
[03:09] <Sailor Uranus> Right. Just wear the b[BLEEP]ch down a little for me, Sets, I'll be right back.
[03:09] <Sailor Uranus> know I can can rely on you, *Pluto*. (looks at Venus)
[03:09] * Sailor Venus notes Uranus' implication.
[03:10] <Sailor Venus> Uranus, where exactly is "safe" in a dream world?
[03:10] * Sailor Uranus runs off with Neptune
[03:10] * Sailor Uranus and Michiru are some distance away.
[03:11] <Sailor Neptune> Venus has a point, Haruka
[03:11] <Sailor Uranus> She doesn't know s[BLEEP]t. She thinks because she stayed transformed for a week or so that she's hard. That she understands sacrifice. But she *doesn't*. She's just a kid living in a dream-world still.
[03:11] * Sailor Uranus is running full-tilt towards a cave in the distance
[03:11] <Sailor Neptune> Maybe you're being too hard on her, Haruka.
[03:11] <Sailor Uranus> That stupid smile on her face, the ring on her finger. She thinks it's a game.
[03:12] <Sailor Neptune> That's called a life... we wanted that once, remember?
[03:12] <Sailor Uranus> Yeah, but at the end of the day, this is what we are. Soldiers. In a war. There's no place for love, or playing house.
[03:12] <Sailor Neptune> ...
[03:12] <Sailor Uranus> Dammit, that cave's not getting any closer... and you're getting heavier. Have you been eating sweets?
[03:13] <Sailor Neptune> Haruka... don't change the subject... aren't you running... to save me? For love?
[03:13] <Sailor Uranus> You're a part of me, Michi.
[03:13] <Sailor Neptune> Then what's the difference?
[03:13] <Sailor Uranus> Because we got our priorities set straight, that's what. Anything for the mission. No matter the price.
[03:13] <Sailor Neptune> Which is why we're running away from the battlefield at this time?
[03:14] <Sailor Uranus> Michi... I'm just gonna put you somewhere safe, and then...
[03:14] <Sailor Neptune> What is it?
[03:14] <Sailor Uranus> The cave... (it's a painted cave face on cheap cardboard stilts)
[03:14] <Sailor Uranus> It's... blocked.
[03:14] <Sailor Neptune> Leave me here and go back. I'll be fine!
[03:15] <Sailor Uranus> I can't! I can't leave you unprotected!
[03:15] * Sailor Uranus begins to realize there is no safe place here
[03:15] <Sailor Neptune> So she was right. You would sacrifice me for the good of the world, but not for your own good..
[03:15] * Sailor Uranus turns around, saying nothing
[03:16] <Sailor Uranus> f[BLEEP]k.The battlefield is suddenly three times further away than before!
[03:16] <Sailor Neptune> Dont' carry me, we'll run there. I'm not as fast as you but I'll keep up
[03:16] <Sailor Uranus> But you're blind...
[03:16] <Sailor Neptune> I'll follow your footsteps, and use my intuition! Come on!
[03:16] * Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune begin running back to the battlefield as fast as they can
[03:17] * @Dr_Xadium and Chibiusa stumble upon some kind of shattered control room, full of electronic junk
[03:17] <.`~SugaBB_2999~`.> wat da fick?
[03:17] <@Dr_Xadium> Why would there be a control room in a dreamscape?
[03:17] <.`~SugaBB_2999~`.> mabye its har subconshus
[03:18] <@Dr_Xadium> Interesting notion. It is her mind, there should be such a place.
[03:18] <.`~SugaBB_2999~`.> wat R u dong?
[03:18] * @Dr_Xadium is gathering some parts, and using his Sonic Screwdriver and Sonic Lance to cut and assemble materials
[03:18] <@Dr_Xadium> : I'm not much of a fighter, but I won't go into this unprepared.
[03:18] * @Dr_Xadium is fashioning armor and a small flashlight-sized device
[03:19] <.`~SugaBB_2999~`.> wats dat?
[03:19] <@Dr_Xadium> A portable high-energy plasma field encapulated in an annular confinement beam.
[03:19] <.`~SugaBB_2999~`.> hah?
[03:19] <@Dr_Xadium> It's a crude approximation of something I once saw in a filmed entertainment...
[03:20] <.`~SugaBB_2999~`.> /mi get brored an wlaks dewn a hallwey
[03:20] * Chibiusa vanishes in the hallway
[03:20] * @Dr_Xadium presses a button on the device, and a beam of crackling energy extends from it.
[03:20] <@Dr_Xadium> I believe it was called a "fight sabre" or something...
[03:20] * @Dr_Xadium notices Chibiusa is gone.
[03:20] <@Dr_Xadium> Chibiusa?
[03:21] <@Dr_Xadium> (irritated) Chibiusa? Oh, where did that infuriating child get off to now? (goes after her but does NOT vanish in the hallway)
[03:21] * @spiritflame changes topic to `The Battlefield`
[03:21] <Sailor Pluto> Venus! Let's go!
[03:21] <Sailor Venus> Pluto... whose side are you on?
[03:21] <Sailor Pluto> What?
[03:21] <Sailor Venus> You always go back and forth between Haruka-tachi and us... why?
[03:22] <Sailor Pluto> Because I believe in you all.
[03:22] <Miss Nightmare> Oh? Or is it because you need more cannon fodder for your manipulations?
[03:22] <Sailor Pluto> that's not--
[03:22] * bony hands lash out of the ground and begin pulling Pluto down
[03:22] <Sailor Venus> Pluto! (stretches out her hand)
[03:23] * hands lash out and grab Venus too, but she shrugs them off
[03:23] <Sailor Venus> It's no good, Nightmare! I sacrificed my personality to focus myself! You're dream can't hurt me!
[03:23] * Sailor Venus reaches out for Pluto
[03:23] <Sailor Venus> Pluto! Come on, you see that I'm not affected! It's an illusion!
[03:23] <Miss Nightmare> Of course it is! I'm letting you think you're unaffected!
[03:24] <Sailor Venus> She's lying! Believe in me!
[03:24] <Miss Nightmare> Yes! Believe in this stranger who callously sacrificed her own family ties for a small measure of POWER. Or imagined power, at any rate.
[03:25] <Miss Nightmare> Do you even know WHO she is anymore?
[03:25] * Sailor Pluto looks up at Venus, confused
[03:25] <Sailor Venus> There's no time, hurry up!
[03:25] <Miss Nightmare> Yes, Pluto, you believe in her, don't you? The skittish scatterbrained leader of the Inner Senshi! Who wouldn't know an illusion if it bit her on the nose?
[03:25] <Sailor Pluto> ...
[03:26] <Sailor Venus> Pluto! I saved you once before, remember! Trust me now!
[03:26] * Sailor Venus is knocked aside by a hand from the ground
[03:26] <Sailor Pluto> ...
[03:26] <Miss Nightmare> See, she isn't immune! It was a lie! She can't save you!
[03:26] <Sailor Venus> I... need to concentrate, that's all! Pluto please... believe in me!
[03:27] * Sailor Pluto looks into the oddly cold golden eyes, and shakes her head sadly as she is sucked into the ground
[03:27] * Sailor Venus feels weak all of a sudden
[03:27] <Sailor Venus> In the end... she... didn't... believe...
[03:27] * Sailor Venus stands there stunned.
[03:28] <Miss Nightmare> Hah! Not as strong as you thought, eh, Venus?
[03:28] * Sailor Venus wheels around, a golden aura around her
[03:28] <Sailor Venus> I AM! I know I am! You can't harm me because I KNOW THIS ISN'T REAL!
[03:28] * Miss Nightmare throws a boulder at Venus
[03:29] * Sailor Venus lets it hit her in the chest and fracture
[03:29] * Sailor Venus pulls a boulder out of the ground and hurls it at Nightmare.
[03:29] * Miss Nightmare stands there and lets it crash against her.
[03:29] <Miss Nightmare> Heh, stalemate.
[03:29] <Sailor Venus> So it seems.
[03:30] <Miss Nightmare> Nah, not really! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA
[03:30] * Miss Nightmare holds up a squirming Chibiusa. Venus immediately senses this is no illusion, but the real thing.
[03:30] <Miss Nightmare> Look, it's the fruit of that b[BLEEP]ch's loins.
[03:30] <Sailor Venus> The Princess!
[03:30] <Miss Nightmare> Now, while YOU might have the zen focus to withstand my little play, O ancient warrior spirit in a girl's body, do you think she does?
[03:31] * Miss Nightmare snaps Chibiusa's left arm backwards, breaking it in two
[03:31] * .`~SugaBB_2999~`. lets out an unholy scream
[03:31] <Sailor Venus> NOOOOOOOOOO!!!
[03:32] <Miss Nightmare> It's all very real for her. If I up the pain enough (snaps another arm) Why this little girl is liable to have a cute, pink sugar, heart attack... ne? (grabs hold of her neck)
[03:32] <Sailor Venus> What are you going...
[03:32] <Miss Nightmare> You can deny my reality all you want, but you can't deny hers!
[03:32] <Sailor Venus> Shimatta! VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN!
[03:32] * Sailor Venus desperately lashes out at Chibiusa with her love-me chain, hoping to snatch back the girl. But as the chain loops around Chibiusa, there is a CRACK as Nightmare cracks the little girl's neck. Venus pulls back a corpse.
[03:33] <Sailor Venus> Princess! PRINCESS!
[03:33] * Sailor Venus screams and drops to her knees, weeping
[03:33] <Sailor Venus> Pluto... Princess... I couldn't protect you..
[03:34] <Miss Nightmare> Welcome to the beginning of your nightmare, Venus.
[12:43] * Sailor Venus is sullen, dejected.
[12:43] * Miss Nightmare snaps her fingers.
[12:43] * eight clay figures rise up out of the ground, taking on human form, each wearing a black jumpsuit and mask, yet still recognizable to Venus, who is *very* familar with their appearance)
[12:43] <Sailor Venus> (quietly) Kami-sama....
[12:43] <Miss Nightmare> Behold! The lost litany of your youthful love crushes! The slim, athletic volleyball player Asai! The charismatic upperclassman Higashi!, The dashing Kaitou Ace! The charming Alan! The rough gangster, Saitou! The Haughty and arrogant policeman Toshio Wakagi! The once-frail Otonaru! And finally, the brooding Kunzite - my Crazy 8's!
[12:44] * the Crazy 8's laugh menacingly
[12:44] <Sailor Venus> They mean nothing to me. They can't hurt me. My soul burns with a purity of purpose. I BURN MYSELF PERFECTLY!
[12:44] * Sailor Venus Sounds brave as she says this, but her expression is dull and lifeless, her golden eyes looking bereft of any passion or life.
[12:44] * the figures back away a bit.
[12:44] <Miss Nightmare> Ara, that could be annoying...
[12:45] <Sailor Venus> Sorry to inconvenience you. Heh.
[12:45] * Miss Nightmare ponders for a moment.
[12:45] <Miss Nightmare> Sailor Venus! You can control yourself, but what of the ones around you? The ones you love... or the ones... who love you?
[12:45] <Sailor Venus> What?
[12:46] * Sailor Venus looks up, only to see that she now is on her knees about 20 feet away from a Volcanic caldera, where Dr. Xadium, wearing some makeshift metallic armor, stands, Miss Nightmare facing him
[12:46] * Sailor Venus doesn't move. Xadium sees the withdrawn look in her face.
[12:46] <@Dr_Xadium> Mina, what's wrong with you?!
[12:47] <Miss Nightmare> Ahh, Doctor Xadium. I have no business with you, Time Lord. My task lies with the Senshi here. Oh, Nice Vader-eque armor, by the way. You'd make a fabulous living as a fifth-rate cosplayer. I am willing to release you to the conscious world, you know. All you have to do, heh... is click your heels together three times and say "There's no place like home." Just do it, and leave them all behind! MUAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!
[12:48] * @Dr_Xadium doesn't react, staring at the sullen Venus.
[12:48] <Miss Nightmare> Limited time offer! Just 10 seconds left!
[12:48] <@Dr_Xadium> Venus, snap out of it! I don't know what's got you like this, but you need to pull it together! Venus... *MINAKO!*
[12:48] <Miss Nightmare> Seven seconds....
[12:49] <Sailor Venus> Leave, Xadium. Go back to your life.
[12:49] <@Dr_Xadium> I can't leave you like this!
[12:49] <Miss Nightmare> ? Three seconds... ?
[12:50] <Sailor Venus> You... mean nothing to me. Aino Minako, who you loved, is dead. Gone. Forever. Go home.
[12:50] <@Dr_Xadium> That may be, but I care for Sailor Venus as well! And I don't think Mina is dead!
[12:50] <Sailor Venus> There is nothing for you here. I do not love you. Leave. Hurry!
[12:50] <Miss Nightmare> Oh, I'm sorry, time's up! (swipes at Xadium with the Gnarled Nightmare Glaive) Offer expired! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
[12:51] * @Dr_Xadium jumps back unsteadily. "Well seeing as I can't go back now, you'd better get up here and help me out!"
[12:51] <Sailor Venus> I can't help anyone.... for all my power, I'm useless. I couldn't save them.
[12:51] * @Dr_Xadium pulls out his Light Sabre-like weapon and turns it on "It's been quite some time since I fenced... MINAKO, COME TO YOUR SENSES!"
[12:51] <Sailor Venus> Don't waste your time on me... run away.
[12:52] * Miss Nightmare spins around and reverses her Glaive, and neatly slices off Xadium's right arm, sending it and the sabre flying into the Lava.
[12:52] * @Dr_Xadium screams in agony
[12:52] * Sailor Venus winces, wanting to move, but unable to find the energy. She is broken, defeated by what she has seen eariler. The dead body of Chibiusa stares at her lifelessly.
[12:53] <Miss Nightmare> (To Xadium) Aww, Exy-kun, looks like your sweetheart isn't going to stage a miracle love-love comeback after all... (pouts)
[12:53] <Sailor Venus> (quietly) Xadium... run... away... please...
[12:53] * Miss Nightmare lashes out quickly with the glaive, cutting the Time Lord off at the knees.
[12:54] <@Dr_Xadium> No time for that, I'm afraid, Mina...
[12:54] * Sailor Venus turns around slowly
[12:54] * @Dr_Xadium closes his eyes and concentrates, mouthing "I love you" just as Miss Nightmare decapitates him, sending the head into the lava with a splash.
[12:54] * as Xadium's body falls forward towards the lava, Nightmare deftly slashes off his left hand and flicks it towards Venus.
[12:54] <Miss Nightmare> "Oh look, your husband sacrificed himself for love trying to lend you a hand. But it seems he wasn't very handy with swords. It's just too bad." ?
[12:55] * Sailor Venus looks numbly at the gold wedding ring on the hand. She then looks at hers.
[12:55] <Sailor Venus> (softly) "Baka."
[12:55] <Miss Nightmare> He died for his love of you, when he could have run! LOVE! IT'S TRULY GOD'S MIRACLE!
[12:55] <Sailor Venus> (in a broken voice) Shut up! (Drops to the ground and pounds it with her fists.) SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!
[12:56] <Miss Nightmare> Oh noes! There go your fearsome concentration skills!! Horrors!
[12:56] <Sailor Venus> I don't care... I couldn't save him... or anyone.. I don't care... I don't CARE!
[12:56] * the Crazy 8's advance on Venus again, Kunzite drawing his energy blade, and aiming for Venus' neck. He brings it down with a swoosh, only to have something else intercept the blade, a blur of grey and white, which is cut in two.
[12:56] * Sailor Venus 's eyes go wide as she sees the twitching, cleaved body of the Catman. She pulls his facemask off.
[12:56] <Sailor Venus> Artemis... Artemis?!
[12:57] * =^catablanca^= coughs up blood
[12:57] <=^catablanca^=> Sorry I couldn't get here sooner, good citizen... bones... were broken... had to, reset them... by smashing into wall... repeatedly... glad I could... help...
[12:57] * =^catablanca^= looks at Venus curiously.
[12:57] <=^catablanca^=> M...Mina?
[12:57] <Sailor Venus> (blinks, eyes turning a little blue) Artemis...!
[12:57] <=^catablanca^=> Mina, is that... you?
[12:58] <Sailor Venus> Y... Yes, Artemis... it's me. (holds his paw) (her eyes flicker more blue than gold)
[12:58] <=^catablanca^=> Then I'm dead...
[12:58] <Sailor Venus> No, Artemis, no... you're not dead....
[12:58] <=^catablanca^=> Sorry... Mina... please don't... forget yourself...
[12:58] * =^catablanca^= 's head lolls to the side, and his paw goes limp
[12:59] <Miss Nightmare> Oh, but he is, sweetie! And for what, for his love of you! Of wanting to protect you! Just like that OTHER GUY! YAY! You're truly one to DIE FOR, aren't you, hun?
[12:59] <Miss Nightmare> Yay for Love and the loving lovers who love! Yay, love, Yay!
[12:59] <Sailor Venus> Artemis... ARTEMIS!!
[12:59] * Sailor Venus raises herself up, golden energy blasting from her body, her eyes obscured in shadow, her hair levitating
[13:00] <Sailor Venus> Kisama... You DARE... SPEAK TO ME, ABOUT LOVE! (light EXPLODES from her body) AFTER YOU KILLED MY OLDEST, CLOSEST FRIEND?! NOT TO MENTION MY HUSBAND?! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK FOR ME TO GET HITCHED?!
[13:00] <Miss Nightmare> Wha-- (backs away, raising her arm to block the light)
[13:00] <Sailor Venus> (eyes glowing bright blue) I, Sailor Venus---no, AINO MINAKO, WILL SHOW YOU THE TRUE POWER OF LOVE!!
[13:00] * Sailor Venus LEAPS UP and WHIPS OUT her Love-Me chain, lashing it around her, causing the crazy 8's to back off. Leaping from one to the next, she blows holes in them with her crescent beams, Decapitates them with Love and Beauty shocks, and pulverizes them with Rolling Heart Vibrations. Spinning around, she whips her chain all around her, cutting them into mincemeat, a glowing golden goddess of devine retribution amongst the gib and gristle. Her eyes are narrowed and her smile sly, her confidence fully restored.
[13:00] <Miss Nightmare> It can't be...
[13:01] * Sailor Venus pants and grins. "Oh, but it is.."
[13:01] * Miss Nightmare pouts, then smiles widely
[13:02] <Sailor Venus> Huh?
[13:02] <Miss Nightmare> It may be, but that little spurt of vengeance took a lot of your energy, didn't it? I don't think this "new you" is quite as focused as your other self.
[13:02] * Sailor Venus pants.
[13:02] <Miss Nightmare> No, I don't think so. Why that one, she didn't even *need* to breathe.
[13:02] * the Crazy 8's reform
[13:02] <Sailor Venus> ...
[13:03] <Miss Nightmare> Have fun, V-chan! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (vanishes into the mist)
[13:03] * the Crazy 8's salivate and advance on her, encircling her, giving her nowhere to go.
[13:03] * Sailor Venus tries to leap out of the way, but one of them grabs her leg and SLAMS her back into the ground, breaking her legs
[13:04] * Sailor Venus smiles darkly.
[13:04] <Sailor Venus> So it came to this after all...heh. At least... I'll get to see everyone again... in another dream...
[13:04] * Sailor Venus presses her fingers to her forehead as the Crazy 8's leap upon her.
[13:05] * With a primal scream, Venus and the Crazy 8's go up in a golden mushroom cloud that shakes the whole dreamscape
[13:05] * Sailor Uranus and Michiru are blown back by the explosion as they finally come in range of the battlefied
[13:06] <Sailor Uranus> (flying through the air) WTF?!
[13:06] <Sailor Neptune> (flying) No... that was Ven---
[13:06] * They are knocked out as they hit the ground
[13:06] * The aftershock of the explosion cracks open the ground, and two dusty brown hands find purchase on the surface, emerging from the crevice
[13:06] * Sailor Pluto pulls herself out of the ground.
[13:06] <Sailor Pluto> Venus... was right.
[13:07] * Sailor Pluto sees the last remnants of the golden explosion, tears filling her eyes.
[13:07] <Sailor Pluto> Venus...
[13:07] * Elsewhere, Kunzite manages to crawl away from the explosion, his body disintegrating as he moves
[13:07] <?> And where do you think *you're* going?
[13:07] * Kunzite's skull is smashed in, crumbling to dust in the wind.
[13:08] * Pluto stands alone, in a barren desert. The bloody rain is windswept, and makes her hair stick to her face.
[13:08] <Sailor Pluto> MISS NIGHTMARE! DO YOU HEAR ME?!
[13:08] * Pluto's words echo across the eerily silent dreamscape
[13:08] <Sailor Pluto> FACE ME, NIGHTMARE!
[13:09] * Miss Nightmare taps Pluto on the shoulder
[13:09] * Miss Nightmare smiles brightly
[13:09] <Miss Nightmare> No need to shout, honey, I'm right here! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
[13:09] * Sailor Pluto turns and scowls, looking down at Miss Nightmare.
[13:10] <Sailor Pluto> I made a promise... that I would take care of you. Finish you. For Venus, and the others.
[13:10] <Miss Nightmare> Oh, and what are you going to do about me, Old Woman For the love of your friends, what will you do?
[13:10] <Sailor Pluto> I will see... just how far down the rabbit hole... I can... go...
[13:10] * Sailor Pluto concentrates
[13:10] * Sailor Pluto begins growing in height
[13:11] * Sailor Pluto is now a hundred feet tall
[13:11] <Miss Nightmare> Oh....
[13:11] * Miss Nightmare cranes her neck, looks up, and looks worried
[13:11] * Miss Nightmare grins
[13:12] * Miss Nightmare grows as well.
[13:12] <Miss Nightmare> Haven't you ever heard that it isn't size that matters, it's what you do with it? MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH!
[13:12] * Sailor Pluto chuckles
[13:12] <Sailor Pluto> But if I can do this, who knows what else I can do?
[13:13] * Sailor Pluto concentrates
[13:13] * Giant rock-men suddenly rise up from the ground and jump Nightmare from behind, restraining her.
[13:13] <Miss Nightmare> What?! (tries to break free, but can't)
[13:13] <Sailor Pluto> I lived for over 10,000 years alone, condemned to an eternal solitude at the Time Gate.. nothing to do but meditate and fantasize... to give full vent to my imaginings...
[13:14] * Miss Nightmare 's hair suddenly goes blonde, grows long, and binds itself up in odangos. Her dress becomes the outfit of Neo-Queen Serenity
[13:14] <Sailor Pluto> You say you want hatred... then you shall have it...
[13:14] * Miss Nightmare looks at Pluto with fear in her eyes
[13:14] <Sailor Pluto> I hate you... Serenity... what you've done to me... how you teased me... locked me away... made me rot in your basement, guarding doors I was cursed to never open or look through....
[13:14] * Miss Nightmare begins to panic
[13:15] * Sailor Pluto raises her Time Staff
[13:15] <Sailor Pluto> Now... I will show you... the full extent of my bitter rage! Of Love Scorned
[13:15] * Miss Nightmare screams "NO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
[13:15] * Sailor Pluto looks at Nightmare askance
[13:15] * Miss Nightmare 's features contort, and Professor Tomoe's black, grinning face splits from her shoulder, giving her two heads
[13:16] <GERMATOID> EXCELLENT! YOU BROKE HER CONCENTRATION! I CAN FINALLY BREAK OUT OF HER HEAD!!
[13:16] <Sailor Pluto> Tomoe-Hakase?
[13:16] <GERMATOID> THE ONE AND ONLY! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!
[13:16] * Miss Nightmare SCREAMS as Tomoe's arm rips out of her side. In its hand it holds a Silence Glaive
[13:16] <GERMATOID> THIS IS FROM HOTARU'S MIND! IT'S HER SILENCE GLAIVE! IT CAN CUT OUT THE INFECTION! TAKE IT! HURRY! I CAN'T HOLD OUT FOR LONG!
[13:16] <Miss Nightmare> I'll crush you, you ba[BLEEP]rd! Give that back!
[13:17] * Sailor Pluto nods and leans in close, grasping the tiny glaive in her giant hand.
[13:17] * Sailor Pluto 's eyes suddenly go wide. She looks down, to see the tip of a dagger thrusting out from her chest, blood dripping.
[13:17] <Sailor Pluto> Wha...
[13:17] * Tomoe's other arm had wrapped around while Pluto was grabbing the glaive, and thrust a dagger in her back. His limbs fly back into Miss Nightmare
[13:17] <Miss Nightmare> Gotcha! (grins)
[13:18] <Sailor Pluto> Curse... you...
[13:18] * Sailor Pluto coughs up blood and drops to her knees, dropping the glaive into the sand.
[13:18] * Miss Nightmare whips out her nightmare glaive and SLASHES Pluto's neck, decapitating her.
[13:18] * Sailor Pluto 's giant body crashes to the earth with a thunderous SLAM, her lifeblood creating a giant blood-red sea roaring out into the desert. Her head lands with a SPLASH into the sea, bloody, pale, bloated and white.
[13:18] * A tidal wave of blood caused by the splash roars out into the desert
[13:19] * Sailor Neptune and Uranus wake up slowly just as the Tidal wave hits them
[13:19] * Sailor Neptune struggles blind in the sea of blood, but then her instincts take over, and she floats to the surface.
[13:19] * In her mind's eye, Neptune sees visions of Haruka struggling to carry her and being cut down in the process
[13:20] * Sailor Neptune knows what she has to do.
[13:20] * Sailor Neptune sinks down into the river and smiles before opening her mouth, letting the liquid spill in. As her lungs fill, she thinks fondly of haruka, the last image being of her riding in Haruka's car with her... before it all goes black.
[13:20] * Sailor Uranus is carried along with the waves, too buffeted about to see what happened to Michiru
[13:21] * The tidal wave recedes, leaving a detransformed Uranus and Neptune lying on the beach, in the middle of a bunch of gravestones. The sickly grinning giant head of Setsuna bops in the new blood-red sea, looking up lifelessly at the full moon
[13:21] * Sailor Uranus wakes up slowly, spitting up some blood-water.
[13:22] * Sailor Uranus looks over dimly at the bloated, drowned body of Michiru.
[13:22] <Sailor Uranus> ... I feel sick. (drops to the ground, motionless, dead)
[13:23] e n d   o f   s e n s h i



*** Disconnected