In the Name of the Almighty (Razgriz x Karameida)

War

War strode from the blazing inferno, intent on finishing the warrior Senshi; this had gone on for long enough. Much to Serenity's fortune, he seemed to completely ignore her for the moment after his direct comment to her about how the Senshi had fallen from where they used to be. He knew Serenity had no idea about just how powerful they once were, how much real influence they had over the Balance. But instead of trying to maintain it, she nearly destroyed it because she lost sight of what was truly important. And for her sacrilege, she and the rest of her Planetary Warriors would pay the ultimate price: Their lives and their Earth. However, the Horseman paused in his motion when he felt a great presence vanish to near-nothing; the immolated skull turned towards where the White Horseman had been battling. It would seem Conquest had been defeated; War's gravel-like voice muttered without a hint of sympathy, "Conquest....Again, your avarice betrays you". War surmised Conquest felt Endymion's essence disappear and grew enraged at the loss of slaying the King of the Earth himself, and therefore lost his focus; thankfully, it seemed that he took three of the Senshi with him. But even still, as weak as it was, War could feel the fourth Senshi's presence; a growl left his mouth in anger. It seemed he would have to finish her after he dealt with Serenity, but first...The Soldier of War had to die.

Meanwhile, the little staring contest continued between Mars herself and her illusory clone; despite having suffered through two illusions that would have completely broken most people, she still lived up to her planetary heritage and stood up for what she knew was right: Justice. Her philosophy of laying her life on the line to exact vengeance upon those who wronged her or the ones she loved seemed to give her the strength to continue despite overwhelming evidence that she would indeed fall. The Illusory Mars continued to aim Flame Sniper at her beat-up, real-world counterpart, the tip of the fiery bolt raising up as she rose to face her illusion dead on. Even through her swollen eye, one could see the intense resolve burning in her soul; in almost all other ways, she was the worst opponent for War. But in one way, she was the best: Like War, she was persistent and relentless in a fight. And that alone earned her the Red Horseman's respect, a resource very few received; he would grant her a quick and painless death.

Then, as if to reflect the resolve in Mar's spirit, her illusion lowered the fiery bow before letting it dissolve completely. The Mars illusion then smiled and walked gracefully through the flames to stand before the real Mars, placing a hand gently upon her cheek. "You're right, you know...You would never sit idly by and let those who harmed the ones you cared about get away with it. But now...It is time to rest, Mars. Rest, and you will be with Endymion in the next life...." The last part of the sentence trailed off as a whisper, the illusion vanishing to be replaced with the roaring inferno that still surrounded her. Through the fire came War, the black skull visible in the white heat that surrounded where his head used to be, approaching the Senshi of Fire in a weird and somewhat calm sort of manner. A hand came up to rest on Mars' shoulder, the blank sockets peering into Mars' own. War's mouth then opened; a slight suction could be felt as the remainder of the flames that burned within her soul were painlessly sucked out, essentially draining the last of her power.

"I will say this, Mars...The Senshi as a whole may have fallen, but I can see you still cling to honor and justice. For that, be proud to die a warrior's death; I can grant you that much, at least" War commented, the hand on her shoulder applying pressure until she fell to her knees. War then raised his blade into the air, drawing the fire in from around him into it; the flames seemed to create a tornado around the weapon, the strings of combustive power being sucked into the ancient length of brimsteel. Within moments, the once-towering inferno that could be seen for miles had vanished, along with the sheath of flame that coated War's sword; he then placed a curled hand to Mars' chin and guided her to look at him until she would have to sit on her heels to do so, the fire having disappeared from around his head and the flesh restored to its original appearance. War then stood up and placed the edge of his blade to Mars' throat, letting her chin rest on the silvered edge; he then looked back to Serenity and made sure she was watching. She needed to see just how dear the price of her failure was. So that there was no proof against her death when her own time would come; normally War wouldn't have taken this long to slay an opponent, but this wasn't a usual case.

He then turned his gaze from Serenity back down to Mars and stated, "Your time is over, Senshi of Passion and Fire". He then took a step back and added, "May the Almighty bless you with peace, Sailor Mars"; he then stepped far forward and pulled the blade from behind him, cleanly decapitating the shrine maiden and forever extinguishing her life-fire from this planet. War only gave a quick flick of his blade and then turned to Serenity herself, to let her see that he had not forgotten about her at all; his bright red hues glared at her, his sights on his next target clearly fixed: The treacherous and cowardly Queen of the Earth. "Queen Serenity...It is time. Rise, raise your blade and face me in battle" he then said pointedly, raising his own sword in front of him to fight the Senshi Leader, the woman whose cowardice condemned the planet she swore to protect to this fate.
 

Even with his words Mars could not temper her own fighting spirit, even with her bloodied and battered body she could not stop herself from fighting until it killed her. She knew she had lost though, knew it when she had recklessly attacked him that she had lost and that only furthered to add to her sense of helplessness. She cursed her weak mortal body but above all she cursed Sailor Moons name to burn. For a leader to stand back in fear while her husband and comrades died was unacceptable but Mars had known all along that when it came down to it, Sailor Moon was no leader. If Mar's had, had access to her memories as Pluto did she'd have known why she had these feelings; because Sailor Moon had done it often enough in the past.

Cried while the rest of them fought for the sake of the world.
Cowered away while the rest of them helped to forge a path for her.
Sank into self misery while the rest of them died.

Then again....had Mars had these memories and knew for a certainty that this was Sailor Moon, it was likely she would have never followed her into battle ever again. So as she was forced to her knee's by the rider, her chin resting on his blade she cast her fierce gaze to Sailor Moon, for even though both eye's were bruised and swollen, her gaze was still fiery with rage. She looked at Usagi with accusations spilling from the fires in her eye's. "This is all your fault." she thought as she glared at the Queen of the once beautiful Crystal Tokyo.

Sailor Moon watched as War confronted Mar's, there seemed to be a hint of regret. As if he wished he did not have to kill the fiery soldier; regret but also a touch of respect for her. She stood frozen in place as Mars's battered and fractured legs gave way to the Horsemans gentle but firm grip. Watched as he placed his hand under her chin and raised her gaze to his own. Watched his mouth move as he spoke to her, word for only her to hear. Watched as his hand was replaced by his blade and watched as Mars turned to look directly at her. The rage and accusations that shot at her should have been less startling by her damaged eye's but it only served to make them more fierce. It was like someone had smacked her clean across the face, Mars would never forgive her. Not in this life or any other life she might live. The rage that simmered beneath her broken exterior would carry on through to eternity. Mars blamed her with a conviction that stole her breath. Mars had always been one to anger easily and often times it was her that had angered Mars. She'd felt Mars's hand striking her face often enough before, but this, this was different; this was hatred.

Knowing her own comrade hated her made her want to cry out in denial that it wasn't her fault at all. It wasn't her fault that bad things happened to her but the words stuck fast to the back of her throat. She couldn't stand to see all the accusations in Mars's eyes but she could no sooner look away than take her own life. So she stayed rooted to the spot, pinned beneath the fiery soldiers relentless gaze. "It's not my fault!" she cried out mentally.

Mars knew she was about to die and oddly she felt at peace with that. She heard him speak and felt him shift to ready his blade to take her head. And still she stared at Sailor Moon. "I hope he makes her suffer for a long time before killing her...." Mars thought as her head was severed from her body. She felt no pain as her body thudded lifelessly to the ground and her head rolled away. The Sailor with a fiery temperament and a strong sense of Justice was dead.

Sailor Moon watched horrified as Mars stared her down even as War readied to take her head. The unblinking gaze frightened her and even as his blade bit into her neck she stared. Only when her head went rolling across the ground did she find herself free from the spellbinding stare. She felt her body begin to shake and her stomach began to roil, she felt as if she might be severely sick. She knew that Mars's final thought had been condemning her to suffer and that made the roiling in her stomach worse. She'd been so transfixed on the sight of Mars's headless body that she nearly fainted dead away when War spoke to her. Her gaze quickly went to the horseman as panic seized her insides like a vice. "I-I can't fight you!" she wanted to scream out but no words would form. Sailor Moon had never truly intended to fight the horseman, she'd assumed Mars and Endymion would be enough to bring him down and then all she'd have to do is use her silver crystal to finish things. She couldn't actually fight him. Especially now that she was entirely alone with him.

More panic ripped through her when he raised his blade to fight, the blade that held the blood from both Mars and Endymion. She felt even more nauseous than before, who was going to save her? "I-I don't have a sword..." the words were barely more than the barest of whispers. She took a deep fortifying breath but couldn't hide her shaking "If you let me go I'll never again use my Senshi powers. I never wanted it in the first place..." the words spilled from her mouth before she even realized it. She hadn't intended to say that and yet they were the words that had formed in the back of her mind and had spilled from her lips. She wanted to live, she didn't want to die and it was true, she'd never wanted to be a leader or a Senshi in the first place. It was a burden to her and she would gladly give it up if she could live normally.
 
Episode 5: Cause and Effect


Famine could feel something bad approaching him; but he was so close to the end of the ritual to open a portal to the Void that he didn't pay it any attention; instead he doubled his efforts, the air beginning to shimmer and a slight vacuum beginning to form as the Void began to open up, drawing in a large portion of his own 'desire energy' to stabilize the rift between the Horsemen's residence and the Earth itself. However, Jupiter's timely interruption would serve to halt the process, the portal now quickly closing in on itself; Famine let out a pained gasp as her hardened fist connected with his gut, knocking the wind out of him for a moment before feeling her grip close on his robes. "Ooo...So rough, Jupiter. We haven't even had a date yet" he coughed out with a chuckle to punctuate the comment as she held him tightly.

His snide remark would not go unpunished, for soon he found himself subject to a heavy barrage of physical fury; sadly, he felt almost every one too. It was only her desire to cause him as much injury as possible that was helping to keep him alive; it wouldn't be enough to COMPLETELY shield him, as it was a partially selfless desire, but it would help mitigate some of the damage he received. Famine wondered where all this was coming from; the period in the Leech's orb should have drained her immensely. Where did she get this strength from? "Ah....That's right; Death told me she nurtured her ability to manipulate the earth" Famine mused to himself as Jupiter continued to assault him, feeling his bones break under her strength and ferocity. Her remark about her being the last thing he ever saw was not missed; sadly she was right, but not in the way she was thinking.

"Well, that was the plan... the Black Horseman muttered; however, he was soon subjected to yet another relentless barrage of punches and kicks; though despite her best efforts, it simply would not be enough to finish Famine. His power, even being technically the weakest of the Four, was too great even for her to fully extinguish. When she finally ceased in her efforts to physically beat him, it looked like someone had put the Horseman through a meat grinder: Bruises and lacerations covered his entire body, black blood leaked from several spots where she'd split the flesh and even his metal mouthmask was severely dented from when she'd punched him in the mouth. Around his mask, more of the black sanguine fluid leaked onto the ground, his breathing heavy as he tried to peer into her eyes; when he did he saw the resolve: She wanted Venus back, hmm? Well, perhaps he could grant her that...In a different way of course.

Chuckling a little, Famine uttered as his head lolled back limply, "Oh, Jupiter...I wish I could, but you see by stopping my little chant...You've closed the Void for me and taken what strength I could offer to open it. So in a sense, it's your fault I can't bring her back, hehehehehahahahaha". Famine then felt a great outpouring of energy, followed by an enormous emptiness to permeate the atmosphere; the energy that had vanished was all too familiar too. "So, Conquest had been defeated" the Rider mused mentally, his gaze lazily peering in Conquest's last direction. Famine figured as much; that arrogant bastard was always so greedy, trying to take everything for himself. Famine knew it was going to land him in trouble, but even someone like Conquest being taken down was a bit surprising. But the next surprise was even more to come; Famine then felt War's energy skyrocket, indicating that his hotheaded brother was either really getting into a battle or just finished a particularly intense one. Even more strangely, Death's signature had remained relatively constant; was he not fighting at all? Giving a weak shrug, Famine muttered, "Seems like Conquest and War have just about cleaned up what they could...".

He then tilted it back up to look at Jupiter, adding "But...I will let you see Venus again". Without warning and with surprising speed, his thin fingers gripped one of the edges of his mask as he continued, "Too bad it won't be here on Earth with the rest of your slutty little companions". He then tore it clean off; all of a sudden a massive vortex appeared in front of his mouth, pulling with great suction into his infinite maw. Normally Famine wouldn't use this little ability of his, but since he was essentially out of tricks....This was the only way. The suction began to grow, pulling the floating souls into his gullet for him to swallow; the winds rocked violently and soon enough, even Jupiter's soul was beginning to get sucked out of her body. If something wasn't done soon, Jupiter would likely end up just as much an empty shell of herself as Venus did.
 

The above name is a link to her image.​

Jupiter knew that she should have attacked Famine from the get go. Then maybe she would have felt more fulfilled and triumphant than she did now. Even though her attacks had, had all her strength behind them; it had left her feeling decidedly empty. And the exhaustion that had settled on her was disconcerting. True, with the battle till now it was only expected that she should have felt weakened but even so, this exhaustion was different. It was an exhaustion of her soul. With everything she was and was not feeling she felt bitter that she'd also have to feel regret at dispatching the monster in her possession so quickly. She had wanted him to suffer far more than this, sure she'd never be able to kill him. Not even at full strength but she sure as hell could have given him more of a beat down. She felt pathetic. "Fool...." she mentally reprimanded herself. To think, she was going to die and she couldn't even make him suffer. After all her boasting, all her determination after everything; she managed nothing more than a silly brawl. It was sickening.

She thinned her mouth and gripped his robes even tighter "Why did you take her?" she asked her voice shaking from the fury, though not all of it directed at the Horseman. "You were here to destroy us all. SO WHY DID YOU TAKE HER?" she asked again angrily. Jupiter wasn't as prone to emotional outbursts like Mars. That wasn't to say Jupiter didn't have any emotions, she just wasn't used to letting them rule her actions. She cursed the frailty of the human body, so weak and so easy to break, for a warrior like her it was almost disgusting.

Before she could continue in her particular line of thoughts and questionings she felt a sudden and disturbing sense of loss. Her body stilled as if she'd been molded out of marble. It was akin to the loss she felt when Venus had been taken, but this feeling went much deeper. She felt a chill grip her heart and travel up her spine "It can't be...." she thought stricken. It wasn't as if all the Senshi were connected by strong bonds of camaraderie, nor of a deep, abiding and ever lasting friendship. It was more the strings of fate. Having spent so many lifetimes fighting the same battles they had been connected by those experiences and it had allowed them to sense the others death's. Before it had been an aching sorrow but one that was eased knowing that they would come back in another cycle of birth. This, This was different. Somehow Jupiter knew that this time their deaths were very much permanent. It had happened so suddenly, so abruptly; one minute they had all been there struggling and the next, their lives had been winked out. So many, so quickly. It hurt. "Rest dear guardians. Your hardships are over." she thought burrowing the sadness behind a wall of anger.

Jupiter narrowed her eye's at famine "What the hell do you mean you'll let me see her ag--" before she could finish what she had wanted to say to him, he'd ripped off his dented metal mask revealing a black hole of a mouth sucking in any and all living souls in the area. Jupiters eye's widened and she let go of him quickly but not quickly enough. She felt her soul slowly start to slip from her body. She crossed her arms over her chest as if that might keep her soul from being sucked up within his maw. "Damn him to the deepest reaches of hell." she silently cursed. She watched as souls flew into the void that was his mouth and fear arced through her as she felt her soul pulled a little farther out. She closed her eye's and focused on keeping her soul bound to her body, it was odd; when one thought of a soul being pulled from a body one did not think of pain. But there it was, pain...a lot of pain. She felt the wind whip around her, clawing at her soul trying to wrench it from her body.

She clung to her soul with all the power she had left but somehow knew it would not be enough. She kept feeling her soul slip from her slowly but surely. Lightening danced in the background and thunder boomed in the heavens above. The clouds that had been ever present above the clearing suddenly grew darker turning black and increasingly more chaotic. Lightening jumped amid the clouds in great numbers creating a truly awe inspiring sight. Thunder boomed with ever increasing violence, the sound reaching to the farthest reaches of the city. Lightening struck around them tearing up the ground in violent destruction. As the battle to maintain her soul raged inside Jupiter, so did the lightening rage uncontrolled around them. The clouds grew, slowly spreading out over a larger area. The unpredictability of her element wreaked havoc on Crystal Tokyo.

She had to do something, there had to be some way to close that hole up. She opened her eye's and stared at him in frustration. As if by chance or divine intervention she caught sight of the scales. She didn't have Mercuries brains, nor her visor or computer but what she did have was instincts and she listened to them. They were rarely wrong. And in this instance, her instincts were telling her that those scales were the key she needed to stop him. Her body felt heavy and it took everything she had to make her body listen to her commands, if she waited a moment longer her body wouldn't listen at all. She just had to risk it and hope that her instincts had not led her astray. With great difficulty she reached out; it seemed to take a life time for her fingertips to brush against the scales but when she did she tightened her grip around them "Suck on this you bastard!" she managed to say before shoving the scales into his maw with the last bits of her strength.

Lightening struck the ground with such ferocity and the thunder roared with such finality that the torn buildings around them shattered and the ground up-heaved violently. Then Jupiters world went black.
 

The suction from Famine's massive vacuum continued to pull the souls in, its event horizon beginning to spread out further and further and even drawing in things which weren't souls like twigs, inanimate corpses from Jupiter and Venus doing battle with them, and pieces of crystal and earth. The winds themselves were beginning to reach hurricane force, threatening to sweep Jupiter off her foot were it not for the fact that Famine's actions were keeping her firmly rooted to the ground. "This is where all souls eventually end up, my dear Jupiter; you'll see your friend again, I am sure of it. But not until I've fully enjoyed her that is" the Horseman thought to himself, sure of the fact that Jupiter would falter and he would walk away from this relatively unharmed; a fact beginning to make itself evident that for every soul he absorbed, the damage that Jupiter had dealt him was beginning to vanish. If he managed to take her soul, no doubt he would be fully healed.

However, it seemed like fate would not allow the Horseman's infinite hunger to consume Jupiter this day; by some stroke of luck and through sheer force of will, Famine found that which helped him find his prey - the scales given to him by his mother - jammed into his mouth, causing a chain reaction that no one would expect. The suction almost immediately stopped, Famine's hands coming up to try and take the obstruction out; the scales almost immediately began to glow as they measured the Horseman's hunger against itself and like the serpent eating its own tail Famine's form began to warp before being sucked into the scales themselves. A brief moment of intense wind accompanied this before falling silent once more, and as Jupiter fell to the ground unconscious, so did the scales that no longer had a master to wield them, a loud 'clang' resonating throughout the empty area of the city. And with that, the Black Horseman Famine was no more, sealed within his own perverse universe.


Death had paused the show he was giving Setsuna; part of it was due to the rather painful nature of recounting the events that led to the formation of everything. The other part of it was that doing this took a fair bit of energy; sure, he could release some of the restraints on himself to help it go easier, but he didn't want to risk letting too much arcane energy into the surrounding area. Though it seemed his brothers did not care about the extent of their destruction; even while Death was doing this much, he could still see in great detail what the other Horsemen were doing and how their battles were turning out. He was disappointed that Conquest and Famine had succumbed to their desires and been sealed, and even War had taken some damage but he had beheaded the King and weakened the Queen's resolve to continue. Even still, the Senshi had been weakened greatly; their King was dead, four Senshi confirmed killed, one sent into the Void - to which Death cursed Famine for doing - and two more lay unconscious but alive. "Not quite the outcome I expected at this point, but doable...I just hope Queen Serenity doesn't provoke War too much" the Green Horseman thought to himself, his head bowed in contemplation as he considered the deeds and actions of both Senshi and Horsemen alike. "Forgive the pause, Setsuna; as I was saying....The repercussions were catastrophic. So catastrophic that it pains me to have the memory I do, that I see this day every second of my life" he then said as he refocused on Setsuna, a distinct hint of sadness in his tone. Clearly what Setsuna was about to witness was a source of great misery for Death; regardless, the Rider decided to continue as he gave that snap of his armored fingers to let the scene around them continue.

The creature was massive; even at a distance, it stood far taller than any mountain in Paradise. The great beast then took a step; a massive earthquake resounded across the ground and brought every footed enemy to the ground. Again and again it stepped and drew closer until the beast finally came into view the titan its skin black as onyx, a large, spherical crimson jewel was set in its forehead, the eyes gleaming a menacing red-orange. Thickened plates covered the legs, forearms and shoulders of the beast, as well as each of its massive digits. Enormous wings of the same hardened material lay semi-folded behind the beast, seemingly non-functional or perhaps conditionally functional. "Stand firm! This is but another beast for us to slay!" Damien cried out. And then the titan laughed as it continued to advance, his voice jarring the air around him, ”Witness, Defenders, the envoy of your end! I will burn Paradise to the ground and remake it in my image! Abandon all hope, for Paradise now belongs to the Great Destroyer!” The Archangel then roared, "Never, monster! Defenders, attack!!!" The Angels soon took to the sky, weapons at the ready to destroy this beast; however, they were not prepared. In truth, they could never be; the Destroyer’s right arm became encased in fire, the massive limb swinging through the air. Those lucky enough to dodge were safe; however, some burned to ash by the surrounding flames and those who could not dodge were crushed by the beast’s immense strength, falling to the ground barely alive only to be prey for torture by the Shadow Legion’s depraved hordes. Even the Archers faired no better; their divine arrows plinked and bounced off the indestructible skin. The Destroyer cackled, saying ”Is this best Paradise has to offer?! Pathetic and weak!” The orb at the center of its forehead glowed the same red-orange as its eyes, making a disturbing humming sound as the beast opened its massive maw; the mouth too soon glowed that color and within moments a titanic pillar of fiery energy erupted forth. Those caught in the blaze were reduced to cinder; the beam of flame then was turned back towards the Destroyer’s legion, eradicating friend and foe alike.

With that attack concluded, the Destroyer continued its march further in; Ares and Damien had gotten out of the way thankfully, but the Defender’s ranks had been severely cut. Thankfully, so had the hordes of the Shadow Realm. ”Where is that beast going?” Ares demanded to know; Damien knew all too well. It was obvious why he would send such a powerful beast here: He was going to destroy the Tree! That fool; did he not know the importance of it? ”He’s going to destroy the Ancient Tree; he’ll kill us all and destroy everything! Ares, we must stop him! It didn’t take much to convince the young boy that the survival of all things was now in peril; the Wise Man had warned of Chaos’ rashness and now it seemed the prophecy was coming to fruition. ”Hold the line here! Ares and myself will engage that monster“ the Archangel barked before spreading his massive wings and following after the mountainous beast, his son riding his flaming horse after him and leaving a trail of fire in his wake. ”Dagon, if you can hear us.....Send reinforcements to the Tree!” Damien thought to the Angel guarding the Wise Man; a prompt response was soon heard, "A garrison of Angels is headed for you, but it will take some time for them to arrive. You need to hold off that behemoth for as long as possible; the blade you carry is one of the only things that can hurt such a beast" Damien cursed; even if the blade did help, he wasn't certain a titan this powerful wouldn't or couldn't summon waves of backup to help him. And even though he knew he could count on the other Angels, they needed to hold back the endless hordes of dark corrupted soldiers to prevent them from overwhelming them. Ares and Damien nonetheless managed to overtake the rather slow-moving behemoth coming to stand in front of this monstrosity; the creature's red gleaming eyes peered down at the pair, a snort of derisive disregard being emitted from its unseen nose. "Hah, this is the best Paradise sends to stop me? A broken Angel and his non-Angelic bastard child? Your world is better off if you are all that stands between me and the Tree".

Damien snarled, then charged forward and stabbed the beast in one of its massive forelegs with his now strangely-glowing blade, forcing an earshattering howl of pain to erupt from its throat. "Your arrogance will be your downfall, monster; you will not advance one step farther. Not while I still draw breath!" the Archangel growled, withdrawing his now blood-streaked sword; it seemed Dagon was correct that this unusual weapon could harm this great beast. "Damned pigeon! I will make you into nothing more than a bloody smear!" Chaos bellowed, raising one massive foot and rapidly bringing it back down with tremendous force; Ares and Damien both scattered moments before impact, feeling the massive blast of wind buffet them before calming. Damien's wings spread wide as he flew upward to face the Destroyer, Ares riding his steed Ruin towards the monster only to find other monstrosities spawning out of the Destroyer's back! Their forms fell to confront the rider, forming a barricade to prevent interference. "Ares! Deal with them; I will handle the Destroyer myself!" his father commanded, narrowly dodging swipes of the Destroyer's massive hands. "Hold still! You show your true nature by running, coward!" was the Destroyer's utterance of frustration. Ares didn't want to leave his father alone, but if he kept these other beasts busy, his father could have the one on one fight. And so it went; Damien and the Destroyer combated one another, the former cutting into the beast's thick hide and leaving large gashes in his wake, the latter using hands, wings and energy attacks to try and swat the Angel from the sky. Ares and Ruin meanwhile battled the demons spawned from the Destroyer itself; Ruin's flaming hooves and brute strength caved in faces, chest cavities and skulls while the boy's swordsmanship skills cut the throats and tendons of those who tried to attack him.

As the time into the battle went on and on with no signs of slowing down at all, Ares noticed that several large creatures were not coming to face him but were rather going up the Destroyer's massive form; those bastards, they were going to try and outnumber his father! ""COWARDS!" Ares shouted, pulling hard on the metal chain that made up Ruin's reins and forcing the flaming beast to charge through monsters, swinging his sword wildly as he tried to reach the Destroyer. However, there soon came a welcome sight; a bright flash of light streaked through the air, piercing one of the smaller beasts in the heart and forcing it fall that great height to its death on the hard damaged ground below. "Defenders! Forward! Show no mercy for the glory of our Father!" a familiar voice boomed out; Ares looked to the sky to see none other than Michael himself, the first Archangel leading an offensive to try and even the odds against the Destroyer. "Michael! The Second....." Damien stated in disbelief, only for Michael to interject "Is secure enough to where we could come assist you. Worry not, old friend!" More Angels arrived on the scene, the fervor of the fight being stoked once more; Ares himself breathed a sigh of relief. With Michael here, it seemed like they would win this fight and send the darkness back to where it belonged. Meanwhile, the Destroyer grew more and more agitated at his inability to squash these pathetic weaklings, even as his swings knocked large numbers of the winged warriors from the sky and his beams of pure fire burned countless more into ash.

Michael and Damien both worked together, using their immense powers as Archangels to distract and cut at the gargantuan monster; Damien’s blade continued to leave large marks in the beast’s armored flesh but did not seem to slow it down as much as he would have liked. The Destroyer then became so enraged at his lack of success that he spread his wings as wide as they could go before bringing them down; the resulting wind blast scattered everyone like pins, friend and foe being tossed in all directions. Michael and Damien flurried about before crashing into the earth, both stunned by the force with which they collided with the ground. Ares too was thrown along with his horse, his forward momentum being carried as the mount/rider pair were catapulted to land a fair ways beyond where the two Archangels lay. The Destroyer then rose up, chuckling deeply before saying in a smug tone as he looked around, "Hah, just as I thought; even with two Archangels facing me, I am more than a match for any of you!" Damien struggled to his feet, as did Michael with the intent of keeping the Destroyer at bay from the Tree. "Still able to stand, I see…" the Destroyer growled as he peered down at them; his eyes glowed red for a moment before beams shot Michael in the chest, propelling the Archangel back. Ares meanwhile was trying to free himself from under his flailing horse, looking over to see what was happening; a sword-wielding demon that neither of them saw before began to rise up, the gaze clearly in Damien’s direction. The armored beast then stood and began making his way towards the standing Archangel, bypassing Michael’s barely-conscious form completely. Ares tried to warn his father, to tell him to turn around, but the sudden shock of getting blasted by that force of wind stole his breath from him; a hand reached out, his voice failing him as the demonic warrior prepared to perform the most dishonorable act imaginable.

A roar of triumph echoed, the blood-stained blade of the demon protruding from Damien’s chest; even beneath his helmet, the Archangel’s blood leaked out to join the red fluid from his destroyed heart. The demon laughed, saying “You were a fool, Archangel; and now you will die here!” The Destroyer just let out a snort as Damien’s armored figure collapsed to the ground, Ares watching on with great sorrow; shining streams could be seen falling down the boy’s cheeks, his fist clenching in obvious agony. Time seemed to stand still for the young boy; he couldn’t believe the nerve of these cowards. Couldn’t believe his father would fall to such a dastardly tactic. "Minion, take care of these vermin while I destroy the Tree of Life and take this land for the Shadow...." the Destroyer then added; his massive footsteps could be heard as the ground shook with his renewed progress, not realizing that this would be his downfall. Ares, his sadness being quickly replaced with unbridled fury and a desire for vengeance, found the strength to remove himself from under his horse and rushed over to his father’s body, the sword he’d used now laying beneath an open hand. The scenery began to slow again, the Horseman's concentration faltering upon reaching this point of the memory; Death’s voice then played over the scene, ”I tried to warn him…I said, “Ares, don’t!” But the loss of his father proved too great for any form of reason to heal”.
 

Pluto sat in silence and listened to Death's story. There should have been some feeling of wrongness or an oddness at sitting and talking to ones enemy in the midst of a War. Such feelings were lost on the scholar, she was not naive and knew as she had said; that a fight would be inevitable but she could spare a few moments to learn something new, especially since Death himself was also willing to spare the moments. Something flickered inside of Pluto, even if she could no longer hear or see the battle and destruction she could still feel her sisters in arms and so many had been snuffed out so quickly. Pluto had known that not all of them would make it through the initial attack but still, she hadn't expected so many to be wiped out so quickly. Nor had she anticipated the sense of loss that whispered through her. She frowned slightly and stared off into the distance somewhere, it felt....different from before. It felt like their life force had been permanently wiped from the face of all existence. "A permanent death..." she thought furrowing her brows slightly. Was this the one time where their deaths would be a permanent thing? What had she really expected? They were going up against The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, they were beings that struck fear by the mere mention of their names. They destroyed worlds, brought civilization to ruin, passed judgement on the worlds, heavens and hells they were no trifling conquerors. Well, one of them was but by no means was he "trifling".

Had she really expected that should they die it would be like every other time before? Where they would simply reincarnate into a new life? In truth of fact she hadn't really thought about it much at all. It had never really occurred to her that anything could bring an end to their eternal existence. An unfamiliar mix of emotions battled inside of her. One of them was a hint of doubt and wariness and the other...a flicker of hope. She had lived for so long, held so many eons of memories and had guarded the gates of time for innumerable years. She ached for a reprieve that would be permanent, her heart yearned for such peace. But even as she desired a quiet death she knew she could not simply lie down and accept it. She was needed and for the world she must put her personal feelings and hopes aside. Something Sailor Moon had never been able to do.

At her name, Pluto mentally pushed the thoughts down deep inside of her and mentally shook off the lingering webs of regret. "Rest well warriors... I will be joining you shortly..." she thought silently turning her attention back to Death. She heard the sadness in his voice as well as see the weight that the knowledge exerted over the powerful Horseman. "It's alright. I'm sure every being in existence has memories that pain them." she murmured inclining her head towards him in a show of respect. She wondered how many memories Death held that pained him. Did he have many? Or were there only a few that pierced his self hardened heart? Maybe she was once again presuming to much, was she just once again showing the naivete of humans? Of herself? She forcefully pushed the thoughts aside and watched as the scene once more continued like a moving playing after being paused. Pluto watched her attention being wholly absorbed into the scene playing out before her.

She felt cold as she watched the behemoth coated in black fight. She felt silently thankful that she herself would never have to meet this monstrosity on the battlefield. She felt a twinge of sadness as the creature struck down the legions of heaven with each foul breath. So many lives snuffed out. She felt an odd and suffocating heaviness settle on her, there really were just too many Deaths, far too many and she knew Death had seen far more than this. She wondered how he could do it, Pluto could barely stand the Deaths she'd witnessed as her time as the Gatekeeper. She had to admit to an admiration for the Horseman. The heaviness did not leave her, the memory seared into her mind. "Such a substantial loss..." she thought as the battle in front of her raged on. The shouts echoed in the air and the clash of metal against metal rang louder and clearer than most all other noises. She could smell the burnt corpses, feel the waves of heat and could almost taste the coppery tang of blood. It was like she was really back when this battle was waged but it was impossible. Pluto pursed her lips and watched as the one called Damien was struck from behind and killed. "Was this the start of war's limitless rage?" Pluto wondered. Or was this just what triggered his latent ability and brought it to full fruition? She wondered idly about it before Death's voice broke in.

She looked at him and then back at the scene in front of her but remained silent for a long time. "The loss of someone....anyone you love and admire can be a deep scar that nothing, not even time will heal. Worse yet when you see it happen before your very eyes...." she said softly, almost inaudibly. Of course, Death already knew this and she didn't know quite why she was saying it. She felt like she was saying it to herself instead of to Death but that was just preposterous. She shook her head slightly and heaved a small sigh. "Forgive me for interrupting." she apologized quietly. Pluto wasn't quite sure if she should say or do anything else and when nothing came to mind she remained silent. She had to wonder how this story could end in any kind of victory. It felt a little like their current War. No matter which side won, it would still be a hollow victory and would feel more akin to a loss. At least, that's how she felt.
 

Death only shook his head in reply, stating "There's no need to apologize, Setsuna; I imagine most of this was unknown to you. This is a little known fact about War: The loss of his father enraged him...Beyond what anyone, even Chaos himself could have imagined. And for it....Well, perhaps you should just see". The playback resumed; Ares has rushed to his father's lifeless form, angered that such cowardice had been the result of his death. The demon that stabbed his father in the back looked down at the boy and chuckled, saying "You will die here, just like that pathetic Angel you're cradling in your arms". It was at this that Ares looked up at the armored giant, who had just raised his blade to cut the lad in two. The boy then grabbed the sword's handle; the reaction was nearly instantaneous. The boy’s muscle mass grew to easily twice what it was and his height grew by more than half, both factors causing his armor to stretch and break. Thorn-like growths appeared along his shoulders and back, his nails extending and his teeth growing sharper and larger until he completely turned into a monstrous form. Just as the demon swung his sword down, one of Ares' mutated hands grabbed the weapon; its edge didn't even seem to pierce the skin. "What the....." the warrior growled, only to find the now monstrous Ares' hand punched through his chest, causing him to gurgle in agony before his heart was torn out. The organ throbbed and pulsed visibly in Ares' grasp, the demon warrior's gaze glazing over before dropping dead at the feet of Damien's son.

A violent aura awakened from within, creating a massive shockwave that made the Destroyer pause and turn. The massive creature paused and looked back to see the transformed Defender, the rage having twisted the boy in both body and soul. Letting out a deep-throated laugh, the Destroyer commented, "A shame.....He had a future. Sadly, you do not". "Be silent, vermin! You who only cowers behind your forces and facades of strength! You kill those only through trickery and numbers, never having the courage to face someone single-handed!" was Ares' harsh reply, his body twitching with almost irrepressible anger. At this point, Michael drowsily rose from his knocked-out state, only to see Ares...Or rather he thought it was Ares. The monster before him had the same aura, but his body...So different. However, he did hold his comrade's sword; no, Ares wouldn't survive! "Ares...Do not....That sword will destroy you!" Michael shouted; at the same time, Dagon's voice played in the warrior's mind, "Listen to Michael, child; that sword is more dangerous than you realize. Please, for the sake of your home...Put the sword down; your father's death will be avenged. I promise you". Ares just growled and shouted, "No! My father's death is mine to avenge! And I will cut this monster down where he stands!"

Chaos, however, did not find it suiting that such a lowly thing would speak to audaciously to him; this was made evident by the beast's reply, "Ah, so you wish to join your father in oblivion. I can grant that request....You need to be punished, boy, for your insolence". And as the eyes of the Destroyer glowed to vaporize Ares, the warrior swung his father's blade hard forward; the scene turned a blinding white, a deafening boom follwing a massive blast of energy that rocked the area. Wind blew with great force and searing heat washed over the land, scorching everything it touched. As the light dimmed, the Destroyer's screams of agony could be heard as its massive form was set ablaze; no longer did any of its armor-like skin cover its body, instead the fire scorching raw muscle as the beast fell over and caused yet another massive quake to follow. In the center of the blast stood Ares, the monstrosity he had become upon grabbing his father's sword; the ground was covered in black soot, the bodies of the other Angels and Shadow Legionaries which had laid on the ground vaporized by these intense flames. "Ares! What have you done!?" a voice then shouted; Ares turned his disfigured head up to see Michael, his body badly burned from the explosion, floating in the air. However, he would soon find another problem; the Destroyer was beginning to rise up again, intent on killing the transformed Defender for doing this to him. "You insignificant parasite! I will crush you slowly for this!" the flame-riddled titan bellowed; however, he found himself being forced back as Michael began to assault him. The Archangel's holy blade cut into the monster's flesh again and again, the exposed muscle being sliced and forcing howls of agony to erupt from the Destroyer's throat. Ares could only watch as Michael pushed the Destroyer back and back until they were out of sight. The boy's bloodlust was not satisfied; fire then roared up around Ares' massive figure and out from nowhere came Ruin, its once red skin now blackened over most of its figure but the beast itself seemingly unharmed. Allowing its master to mount once more, they rode off to the other plateaus, intent on slaying the beasts that tried to take his home. Images played out, showing more of the fiery waves washing over the Monoliths of Paradise, burning ally and enemy in uncontrolled rage. It then cut to the Tree of Life, its branches nearly burned off completely and its bark nearly gone, the fruit turned to ash from where it grew and the great plant itself a withered husk of what it was. The next image then showed two massive landmasses moving through space, growing closer and closer until they collided, the impact creating the biggest explosion yet and propelling pieces of each world as far as the eye could see and beyond.

And with that, Death ended the playback; the scenery returned to as it had been before the Horseman isolated the two of them. Desolation surrounded them, crows cawed and the flames which ensured their privacy still cracked and sputtered, casting its ghastly green shadow over the two of them. Setsuna likely would not realize how much that hurt to have to show her. But she deserved to know; she deserved to know why things were they way they were, and why the Horsemen did what they had to do. There was still the chance she would have questions, but Death felt he had shown her the most important parts. ”The Endwar cost mankind their one true home, Setsuna; Ares had defeated the Destroyer, but his own rage made him lose control and nearly burn Paradise to the ground. In one final act of desperation, the Almighty poured all his power into the land itself and after sending the remainder of its people into a pocket void, plunged all of Paradise into the Shadow. Chaos, having been thrown back to where he belonged, did the same with his territory; the collision caused what you humans call 'The Big Bang' and formed the Mortal Plane along with the other two planes: The Planes of Heaven and Hell. With that, he had allowed life to continue, but it would be a struggle; the Creator and the Destroyer are now ultimately nothing more than fractured bits of the Universe as a whole. But before the Almighty vanished...He imbued me with nearly of his power before joining Chaos in forming the three Planes of Existence, enough to make sure that I could maintain the Balance. But I knew I needed help; as powerful as I am, I could not do this alone. So I created the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a fearsome brotherhood that would not allow the Light to banish the Shadow, that would not allow Chaos to destroy Order".

Slowing his pace down a little, Death simply continued on, "As the Universe began to form, we carried out Apocalypses on various worlds, attempting to balance the fundamental forces of nature so that such a disaster would not happen again. That is why the Horsemen exist, Setsuna. That is why the Apocalypse is a necessary condition to the survival of mortalkind as a whole. Call us destroyers if you must, but we cannot allow what happened in Paradise to happen again”. With that, Death finally took a deep breath and added, ”Forgive me for my tirade, Setsuna; I realize that was a lot to take in, but you needed to know why".
 

Pluto watched in horrible fascination as the scene's from the past played out in front of her. Each dramatic turn made so much worse by the actions others took and it seemed that things were just hitting the climax. She watched silently as War transformed into a beast of nightmares, watched him inadvertently destroy the very thing he and his kin had struggled so hard to protect. Heard the raw rage in his voice and had to stifle a shudder. Not many things in life elicited such instinctual feelings such as fear but there had been many times as she watched that she felt a twinge of that primeval force. This memory was probably a well of deep tender scars for both Death and War. She knew the memories and knowledge they shared would break lesser beings. Knowledge was a powerful tool, she herself had sought it out all of her long lives. But it was also a tool that could cut the handler, it was a double edged weapon. She continued to watch as things played out, it was a very odd thing to watch such a monstrous battle take place. It felt very unreal but it had taken place just as surely as she lived and breathed each day.

She watched the end draw nigh as the two enormous landmasses headed straight for each other and an out of place smile touched her lips. "Ah hah....I see." she thought amused in-spite of herself. The beginning that scientist so often bickered over and that was how it had truly begun. They were at least....five percent correct and that was being generous.

When the scenery finally reverted back to Crystal Tokyo and Death had finished saying what he'd needed to say, she herself remained silent. Pluto listened to the silence stretch between herself and Death but made no move to break it. She had listened to Death and watched what he'd had to show her and now she needed a moment to her thoughts. She took a deep breath and glanced into the heavens closing her eyes. The aura of violence and malice that had permeated the entirety of the city like smoke had diminished while they had been gone but she had been right. She could just sense Saturns and Jupiters life force but besides herself and Moon...there was no one else. The others were gone, their lifeless bodies lying somewhere amid the scores of other corpses. But if Jupter and Saturn were alive it did mean that at least two of the other horsemen had been dealt with somehow. It wasn't much, two victories compared to five losses. In fact it was actually pretty pathetic.

After another moment she opened her eyes and brought her gaze back to Death. "It is. It is a lot to take in but I thank you for the chance." she said finally breaking the silence between them. "I have learned of many things in fairly short span of time." she said hesitating for a moment. "I don't think I'll ever be able to accept the choice to destroy an entire planet and it's citizens for the actions of a few...but I do understand why you feel it needs to be done." she said pursing her lips.

She lapsed into silence once more as she figured out her own thoughts. "In the grand scheme of things, I suppose the understanding...." she said trailing off and shaking her head. "Nevermind. It matters not." she said said exhaling a long slow breath. After what Death had revealed to her she understood a lot of things a lot better but she wasn't more wise or all knowing....just better informed. "It seems this world has done the Four Horseman a grave injustice." she said tilting her head to the side slightly. "It seems that besides you and I, all other battles have been decided." she said deliberately leaving out Sailor Moons own fight. Against a force such as War, she stood no chance. Hell, if she were being honest with herself, Sailor Moon didn't stand a chance against any of the Horsemen. She was doomed no matter where she had gone to fight and that was an unavoidable fact. Sailor Moon was going to die and nothing was going to change that and Pluto couldn't find any pity in her heart to spare for the wretched woman. "In a different place and under different circumstances there would be a great deal more that I would ask you....but I don't think it would be appropriate now." she said flexing her fingers.

Eternal rest would soon be upon her. The endless cycle of life would be put to an end and so would her duty to Moon. Pluto could almost feel joyous, almost but not quite.
 
War

The eyes of the Rider of the Red Horse glared threateningly at the Queen, his impatience beginning to show through the subtle twitches in his face and body. His sense of honor forced him to wait for his opponent to ready themselves for battle, but that didn't mean he appreciated any form of stalling. And as Queen Serenity's frightened gaze locked with his own, he could see she was trying to think of an excuse, any excuse, not to cross swords with him. He did not understand why someone in possession of such a powerful artifact, the Silver Crystal, would fear him; as mighty as the Horseman was, if she were utilize its full potential he wouldn't stand a ghost of a chance against her. "That is the greatest chink in her armor...She refuses to accept who she is and hardly works to improve her skill. How pitiful" War grumbled in his mind; while it was true that he had eons of experience in weapon-based and unarmed combat, he'd seen when Death was looking through the various streams of time what she could do. What her true self was capable of.

His fingers flexed on the handle of his massive blade as she tried to form a sentence, only for the grip to tighten hard enough to shatter diamond when she then spoke those pathetic words. She didn't have a sword? She never wanted her power and had the gall to beg him to spare her and let her go? At her utterance, the fire roared up around the Horseman into a cloak-like shroud. His eyes turned a pure glowing red and leaked Chaos Energy from their corners. "You dare.....YOU DARE!?! After what you've done, you think have the right to beg for mercy!?! To beg me to spare you and let you walk away?!" he bellowed at Queen Serenity, a blast of heated air washing out with force from him and over her.

Without warning, he marched rapidly toward the Leader of the Senshi and grasped the collar of her outfit to haul her up, her booted feet dangling beneath her. His teeth seemed like they were about to break from his rage, forced into a tighter grimace than anyone could possibly imagine. "I can see why people are so disgusted with you; while your comrade and even your lover challenged me, you just sit there! When Sailor Mars tried to force you into action, you whimpered and retreated! Even when I killed her, all you did was stare! Not a single word of protest to her demise, no warning of what would happen! And you have the nerve....the utter nerve....to insult my intelligence! I know very well what you are capable of, and yet you cower in fear like a frightened child! Have you no honor in your soul? Do you plan to just hide while your world and people burn?!" he snarled, barely giving himself a chance to breathe as he raged at her.

Unceremoniously, he then threw her down to let her land on her rump. His red hues glaring down at her as he continued, "Your harp is very capable of turning into a blade; I've seen it done before. Now cease your incessant whining and....." He paused to invert his blade before ramming its tip into the earth next to her, barely missing her arm before he shouted, "RISE TO FACE ME, OR I WILL BURN THE FLESH FROM YOUR BONES AND LET THE VULTURES DINE ON YOUR CARCASS!" For a second, War felt that dastardly energy well up in him and threaten to take him over; no, he couldn't let it take control. He had to destroy Serenity on his own free will; though it didn't help that her utter cowardice made him so enraged.
 

[The above is a link to the characters images.]​

It was really all too much. She had destroyed chaos so she wouldn't have to fight any longer. So that she might finally live as a normal girl. But even after all that, they had all insisted she become the queen and rule Crystal Tokyo. Fine. At least she wasn't out there constantly fighting and risking her neck. At least she would be able to have some kind of normalcy. But now she was once again out fighting; this time it was some freaks from legend. She couldn't just get what she wanted, could she? Was a nice quiet normal existence really too much to ask for? To top everything, her dearest Endymion was dead, Mar's died with a horrid hatred for her and the red murderer in front of her was accusing her of some huge crime but he refused to tell her exactly what she'd done. She wished he would, she had no recollection of ever committing any crime...she felt so wrongly accused and unfairly punished for some unknown travesty.

Sailor Moon shrank in on herself when the fire that had quietly flickered around him roared to an angry blaze, red energy dripping from the corners of his eyes. The glow cast the Horsemans already harsh features into a demonic relief. "What have I done!? You continue to accuse me but have yet to tell me of what my crime is!!!" she cried out in pleading tones before the blast of heated air hit her. She was digging herself a deeper grave and worsening an already bad situation with every word and every inaction. But she could not understand this, nor understand why War was so angry. She let out a small scream that was cut short when he hauled her up off the ground. She gripped his massive wrists and struggled to get back on the ground. At his words she stilled and turned her eyes to look at him "I..." she attempted to say but the words died in her throat. He too was placing Endymions death at her feet as well as Mar's and even the people of Crystal Tokyo. Why was it her fault? He and his brothers were the ones attacking the city. She didn't understand why villains felt a need to justify their actions or place the blame at others feet. it was his fault not hers.

Before she could open her mouth to defend herself he released her and she landed with a small "thud" right on her ass. She felt her mouth dry out "He knows?" she thought incredulously. "Impossible, how could he possibly know that?" she thought staring up at him fear fairly thriving inside of her. It wasn't just a plant that clung to her...it was a veritable jungle, it's thorns and roots digging deep into her heart and soul. "I c-cant do it on command!" she cried, her entire body jerking as he rammed the sword mere centimeters from her arm. What was she going to do? He wasn't going to play with her, he wasn't going to listen and he certainly was not going to let her go. Fighting him was certainly out of the question, she had no hope of winning against him.

"The Silver Crystal could help you..."

A little voice echoed through her mind. It was true, the Silver Crystal held immense power and might destroy him. She'd been lucky in it's use before but she knew her luck was running thin. There was no chance she could use that much power and get away unscathed. It would probably kill her.

"Who say's you have to kill him with the attack?"

The little voice hummed in her mind once more. It confused her but slowly understanding dawned on her. She didn't have to kill him with the attack, just knock him back and stun him long enough so that she could run away. There really was nothing left to lose, most all of the Senshi were dead and Crystal Tokyo was destroyed. What more could she do? She certainly had no reason and no one to keep her here, keep her fighting any longer. She swallowed around a lump that had formed in her throat and stared up at him. She had to time it right and for once she didn't have anyone else to help her...she had to do it alone. She felt her resolve and spirit crumble, could she really do it alone? If she was to have any chance...she'd have to distract him.

"Would you just tell me what I did? You seem insistent that I brought this on everyone, that I'm the reason this is happening. If that's true; THEN WHY DON'T YOU JUST ANSWER ME AND TELL ME WHAT I DID?!"" she said screaming the last bit. Part of it was indeed to distract him but the other part of it was done out of pure frustration. She'd always been a little clueless but surely she'd have remembered doing something that would have warranted an attack of this magnitude. She wanted an answer.

She realized if she ran she'd have to stop at the tower to grab chibi-usa. She couldn't leave her daughter here, she had to protect her.
 
War

She still tried to buy time with talking; each second that passed, War could feel his rage screaming at him to simply cut her down where she stood. But there was no honor in that, no matter how much she seemed to turn a completely blind eye to her wrongdoing. And even worse, she seemed to be trying to feign the inability to summon her blade, the few objects in the Universe that could cross with his own and not shatter or crack. "I grow tired of your stalling..." the Horseman growled, his hand clenching the grip of his massive blade with enough force to bend steel. Even though it was clear she was not helping her case, she continued to provoke War's fury; then came a surge of that energy he thought to have shut away so long ago. Something that he knew should never be unleased, but if Serenity kept up her ignorance and defiance...It could bring about something more disastrous than even now.

"You know who she is, Horseman; your honor won't get the message across. She must learn what a true Destroyer is...Empty your rage. Open her veins and spill her blood; it's not like she can defend herself anyway. You've broken her, taken everything that was important" that bastardly voice echoed within the deep, dark confines of his psyche; War just ignored it and focused on Serenity. She now stood and still demanded that she know why she was being attacked, why her people and friends suffered. Breathing a heavy sigh, his red hues glared into her own as he replied, "How can you be so blind, Serenity? Did you not think that destroying Chaos would have repercussions? You tampered with a force that existed long before you did. Longer before even myself. Put simply, you have defied nature. Changed the course of history and time by failing to let those primordial forces determine the fate of you and your pitiful little planet. Your husband and friend suffered because of their loyalty to you; I did not tell them why I had come because they were only accessories. Accessories to one of the worst crimes any being can commit...Do you understand now, Serenity? When you destroyed Chaos, YOU CONDEMNED THEM TO DIE!!"

Even still, the Horseman could sense the fear in her; she wanted to run, wanted to make herself disappear. "Not even a shred of dignity...And yet she dares to paint me a criminal" he thought in his mind. Even if she did run, he would hunt her for the rest of her life, and there was very little she would be able to do to hide herself from him. Withdrawing his blade from the ground, the weapon making a prolonged 'shing' sound as its length was withdrawn from the hardened earth, War then whipped the point to have it pointing directly to the heavens; another blast of heated wind erupted from him, the flames covering his form expanding out in a solid hemisphere until it reached three football fields in diameter; strangely, it would not harm the Queen in the slightest, but burned everything else to ash and left the ground a solid charred black. Now Serenity had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, all alone with the Horseman War, the being whose rage slaughtered countless beings.

The sky above and the area around them were now devoid of any other life, only the cracking of the flame barrier and its coloration serving as the auditory and visual backdrops for this final battle. With the ring now set, War lowered his blade, his pupil-less eyes never having left Serenity's; if only looks could kill. "No more STALLING!" he then shouted, driving his sword back into the ground now directly in front of the Earth's Queen. Or rather, soon-to-be-former Queen; he fully intended to kill her here and now, even with what he was about to do. Rather than retake his sword, he actually stepped away from it as if to let her take it. "Since you refuse to acknowledge your strength...I will grant you the use of my blade for this battle. Pray you can properly wield it" War then added angrily, unsheathing the second sword strapped across his waist and whipping it forward to hold it in front of him; the moment it was done, a plume of fire erupted from its length, coating the surface in a cloak of white and red. "Now...Let us begin!"
 

[The above is a link to the characters images.]​

Sailor Moon didn't know what to do, if she couldn't distract or stall him long enough he'd cut her down before she got even two steps away. He didn't seem the talkative type, not like the enemies in the past. He seemed eager to fight and kill her in fact and wouldn't back off no matter what happened. She felt even should he be about to die, he'd still come at her a hundred percent body and soul. His entire being wholly fixated on killing her. The knowledge brought forth a tremor and goose-bumps covered her body. It was a truly chilling thought.

She stared blankly up at him for a long time trying to understand what he was talking about. For awhile her mind remained completely blank and then it hit her, the destruction of Chaos so long ago. In fact it had happened so long ago that she had nearly forgotten the act. She certainly didn't think it was a bad thing, in fact things had been going perfectly until this lout and his brothers descended upon Crystal Tokyo with proclamations of guilt and war. That and if it had truly been such a horrible act why hadn't they stepped in sooner? "If it was SUCH a bad thing why didn't you come here sooner? AND if it was SOO bad then how come the Earth has done nothing but PROSPER since it's destruction?" she challenged irritated by the Warrior. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do but then again...when had Sailor Moon ever been known to do the smart thing?

Next to never.

Sailor Moon flinched when he reached out and withdrew his blade and stared at him horridly transfixed as he raised it skyward. She felt another blast of heat surge from him and rush out in all directions....and decimate everything in it's wake. Soon they were the only things that raised from the blackened ground. Her eyes widened in terror and shock, did he know? had he guessed her intentions? There was nowhere, absolutely nowhere she could go to hide...she'd be seen for miles in any direction she ran. How would she be able to escape when one could see so far in any direction? She was good at running away but not that good. The horseman would recover before she got even half-way across the now barren surroundings. His gaze never dropped from hers, never wavered; they stayed steady on her, demanding and suffocating.

She started violently when he once more drove his giant blade into the ground in front of her. She waited a heartbeat only to watch him step back, her body was trembling but she was confused. She didn't stay that way for long, at his offer her mouth dropped open in astonishment and a frantic look entered her gaze. There was just no way he had just said what she thought he'd said, he didn't honestly expect her to be able to lift that gargantuan sword....did he? "A-Are you kidding me? There is no way I can lift that!" she said near tears. What did he take her for? Senshi or not she was still very much human. And even if she could lift it she couldn't very well pull it out of the crystal that it was now wedged into. He was asking the impossible.

She took a step back shaking her head. "N-No...." she stammered out. She took another step back, she had to get to chibi-usa. She couldn't die here, not while her daughter remained unprotected within the tower. She raised her hand to her chest and took another step back "I-I can't..." she said her voice barely above a whisper, her eyes akin to prey that's realized it's finally been caught by the hunter but is still trying to find a way to escape.
 
War

"You see, Horseman...No backbone. No willingness to fight, even when she is all she has left. She would rather cower and be slaughtered like an animal in the hunt than stand on her own two feet and face you" that voice commented in a weirdly cold manner; War just continued to ignore it, waiting even as Moon chewed him out for 'taking too long'. Such arrogance; so many worlds had committed similar crimes, but it was because of her action that they were forced to do so. And while it was true that her planet had prospered, it was only because the Chaos that would have ravaged her world - and should have despite the fact the Senshi came out victorious - now spread to others, infecting them with its sickness. She clearly had no concept of cause and effect, and for that her planet would suffer.

"The fact that you still do not understand is troubling; it would seem trying to explain it to you is too much of a chore. As much as it disgusts me, it seems that I must strike you down as you are now. In the name of the Almighty, the one who gave birth to Life and the Universe in all its parts.....I will kill you, Queen Serenity. Embrace your final punishment" War stated coldly; his fiery aura grew darker and more violent, the raging flames that encased his immortal form being stoked to unprecedented levels. However, the Horseman would find yet another obstacle to killing the Queen: A loud, ghastly bellow was heard and before either of them knew, the three Devastator Beasts that Conquest sent after War appeared in front of his target, rushing past the barrier of flame with little effort and forcing the Horseman to widen the gap between him and his target. "Conquest....You damned traitor! Be thankful the other Senshi finished you quickly!" War roared; soon the flame hemisphere collapsed back in on the Rider, charging his fury with the elemental energy. This would give Serenity the chance to run and hide. To get away from the enraged warrior seeking to spill her blood and crush the spearhead of the resistance Earth gave to its destruction.

As the first Devastator charged, War sidestepped the monster and shot the chain from his left bracer; its length wrapped around the handle and yanked it from the ground to pull it back into the Horseman's hand, allowing the warrior to wield both his blades. Another shockwave burst from his form, his rage causing his power to skyrocket and turn his flesh a noticeable shade of red. He cursed Conquest; now he would have to kill these demons before he could return to face the Queen of the Earth. No matter; even beasts as powerful as these would fall to him. A second Devastator charged him from behind; as it raised a massive arm to run the Horseman through with its claws, War turned and threw his smaller blade straight into the monster's eye, causing it howl in pain and stumble. War shot forward and jumped to an impressive height, ready to cleave the monster in half as he raised his sword over his head; the beast's wild swinging however, caught him in the side and sent him flying to the left. War managed to land on his feet, sliding across the charred crystal and seeming unfazed physically by the strike, only angered even more.

The Devastator turned to look at War, its hand pulling the relatively smaller sword from its bleeding socket and crushing the weapon with its massive hand. As it bellowed again and prepared to rush War, the Horseman raised his blade - its length glowing with tremendous power - and swung it hard forward; much like with Serenity and Endymion, the rage of the blade sped towards the monster and exploded on contact, making acrid smoke bloom from the blast zone. Before the smoke cleared, War charged the Devastator again; the now-damaged monster swung wildly, but War anticipated the move and in one swift motion, severed the limb from the creature's body. Before he could anything else though, War turned sharply and blocked another Devastator's strike by crossing his blade with its claws, the two now locked in a grapple and trying to overpower each other. With the Horseman now distracted and the third Devastator now moving in for the kill, it would seem Serenity had her window.
 

[The above are links to the characters images.]​

She was really going to die this time. There was no room for a last minute rescue and who would be able to rescue her from him anyways? She couldn't stop her body from shaking. She was literally paralyzed with fear. The fear that had flourished inside of her had finally struck her core being, leaving her completely immobilized. Not that it mattered. Even if she could move, there was nowhere for her to run too.

She was going to die.

He was going to kill her.

He wouldn't even hesitate.

His blade had not yet cut into her skin but she could already feel her life slipping away. Then again, she could merely be about to pass out. It would be preferable, then she'd never see the blow coming. Might not even feel any pain at all. Could she pass out on cue? Probably not. "The silver crystal..." the voice chimed in once more. Urging her to use the crystal but she couldn't call on it's full powers again, could she? "If you don't use it and die....who do you think will be next?" Next? She assumed it would be any remaining Senshi. "Your precious little daughter will be the next to die. Cut down without mercy." Chibi-Usa? She knew that she would be shown about as much mercy as the rest of the children of Crystal Tokyo who now lay among a sea of corpses. All their eyes staring blankly, accusingly at the living. If she called upon the crystal, could she still save her daughter?

However it seemed that she wouldn't need to use the Crystal after all. A terrible cry washed over the area and before she knew what was happening, three monsters appeared attacking her would-be-killer. The flames that had circled the perimeter of their charred battle ground disappeared, flowing back into the Horsemen much like it had flowed out of him. Without any hesitation she turned and ran. She didn't look back, she didn't slow down, she flew from the charred earth as if all of hell was at her heels. She could hear the battle taking place behind her and it urged her on faster. The burnt earth beneath her seemed to stretch on forever, she could just see the line where the crystal ground met with the damaged ground but it seemed to always move away from her. With an anguished cry of frustration she ran a little faster, practically stumbling over the line. Still she did not stop. She continued to run.

She stared out of the window of her room which was high on one of the many towers. It over-looked the city which had before been a mesmerizing sight. Now it was a hideous and defiled corpse. It's original beauty barely recognizable beneath the horrible scars that covered it. Even here, she could feel the power levels rise and fall, like a tide. She had been ordered by both her father and mother as well as the Senshi to stay inside while they all went off and fought. So many were dying out there and yet she was safe and secluded in here. "How could you ask this of me...?" she whispered to the crystal walls of her room. She felt her heart shredding inside and tears slid down her face. "It isn't fair...." she said almost angrily. How could they expect her to stay cooped up nice and safe while everyone else laid down their lives? What would she do if something happened to her Father? Mother? Her friends? Every single one of them was out there....and she was in here...safe and sound. She reached up and angrily wiped away the tears that were falling. She looked out once more and saw a familiar figure running towards her home. It was her mother and she was alone. Terror temporarily froze her in place and just as quickly panic replaced it. Where was her father? With that question in mind Chibi-Usa ran to her door and wretched it open and flew down the tower to meet her mother.

She was just about there, just a few more feet and she'd be at the doors. Her sides hurt and she felt like daggers were stabbing her lungs with each breath she took but still she ran. It was all she could do at the moment. Without breaking her stride she wretched open the doors and ran inside. She was met with silence as she flew up the stairs, heading for her bedroom. She was met along the way by a terrified Chibi-Usa. She saw her about to ask a question and instead of stopping she continued to run, reaching out she grabbed her daughters hand and pulled her along behind her.

Chibi-Usa saw her mother and had stopped and had opened her mouth to ask "Where is dad?" but before she could she felt her arm being yanked and her body pulled after her fleeing mother. "Whats happened out there?" she thought even more alarmed than before. It didn't take them long to reach the doors of her parents bedroom which her mother just pushed open and ran inside.

Upon reaching her room she released her daughters arm. She closed the doors behind her and locked them. She slowly backed away from the door her breathing heavy and frantic "We.....we have to leave..." she said not really turning to look at her daughter. Not wanting to face the question she was sure would come.

"Leave?...." she thought blankly. If she intended to leave then why had she locked the door? "Mom...where is dad?...the other Senshi? What is going on?" she asked staring at her mother confused and terrified of hearing what her mother might have to say.

And there it was. "Endymion..." she thought sinking to the floor tears falling in streams down her face, her body racked with the force of her emotions. "They are dead....they are all dead!" she said as another burst of tears assailed her. Everyone was dead, or at least soon to be dead. Jupiter had been wrong, there was no way they could beat this enemy. It was truly impossible. Crystal Tokyo was dead, the Horsemen and their demons had over-run and destroyed it. Making it their new home. They had to leave at once. But, where would they go? If the horsemen were here to destroy the world then theres no doubt but that they would find her. Might not be today...or even tomorrow it might even take months but they eventually would. She'd spend the entire time looking over her shoulder. Every day wondering when they'd at last be discovered. It wasn't fair.

Dead? Her father was dead? The senshi...dead? She couldn't believe it. It was impossible but deep in her heart she could feel it to be true. She felt herself start to shake and a deep sadness and anger welled up within her breast. They were all dead, trying to protect the city...her...and they had died. Her mother...who no doubt was protected at all costs too...wanted to run? "We can't leave..." she said looking at her mother confused. "We can't run away. Everyone died protecting their home....us. It would be wrong to run." she said as if it were the most common logic in the world. "I won't leave what my father died protecting. And I will avenge his death." she said turning from her mother.

Leave if you want....but I refuse to go with you." she said feeling oddly hollow inside.
 
War::Death::War the Great Destroyer

War continued to fight, his blade and strength resisting the push of the Devastator's attempt to overpower him; however, he soon heard the rumbling footsteps behind him and turned his head to see a third beast rushing him, its clawed arm raised high to cut him down. "Damn it all..." the Horseman growled; he waited for a few seconds to let the monster get closer, then shifted his blade and pushed off with it to his left, causing the Devastator he was resisting to fall forward and directly into the path of the swing by the newcomer. An ear-shattering howl was heard, thick globs of blood spewing from the large shoulder wound of the red-skinned behemoth. Strangely enough, these monsters seemed to disregard the fact they attacked each other and turned to face the Rider, their eyes speaking volumes of their intent to kill him. "Conquest...Pray I never find you, for what I am about to do to your little pets is but a sliver of what will befall you" War said through gritted teeth; a great surge of power coursed through him, flames reaching up to create a stunning column of white, red and orange before he charged at them, the monsters doing the same in kind. War's feet pounded the scorched earth as the distance between him and the nearest Devastator closed, both sides rushing to kill the other as quickly as possible. He then gave a small leap and as his body turned in a circle, it quickly transformed into a being of pure Hellfire. The fire construct's lower body seemed to disappear into the ground, leaving only a hulking torso with its massive arms; the flaming right fist held high to drive down into the beast that dared challenge one of the Four. In a flash, War struck down with tremendous force; the resulting explosion created a rather impressive ball of light and blast of wind, causing the already destroyed crystal to fracture even more. When the smoke cleared, only two Devastators remained, their comrade vaporized into nothing. In the center stood War, his blade at the ready as he went after the next target; the second Devastator - the one whose arm War had cut off - too charged again, their blades clashing together. But now their chances of survival were even less; Chaos Energy was sucked into War with each strike of his colossal weapon, causing the Horseman's rage to escalate more and more. Once more the blades locked with each other; however, the Devastator was now the one being forced back, the Rider's strength reaching ungodly levels from the intensity of the combat. "You were a fool to come after me, beast; you will know the fate of those that dare come between me and my original opponent!" War shouted angrily, to which the monster bellowed in the Horseman's face with its putrid breath. Twisting the sword, War leaped onto the massive set of claws mounted to the creature's wrist and in one fluid movement, severed the second limb; the massive appendage fell to the ground, the beast howling painfully as the wound was again seared shut from the heat of his sword. But right as War cut the arm off, he leaped high into the air, his blade inverting in his grasp before the point was driven into the creature's skull; the Horseman pressed forward and wrenched it, an audible and bloodcurdling 'CRACK' resonating throughout the space. As the creature fell over dead, War jumped off and turned to face the last Devastator, who now seemed to have some shred of cognition that taking down this enemy might be a fatal error. As the two stared each other down, War's chest heaved as the rage and flow of blood screamed in his ears, his teeth clenched so hard that they seemed to be on the verge of shattering. The grip on his weapon was one that could crack stone and bend metal, his flesh as red as the blood he spilled; the air shimmered around him, the heat of the fire that burned with unimaginable ferocity in his soul unbearable for almost anyone to be near.

"Damn your brother, sending such weak and troublesome creatures after us; we will punish him later though. Kill this fool and let us go after the Queen" that wretched voice spoke to him; War then swung his sword backwards, the power within seeming to grow without limit. The Horseman then gave a mighty cry as light and heat enveloped him; when it faded, a new beast stood where War once was. Its entire form seemed to be made of scorched rock, veins coursing with magma crossing over the entirety of his flesh. Wings sprouted from his back, his feet looking more reptilian and his hands turning to large claws. Twin horns sprouted from his temple, curving under his hard-to-see chin and back up to resemble hooks with thorns along the outer edge. His blade too transformed, becoming larger and losing much of its metallic appearance, seeming to be composed of lava given form. The Devastator flinched as the heat dried its skin, causing it to peel and crack and reveal the muscle beneath; however, its singleminded nature eventually won over and forced it to rush towards War...And its own demise. The Horseman now let out a bellow of his own; when the Devastator was in range, he gave a wide swing of his sword, the length creating a deep sizzling cut in the beast's flesh. Another swing and the monster lost its left arm, a third and its stomach was sliced wide open, causing it to fall to its knees. Its head tilted up to see this new Horseman staring down, his pure white hues uncaring as the molten blade was raised once more and swung down hard, cutting the beast perfectly in half; for a few moments, neither moved, but eventually the halves of the last Devastator fell apart from each other, landing in completely opposite directions.

Little did anyone realize what would come next; War's mind fell prey to the darkness that clouded him in this form, and right now he could only think one thing: Destroy. For the longest time War just stood there, the heat rolling off his new fiery form in waves, the baritone growls leaving its slightly misshapen mouth causing plumes of flames to eject out. If anyone thought this was War at his ultimate...They would quickly realize how wrong they were. "Let me out, War....The Queen, she will try to flee. She must pay for what she has done, as must this world for failing to keep her in check" muttered the dark voice; all the while, the aura around the Horseman grew darker and darker, the skies above where he stood becoming turbulent and foreboding. "Yes...Let the symphony of blood fuel your anger, let it claw out and bring the divine obliteration of this planet into reality! A great rage, the greatest rage, stirs within! You must release it, Horseman!" the evil tone grew more gleeful; whatever spoke to War seemed to grow stronger, as if the Rider's endless aggression were giving it power. The molten blade too began to stir, rippling and bubbling like the contents of a volcano ready to blow; the heavens grew darker still, thunder and lightning resounding above. And then came screams...Not screams of pain or fright, but those of rage and bloodlust, the screams befitting those who fell in battle. They grew louder and louder, permeating the air around him and then spreading out; the Horseman's dragon-like form began to shift, growing taller and the wings becoming larger. The molten metal of the great blade to grow larger and larger; as it was raised to the sky, the length soon shot out to be even taller than the Crystal Palace, letting all see before it melt down and surround the Horseman, covering him with what appeared to be a second skin before expanding, shifting and transforming into a monstrosity that few would recognize; those that did however, would know just how dire the situation was becoming.

Death on the other hand, was just about finished with Setsuna; as much as he despised having to kill her, her inaction against Usagi was unforgivable. He knew that she knew their leader was beyond simple advising; action was required at the time and she failed to take such a path. Even if she had died in the attempt, Death would have worked to spare her planet; it was a shame that he made it to where no one could call them, but it was a safety precaution less anyone try to bind the Horsemen and use them. But at least she understood, even if it went against her beliefs; that was something that Death knew many claimed to do, but in reality very few could. "No...We have not been done any injustice. While I wouldn't consider us destroyers, I can relate to why there are those that label us as such. In the end, it doesn't really matter what we are called; we have a duty and we will perform it". And with that, Death finally rose from his seat; it was time to end this. It was odd; even though he met in the flesh only now, he felt that she shouldn't have to suffer. But she allied herself with the Senshi...It was now fate that made it to where she would die. He stretched and rolled his shoulders, working out some of the kinks; curse these old bones, he thought. They were such a pain sometimes. Death took a moment to analyze his surroundings after he cracked his neck; there were certainly fewer energies around.

It seemed Mars too had fallen and War now had the Queen trapped; Jupiter and Pluto were still alive, but were currently out of commission. He could not sense Famine or Conquest’s presence, at least not in this plane; they must have somehow been sealed. Regardless, they handled their roles and Death would find a way to release them from their prisons. "She's as good as dead; no doubt War will refuse to seek out the others and cut their throats or something. He won't harm an unconscious opponent...His honor won't allow it" Death mused mentally; once he finished with this one, he would reap the souls of Jupiter and Saturn, thereby taking the lives of the last of Earth’s defense. He then turned his attention back to Pluto, those orange-yellow almond-shaped eyes glaring at her from beneath his hood, "Well, Setsuna…I’m afraid our time together is up. If we had met under better circumstances, perhaps we could have been excellent acquaintances". A sudden chill, one that even Pluto herself would feel, descended on the area and seemed to emit from Death’s very being; the immortal Reaper then brought his scythe in front of him, inverting the weapon so that the heel now rested on the ground. "A shame really; there are so few people I find tolerable in the Universe. And it always seems I have to kill them…This will be over quickly though, I promise you". All of a sudden, a loud ‘DING’ was heard as the solid gold ring latched into the mouth of the skull at the bottom of the snath seemed to shoot up into the sky of its own volition; a loud exhale was given by Death, causing a rush of cold air to wash over the Senshi’s form as the ring then fell down to hover over the Rider’s head like an angel’s halo. All the while the glow of his eyes seemed to intensify. Green energy began to pour out from the Horseman, as well as the ring which rapidly began to spin and create a distinct whirring noise, both of which combined to form a shroud of green mist; a spine-chilling gust then dispelled the cloak and revealed Death in his true form. His weapon and himself had significantly grown, the former largely retaining its appearance with the addition of serrated teeth along the edge of the blade. The strange attire that the Rider wore was replaced with a ragged black cloak, the only portions of his body visible were the exposed bones of his hands. Titanic wings devoid of flesh and membranous tissue protruded from his back, giving him the appearance of a dead angel ravaged by time, which flapped and allowed him to levitate. A lantern hung from his neck, its light shining brightly in all directions while a worn book was strapped to his left hip and a small glass orb was strapped to his right. ”This may be what you humans call ‘overkill’, but I must finish this quickly and cannot afford to waste any more time” Death then spoke, his voice resonating in Setsuna’s mind, possessing a far greater degree of coldness in its tone.

However, a great rush of rage-saturated energy seemed to burst over them, soon accompanied by a loud sonic boom; a great sense of foreboding filled Death’s non-existent stomach. This power….No, it couldn’t be. He wouldn’t go that far…Just what had Queen Serenity done to drive War to this degree? How could it have happened? No…No, it wasn’t her, but he knew she certainly didn’t help her case. ”Conquest, you fool! You dare attack your own for such a petty reason?” the Horseman muttered, annoyance filling every syllable of his words. Death then felt his heart give out when an enormous shadow rose from the ground; off in the distance, a great beast grew and grew, taking on a form the Green Horseman had hoped to never have to see again. ”No….War, you couldn’t have. That beast was sealed!” Death’s voice shouted psychically, disbelief and a hint of genuine fear now replacing the annoyance he’d expressed towards Conquest as he now turned to face away from Setsuna. Eventually, the creature stopped growing, its height now well over three hundred stories and able to be seen by just about everyone; rage and the desire to annihilate exuded from every inch of its being, and before long the eyes shone a brilliant red, as did the rest of its metallic-looking flesh. The monster then gave a great bellow, the wings upon its back shooting out to an enormous span and causing a release of energy so massive that Death had to sink the scythe blade into the ground just to stop from being blown away. "LOOK UPON ME, NEO-QUEEN SERENITY, AND KNOW THE FACE OF YOUR DEATHBRINGER! IN ONE STROKE, I WILL TEAR THE EARTH ASUNDER AND WIPE MANKIND FROM THE FACE OF EXISTENCE!" the monster bellowed, his entire form tensed and ready for combat. The air itself shook with each utterance, and soon a soul-crushing force was felt by all, even Death. The Green Rider could see it though; Chaos Energy rushed towards the behemoth, filling the beast like water to a lake. Red tendrils seeped from every direction, flowing into the Destroyer's form and with each passing moment, the force grew more and more and made the fabric of reality seem to shake with greater violence. ”No...This much Chaos in one location! Is he insane!?” Death shouted in a stupefied fashion; another bellow was given by War's new form, making even Death resonate within his bones. And much to the Horseman's horror, tears could be seen forming in the sky...Forming everywhere! No, he was going to cause a massive singularity! If he brought the Void to Earth, he'd make it all collapse! But that wasn't the worst part...Death thought he saw something he'd been dreading this whole time onre in of the tears, his latent ability to analyze timestreams now able to be used despite being outside the Void; focusing more, a sudden intake of air was heard, rather loud and clearly a sign of great shock. "No, this cannot be....How?!" was his only statement, conveying the disbelief he felt quite clearly; Pluto wouldn't be able to see what he saw, but he did and it made him realize the gravity of their situation. Giving a wide swipe of his hands, he extinguished the circle of fire around him and Setsuna, stating ”Go, Setsuna! Grab Jupiter and Saturn and bring them to where that beast is! I'll explain later, but hurry! We don't have much time!” His wings then flapped with great power as he took to the sky, rushing towards his monstrous brother-in-arms; he only prayed he would be able to stop War before he caused any irreversible damage.
 


[The above are links to the respective character images.]​

"Ah, well I suppose that is life and it's oddities. It seems we must often have to destroy that which we might have enjoyed." she said smiling a little. She didn't bother commenting on his other statement, there really was no need. She agreed with him, had they not been forced together by the hands of battle then they certainly would have become rather agreeable companions. In a seemingly infinite cycle of life, it would have been a nice change. However things were not different and this was how things must be. They were on opposing sides of a battlefield, talking is about the only thing they could do. "I dearly regret the way in which things have turned out." she murmured to herself glancing around at the ruined city, or at least what she could see of it from her current position. She nodded her head and stood stretching out her limbs and back, sitting for long periods of time was hard on anybody. She claimed her Scythe and held it patiently in front of her. She watched as Death changed his form and shook her head a little. She felt the cold blast of air hit her and even though she wanted to shiver and rub her arms she remained firm and did not give into the human in her. In fights like this it was better to forget, at least for awhile that one was human.

"If it gets the task done quickly then it matters not." she said with a self depreciating smile. She'd done things before in the past that could have been considered "over-kill" because it finished the task quickly and efficiently.

She readied to battle him wondering if she'd last even two strikes before her immortal soul was reaped from her body. But before either of them could raise their weapons against their opponents a vile energy swept over the area effectively distracting the both of them. "What in the...." Pluto said twisting her head in the direction the energy seemed to have been coming from. She looked back at Death and furrowed her brows. Death was certainly deeply troubled by whatever they had just felt. She had a sneaking suspicion that he knew what it meant. Before she could ask anything though she heard a voice fill the air and felt a deep icy fear grip her insides. The monstrous bellow was soon followed by a force that seemed to suck the very air from Pluto's lungs. "What in the creators name has been unleashed into this world?" she thought deeply shaken. If only she knew. Before she could catch a glimpse of the monstrosity that now dominated Crystal Tokyo or even before she could ask Death what had happened she was being ordered to collect her two fallen comrades. The order alarmed her as nothing else could have. She did not argue though and simply nodded her head and turned quickly on her heel heading for Jupiter who was the closest.

As she flew through the ruins of Crystal Tokyo she glanced over in the direction where the energy had come from earlier and stopped dead in her tracks. She saw the behemoth and comprehension struck with the force of a lightening bolt. She'd seen this beast before, he'd been in one of the many scenes Death had shown her. "Why is he here!?" she thought. For a moment it seemed like the normally calm and cold Pluto would break down and succumb to primal human emotions. At the last minute she pulled herself together with some difficulty and ran towards her goal even faster than before. There was no time to panic.

Before long she came upon what must have been Jupiter's battlegrounds. The buildings were all completely crumbled and the ground was torn and up-heaved, creating tiny jagged mountains of crystal ground. It looked as if Jupiter had unleashed the full force of her electrical prowess upon the small area. Slowly she picked her way along the broken ground until she came across Jupiter's limp form. She knew without having to check her pulse that she was alive. She could still sense her life force, clinging valiantly to the string of life. Going to her knees beside Jupiter, Pluto rested her hands on the unconscious woman's body and moved them up and then down her body trying to assess the extent of her injuries. Most of her injuries were internal, in fact most of her organs looked as if they had, had a bold of lightening flash through though them. "Or several bolts..." she silently amended. By all rights she should have been killed but it seemed that her body had already begun to repair itself. "She must have used that..." she thought nodding to herself.

She was sure that at some point, Jupiter had used her far less known ability in earth. The effects of that technique had obviously continued to work even after she'd emerged from the cocoon of branches. If she'd been left alone, Jupiter would have recovered in a few days. Perhaps a week. But they did not have that kind of time, so Pluto fixed her hands an inch above the Warriors and sped up her own normal healing and the healing properties of her Earth technique. For several minutes Pluto sat extremely still focusing intently on the task at hand. She could sense Jupiter's life force growing stronger as the damage to her internal body was slowly healed and fixed. After another few moments she dropped her hands and rested them on her thighs while she waited for her to regain consciousness. She would not have to wait long.

Jupiter felt the darkness slowly begin to recede from her mind, slowly being replaced by a thick fog. After a moment she slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times to rid herself of the blurriness. She went to move and winced as pain shot through her body. Well, she certainly wasn't dead. "Most of the important injuries have healed but you still have a good many left." Turning her head she looked up at Pluto as her vision cleared. "I see." she said sitting up slowly. Taking into account a few factors and she knew she could safely assume that she'd successfully dealt with the bastard, Famine. She felt a surge of bitterness swell within her breast. She ruthlessly squashed the feelings and turned back to Pluto, studying her for a moment. "So why did you find it necessary to speed up my healing process?" she asked. She knew she hadn't been unconscious for very long. A few hours at most. Surely things couldn't get any worse than they were in such a short span of time. "I suppose I shouldn't make such assumptions considering whats happened thus far." she thought sighing a little and wincing. Gingerly she reached down and touched her ribs. She didn't even recall getting hit there.

Pluto looked at Jupiter for a moment "Before me and Death fought we were interrupted. Death ordered me to bring you and Saturn back with me. she said pursing her lips a troubled gleam entering her eyes. "It might make it easier to understand if you saw rather than heard whats happened." she said motioning behind Jupiter.

Jupiter scowled "Death? Isn't he one of the enemies?" she thought a little worried. What could have possibly made Pluto heed the words of her enemy? Twisting her body around she looked in the direction Pluto had motioned to. When she caught site of the monstrosity her entire body stilled and she let out a low whistle "I...see." she said ignoring the pain in her body she stood up and brushed the debris from her body. "Am I to assume that you coming for me and Saturn alone means that the others were....defeated?" Jupiter asked watching as Pluto got to her feet. Pluto just looked at her and she understood without having to be told. All the others were dead. All except Sailor Moon. Even from here she could sense Crystal Tokyo's leaders life force. There was something very erratic about it's pulsing. "I suppose we should hurry along." she said stepping aside to let Pluto ahead of her.

Without another word both women took off towards Saturn.

It didn't take them long to arrive back at the start of the whole thing. It wasn't very hard to find Saturn's body, it happened to be in an area that held almost no other corpses or other forms of debris. She watched Pluto lower herself back to the ground and go to work helping Saturn. "She sustained far less damages than you did." Pluto said when she'd finished assessing the damage. She watched Pluto's body still, unsure of what to do she just stood there silently and waited. The seconds ticked by into minutes before she saw Pluto rest her hands back on her thighs. Another few seconds ticked by before Saturn roused.

Saturn opened her eye's and felt like her skull might crack in two. Sitting up she covered her face with her hands. She sat there silently for several moments before she finally raised her head up and looked at Pluto "Whats happened?" All Pluto did was point in the direction of the behemoth. She turned her head and stared at the monster for a long time without a word. "Understood." she said. Standing up she re-summoned her weapon at her side and waited for Pluto to raise to her feet as well. And with that they all turned and headed directly for the obsidian giant.

Sailor Moon stared at her daughter in horror. "You can't go out there! It's suicide!" she said waving her arms around. Chibi-usa just stared at her mother "The others gave their lives willingly hoping to save at least some. How can I run away with that on my shoulders?" she asked. Sailor Moon didn't comprehend her daughter, didn't she have any survival instincts at all? But then, she had not seen what their enemies were capable of. Surely if she knew she wouldn't be so adamant about staying? Before she could say anything she heard something that turned her blood to ice. Her face paled and her gaze remained fixed in place somewhere over her daughters shoulder. A voice bellowed out, the rage and the force causing the tower to shake slightly. She looked out the window and gave a strangled scream falling back against a wall. She continued to stare out the window her entire body shaking violently and abruptly fell to the floor.

Chibi-Usa felt the hair on her arms and neck stand on end when she heard the voice"What ..." she asked turning to look out the window as well. Her eyes widened when she saw the obsidian behemoth. "Mother...what is that?" she asked suddenly feeling cold all over. Sailor Moon just shook her head, the sight seeming to have rendered her mute.

Things had escalated rather quickly and it seemed to be beyond fixing now.
 
Episode 6: Flash of the Blade, A Brother's Lament

Death::War the Great Destroyer

As Death flew towards War, he contemplated what course of action to take; as much as he didn't want to have live up to his unspoken promise to War, he could not allow that to destroy this planet. Especially given what he saw in that first tear; more so than now, rips in the fabric of reality could be seen forming in the sky and causing great distortions in the space around them. And to compound matters further, these tears were allowing Chaos to flow into War at even greater quantities, the sheer power causing the world in its entirety to begin to shake. "Time's running out" the Horseman mused mentally. Even with Death now in his 'Reaper' form, the fact that War was able to overcome the binds and transform into that monster...This was a battle that could turn out very badly. And worse yet...He needed the help of those he considered enemies; he had a feeling deep down that he might have to force them to help him. "Why, Creator.....Why would you do this? Is this another part of the plan?" Death then asked himself as he neared his brother's titanic body. He knew he could show no relent, no mercy....But having to fight his own brother was something that even Death had never fathomed he would have to do again.

War, meanwhile, was reveling in the massive amounts of Chaos he was drawing in; he would live up to his promise and crack the Earth in half with a single blow. "DO YOU SEE NOW, SERENITY!?! DO YOU SEE WHAT YOUR COWARDICE HAS WROUGHT!? BECAUSE OF YOU, YOUR PLANET'S FATE IS NOW SEALED!" he bellowed, sending out another massive shockwave of power as he raised his left arm; the gigantic appendage was glowing with the intensity of the sun and a loud whirring filled the air, the noise soon growing into a deafening roar that could be heard for miles as he concentrated an enormous amount of energy into it. War seemed completely oblivious to the other damage he was causing; the gleaming red hues stared at where he would strike with an unrelenting fury. "LET...THIS WORLD....BUUUUUURN!!" was the titan's final roar as he swung his fist down; a massive mushroom cloud erupted from the point of impact, making the previous energy releases seem like minor breezes in comparison. All the buildings aside from the Crystal Spire shook violently before shattering, the debris flying out in almost every direction imaginable. Some would pierce the Spire itself, but none would luckily penetrate the window where Serenity and Chibi Usa happened to be gazing from. For many minutes the massive blast winds rocked the area; soon though, a vortex formed and drew the energy back in somehow, along with much of the debris that flew through the air. "WHAT.....WHAT MANNER OF TRICKERY IS THIS?!" War shouted, angry and confused as to why this planet was still in one solid piece; as the last of the smoke cleared, his brother Death could seen, his bony left hand extended outward and seeming to be holding a relatively large black hole in his palm. Strange chanting resonated through the air in a very dead tongue, one that no one - not even Angels or Demons - would recognize, and as Death's voice died down, so did the massive tear Death himself created to disperse a large portion of the energy.

"DEATH! I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN YOU WOULD BETRAY US!" War shouted, looking down at his much smaller brother; Death replied in his wispy tone, "No, Brother; it is not I who betrays you. This must end now....". "BAH! YOU ONLY SEEK TO SPARE THIS PLANET TO AVOID FEELINGS OF REMORSE! YOU WERE ALWAYS SOFT, BROTHER!" "YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS AT STAKE! DO NOT LET THE DESTROYER CONTROL YOU! THE APOCALYPSE IS OVER!" Death then shouted, agitated though knowing it was THAT creature within his brother influencing his thoughts and actions. "HE AND I ARE ONE! WE COMPREHEND! WE KNOW WHAT OUR DUTY IS, AND WE WILL CUT DOWN THOSE WHO OPPOSE US! THAT INCLUDES YOU, BROTHER! AND IT IS NOT OVER UNTIL I TAKE THE QUEEN'S HEAD AND CRUSH THE SENSHI MYSELF!" War replied back heatedly; he raised his left fist again, the glow along his arm starting to make itself known again. However, before much of anything could be said or done, a great crescent-shaped flash of light was seen by all and Death's form now appeared behind War, just above the monstrosity's shoulders with his scythe extended like he'd just cut something. Much of the Horseman's left arm soon fell to leave only a bit of the appendage below the shoulder socket, the severed flesh crashing into the ground and causing another quake; War bellowed out in agony and fell to a knee, his other hand coming up to rest over the now-massively bleeding stump.

"I SAID ENOUGH, WAR! CEASE THIS UNLESS YOU WANT TO LOSE ANOTHER LIMB!" Death shouted again, his winged form turning in midair to face his kneeling brother. War's head turned to face him, the eyes of the Destroyer gleaming with untold surges of hatred and rage. Without warning, the metallic flesh from the severed limb seemed to leap from the flesh and flow like a wave back to the main body, quickly re-assimilating with the rest of the armored shell and forming a cover for the stump. The rage within caused War's power to skyrocket, his deep air-shaking voice crying out, "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS, DEATH!" A giant fireball then erupted from the Red Horseman's massive body and rapidly expanded out like a supernova and engulfed the Reaper; heat shot out like a cannon in a sphere, causing those not shielded by the crystal ruins to be dried to husks. When the fire diminished, Death could be seen with wisps of ice clinging to his ragged cloak; seemed like he and War truly were matched to be complete opposites of each other. "If this is what you want, brother....Then so be it" Death stated coldly as he raised his scythe and charged into battle once more.

For the next few moments, Death and War did what many would be believed to be impossible, especially the five remaining Senshi: They fought. Brother vs. brother, a monstrous warrior fueled by rage and fire combating a near-omnipotent harbinger of death and icy retribution. Two beings who had both wanted to maintain the natural order, but had such opposing viewpoints on how it should be carried out. Death's scythe cut large gashes into the Destroyer's armor, but the immense rage from War's soul and the flow of Chaos Energy ensured that those wounds rapidly closed up. The Destroyer's eyes also shot beams of fire at the winged dead angel, narrowly missing the Green Horseman as he tried to disable his brother. Contrary to Death's statement, he would NOT kill War; no, for this was not him. As angry as War was, something twisted him....Made his rage spiral out of control even more than it had in the past. But for now, he knew his brother would only respond to force; there was no sense trying to talk him down at this point. "It must have been because of that...Got to think of a way to separate the two of them, but how?" was the Rider's musing as he continually evaded War's massive and potentially fatal strikes; each beam and blow that missed instead crashed into the already damaged ground, causing massive quakes to rock the area and destabilize what few fractured structures remained. Death only hoped that Serenity had the sense to stay indoors for the time being, as the Spire was the only real safe place; no doubt she was scared beyond comparison, and Death would make sure to not let War get anywhere near it.
 


[The above are links to the respective character images.]​

The ground shook and the air hummed around the behemoth that was once War. It was a certainty that his mere presence was enough to choke the life out of any who were normal. The world had been running on borrowed time since the moment the horsemen arrived and it finally seemed as if the clock had finally stopped ticking. Each breath was breathed in fear and relief when the world remained barely tethered to the realm of existence. Fear that in the next breath the world would cease, destroyed so completely as to be condemned to oblivion. Those remaining were not enough to stop the colossus destroyer. So all waited with bated breaths for their world and their lives to be wiped from the galaxy. Would it be a slow death? Or would they not even realize that their life had been extinguished? That was the only question that burned in the minds of those few who'd survived.

Sailor Moon. Such a little maudlin.
Of course it had been all her fault. She never could do anything without blundering. And in normal Sailor Moon fashion, when she blundered, she blundered hard. This was without a doubt her worst blunder of all, even with all the mistakes in the past she had never before jeopardized the existence of the entire world. Possibly put the world at the hands of one who wished to enslave the world, to rule it. But never before had it been in danger of being utterly destroyed. It was her finest and her most damning mistake of all. If by some divine miracle they all survived the encounter, she would have a lot to answer for and even more to pay for. She would not escape retribution. There would be no safety for the former queen of Crystal Tokyo and former leader of the Senshi. It was a long time coming and it seemed as if it might not come at all. Sailor Moon would be destroyed but so then would the entire world. It was a bitter and some- a lot would say, rather unfair conclusion to her reign. The cowardice of the Queen had sealed the fate of the world. That was unfair.

Pluto saw Death confront the former War. She could not hear what he said but all and sundry could hear the giants responses. The thunderous boom of his voice caused the debris to vibrate on the ground and unsteady building to sway precariously. It gave everyone a good idea of what was being talked about and it seemed that War was inexorable. She sucked in her breath when Death seemingly gave up the futile talk and attacked his brother. "Even Death will have some difficulties with him..." pluto thought pursing her lips. She wasn't sure what Death required of them. She did not want to jump in and risk ruining his plan- if he indeed had one- and if she did she would only get herself destroyed. He must hate it she thought. Having to fight War was likely causing Death some grief. But there was no help for it. Sure, judgement had passed on this world and it was supposed to be destroyed but she imagined the power this thing was able to use would do damage to more than just this world.

The three Senshi braced themselves as a tidal wave of power washed over them. One thing was certain, any prolonged battle between Death and the Destroyer would certainly accomplish the task they had initially set out to do.

"We can't let them continue to fight like this..." Jupiter said her voice as troubled as her gaze.

"How do you intend we should stop them?" practical as ever, Saturn was the very voice of reason and logic.

"I don't know. But if those two continue to fight like this, our world will surely be destroyed." she said clenching her fists at her side.

"Right now, more than just our world is in danger of being destroyed." Pluto said softly. She felt the other two Senshi glance at her in surprise. "We are protectors...if one world must be sacrificed to save the rest...then it is a small price to pay." she continued in the same soft tones. She could feel Jupiter beside her tensing and braced herself for an argument. But after a moment she subsided.

"You are right, of course." she said sounding oddly defeated.

"I suppose what should be decided now is a course of action. If left between them this battle could rage on indefinitely." Saturn said quietly, almost emptily.

"We could always sacrifice Sailor Moon?" she said facetiously.

There was a short tense silence but no one said anything about her inappropriate comment. It was likely that the others had thought that even if sacrificing her didn't stop anything then at least they'd all be rid of her.

"Pluto?" Saturn said a question hanging in the air.

Pluto remained silent for she did not know how to answer the unspoken question that Saturn had asked. She did not know what to do. She wasn't sure there was anything that they could do. Watching War and Death was like watching two Gods battle. Against Gods, what hope did they have? War's massive voice thundered across the skies once more and moments later a formidable force and intense inferno crashed through the air surrounding the beast. Without voicing the command, Pluto and Saturn activated their defensive capabilities to protect them from the brunt of the attack. The extreme heat receded and they were able to see the extent of the damage. Buildings that had been crumbling to ruin had been completely destroyed. Crystal shards of all shape and form flew through the air and imbedded themselves into whatever remained standing in the wake of the violent force. Had the heat not burned them alive, finding themselves impaled with hundreds if not thousands of sharp pieces of crystal shrapnel was sure to have finished the job.

Death and the Monstrosity once more began to fight. It was truly a magnificent sight. There would truly be little to nothing left once this fight was concluded.

Inside Crystal Tokyo, Sailor Moon was little more than a cowering mass. With each bellow, each shake, each word she tried that much harder to shrink. To become a part of the tower walls. She refused to even look outside. Inside her mind was a chaotic wreck, her senses long since scattered to the four winds by the mind numbing fear. She had to leave, if she stayed here that monster was going to find her and it was a certainty. She whimpered and shrank farther into the corner in which she'd been curled in. She didn't even register that her daughter had left the room.

Where was the Queen when the world teetered on the brink of extinction? Why, she cowered fearfully in her room while everyone else burned in the fires of hell.
 
Death::Death (Life Fraction)::Death (Death Fraction)::War the Great Destroyer

Death tried his hardest not to have to kill his brother, but he also knew deep down that War - especially in his current state - would have no such reservations. Over and over again, the Harvester cleaved into the Destroyer's metal skin, only to have it instantly regenerate from the massive flux of Chaos Power that was flowing through the air. He did have an idea on how to stop War without killing him...But it would be very difficult to pull off, and he would need to strike War at his core. But with the negligible amount of penetration that he could do - even less now that the flesh from his brother's severed arm had rejoined with the armor encompassing the remainder of his body - all his strikes seemed to do was enrage the beast further. But at least with one arm, it would be easier for the Reaper to evade the titan's blows; still, he knew he couldn't let this drag out forever. He could only maintain this form for so long, whereas...Well, he wasn't really sure how long War could keep this up, but he was running on the assumption that it was for longer than his own form.

However, Death soon felt three distinct presences approaching him; it was Setsuna, Chitose, and Hotaru. Truthfully, he'd told Pluto to fetch to serve as back-up in case he could not stop War; however, an idea began to formulate in his mind. There would be a way to do this; he was thankful these three survived the initial assault. He didn't know if they would ever forgive him for doing this to their world, but right now that wasn't important. He needed their help and they would give it to him...Whether they liked it or not. Though Death's momentary distraction would serve to haunt him; War's massive clawed, open hand came down hard to swat him like a fly, forcing the Reaper to crash into the fractured crystal and break it even further before sliding back a ways to stop right in front the trio of Senshi. For a few moments he laid still, the chill from his deathly form spreading out like a wave to wash over them all before rising to allow them the sight of the one Grim Reaper. "Thank you, you three, for coming...I don't have time to explain unfortunately, but I hope you won't mind if you have to stop this monstrosity from destroying your home entirely" Death then spoke, his voice echoing in the recesses of their minds. The ground shook as War marched towards them, distinct sounds of the upheaved earth and crystal cracking with each step he took; it didn't take long for him to tower over them, his blood-red eyes staring down with a soul-crushing intent to obliterate. "IS THIS YOUR ATTEMPT TO STOP ME, BROTHER?! USING THE SUPPORTERS OF THAT COWARDLY QUEEN? I'LL MAKE THE FOUR OF YOU INTO A BLOODY SMEAR!" War bellowed as he raised a massive foot to crush them; his attempt, however, would be thwarted as Death told the Senshi remnant, "If you three could please, avert your eyes". He then spoke a single word after raising his right hand to face his palm towards his brother; to the Senshi it would sound like nothing more than the wind itself, but from it a flash of light brighter than a thousand suns erupted.

War howled in obvious pain, raising his arm to cover his eyes as he lost his balance and fell over; his massive form crashed onto its back, the ground shaking violently from the collision. However, it wasn't long before War started to get up again; could nothing keep this beast down for more than a few seconds. Though the way the Destroyer covered his eyes and now sat on a knee, it seemed like he was at least temporarily out of commission. "MY EYES! DAMN YOU, DEATH! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS WHEN MY SIGHT RETURNS!" War screamed in rage; Death ignored this threat and chanted once more, causing the earth to shake violently before enormous chains erupted from the ground and wrapped themselves around his brother. The lengths coiled around each limb several times and crossed over the torso and neck, rattling echoing loudly through the air as they tightened to serve as a restraint...For the moment. Already, the Reaper could see his brother struggling against the restraints, the chains creaking as the creature's massive strength strained the links and deafening howls of utter anger leaving its throat. With this, Death turned to the trio and said, "I realize this must be odd...I apologize for whatever confusion or anger you might be feeling, but like I mentioned I require your assistance. As to why, I'll try to explain as best I can: See those tears in the sky? When I was about to engage Setsuna in combat, I saw something. Something that is terribly wrong, something I had hoped not to see. The Apocalypse was...." However, Death soon cut himself as a horrific shearing sound sliced through the air; he turned to look and saw that War was already free from a majority of the chains no, the chains should not have given out that easily! How much power was his brother drawing?!

"Damn it all..." Death then added as he turned to face his brother again; the Reaper placed his hands together as if in prayer, chanting in that strange windy unintelligible voice. Soon, his form could be seen vibrating: Slowly at first, but soon fast enough to create a loud humming before it split in two, creating two Reapers in place of the one. One was shrouded in a purple cloak of necrotic energy, the other in green, but all other features remained the same. War had then just freed himself from the last chain, shouting "YOUR PARLOR TRICKS WILL NOT WORK ON ME, BROTHER! I WILL KILL YOU! YOU AND EVERYONE ON THIS PLANET!" Death's purple-cloaked form then turned to face the Senshi, while the green-cloaked one floated to hover behind them. "Please, forgive me..." the first Death said in a solemn tone; the Harvester in his hands then was swung, going through each of the Senshi and ripping their souls out from their mortal shells. However, they would find that they were not dead, for they could still see their bodies; in fact, their bodies still stood as they were. If they were to look down, they would see that they were now in a sort of spirit form. "I leave them to you..." the Death Fraction then said, to which the Life Fraction gave but a simple nod as the purple-shrouded Death flew off to confront his brother. War finally seemed to regain his sight, for he noticed that his brother was flying towards him, scythe ready to cut his flesh again; however, a downward swing of his massive fist soon crushed the Reaper into the Earth, only for Death to rise again and resume the fight.

The Life Fraction spoke, his voice exactly the same as it was before, "I truly am sorry for this...But I do need your help, and for something like this I can't exactly wait to ask for permission. Hate me if you must, but this will hopefully stop the utter destruction of the planet. Trust me when I say it's the best chance we have". Life looked up to see the tears in the sky growing larger and larger; time was running out. "In case you're wondering, I have you like this because I need you three to use your ultimate abilities...Normally, these would kill you, hence why I have taken your souls so that you cannot die from using them. Your bodies will sustain some damage, but I can mitigate it to where you'll be able to walk away after using them...Well, stagger, but you'll be able to move at the least". Of course, Death didn't really know how well they'd be able to move; he'd never really done anything like this before, and he was thankful that what he did know was enough to keep their souls here with him. "The other half of my soul will try to bind War again. Chitose....when he does that, I'll need you to pour every ounce of strength into a lightning strike so powerful it will paralyze him and heat his flesh". His hooded face then turned to face Saturn, "Hotaru...After that is done, I'll need you to perform your Death Reborn technique. And don't hold back, put everything you have into it and hit him square in the chest. I can deal with any excess energy, so don't worry about accidentally destroying the planet". He then addressed Pluto last, the sounds of the battle between his Death Fraction and War raging in the background, "Setsuna...For the last step, I'll need you to use Time Stop to prevent War from moving".

He knew, however, that none of them had any reason to trust him; not that he blamed them, of course. He was majorly responsible for leading the charge to cleanse the planet, and he addressed this "Please...I know none of you probably want anything to do with me, but if we don't act now, this planet will be but the first of many to fall before their time is due. Perhaps even the first of all worlds". A loud symphony of caws was heard; Life then looked up to see that Death had summoned an enormous murder of crows, causing War to lash out and try to swat the birds down. The Earth shook once more as the Death Fraction's form glowed a brilliant white-purple; more chains shot from the ground and wrapped around the Destroyer, pulling down and forcing him to his knees. A loud incantation was then heard and great skeletal arms too shot forth, each gripping a limb and holding War immobile. The Destroyer screamed, heated energy blasting out as the air shook with the sheer power of his will and desire to destroy, his limbs and body flexing against the binds. "This is your chance...Please, I need the three of you to decide now" the Life Fraction then asked, still giving them the choice of helping him or not. Though if they didn't decide soon...He might be forced to decide for them.
 
Pluto :: Jupiter :: Saturn

If only....
Those words were what haunted each of the remaining Senshi's thoughts. Two simple words capable of making them question every decision they had ever made. In this life and in their previous lives. Words that had haunted the minds of their fallen comrades. Words that now slithered from the depths of their minds. The words echo around in their heads churning forth memories thought forgotten. Brought to the forefront of their minds, confusing and making them wonder in how many ways could they have stopped this from happening?

If only...

If only...

A million different possibilities branching off into near limitless conclusions. If only I'd been stronger. If only I'd spoken out. If only I'd acted. If only I'd not been scared. If only I'd listened. If only....
It was enough to drive a person straight into the depths of madness and despair. Pushing them, teasing them, taunting them with "What if's"and "It might have been's". If ever there was a more maddening set of words. And with these thoughts come the inevitable "Is this all my fault?". The remaining three will never quite be free from these haunting and self-damning thoughts. In years to come the pressure from their own self-imposed guilt will weigh ever heavier on their thoughts, their souls and their hearts. If the battle doesn't break them, then the future surely will.

Pluto, Jupiter and Saturn watched as Death split into two different entities and before they could utter a single sound, move a single muscle; Death had swept his scythe through their bodies. They waited for the inevitable pain and sudden darkness that stole over ones mind when on the bring of oblivion. However instead they felt a tugging sensation. For a long while they remained still, not entirely sure of what had just happened. Slowly they opened their eyes and saw that they were not dead. Before they could really adjust to the situation the one Death began to talk to them. Their eyes would shift from him to the behemoth behind him. They remained silent while he talked, uncertain of what to say and not sure they should say anything at all. Hadn't they all come to the same conclusion too? To do anything in their power to protect this world and if that failed to do what they could to save the other worlds out there among the stars. There really wasn't any choice in the matter where they were concerned. They were protectors and they would protect the worlds if they could. They would not turn their backs and let such a monstrosity wreak havoc on the universe. They were not Sailor Moon.

Saturn and Jupiter turned to Pluto and inclined their heads in acknowledgement. "Even without the assurance of our survival we would have helped." she said with a grim little smile. "We understand, even if Moon does not. We will do what we must to protect this world and the others. You have our aid." she said inclining her head towards Death. Without another word they prepared to attack. Energy swirled and cracked in the air around them as they summoned up their powers.

The Eternal Soldier's prayers, the call on their planets to increase the power in their abilities.

"My guardian Jupiter, brew a storm, call the clouds, bring down the lightening--" Her voice swept over the area, bouncing off the remaining crystals and adding an eerie echoing quality to it. Energy pulsed in the air around her. Clouds formed above her and lightening jumped and danced in the air. "Thunder Dragon!" she bellowed. Thunder boomed like so many dragons roars descending from the heavens. Lightening jumped and danced and inter-twined in the clouds forming a monstrosity of a dragon, the likes of which she had never attempted before. The thing grew until it all but engulfed the clouds in which it had formed in. It wound it's way in the skies bathing the entire area in the otherworldly light of lightening. With a deafening roar and an unseen command from Jupiter it plummeted from the skies straight down towards the Destroyer, mouth opening as if to consume him whole. If spirits could sweat, Jupiter would be. As it was, her breathing was labored and difficult, the last vestiges of her power had been interlaced into the mighty thunder dragon.

"My guardian Saturn, deny creation, call on death, bring forth destruction--" her voice was soft and hauntingly flat as she called on her planets powers. A glaive shimmered in the air between her hands. A howling wind swept through the area as she raised the glaive up "Death Reborn." she intoned in the same dead voice that betrayed nothing, nor quivered in hesitation. Light shot up around War and floated as if they were ribbons caught in a storm. They whipped about the monster and the ground shook as she brought her glaive down with chilling finality. An explosion ensued that shook the very earth to it's core, sounding like so many demons clawing beneath the surface.

"My guardian Pluto, keeper of the sacrosanct, abjure the unworthy, deny them their time--" she said in a portentous voice that rang in icy tones. Shadows flickered in the corners, a freezing chill descended on the area and frost formed on the ground. "Time stop." she said in the same eerie cold tones as before. Another chill rushed through before everything in the vicinity came to an unnatural halt. Debris that had been floating, now lay halted in mid-air. The horrendous screaming and howling that the beast had been emitting also came to a halt. Nothing moved, flickered, or sounded. It was as if the area had been completely frozen and in a sense...it had.

It was all they could do to remain in an upright position. Never before had they been so thoroughly drained of power. Everything they had and then some had been coalesced into stopping the Destroyer. If Death's plan did not work...there would be no second opportunity. The Senshi were done. Darkness clouded their minds and blurred their vision. It whispered sweetly to them promising them blissful emptiness should they accept the embrace. If only Moon weren't such a coward...If only one of them had, had the Silver Crystal. If only....
 

Death could sense the conflict in them, feel their agony as they struggled to cope with what was happening. In truth, it reminded him of what he felt like during the Endwar; never before had he felt so powerless. Even with his task being a noble one, the protection of the Tree of Life and Knowledge, he wished he could have done more...Then maybe the Almighty's prediction wouldn't have come true. Maybe Paradise could have been saved. "That's neither here nor there" the Reaper then muttered; he needed to stop War and he needed to do it soon. Already the Destroyer began causing the chains to creak, fractures forming as well on the giant skeletal arms that gripped its limbs. Power-saturated howls echoed across the landscape as the former Red Horseman struggled to sever the bonds. But if Death could smile, he certainly would in this instant; he had a feeling Setsuna would be the sensible one, but he wasn't sure about Jupiter or Saturn. But knowing that all three were on board, maybe this would actually work and he could still save his brother from annihilating himself and everything else around him. The runes on their physical bodies glowed, flooding their vessels with ample energy to carry out the techniques he needed. He'd never done something like this, not even to himself; needless to say, he wasn't exactly sure what to expect when they would call on their guardian planets. But as Jupiter summoned her technique first, seeing that great yellow-white dragon descend from the skies above and engulf War, Death was secretly thankful he wasn't on the receiving end of that; it wouldn't have killed him or really impeded him at full strength, but he certainly would have felt.

War bellowed in agony, his howls causing a blast of wind to wash over the area with tremendous force; the sheer power of the electrical current made his metallic flesh grow red, then shifted to orange before finally turning white-hot. Pieces of the skin actually melted and started to disfigure but never fully disconnected; however, this was corrected when Saturn summoned what could easily be considered an equal to War's power in this monstrous form. The light danced in wide threads around the monster, like a predator ready to pounce its prey before collapsing on themselves and creating an explosion that decimated almost everything that was left standing; the skin on War's body fractured like overstretched steel, exposing massive amounts of muscle tissue and a great red beating heart. Even the incredibly-durable Crystal Spire formed great cracks along its length, its structural integrity already weakened from the giant shards of crystal from War's previous attack that now stuck from its surface like needles in a pincushion. Had War not been in a kneeling position already, the force of the blast would have surely knocked him off his feet; finally, it was Pluto's turn to make her move. And lucky she was, for War had grown so enraged from the pain and agony of his flesh being broken like glass that all the binds shattered; a fist raised to the sky as a means to annihilate all them in a single swipe, a furious roar left his throat as the massive limb was swung down. Ice slowly grew across him, his movements slowing until it came to a complete halt, the giant hand hovering just a few feet above their heads.

While this was happening, both of the Death's wispy and gravely voices were chanting something, causing the blades their scythes to glow with a blinding white ethereal energy; what the Reaper had planned one could only conjecture, but it was made somewhat evident as the Life Fraction released his hold on their spirits and flew towards War with incredible speed, shooting past him and seeming like he was going to collide with the ground. His flight, however, grew slower and slower until the Reaper hovered just inches from the destroyed terrain, his Harvester raised over his head as if to cut the Earth. The Death Fraction meanwhile, turned and swung his own Harvester; the movement of the blade slowed as the effects of Time Stop took hold, halting it more and more until the tip of the glowing blade came within fractions of an inch from the giant exposed organ and just hovered there, m. For the longest moment, nothing happened; however, the last little bit of movement caused the Scythe's tip to touch the Destroyer's heart and cause a rather convoluted chain reaction. The effects of Time Stop were dispelled almost instantly, Death Fraction's Harvester tore what seemed to be the Destroyer's immense soul from its own body while the Life Fraction's Harvester cut a massive gash into the earth and transformed the ground into what appeared to be a giant skull face, its mouth gaping wide open. Both Fractions then sunk the blades into the Destroyer's soul and plunged it into the mouth, the orifice closing up and quickly fading into oblivion in a flash of green-purple light.

The Destroyer's physical form, meanwhile, was still frozen as it was when Time Stop was active; the red glow of its eyes faded to nothing, its physical body turning grayer and grayer before slowly starting to fracture. The twin Fractions of Death slowly drifted down towards where the three Senshi were, their forms vibrating before slowly merging into one and then shifting back to Death's original appearance. The heel of his scythe rested on the ground, acting as a crutch to support him; never before did he have to expend so much energy. Pieces of the massive beast slowly fell around them, like a structure that far too long was ravaged by time; before long, the immobile form of War could be seen hovering many stories in the sky before falling down. Eventually he crashed into the Earth, quickly followed by being buried under a mountain of the dead beast's body pieces. Death's breathing heavy, he felt his brother's life signature and let out a sigh of relief; it worked...It actually worked. "Thank the Maker..." the Reaper murmured before turning to the Senshi who aided him; he would try his best to restore their strength to a manageable level. There was still much that needed to be done, he thought to himself as he limped his way over to the trio's heavily drained bodies; their souls would be intact, but their bodies would be tired beyond belief.

"I thank you...Setsuna, Hotaru, Chitose. I could not have accomplished this without your aid. I will explain everything in due time, but right now...." Death started, but paused when he felt a violent energy begin to build up behind. Death's form froze, his head turning to see the piles of flesh begin to convulse, slowly turning to liquid and flowing towards the largest pile, which in and of itself seemed to flow like lava down a mountain. "How...I don't understand..." Death started, but peered up to see that the tears in the sky were still present and leaking vast amounts of Chaos Energy. "No...I was wrong..." Death muttered, turning and readying his scythe; within moments, the flesh piles had also disappeared to reveal the destroyed Earth and War on one knee, his massive blade having reformed from the pieces of the monster it covered. The Red Horsemen slowly stood to both feet; his eyes opened in an instant, a massive surge of power and flame washing over him. "DEATH!" he shouted, his voice booming across the desolate landscape. "War, enough. Please brother, listen for one moment" Death pleaded, to which his brother responded fiercely, "NO MORE TALKING! I GROW TIRED OF YOUR BETRAYAL! I TOLD YOU, ALL THOSE EONS AGO, THAT I WOULD CUT DOWN THOSE WHO DARE STAND IN MY WAY! YOU ARE NO EXCEPTION, BROTHER! NOW YOU DIE!" Before War could charge in, a loud whinnying was heard and in a flash a streak of green sideswiped the Horseman, knocking him hard back; before he could rise again, the streak hit him once more and sent him sprawling to the dirt on his back. Between War and Death stood the Green Rider's mount, as if trying to protect its master from his brother's fury. "Despair...I thank you, dear friend" Death muttered; he was never more glad to see his steed. War looked up, a grimace crossed his immolated features as a hand slammed into the dirt and pushed himself up, quickly grabbing his blade once more; with only one arm, he was at a bit of a disadvantage but he still seemed to possess more energy on hand than Death.

"Damned rotting beast...If you wish to join Death in oblivion, I will gladly honor that request!" War barked heatedly as he rushed the pair, Despair too charging the Horseman; however, a second whinnying was heard and from nowhere came War's mount, Ruin. The flaming steed collided with Despair, pushing their fight out of the way and allowing his master to now focus on Death. Death, however, seemed to have made the Harvester vanish; the gauntlets on his forearms now had twin sets of three curved blades extending from the knuckles, the one of the middle knuckle set a bit higher from the other two. Green energy seemed to cover the edges like a film, creating a rather ghastly aura. "Echidna, my beloved...I swore I would never stain these. Forgive me" he then muttered; War just shouted and charged his brother, "It matters not what you use, Death! You're finished!" War closed the gap quickly and raised his sword to cut his brother down; as the strike neared Death, the Rider leaned to one side and impaled War with the claws. The Red Rider let out a pained gasp, while Death's form seemed to be covered in a green mist. He certainly seemed stronger now; however, War broke the connection by driving a knee into Death's gut to force him back. Death slid along the ground, coming to a halt just behind the Senshi; the claws dripped with flaming blood, the glowing hues of Death peering at his brother who now bled from wounds in his torso. But if anything, that attack just served to infuriating the Red Horseman further. What came next was a furious battle; Despair and Ruin fighting each other and their masters engaged in a heated flash of the blade. How Death could fight in such a state was beyond knowing; however, he seemed to get a bit stronger each time that bladed gauntlet cut into War, like he was leeching the energy out of his brother.

After a long bout of this, the sound of metal on metal clashing against each other and the pained grunts that left each of the combatants every time they delivered a hit, Death landed a blow on the inside of War's elbow followed by a strike to the ulnar nerve; this forced War to loosen the grip on his blade and bend over slightly. Death then delivered a swift kick to the side of his brother's head, forcing War to skitter across the ground and his blade flying with him. Death's clawed gauntlets were now saturated in red, his form much more imposing than previously. War struggled to get up, pushing on the ground with his single arm; Death advanced on him, the gauntlets soon being changed again for the Harvester. "War...I'm sorry it's come to this. Truly I am, but there's more at stake here than you realize; and since you will not listen to reason, you leave me no other choice...I will return you once my task is completed" Death then readied himself, the Harvester's wicked blade glowing as he readied to reap his brother's immortal soul. "No...You already left me with no other choice; it is your pity for mortals that clouds your judgment. It is I who is sorry..." War grumbled; as Death began his motion of the swing, War lunged up and cracked Death hard in the jaw, causing the Reaper's form to levitate for a few moments. Fire leaped up around the Horseman's body and blade as he then impaled his brother in the chest; Death let out a small groan of pain as his fingers uncurled from his scythe, the weapon clattering to the ground. War grunted like a rabid animal, picking up his brother's weapon as the Reaper moved to stand; however, he soon found his legs swept from under him and in a flash, War swung the Harvester to impale Death in the back, letting the momentum carry him to finally bury the end of the shaft deep into the destroyed terrain. Death now had the appearance of one who was crucified; however, the Reaper then felt a hand over his face and after War spoke a small incantation, a great plume of flame erupted from his palm. Death screamed in utter agony, his shriek as the burning flame scorched him echoing across the landscape; when the attack subsided, Death's form lay limply on the makeshift cross, the smoking skull of his head lolled back as his form hung off the ground from the end of the scythe, War's massive blade sticking from his chest.

His form still emitting burning fire, War turned from his brother, his voice saying "Every time, Death...You must cause such lament. I wish it did not come to this, but there truly was no other form of recourse. Now I must finish what we have started...". He then turned and looked at the three Senshi, the rage he felt barely able to be controlled, "Look upon you...Look at what you have forced me to do! To my own kin! I know not what trickery you used...But once I finish your pathetic excuse for a Queen, know that I will return to claim your heads as well. Make no mistake, the Senshi have seen their final sunrise..." The Chaos Energy seemed to flow even more fiercely into him, the tears in the sky growing wider and wider with each passing second, the flames that cloaked him giving off enormous quantities of heat, "And Earth's judgment SHALL BE REALIZED!" He then turned his head and after putting his thumb and middle finger into the corners of his mouth, gave a loud whistle and shouted, "RUIN! COME!" The immolated warhorse turned his own head towards his master and galloped away from Despair, who now laid on his side; the poor beast's body was battered beyond compare. Some of the visible bones were cracked and broken, its already patchy skin suffering burn marks from the heat of Ruin's enflamed hooves and split to reveal even more of its insides. Its abdomen rose and fell, shaky breaths leaving its mouth as green blood trickled from the corners. As Ruin rode towards War, the Horseman snatched the chain-rein with his hand and in one fluid motion mounted the steed; a trail of fire marked the path as War and Ruin now rode to their target: Neo-Queen Serenity. Strangely enough, War left his massive blade with Death, like his rage had so consumed him he didn't even bother retrieving it; the Reaper still lay on the makeshift crucifix, his own weapon sticking through his gut and his brother's impaled through his chest as the three surviving Senshi struggled to keep themselves upright. And with the Destroyer's severed massive chunk of flesh as the backdrop, it was truly a grisly scene....The stuff of legends and nightmares, as they say.
 

How could things have come to such dire straights? How much worse could things become? When brother turned on brother and the fate of the entire universe lay on such a fragile tether. When in a matter of a day the worlds population had dwindled down to a terrified few. And still after all the carnage and destruction, the heartache and regret the battle would still rage on unabated while the warriors struggled to maintain consciousness. The scenery was something straight out of a post apocalyptic horror movie. Bodies littered the ground and others lay impaled on pikes sticking from the ground. Some having been thrown on and others simply jumping to their deaths to escape the horrors that had suddenly flooded and drowned the world. Among the sea of bodies were disembodied limbs, arms, hands, fingers, toes, feet, torso's and heads. The heads were the worst, laying there staring sightlessly at you, accusing you of so many horrible things. Buildings lay in crumbled heaps as if left unattended for centuries while others were completely wiped from the face of the earth as if they never existed, leaving not even the foundation behind. The ground was scorched, cracked and torn asunder as if hell itself had come forth unto the world.

Parks and play grounds lay in ruins and turned into twisted torture places. It was almost impossible to believe ones eyes. Just yesterday it was a place of beauty and peace. And now it was a place of despair with the stench of rotting corpses and refuse suffocating the air. It was a true nightmare.

The three warriors stared bleary eyed at the still form of War for a timeless moment. They had really stopped him. They had used their most powerful attacks, their most forbidden powers and had survived. It was incredible and so, so very exhausting. They had never felt so utterly drained in their lives, the exhaustion went down deep to their core, to their bones and their souls. All of them wanted to speak but none of them could seem to summon the energy it would take to preform the task. They had called on every ounce of energy they had, had and had called on reserves and still had called on more from places they had never known even existed. Their arms lay limply at their side and their legs felt like iron shackled to the ground. Their eye lids felt heavy and darkness lurked at the edges of their mind beckoning them to what they knew awaited- blissful unconsciousness. But for some reason, they hesitated and fought off the urge to lay down and sleep off their deep weariness.

For what seemed an eternity they just stood there, their breaths deep and slow mimicking the steady rhythm of sleep. Each trying to work up the necessary energy it took to think of and say something, anything, just to break the spell that had gripped them. Who knew it took so much energy to do something so small? How they had taken it for granted. But before any of them could say anything a very familiar violent energy began to build up again and pulse with the life that flooded his veins. It wasn't over yet. Unable to do anything they stood there and watched him get to his feet, his rage palpable. The bodies that had littered the ground were burned away in an instant, unable to shield themselves from the blast of energy they stumbled and collapsed to the ground. Between the violent energy war was giving off and the stench of burned flesh it was any wonder they could breath at all. They coughed and spluttered and managed to cover their nose and mouth with pieces of cloth torn from their own clothes and turned into a makeshift mask.

They watched in amazed horror as the two brothers went at it again. And again they were reminded of the awesome power that the Horsemen wielded and were amazed that they had managed to seal away even two of them. They were truly in a league all their own. Their seemingly infinite amount of energy clashed once more. They watched the fight ensue and heard each clang of metal on metal. Even their horses were battling each other. Drained as they were they could only sit there, useless. Each one wondered how Sailor Moon could possibly endure such a feeling time and time again. How she could deliberately run off and leave the fight to others. It was a wretched feeling none of them liked. And then something happened none of them could ever have expected, War impaled Death. They watched as the blade slid through his torso and then again they watched as War took Death's own weapon and impaled him again. They could hear the blade digging into the ground and watched horrified as War attacked his Brothers limp form. They heard the agony in Death's screams and tried to rise which was a battle all it's own. Finally on their feet they stood there, their breathing labored and difficult. When War turned on them, they each flinched when his heat and words washed over them.

It seemed impossible but his rage and his hatred was burning them. And just like that he was gone, riding off towards the crystal tower, towards Sailor Moon.

They watched him disappear from sight and then they all turned towards Death. Even though he was the enemy, none of them wanted to leave him like that. It seemed far too cruel. "Sailor Moon's cowardice finally served a purpose." Jupiter said dryly. Her voice was strained and cracked and lacked it's usual strength. But her words were heard clearly enough by her two companions. And each of them managed a wry smile in return. They stood there a moment longer summoning up energy from the creator knew where and walked over to Deaths form. They stared at him somberly. Without a word Jupiter and Saturn pulled War's blade from his chest. Even with the two of them it was a struggle and they labored beneath the weight of the blade before managing to pull it out. They dropped it beside them and the clang of the blade seemed so loud in the eerie silence. "I'm sorry." pluto whispered as she wrapped her fingers around the staff of the harvester and pulled. It was embedded deep into the ground and in her current condition it was a slow process. She tugged at it and worked at it for several minutes before the blade finally came free and pulled from his body. Between them they managed to get death onto the ground, not very gracefully or easily but they had managed. When they were finished they were breathing even more heavily and sweat beaded down their foreheads and on their backs.

Pluto slowly sank down to her knee's beside death and Jupiter and Saturn followed suit and sat down. They were just so tired. Perhaps sleep would be good, if they were to die by War's hands then perhaps being asleep when it happened would be the best idea. But still they resisted. They all stared at something only they could see, sunk deeply into their own thoughts. "At least this time....It will be us who outlives the queen. At least, she won't be the last one standing." Pluto finally said, her mouth thinning. Saturn and Jupiter jerked their gaze towards her and stared at her for a moment before smiling a little. " May she feel everything the ones she abandoned felt." Saturn said with vehemence. It wasn't often that Saturn displayed any kind of emotion but when she did, it was always more than a little surprising. "I'm sure she will." Pluto said. Silence descended once more, none of them really wanted to show how much satisfaction they felt from that thought. Pluto clung to the Harvester, though she didn't seem to realize it.

It was coming for her. She could sense it, could feel the blade on her back. He was coming to kill her, on wings of molten fire. With eye's as red as the devil himself and filled with as much hatred. He was coming to finish what he had started, coming to quench his bloodlust. He knew where she was, there would be no hiding this time. She was really going to die. She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet and covered her head with her hands, her endless stream of tears splashing on her thighs. "No, No, not me. Please not me. I didn't do it. IT WASN'T ME!" she thought terrified. Her heart pounded in her chest a million miles an hour and felt about to burst. She dug her fingers into her scalp and continued to rock back and forth. It was wretched knowing ones end was coming. It was horrifying knowing one was about to die alone. Was this how the others had felt before each of their own deaths? Was this what she had put them all through time and time again? How had they done it so calmly? How had they stood before their own certain demise so collected? HOW HAD THEY DONE IT!? She chocked on a sob and felt her body tense up even more than it already had. He was so close. So very, very close. She pressed up even closer to the wall. She bit down on her lip until blood poured down her chin but she didn't seem to notice. "He's coming for me. He'll be here any moment." she thought horrified. Her mind conjuring up near limitless images of her in his grip. Of all the twisted things he would inflict upon her. Of all the ways he would make her suffer. She tried to cry out but choked on that as well. The tears fell even faster. He was coming for her.

And only her.
 

War rode on and on, his one hand gripped tightly to Ruin's chain as he pushed his horse faster and faster; he could hear the Queen's heartbeat. Feel her desperation, smell her fear; she was a cornered rat and she knew it. And the fact that even now she wouldn't come to face him only served to increase the Horseman's rage further; War knew she was pathetic and a coward, but how far was she willing to sink? There had to be a limit somewhere, there just had to be. "YAH!" he shouted, digging the heels of his armored boots into his steed's sides to make it ride harder; any other horse would have collapsed dead from the amount of strain Ruin was experiencing, but then Ruin was no ordinary horse. The beast fed off its master's energy: In short, the angrier War became, the more Ruin could endure. It was a strange symbiosis that apparently only the two of them shared.

Regardless, War eventually arrived at the foot of the Crystal Spire, as of now the only standing structure in all of Crystal Tokyo. Large fragments of crystal from the rest of the city were embedded into the tower's exterior walls, much like how thorns grew on a cactus. And up at the topmost room....was Queen Serenity. War grimaced, his chest heaving as the unfiltered bloodlust coursed through him; she was there, and now she was going to die. "SERENITY!!! ALL YOU KNOW HAS BEEN TAKEN! YOUR CITY IN RUINS! YOUR FRIENDS DEFEATED! AND YOUR HUSBAND KILLED! I COULD THINK OF NOTHING MORE THAT I COULD DO TO GET YOU TO FACE ME IN BATTLE!! SO IF YOU WISH TO DIE LIKE AN ANIMAL IN THE CAGE, THEN SO BE IT!!!" was his only bellow; he would not give her time to regroup. This had gone on long enough and he was going to end it now; with a final urging War then had Ruin charge right at the spire, only to have the beast leap and begin traveling up the side of it. In Ruin's wake was left a trail of fire, growing longer and longer as rider and mount traversed the wall of the tower.

Before long, they reach the peak, Ruin coming to rest on the balcony that overlooked the scene of carnage that was Crystal Tokyo. War dismounted and walked right up to the door, his one arm swatting at the glass and shattering it as he stepped inside. His eyes, glowing red as she'd seen before and leaking that terrible energy, glared into her, watching as she cried and trembled like a frightened child. Before her she would see a creature straight out of a nightmare: A giant of a man, possessing only his right arm, clothed in broken blackened red armor and his body covered in puncture wounds and lacerations, his entire form ablaze with unholy fire and his only goal was to tear her apart. His breath leaving in short, baritone grunts, he then advanced on her, his footfalls heavy with the rage he felt and making the tower shake ever so slightly. "You have no idea....How much this sickens me. To have to kill you, when you won't even raise a finger to defend yourself...There is no higher degree of dishonor" he growled as he finally came to a stop right in front of her; he then grabbed her roughly and forced her to stand, turn and face him. His gleaming hues peered into hers, his teeth clenched and the heat tremendous with the weight of his rage; his chest heaved with each grunt, the blood pounding in his ears as the desire to utterly tear her limb from limb deafened him to anything else. Anything other than her and how he would utterly end her. Without warning he then backhanded Serenity, sending her sprawling into the wall; without a moment's rest, his hand reached down and grabbed her throat only to have her get shoved roughly against the wall. "Your cowardice is revolting. Did the others really fear annihilation from one so incompetent? In some ways, that makes them worse than you; they should have risen up, usurped you and taken the Crystal into more worthy hands" His grip tightened on her neck, threatening to crush her airway before she would find herself turned around and her head jammed into the wall, her cheek pressed up against the once flawless surface. War grunted again as his hand now grasped the side of her head and pummeled it repeatedly into the wall, making the material crack and fracture with each blow.

Stopping in his barrage for a moment, he then whispered into her ear with his voice full of malice, "But no, they continued to follow you, to protect...Their pathetic excuse of a leader who wouldn't even move an inch to protect the one person who truly loved her, the one planet where she was once revered as a goddess. A protector". The hand on her face then came to grasp her arm, the touch hot like fire and feeling like it went to her bones, "Normally, I would just kill you by tearing the skull from your body, but I think your planet's people still need to learn something. You will die slowly, Serenity. Your screams will attest to the monument of your failure...And to the magnitude of punishment those who disrupt the Balance will receive". He then gave a sharp twist, nasty cracking sounds resonating throughout the empty room; it certainly seemed like War was going to take his time with killing the Queen.

*Meanwhile....*

Off in the distance, where the Horseman Conquest fell, the scene was oddly serene in an apocalyptic kind of way: Bodies lay strewn, crows cawed as they feasted on the flesh of the dead. A large pile of bones sat at the center of the chaos, the throne destroyed by the Senshi of Destruction, Saturn; next to it lay a glorious golden crown, embedded with an innumerable quantity of jewels, with just as much variety in brilliance and coloration. One jewel lay missing, its spot empty with only a few aqua-colored fragments remaining; this was the Conqueror's Crown, the symbol by which the White Horseman was known and in which he, along with the Senshi Warriors Mercury, Neptune and Uranus, were currently trapped with no foreseeable way of escape.

However, thirty feet away, a pile of bodies began to move and stir seemingly of their own volition; a loud pained groan was heard before a hand revealed itself from the mass of dead flesh. The movement more erratic, it slowly pushed the bodies aside to reveal none other than the Gold Demon Brother, the only one who apparently survived the battle between the Senshi and their master. It seemed that the Tracker Beast assigned with turning Mercury into its meal served the purpose of impact cushion, for the blow should have killed him; its form was mangled to be indistinguishable from the rest of the corpses present in this area. His gold armor, once a shining brilliant namesake shade, now was stained with scorch marks, guts and blood, his helmet gone to reveal his face: A mouth full of razor sharp teeth, four large horns atop his head, taut grey skin and soulless black eyes. He stared out the landscape before him; he could not feel his master anywhere, nor his brother. "My Lord?! Brother?!" he queried to the air, searching for any sign of life....Until his eyes fell on his brother's silvery lifeless corpse. His form mutilated, his armor twisted and sheared, the giant battleaxe he carried somehow impaled through his gut.

"Brother...No" the demon breathed out, his hands holding onto his kin's corpse; he felt his rage grow, remembered what happened: The Senshi pushed their Lord too far, forced him to intervene. And now his brother was dead...His eyes roamed again, searching for the strangely dressed women until his eyes rested on his Lord's crown. "My Lord...They couldn't have" he muttered as he stumbled over and grasped the brilliant object; his fingers curled in rage. Those harlots must have used some kind of coward's trick to catch him off-guard; no way they would have taken their Lord on like warriors. "And that blonde one complained about us using a cheap shot...When I find her, I'll break her legs and make her watch as I rape her lovebird into a mind-broken, drooling slut!" the demon shouted; however, he soon found a scent flooding his nostrils. He sniffed again; it came from the crown, he thought, but now he smelled it somewhere else. His mind flashed back: The dark-haired one. It was her, she was here with them! "Found you...Now you will truly die, harlot" the demon growled as he pried his battleaxe from the mound of corpses, his eyes peering with raging malice in the direction where the scent came from. His footfalls sounded as he made way out of the battlezone and towards Saturn, unknowing just who else was there.

For a while now, Death lay impaled on his scythe; while War's brutality didn't kill him it certainly weakened him far more than he would have thought. His mind was a haze, trying to recollect himself as the scorching fire around his head faded to leave a smokey shroud that enveloped his face; he could vaguely feel hands grabbing him, his dulled senses still letting him detect that it was the Senshi who helped him earlier. He let out a weak groan as he felt War's blade pulled from his chest, not long before having the blade of his own scythe pulled from his abdomen and collapsing onto the ground right next to Setsuna. With some effort, he slowly pushed himself to his knees, a small pool of green blood now under where his bodily wounds were.

"Even after...all of that...it still was not enough" the Reaper muttered, eventually able to push himself so that he was sitting on his knees upright; a small gust of wind pushed the smoke away, revealing Death's face in full. It was a pale skull, no flesh to speak of whatsoever; the only thing adorning his head (aside from the hood of his robe, which War's flame attack had burned away) was a strip of gold running over the meridian. Its length was covered in equally spaced spikes, each one about an inch long; what was even stranger was that the piece ran over his mouth and appeared to bind it shut. One might wonder how he would be able to speak if this were the case, but the answer would likely come as he now turned his attention to Setsuna, his empty eye sockets peering right at her.

"Setsuna...I can't thank you and your friends enough for your assistance. I do however, require one last thing...And I'm afraid I cannot wait for you to muster up the strength to answer a request for permission" he then said as one hand came up to grip her shoulder; he then placed the other right between her breasts, but she would find that it was not as it seemed. His hand then started to push in, disappearing beneath her flesh; this would hurt her he knew, but he had no choice. He needed energy if he was going to stop War; and while he would not take enough to kill her, it would put a strain on her already overworked body and soul. Soon, an icy and sharp pain would overcome her as the Reaper's digits wrapped around her soul, green arcs of electricity coursing down his arm and growing over his body; shortly thereafter, the massive wounds began to close and he felt his energy slowly coming back to him.

"Setsuna...I'm sorry, but I need to do this. Please...I will return what I have taken after I deal with my brother. I know how I can stop him now, but this technique requires power I do not have" he then said to her, his voice reflecting the sorrow and shame over having to 'feed' from someone he considered an equal; it didn't help that she was instrumental in taking down the Destroyer either. It was a huge betrayal to him, one that he hoped he would not have had to do; but with the way things were, there seemed to be no other option. Little did the Reaper know that his troubles were far from over...But then, perhaps it might give him what he was looking for.
 

She heard him then, below her. Far below her. She shouldn't have been able to hear his words but hear them she did. Every screamed word. With the words she heard the rage as well. Every ounce of rage in those words fell upon her like flames. They burned her to the spot she had huddled in. He was almost upon her now, and every bit of rage she'd heard in those words and so much more would be unleashed upon her person. If she hadn't been so mindlessly terrified she might have considered taking the cowards way out and ending her own life. Then again, perhaps not. She was nothing if not a diva and even though it was considered the cowards way out, she could never have ended her own life. She didn't have the will to do it.

So she waited second by unbearable second for something to happen. Waiting till she could feel the heat of his wrath on her skin.

She was about to find out if her imagination had even come close to the horrors she was about to endure. She felt the skin on her back and neck crawl moments before the glass on her balcony door shattered. He was here. She clutched at her skull even tighter and tried to make herself shrink down even more. She felt his eyes bore into her skull as she trembled in the corner. He moved then, she heard his footfalls -though anyone within or near the tower could have heard it- behind her. Felt the tower shake with every step, coming closer, so close. She could feel the fires lick at her skin eagerly -oh how they wanted to consume her- and the rage! Oh the rage and disgust were so much worse than what her mind had conjured up. No human mind could imagine to which depths his hatred and loathing could go. It was staggering in it's intensity, very nearly choking the air from her lungs. A pathetic whimper left her mouth and that was the only sound she could muster.

She heard his words, felt their searing heat, could feel him standing so closely behind her, mere inches away. Before she could register anything else she felt his hands on her body, feel his fingers digging roughly into her skin, bruising and burning her. She was spun around and then she saw it, that which she had not wished to see. The demon of flames that had rode forth from the sky and had declared her death for all to hear. She watched the unholy fire burn in his eyes, a disturbing and unnatural lust burned there. A lust to destroy her in as many ways as possible. A desire to so completely eradicate her that even her memory would be wiped clean from the world. It was so much more terrifying than she had envisioned. Before she could utter a single sound she felt his large hand connect with her face and fireworks erupted behind her eyes as she was sent hurtling into one of the crystal walls. She hit the hard unyielding crystal hard her body making a sickening "Thud" sound upon impact. She slid to the floor and coughed as she tried to catch her breath. Before she could even manage that she felt a big hand wrap around her throat before hauling her up off the ground to shove her back against the cold hard crystal.

She whimpered again, a pathetic sound if ever there was one. She grabbed the massive hand that was slowly cutting off her air supply and her legs kicked fruitlessly as she struggled to breathe. Even after everything her desire to live burned strongly and she still held out hope that someone would come save her. In a quick movement she found her face being crushed into the wall, the demons massive hand gripping the back of her skull and pinning her there, crushing her face into the wall. She felt like a rag doll in his hands. And then he was slamming her head repeatedly into the crystal, over and over and over again. It hurt. It hurt so intensely that she couldn't even holler out in agony.

And then he stopped, leaving her a mere moments respite from the torment. She could barely see out of one eye and blood dripped from the corner of her mouth and from her nose. She felt him grasp her arm then, felt her skin singe and burn at his touch. He leaned in and spoke, spoke those horrible, terrible words that would seal her fate irrevocably. He twisted her arm so quickly that for a few seconds she didn't even register what had happened, and then it hit her like giant wave crashing over a beach. A scream ripped it's way from her throat, echoing down the halls and out the broken door of the balcony. The sounds of a cowardly beast being punished for her crimes.

The ragged group sat there silently for awhile, contemplating everything that had happened. They had all been so focused on fighting to protect and survive that they hadn't really had any time to think about everything that had happened. And now it came to them, bogging down their weary minds with information.

When Death spoke to her, Pluto looked up at him and furrowed her brows, before she could say anything or tell him that he had no reason to thank them, he'd placed one of his hands on her shoulder. The other came up and settled themselves between her breasts. She looked up at him a little confused "Wha--" she started to say but was cut off as she felt his hand slide through her, reaching for the very core of her being. She sucked in a sharp breath and her hand came up to rest on his shoulder. It felt, strange. Very strange. It hurt some but was more uncomfortable than anything. She shifted and tried to deal with it. She had a general idea of what he was planning to do and was willing to help. And then she felt him grab her soul and the pain, oh the pain. She gasped and gripped his shoulder, gritting her teeth and clenching her eyes shut she endured the pain, her body tense as it washed over her.

From where they were, Saturn and Jupiter could not see what was going on but when they heard Pluto gasp in pain and saw the green arcs of lightening slowly cover his body. And, then his wounds began to close. They were not idiots, they knew he was probably using Pluto to heal himself. They were not going to stand for this. Getting to her feet, Jupiter saw Death's arm reaching through Pluto's body, saw the pain etched on her face and was instantly riled. "What in the hell do you think you're doing to her!?" she demanded outraged, her anger giving her a burst of energy. She took a step towards them, ready to rip his arm out of her but just as she did, Pluto opened her eyes and looked straight at her. "Don't, Jupiter. It's...." she said her words getting cut off as she struggled to keep from crying out. "It's....alright." she said clenching her teeth together tightly.

Jupiter hesitated a moment but eventually backed off. She hovered close by, just in case. She didn't like what was going on and didn't approve but it was Pluto's decision and she was always sure of herself and her choices.

When it was finished Pluto sagged and almost collapsed on herself, only kept upright by her sheer willpower. She looked at him and shook her head. "Do not apologize. We will offer what we must in order to protect. We are initially to blame for how things have transpired. You were right. We should have stopped her, no matter the cost. I still do not agree with your choice to annihilate the entire planet....but there is no point in arguing about it now. We can not stop him. You're the only who can, so if you must take my life to do so, so be it." she said her voice weak but still carrying a certain strength that was as much apart of her as her own soul. Her comment was met by silence, Jupiter and Saturn lowering their gazes. They were just as ashamed as Pluto was. While they did not have access to their memories like Pluto did, they had learned that all this had come to pass because Sailor Moon had done something bad, very bad and not a single one of them had tried to stop her.

It was a shameful acknowledgement.

A breeze slithered across the area and Saturn shivered. Looking up she glanced around and furrowed her brows. Something did not feel right. For a moment she felt as if someone with a strong lust for blood had zeroed in on her and was now on it's way. But she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary so she kept it to herself and let the silence stretch on.

And in that silence a wretched scream sliced through the night air.
 

Even when her screams filled the air like a demented orchestra, War felt no pleasure from doing this; in fact, her screaming only seemed to make him angrier. "Such pitiful wails...Your pain is only beginning, petulant child" the Horseman breathed into her ear; he desired to have both his arms in order to truly exact vengeance upon this whining coward, but he would make do with one. He had to; the justice that needed to be served demanded it. And she needed to suffer...For forcing him to commit such a dishonorable act. His hand then slid to her shoulder; gripping it tight, War rotated his body and threw Serenity as hard as he could against the wall over her bed. Her form would crash through the curtains that encompassed it and the structure that held it up before falling onto the mattress itself. But this was not a time for rest, for the Horseman would stomp his way to her and after raising a fist, crashed it down into Serenity's body and broke the sizable mattress and frame where she and Endymion would spend their nights. The actions had caused the Spire to weaken further, the immense power of his attacks causing cracks to now form on the wall's interior; if this kept up, War could very well bring the entire structure down around them.

"What a pathetic excuse for a leader, In other times, you crushed me easily. And in others I defeated you. But at least in those we fought as warriors do; none involved making an example of a cockroach!" War sneered, his hand reaching down to grasp the collar of her fuku; when he attempted to lift her from the broken bed though, he found that he pulled too tight and accidentally tore the top clean from her body, along with any undergarments she might have been wearing. For a moment the Horseman paused, the flames stoked by his limitless anger licking in tendrils at everything in the room and the front half of Serenity's outfit clenched in his fist; his grimace soon tightened and he cast the fabric aside before reaching to grab her by the hair and hoist her up, her booted feet dangling once more. And yet - unlike his brother Famine, whose sunken eyes would have been roaming her figure like the shameless pervert he was - all he did was glare into her eyes, as if wanting her to see the face of that which would end her forever. So pathetic, so weak, so defenseless...Why in this timeline was she such a brat? There was no honor in destroying one such as this, and yet his duty forced his hand. Her crime was one worthy of death and he would not defy that.

His fingers then uncurled to let her body drop; though if she thought he was letting her go, she was dead wrong. His fist drew back in a flash and then buried itself into her gut; the sound of cracking bone resonated throughout the room before she was launched into the ceiling. Another sickening 'CRACK' sounded off, the crystal breaking into a spider's web of fractures centering around where she impacted, before she would fall and collide with the floor. A hand then wrapped around her ankle, the force crushing the bone to dust; Serenity would then find herself being flung like one would throw a tomahawk, her back striking the floor with such force the tower shook and the cracks along the wall became full-blown fissures. The Horseman released his grip on her now broken ankle, leaving her sprawled and bloodied on her back. "You still live...You see how strong you could have been? Lesser humans would have broken under this long before now, and yet despite your injuries you live" War growled, staring down at her with none of the malice lost. "But that changes...This time, Queen Serenity, you will not return to cause further damage! Your death will be permanent!" War shouted as he raised his fist, its surface bursting into blinding flame.

As he drove his fist down, a flash of light encompassed her and deflected the Rider's fatal blow, directing the force into the tower's structure and making it shake. "What?" War muttered, caught off-guard by the strange occurrence; a bubble of translucent white light covered the Queen, shimmering with power before fading. "No matter...No shield will hold me back" was the Rider's growl as he swung down again, the light appearing once more to repel the attack. Again and again this was repeated, War's strikes steadily growing in both power and frequency as his rage climbed; the tower shook with the chaos of an unbelievable earthquake and the fissures snaked out farther and farther. As the barrage continued, the shield of light seemed to fracture more with each blow; like the Spire's walls, cracks snaked out from a center point and grew longer and deeper with each successive hit. One final hit and the shield burst; the resultant energy shockwave forced the Horseman to brace himself. Serenity's quarters looked just about ready to give way; it was a wonder the walls were still intact. War, however, lowered his arm and knew now that the Queen was his to kill; the energy had charred his armor, making his ash-covered form smoke and therefore likely more terrifying. "Nothing will protect you now, Serenity. No more hiding, no more tricks!" he bellowed, blinding fire fully encompassing his arm as he raised it one final time. This would kill her, of that he was certain.

Death had nearly finished with 'feeding' off of Setsuna's energy; he would not take her life, but even if he were to recover energy enough to assist in rejuvenating her, she would still need time to get back to full strength. His energy flared up a little as Jupiter attempted to intervene; if he stopped now, Pluto would certainly die. This was not a connection that could be broken prematurely, after all; though it seemed the eldest Senshi had sense enough to halt the hot-headed warrior from trying to stop him. "I promise, Jupiter...Pluto will live. But right now her body has suffered the least damage, and I need to use some of it if there is any chance of stopping my brother" he then spoke, speaking his promise to Pluto as well; Saturn too would live, and he knew it would be up to the three of them to help stem the tide. Death soon finished; he knew how close he was pushing her to her maximum but it was what needed to be. "This isn't much, but at least I can do something" the Green Rider spoke plainly as he stood shakily to his feet; taking hold of the Harvester, he lifted it from Setsuna's weakened grasp and staggered over to Despair. It wouldn't take much to heal his horse, of that he was thankful; soon, master and beast connected their energies and in a flash all of Despair's suffering was relieved.

The beast rose up to its hooves and gently licked its master's face, to which Death replied, "Go now, Despair; find her and deliver this". At this, Death took a crystal fragment into his grasp and after a moment of concentration and some muttered words in an ancient tongue, opened his palm to reveal that it glowed with a ghastly light. The steed took it into his mouth and soon bolted, taking to the sky and disappearing through one of the many tears that still lingered. While Death watched on, he knew that there was still one more message to send; he just hoped that the energy would be enough to do so. Before he could start though, a voice suddenly boomed from behind him "I COME FOR YOU, HARLOT! RUN NOW, OR DIE SLOWLY BY MY AXE!" The Horseman turned to see a large demon, covered in soot and blood, rapidly approaching; the footfalls grew heavier and heavier before the gold-clad demon stopped in front of the group. "Why are you here, Rider? Where is Lord Conquest? All that is left is his crown!" the warrior shouted, brandishing the fallen conqueror's headpiece. Death's gaze fell to the piece, and he could immediately sense his brother's presence within the ornate article, along with three of the Senshi. "They're trapped in there with him. The one called Mercury must have discovered how to deal with him. But to think they would go that far...Even War would acknowledge the honor of such sacrifice" Death commented in his mind, but spoke to the demon "I know not where my brother is, but that does not belong to you". Death then held out his hand and added in a grave tone, "Give it to me". If the demon had any inkling of where Conquest was, they might try to set him free.

And unfortunately, that was exactly where his gut led him; the demon looked down at the crown and shouted, "He's in here?! What matter of trickery is this? Set him free!" "Curses, I was hoping he would not come to that conclusion" the Horseman's eyes narrowed; his retort simply was "I cannot...". The demon snarled; as he inhaled though, he caught a particular scent once more. The one he was looking for: His eyes then turned to see Saturn herself, incapable of much let alone defending herself. "You...You are responsible for this, harlot!" he shouted and started to advance on her; Death then put himself between the beast and the Senshi, halting any attempt at bloodshed for the moment. "Stand aside, Horseman; this does not concern you" the demon warrior stated, staring down at the Horseman. "It does, actually...I give you one final chance: Hand over my brother's crown and walk away" Death replied coolly, holding out his own hand. For a few moments there was a rather intense staredown; the demon just replied, "Very well...After I kill those harlots". He then tried to swing at Death with his axe; the blade just collided with what appeared to be a translucent purple bone fragment surrounded in violet flame, its edge cleaved into the solid portion quite significantly.

"I cannot let you do that" was all Death said; a giant skeletal hand, composed of the same material that had protected the Rider from the warrior's weapon, then grasped the beast's torso and shoved him back forcing him to skid. "I presume you're not leaving without a fight?" the Rider asked, bringing the scythe to rest in both hands in front of him. "A warrior never backs down! I will fight for the glory of Lord Conquest!" the demon replied heatedly; Death just seemed let out a sigh as a chill feel across the land. "Damn it...I can't afford to expend much energy" he muttered before shifting his grip so that his weapon lay horizontal with the damaged earth; he then seemed to twist the snath and start to pull it apart. The massive blade shrank, but the skull at the base opened its mouth and appeared to consume the gold ring it held in its teeth before being reshaped into a blade itself. Arcs of energy appeared where the snath separated and when the process completed, Death held what appeared to be two smaller clones of his larger scythe in a reverse-grip style: One blade was silver, one blade was gold, and both lacked the skulls at the base of the snath. Both also had smaller blades protruding from the heel, the same color as the main blade for each one.

The demon felt a chill run down his spine; a small voice in the back of his head told him to run, but his pride as a warrior would not let him. "That will not save you, Horseman! You were strong, but now you are weakened and I will crush you!" the demon shouted defiantly and charged at Death; the Rider readied himself and right as the demon attempted to swing his weapon, he ducked and ran the blade of his golden scythe up the side of the monster's armored thigh. The demon howled in agony and stumbled, his free hand clutching his wound but overall was no less deterred from trying to kill Death. And from there, another battle erupted; Death used the enhanced speed at the cost of attack power of this form of the Harvester to dodge the demon's strikes. Death needed to pick his shots; as much as it sickened him, the demon warrior's soul was the strongest one here and would give the energy he needed to prepare for War's return. But he couldn't keep cutting away at the armor; being of demon design, it was meant to repel arcane forms of attack. And in Death's weakened state, he just didn't have the power to continuously cut into it without draining his reserves further let alone try to use magic to simply steal his soul from him; this all came to a head when, after a broad swing, Death leaped up and on the demon's shoulders. He quickly went to work and managed to sever the connection in the shoulder joint of the demon's torso plate; he then managed to sink his other scythe into the other shoulder.

But before he could do the other one and expose his chest to let him steal his soul, the warrior reached up and threw Death to the ground, the Horseman's form skidding within a few feet to the right of the three tired Senshi. As Death tried to get up, the demon pinned the Rider's legs with his knees; he then tried to crush Death with his massive arms, but the Rider caught his hands. They were now locked in a grapple, the beast's maw snapping rabidly at Death's head while the Horseman tried to work himself free; his strength was depleting rapidly and he couldn't summon a portion of his True Form to knock the demon off. Meanwhile, the one hand-scythe remained in the demon's armor's shoulder joint facing the Senshi group; if only he could pull it out, it would sever the armor and expose the right area he needed to get the maximum energy he could. It wouldn't even take that much effort either; a human could do it if they had to. The demon meanwhile pushed down harder and harder, trying to get to Death with all his might and subsequently making the weakened shoulder joint more accessible, "You forget, Death, that you're vulnerable in this form! And I will become unto a God once I take your head!" the demon shouted, glee very much evident in his voice.
 
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