Usagi still didn't feel able to say a single word, when they walked through the forest, back to the camp. The view of the Burning Plains was still etched into her mind.
All of a sudden, Ash stopped. "What?" Usagi asked. "What's wrong?"
"Quiet," Ash whispered. "Someone's coming..."
"You don't think it's one of..."
"The Rocketeers? Maybe, maybe not. But I don't want to take any chances."
Suddenly, loud shouts came out of the forest and made them jump in surprise. "The others!" Usagi shouted in fear.
"They're attacking the camp," Ash shouted and drew his blade. "C'mon, let's hurry!"
Usagi did her best to follow the upset prince as he sprinted through the thicket. When he once again stopped, she nearly ran against his backside.
But Ash himself had nearly collided with the raven-haired girl that had appeared in front of him.
"Ash?" Rei asked. "Damn, watch where you're going! We're trying to escape here!"
"From who?" Usagi asked, as she noticed the forms of Misty, Luna and Pikachu behind her friend.
"The Rocketeers!" Misty explained. "They attacked the camp, just after you left. They took us by surprise..."
"And what about Brock? Where is he?" Ash wanted to know.
Misty shrugged. "Dead, captured or escaped. I hope he escaped, but we can't wait to find out. The others have all stayed behind to fight. They wanted to give us a chance."
"What?" Usagi asked in disbelief. "All of them... they just stayed behind? Just how many of those Rocketeers have attacked you?"
"Dozens of them," Pikachu panted. "We wouldn't have made it if it weren't for the others' sacrifice."
"Sacrifice?" Usagi yelped. "You don't want to tell me that they... they are..."
"Dead?" Misty asked. "Of course they are... or some of them, most likely. This is WAR, Usagi. I don't know what ideas you grew up with, but every battle has its victims."
"Hey, give her a break, okay?" Rei defended her friend. "We always had to deal with inhuman monsters, and for your information, we are fighting because we want to avoid making human sacrifices."
"Well, I suppose you didn't fight so many enemies at once, then," Misty shrugged. "In a war, you have to make some sacrifices."
"Enough of this now," Ash interfered. "We have to find a place where we can hide... if there are that many, we won't be able to defeat them all by ourselves."
"Is there really no way we can escape?" Luna asked.
Misty shook her head. "Only over the Burning Plains. And I'd rather die than crossing those accursed plains."
"And if we go back to Lavender Castle?" Rei asked. "You told us that the Rocketeers are afraid from that place."
This time, it was Ash who shook his head. "We're already too far away from there. The Rocketeers would ambush us on our way."
"Well, do you have a better idea?" Rei asked. Ash wanted to reply, when suddenly, another yell came out of the forest. They all spun around to see two of Misty's Wartortle soldiers stumble out of the forest.
And a large number of black-armored riders was following them.
They were all wearing the same black armor, which was adorned by a big, stylized 'R' on their fronts. The neck and shoulder parts of the armors were framed by patches of fur, and in spite of the warm climate, they all wore fur coats. Helmets that almost looked like insectoid masks were covering their faces. They were all armed with swords or spears, and one of them was swinging a massive, spiked mace.
The Pokémon they were riding on resembled giant pigs with sharp tusks and a thick fur that was covering their eyes. The Rocketeers were sitting atop their towering hunchbacks.
Usagi yelped in fright when she saw how some of the riders that were holding short bows were firing their arrows at the escaping Wartortles. Luckily, most of them bounced off their thick shells.
"Defend yourselves!" Ash yelled as he welcomed the Rocketeers with his sword. Pikachu was right at his side, his cheeks sparkling with electricity.
Usagi and Rei immediately raised their transformation items.
"Moon Crisis, Make Up!"
"Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!"
Sailor Moon then realized that only a few of the Rocketeers were riding atop the shaggy swine Pokémon... but that didn't mean that they were any less dangerous in combat. Evading a sword swipe just in time, Usagi realized that close combat wasn't really her specialty.
Luckily, Misty jumped in-between her and the attacking Rocketeer in time, blocking his attack with her own saber. "If you don't have close combat weapons, keep your distance and use your magic!"
She didn't have to tell that twice to Mars.
"BURNING MANDALA!" she shouted. As it turned out, her fire attacks were very effective against the massive boars the Rocketeers were riding on.
While Ash, Misty and the Wartortles engaged their enemies in melee combat, the Senshi and Pikachu kept their distance to fire their magical and elemental attacks.
"FIRE SOUL BIRD!"
"MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK!"
"Piii-kaaa-CHUUUUUUUUU!"
Just when Usagi thought they would be able to beat them, she saw an approaching shadow in the corner of her eyes.
Luna, who had been staying out of the battle, yelled: "Sailor Moon, watch out!"
Usagi gasped as she raised her Moon Rod to deflect the Rocketeer's attack. But the warrior was physically stronger than her, so she stumbled backwards, almost falling on her behind.
Seeing an opening, the Rocketeer stormed towards her with a loud battle cry, raising his weapon for the ending blow...
And then he cried out in pain, as his chest was pierced by the bloody tip of a curved saber.
Misty pulled her weapon back, leaving a bloody wound on the Rocketeer's chest. With a groan, the warrior collapsed on the ground.
Ash helped Usagi to stand up. All around them, the battle was over. But at what cost...
Rei was limping visibly, and she clutched her side. Both Wartortles wouldn't be able to stand up from the ground anymore, and Usagi didn't want to start thinking about what might have happened to those who had decided to stay behind and fight.
She stared down at the bloody corpse of the Rocketeer. The helmet had fallen off and she was able to see her opponent's face.
It was a girl. Not much older than herself or Rei, blonde hair was cascading down her shoulders in curly pigtails. Her face was frozen in a grimace of disbelief.
Sailor Moon looked up at Misty. "You... you killed her..."
The princess of Cerulean sighed. "Yes, I did. I had to. She would have killed you if I didn't. I already told you: This is war, and there will be sacrifices."
"But... but they are humans..." Usagi stuttered in disbelief. "They are humans, and you are killing each other..."
"Of course they are humans," Pikachu grumbled. "What did you expect, that they are terrible demons who would suck your life away until you die?"
"Pikachu!" Ash sternly said. The electric Pokémon winced and didn't say anything else.
Misty sheathed her saber and knelt down next to the distressed moon princess. "I know it is hard, Usagi. Killing others is never easy, and if there would be another way, we wouldn't do this. But they leave us no choice."
"But... you don't understand," Usagi said in despair. "They are humans." She sobbed. "I always wanted to protect humans... how can I do that there are humans fighting each other in this war?"
Misty didn't know what to reply, so she decided just to comfort Usagi by giving her a gentle hug.
Some time later, they both stood up from the ground and, together with the others, left.
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:50)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.