Act Zero: Neo Soldiers

They were going to die. If nothing was done, they would all perish on that battleground, in the middle of nowhere, and there was nothing they could do about it.

How had it come to that?

Sailor Earth jumped back, spitting blood up as she landed wrong on her injured leg, screaming in pain and grabbing it. An'ya, the Demon Omega, lunged at her, striking her with her staff, causing her to be thrown back into an old fence, cutting her up more as the barbed wire tore into her uniform and skin. She downed a small vial of clear liquid, waiting until she felt her wounds heal up before standing again.

'That was my last vial… if I get hit again like I have been, I'm finished…'

She held her sword in her hand and dug her heels in, rushing An'ya and striking at her. She was thrown back like a rag doll.

Earlier in the day had been normal. Terra had woken up and rolled out of bed, and as usual had been confused by the face she'd seen in the mirror. Rather than her own bright, yellow eyes and white hair, she was met with mundane brown hair and green eyes. As always, she remembered that day, what had happened, and resolved to go on with her empty life.

"Kara, you're up," the man said, Kara's father. Terra looked up at him with a blank stare before smiling.

"Yeah. I'm not tired, it's okay." She didn't like talking to Kara's parents at all. They were very nice people, but they had their share of secrets they never spoke of… and if they did around Terra, it was in a tone that indicated Kara had known and she should. They made her uncomfortable as well.

Walking out of the kitchen, Terra looked at her cellphone. Neither knew she owned the thing, it was hers from before all of this. She had messages from an all-too familiar number, the voice mails were erased before she could even listen to them. They were usually the same, either way.

It never ended. She made her way back to the bedroom, locking the door behind her and laying on the bed. No sense watching television, the news reports on the 'disappearance' of Terra Nightwind continued and did nothing but annoy her to death. The texts and phone calls from the studio were worse. And for 'them' to keep pestering her…

She had no desire to go back. After all she'd done, after what had happened to Kara… she had no right to have that life anymore.

Kara had owned some fascinating books, though, truth be told. Old ones, medical ones… books on psychology, anatomy, neuroscience. The girl seemed to be in love with how the mind worked, how it broke down. Maybe that explained how she had-

Terra jumped when she felt the vibration indicating a text message had just come through. She'd been jolted from her thoughts and had all the intentions of using Kara's strength to just crush the damn thing when she saw the number. Karen.

Grabbing up her locket and pulling some clothes on, Terra hurried past the Staars and left the house.

If Karen was willingly texting her… something was wrong.

Karen Arianne was pacing back and forth in the little living area of the church she lived in. The walls were decorated with religious paintings, crosses and such. She had a couch and some armchairs, her own bedroom and even a bathroom. She was adopted, she'd been left here as an infant, and the family who ran the place didn't have room in their own home for her, so they let her live here, rather than kick her out.

She fiddled with a cross she wore around her neck, huffed and puffed, and paced some more. She had messaged Nightwind an hour ago – okay, it was 37 minutes – and she'd received neither confirmation nor an estimated time of arrival for her. She'd called Carol and Alysse as well, though hadn't told them she'd asked Terra to come along. Neither would show if they knew.

Of course, she couldn't blame them, after what had happened to Kara… Lord knew she had felt the temptation of wrath and had even indulged herself in it to have revenge. But Terra was the one who might have known more about this vision than the others. She knew more about the Sailor Soldiers than they did. After all, she remembered.

Terra remembered, and none of them could. She had even implied she didn't know how Karen herself was a Sailor Soldier, because she didn't have a mark like one she was accustomed to. A black, crescent moon, pointed down.

The sound of a door opening caught her attention and she ran to the top of the stairwell, looking to see who was there. Karen had to remind herself it wasn't Kara anymore. With a bit of a huff, she walked back to her living area. Terra hadn't come at once, she had stopped for snacks.

"Got your message, kid. M&M?" she asked, holding the bag up as she plopped into a seat with her Pepsi bottle. Karen looked at her phone, a text from Carol had come in, she couldn't make it, something about a big science fair project. She responded that it was urgent, please come.

"Not a word? Huh? More for me, I guess," Terra shrugged, popping another candy into her mouth. Ever since she left her stardom life, she was finally free to eat whatever she damn well pleased. She would gorge on candy and cakes whenever possible, pleased with Kara's remarkable ability to not get fat.

Karen looked at her phone again. Another text, from Aly this time. She'd grabbed Carol, they were on their way. She just kept pacing back and forth, growing more and more worried.

"I've called for the others, they're on their way," the holy girl replied, still pacing, chewing on her lip and playing with a strand of her hair. Terra became genuinely worried she would wear a hole in the floor.

"We've got some time before the others show. Karen, what's on your mind?" she asked. Karen looked at her, but said nothing. Terra sighed.

"Suit yourself," she said, popping an M&M in her mouth.

"Terra… I had another. This one…"

"Another what? Vision? What about?" Terra asked, setting her candy and soda down, leaning forward. Though they had their… differences on religion, the woman was always interested in hearing about the girl's visions. She could see the future; it was accurate, though sometimes she couldn't always vocalize what she saw, as it was almost always pictures.

But they were pictures that never lied.

"It was… Lord, give me strength, it was dark, and-"

Terra's cellphone went off, playing a ringtone Karen had never heard before. The woman blanched and grabbed it up, opening it. She was as white as a sheet as she raised a shaky hand up to motion Karen silent… and she listened.

"Hello, Lady Earth," the voice spoke. Karen had never seen Terra act like this. She was truly freaking out over the phone call.

"Can't find the words to scream at me? Don't worry about it; I'm sure they're there. This isn't a pleasantry call, you know. Perhaps you remember my daughter?"

Karen sat close, listening in. Either Terra was letting her listen… or wasn't aware she was trying to.

"Your silence says it all. An'ya is ready to fight. We've been able to corrupt all that power you helped us take from the little demon, and now she can use it. She's unstoppable. Why am I letting you know this? You were once one of us. I thought, perhaps, you'd like to know what kills you."

The laugh was cut off when the phone call ended.

"W-what am I feeling?" she whispered, eyes wide, looking to Karen for the answers. "My heart is pounding, I feel… it's strange. I don't understand this."

She asked these questions all the time. Karen didn't question, though. She answered.

"Intense fear. You're scared."

The pain of transformation had burned many of Terra's memories from her, but this was familiar for some reason.

"Who is An'ya?"

"She is the new Sailor Omega…"

Terra had left Karen's home, heading back to Kara's. What could be done? An'ya was powerful on her own, how could she hope to compete against her with the power of the Forbidden Omega?

She couldn't get the girls involved in this. It was her fault this was happening, it was her responsibility!

News reports of this monster in Japan, Cell, were coming in all the time, people were talking about it. It was none of Terra's concern. Those people had nothing to do with her problems. Thirty years from now, forty years from now… who would remember that? An'ya was a greater threat.

The bus was late. The street was deserted from panic over the events in Japan, about the monster threatening to destroy Earth. It was quiet, except for the faint sound of people at the junior high about a hundred yards away, the school Terra had to attend. Some kind of track meet, a waste of time, a pointless competition so people could claim to be better than others.

"Humans are such ugly creatures," she sneered.

Slumping down onto the bench, she put her face in her hands. Fear. Such a horrid emotion, but she knew she'd felt it before. She wanted to go back to Kara's house to read one of her books, one about the mind. The more she learned about herself, the more of the burned away memories that came back, the more she wanted to understand. It was just like putting her life under a microscope.

"They are," a voice said from behind her. Terra jumped up, spinning around to see Kunzite standing there, smiling.

"So, this was Sailor Neo Moon all along," he mused. Terra patted herself down, pulling her transformation locket out. She could fight him, she could handle him alone. Kara was strong, after all.

…why hadn't she fought back that one day?

Fighting the urge to vomit as the memories bubbled up of the torture, she was prepared to fight and destroy him.

"Our Great Ruler wants you to come back to the Dark Kingdom, Lady Earth," he said. "With our Forbidden Omega, we will cleanse the world and make it fit for our rule. Surely, you don't want to be slaughtered along with the rubbish."

"Maybe I LIKE 'the rubbish', Kunzite. Did you ever think of that?" she shrieked, rushing him, striking and knocking him back, startling him. He bounced along the pavement, before skidding along the grass. Blood came from his mouth.

"You'll never change." He stood up, dusting himself off.

"I don't need to change… I am what I am."

"Then come and die, Lady Earth. To the place of your unsealing, and fight to your death."

He was gone before she could react.

So here she was. She was in the place she'd been unsealed, miles from civilization, in what was called 'America'. It was nothing special, no temple, no runes on the ground, no monks chanting dark prayers to demons. The blistering sun poured down and scorched the dying grass that cried for rain that hadn't come in months.

Sailor Earth pushed herself up, staring at An'ya. She was going to die, and she knew it. Her muscles ached, but An'ya had no damage on her. She was unstoppable, and yet despite fighting for her life, Earth still had time to wonder why the hell her uniform was so unlike everyone else's… she was wearing what looked like a Japanese Kimono with a very short skirt.

In the time it took her to stop and think, she was thrown back into the fence once more.

"Enough with the damn fence!" Earth roared, hopping back up. "I'm tore to hell and back, thanks!"

"It isn't enough! You're a traitor! I looked up to you, now you're with THEM!"

The staff hit painfully and Earth spit blood up. 'Shit, I don't have any more meds…'

This was it. She waited for the staff to make the killing blow and crush her face in. She deserved it, didn't she? That's what the others thought…

The shriek was truly deafening. Earth covered her sensitive ears out of instinct and looked up to see Sailor Neo Venus there, the red gem on her choker glowing.

"You okay?" she called out as the others arrived after her. Neo Jupiter with her spear and Neo Mars putting a hand up over her black crystal earrings. None of them wore their tiaras, showing their marks, Earth was the only one who kept hers covered.

"How did you find me?" Earth asked, rubbing where she'd been hit.

"I felt the Dark Power," Neo Mars explained. "We came to it at once."

"For a bible-thumper, you sure do put a lot of faith in your hocus-pocus."

An'ya rushed at Neo Venus, finding the spear of Neo Jupiter in her path. She skidded to a halt, backing off, snarling much like a demon. She WAS a demon, now.

"We might have a chance now!" Neo Jupiter shouted happily.

"No, no… we don't stand a snowball's chance in July to make it out of this," Earth warned, holding where she'd been hit. "We're going to die. But, in the end, I'm not going down without a fight… if I go down, I'm taking An'ya with me to the depths of Hell."

With a sick smile, she drew her sword and threw the scabbard aside.

"Let's dance, An'ya."

She rushed her at once, never giving her even a moment of rest, swinging the sword at her, managing once or twice to rip and cut places on her uniform. Though An'ya seemed to anticipate it, she would dodge and weave about, striking at the others as best she could, though she was being forced to turn her attention back to Earth quite often. Earth was taking a beating, Neos Venus and Jupiter were getting hit, the only one to be spared was Neo Mars… her holy power keeping An'ya at bay.

Earth was knocked back, barely missing the damn fence by inches, grateful for that in its entirety. An'ya was on her, striking her with her staff, clawing at her with her bare hands, blood poured forth from the wounds and she was getting dizzy. One hard kick just right caused An'ya to shriek in pain before falling back. So… she had the same weakness Kara did… they were similar.

Pulling herself up, Earth looked around at everyone. With nothing else to lose, she began to do something none of them had ever seen before. Her hands moved in the air, as if drawing something out. Flames stood where her hands traced, runes formed in the air and then on the ground. The heat from the flames sparked fires all around, smoke beginning to billow up.

"Grievance of the Ruined Earth!"

She slammed the blade of her sword into the earth, and at first, there was nothing. Ice began to pour forth from the impact site, lightning arched through the blade and traced along the paths the ice made, and the fire formed a perimeter. An'ya tried to jump back, but found her feet frozen to the ground as the ice began shattering away when the lightning coursed through it, the ground left behind turning a hideous black.

"Th-the ground is rotting!" Neo Jupiter shouted, coughing a couple of times.

"If we don't stop An'ya, that's going to be the LEAST of our concerns!" Earth rushed forward again, tacking her, pinning her to the ground as the electricity struck them both. She held her there for what seemed like eternity as the pain threatened to rip her apart, the rotted earth around them trying to swallow them whole.

"Black Moon!" Earth shouted, still pinning An'ya down. "Epsilon! Guardian! Help me! Stop her! I can't do this forever!"

Sailor Neo Mars – Black Moon – hesitated. Surely, if she left them as they were, they would BOTH perish. After what happened to Kara, after what Terra did, it would be right, wouldn't it? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth… a life for a life.

"BLACK MOON!"

Black Moon rushed forth, grabbing An'ya from behind and pulling out a crucifix, the item she focused all of her power to, and pressed it into her eye, the one with the hideous scar running through it.

An'ya's movements became slow and stiff, but she screamed loudly, trying to frantically reach and remove the item. In the pain, she was opening her eye, which was as red as blood. Trying to gain more power, trying to drain their souls. Using that knowledge, Earth got in front of her, the sudden change throwing her off guard.

Maybe they would all survive after all…

Bringing them with her, with help from Guardian, Earth brought them to the only place she could detect that was not the Kingdom of the Earth and would be safe to store An'ya away. She'd discussed it with Black Moon, they had a plan in place to let her redeem herself. They could all watch, let her free once a week.

Somehow, they had ripped her soul from her body and Black Moon cast her into Hell. Earth was just trying her best to stand up as the guardian of this place helped Black Moon, who was sanctifying the room.

Planning to sit down and rest, Earth turned around with a smile… which turned to horror quickly. She screamed, everyone came running out in time to see it. Jadeite was there, a portal to the Dark Kingdom open, and a sword through Earth's gut.

Epsilon had her head in her hands, screaming and crying, the sight too much for her. She began to talk, over and over, babbling things that made no sense… Guardian tried to hold on to her, but was slapped away. Epsilon ran and leaped off the tower, vanishing to elsewhere. She had tapped into her Old Power and was simply gone.

Black Moon got between Jadeite and Earth, pulling the sword free as she collapsed to the ground, bleeding out. The Moon was gone… it had been destroyed, that was what the reports all said. But Earth had said it was a lie. She had hidden it, because it was too important to lose. It was a hidden place… maybe, just maybe…

"Evil invader! Be gone from this place! I cast you out!" Black Moon roared, her earrings glinting in the light. There was a wretched, grinding noise as Jadeite stuck his sword into the ground, spitting curses. In moments, he was gone. Sailor Black Moon had used her very power to seal up the Dark Kingdom. Her chest tightened, and she found it difficult to breathe. She was a fool; it had been too much for her.

The guardian of this place, whose appearance frightened her, went to see if she was okay. Before he could reach her, though, she put her hands on Sailor Earth and concentraited. The power in her earrings gave a dull, purple glow as she closed her eyes, trying to not be disgusted with the wet, sticky blood.

"What… are you-" was all she could get out when a powerful light overtook her. Earth's body began to float up, a cocoon of light engulfing her, and she was gone. Standing, Black Moon needed time to herself. She took off inside, brushing someone aside. She came upon a very large, ornate door, and opened it. She vanished.

It had been many years since that final battle, and the woman once known as Sailor Guardian was living in an outskirt of Tokyo, Japan, moving here along with Sailor Omega. She'd taken up opening a Martial Arts class, using the skills taught to her by Sailor Earth. She had one promising student, a little girl who had a passing resemblance to Terra. Keiko was now pregnant, a little girl was on the way, and Aly couldn't be more happy for her.

Every so often, she would look up into the black sky and remember that fateful battle, and remember the sacrifices they had made to get to where they were today. And she hoped that, maybe, things would stay this peaceful forever.