Chapter Three

Dangerous Times

Ami walked home alone. She had been with the others at Rei’s shrine, discussing Sailor Janus and Sailor Minos and what to do about the senshi that wanted them all dead. Usagi was naturally very worried, in spite of the reassurances from the others. Minako and Makoto had decided to walk her home. Ami had declined the invitation to join them. She had a lot on her mind, and appreciated the walk home alone to digest everything that had happened to them recently.

She was certain Janus had a weakness, something that would take her down next time they fought. Ami had noticed that the more energy the wicked senshi used, the weaker she became. She dismissed that idea with a shake of her head. There was no way of knowing how much energy she had, or if she and her friends could withstand her attacks until she weakened. Ami sighed. There had to be some way to stop Janus before she killed again.

A figure leapt from the treetops to land in front of her. Ami gasped in surprise and took a few steps back. The figure before her straightened to its full height and stared down at her.

“Good evening, Ami,” Sailor Janus said. “A bit late for a walk, don’t you think?”

Ami’s eyes narrowed as she gripped her transformation wand. Janus crossed her arms over her chest.

“Transform. You’re no good to me without your powers,” she ordered.

Ami hesitated. If she wasn’t a senshi, Janus couldn’t take her powers. Slowly, Ami lowered her wand, her eyes never leaving Janus’. The other senshi raised an eyebrow.

“Going to be brave?” Janus asked. “Suit yourself. It will be a lot more painful for you this way.”

Janus attacked, fists flying. Ami cried out, trying to defend herself as best she could, but it was no use. A punch to the chin sent her into the air, and she landed painfully on the cement sidewalk. Janus kicked her in the stomach as she lay there.

“Get up, Ami. You can’t possibly be done yet.”

Ami struggled to her feet, blood dripping from her lip. She glared defiantly at Janus, refusing to surrender. The evil senshi nodded at her appraisingly.

“You’ve got more guts than I thought,” Janus admitted. “But you’ve also got less brains than I thought. I’m through playing with you. Powers or not, you won’t live to see the sunrise.”

Janus raised one hand above her head. “World Shaking!”

Ami stared in horror as the attack sailed towards her. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind as she realized she was about to die. Closing her eyes, she prepared herself for the end. Surprisingly, it never came. She opened her eyes again to find Sailor Minos standing in front of her with her talisman.

“What are you doing?” Minos hissed. “Transform!”

“That’s what she wants!” Ami objected.

“Die as you are, or as a senshi. Either way, you’re dead. Go down fighting!”

Janus was throwing a small fit, stomping the ground and pounding the air with her fists. She stared at Minos with daggers in her eyes.

“Stop ruining my fun!” Janus yelled.

“Minos Sacred Axe!” Sailor Minos swung her talisman, throwing arcs of energy at her enemy.

Janus just barely dodged them. Grinning wickedly, she slid to a halt as Minos’ attack subsided. Not wanting to allow her any opportunity to strike, Minos charged her enemy head on, hoping to give Ami enough time to escape. As she and Janus exchanged blows, Minos realized belatedly that she should have ordered Ami to run and not given her the option of transforming. Grimacing, she hoped the ice senshi would make the right decision and flee.

“Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!”

Minos dropped to the ground, sighing inwardly, as the attack sailed over her head. It hit Janus directly, and she was completely unprepared for the assault. She took a few reeling steps backwards and fixed her hard, turquoise eyes on Mercury. Minos rolled to one side and stood, waiting for Janus to make her next move. The wicked senshi was completely ignoring Minos, focusing her hatred entirely at Mercury.

“For being the smart one,” Janus commented flippantly, “you’re really not that bright.”

She held both her hands above her head, smiling almost pleasantly at her victim. A ball of flames ignited in her palms and steadily began to grow, fueled by her increasing hatred of the senshi. Minos tried to call out a warning, but she was too late.

“Aegyptus Sun Disc!” Janus called, tossing the flaming ball at Mercury.

The ball continued to grow, and Mercury did her best to avoid the attack. As the flames engulfed her, she tossed herself to one side, but not far enough. Minos stared in shocked disbelief as the blue-haired girl was consumed by the flames of Janus’ hatred. The attack soon died down, leaving a badly charred and unconscious Mercury lying on the ground. Minos hesitated for only a split second before placing herself between the girl and her assailant. She held her axe at the ready and stared defiantly at Janus.

“You’re not getting this one,” Minos said.

“Getting a bit protective of your little ones, aren’t you?” Janus asked. “That’s so unlike you, Minos, and we both know it.”

“Just keeping you from getting stronger.”

Janus laughed. “But the power is so delicious! If only you knew! But I can be reasonable. Surrender your powers to me and I’ll leave the little ones alone.”

Now it was Minos who laughed. “Get real. That will never happen.”

Janus shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

She punched Minos hard across the face, knocking her down and to the side. With the path to Mercury cleared, a slow smile spread across Janus’ face. She knelt before Mercury and her hands began to glow in anticipation.

“No!” Minos gasped, rising to her feet.

A fiery arrow struck Janus in the back, exploding and causing her to cry out in pain. Spinning around, Janus saw Sailor Mars crouched on one knee behind her, another arrow already in her bow and ready to fly.

“You’re too late,” Janus laughed.

She turned again to find Minos standing once again over Mercury. With a sidelong grin, Minos punched Janus in the jaw. She staggered back a few steps, rubbing her face with one gloved hand. She stared in rage at Minos, daggers in her eyes, and prepared to fight back. Mars cleared her throat behind the enemy senshi, and Janus’ eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Next time,” she promised as she disappeared.

Mars hurried past Minos to crouch next to Mercury, checking her friend over carefully. Minos stood where she was, her hands clenched tightly into fists and her head spinning in exhaustion. Slowly, she stared to walk away.

“Wait,” Mars called. “Could you help me with Mercury?”

“I’ve done all I can,” Minos replied without turning. “You’ll be fine.”

“At least come to the shrine for some ice,” Mars pleaded. “You’re going to get a nasty bruise from that punch.”

“I’m okay.”

“Don’t be so stubborn. You’re one of us, and we look out for each other.”

“Which is precisely what got you into this dangerous game in the first place,” Minos countered, turning around quickly. The motion made her vision swim momentarily, but she ignored the sensation. “Thank you for your help, but stay out of this battle!”

“We can’t!” Mars objected, holding Mercury upright by tucking her head under Mercury’s arm. “Like it or not, we’re all involved. Janus knows we exist, she knows who we are!”

“And you all will die. I can’t prevent that! Not by myself!”

“You’re not by yourself,” Mars reminded her. “Not anymore. Can’t you see that? We all want to help but we don’t know how.”

“Neither do I!” Minos snapped. She took a deep breath to calm herself. She could feel her cheek beginning to swell where Janus had struck her.

Mars moved to stand next to Minos and smiled. “Let’s talk about it, then. You know Janus better than any of us. Together, I’m sure we can fine a weakness.”

Minos returned the grin and moved to Mars’ other side, putting Mercury’s other arm around her shoulders to help support the girl’s weight.

“First, we’d better make sure Mercury is okay,” Minos said.

*****

Janus reappeared much later on top of a building downtown. She had been so close, she had almost tasted the fallen senshi’s powers. Her heart had been pounding, her body prepared to accept the burden of another soul. She raised a finger and gingerly touched her jaw where Minos had struck her. It was still very sore. Another score to settle with that meddling senshi, sooner or later. Sitting on the rooftop, she watched the traffic moving below her. She knew she couldn’t go back to the Boss, not with Shade there to rub in her failure. She didn’t want to face them yet, not without a victory to prove her worth.

Suddenly, something below her caught her eye. A lone figure, disappearing down a side street. The figure’s black pigtails made her easily recognizable, even without Janus’ spectacular eyesight. Smiling, Janus stood, knowing her day was about to get significantly better.

*****

Étoile moved quickly, trying to get home before the sun completely set. Her mother had expected her home earlier, but she had been too involved with the other senshi to noticed the passing of time. While Makoto and Minako walked Usagi home, Étoile also made her goodbyes and headed downtown. She hated for her mother to worry. Turning abruptly, she decided to take a short cut between two buildings to get to her street on the other side.

“Where are you going, little star?” a sinister voice asked. “It’s too bright out for you to be shining.”

Étoile turned sharply , her eyes narrowing as she saw Janus sitting on a pile of old boxes behind her. The evil senshi smiled and beckoned for the girl to come forward. Étoile took in the situation in a moment, spun around on her heel, and ran in the opposite direction of where Janus sat. Cursing, Janus leapt from her seat and took off after her prey.

Clearing the alley, Étoile found herself in a vacant lot across the street from Calliste’s woodworking shop. Hoping desperately that Calliste was home, Étoile prepared to dash across the road and pound on the door. Janus caught up to her before she had a chance to take a step. Standing in front of Étoile, Janus wagged a finger at her and clucked her tongue in disapproval.

“Now, now,” Janus chided. “Why did you run? You know I’m going to kill you no matter where you hide!”

“I prefer to stay alive, merci,” Étoile replied, holding up her transformation wand. “Stellanova Power, Make-Up!”

“I love it when they try to fight,” Janus said excitedly. “En garde!”

Stellanova assumed a defensive stance, waiting for her opponent to make the first move. Janus circled her warily, a disarming grin on her face. Stellanova began to feel like a mouse being pursued by a cunning cat, and the thought both startled and alarmed her.

“Star light, Star bright!” Stellanova called,

The attack exploded by Janus’ feet, momentarily blinding the girl. Janus’ hands moved quickly to cover her eyes, and she snarled angrily as she tried to regain her vision. Stellanova took the opportunity to attack again.

“Stellar Shower!” she called, pointing up at the sky.

Janus blinked a few more time and raised her head to follow her opponent’s gaze. Her eyes widened in surprise as thousands of tiny shooting stars began to fall from the heavens. Shielding her head with her hands, she tried to avoid the rocks as best they could. Many of them burned her skin and clothes before she threw a random punch at Stellanova, knocking her down and stopping the assault.

Straightening herself to her full height, she patted the parts of her uniform that continued to smolder and glared at the small senshi. Janus shook her head almost sympathetically.

“You’re going to wish you didn’t do that,” Janus threatened.

Staring up at the enraged senshi, Stellanova had a feeling that, for once, her enemy spoke the truth.

*****

Calliste stared out the window of the bus as it slowly made its way downtown. She had stayed for a few short hours with Rei and Ami, long enough to make sure the blue senshi was okay. During that time, she had tended to her own wounds, and watched as Rei took care of her friend. As the streets rolled past, Calliste thought back to the conversation she and Rei had exchanged.

“She’ll be fine,” Rei said, gazing gently at Ami who was sleeping in her bed.

“She should have run,” Calliste grunted, holding a bag of ice to her own slightly swollen cheek. She felt exhausted, more tired than she had in a long time, and she began to wonder if she was getting too old for senshi business.

“Maybe,” Rei replied, sitting across from her, “or maybe she should have fought harder, or maybe she shouldn’t have transformed at all.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Calliste shook her head and winced. “Janus would have killed her easily and taken the powers from her corpse.”

Rei sighed. “She tried her best.”

“And almost died. She was lucky I was there.”

“And who made you invincible?” Rei exclaimed angrily. “Why do you think you’re the only one Janus can’t touch?”

“I’m not invincible, and I’m not afraid of death. No one has been able to face Janus alone and survive, except me.”

“Maybe so, but there are other senshi now. A lot of us. We should stick together.”

“It won’t work. Janus will eventually kill us all. I’m prepared for death by her hands. Are you?”

Rei rose to her feet, the anger evident in her eyes. “Eventually we will all die, and I don’t fear it either. But, between now and eventually, we can fight together and maybe we’ll get lucky and stop her.”

Calliste rose as well. “Luck is all we have. Don’t go looking for a fight.”

“And you don’t go looking for death.”

Calliste paused on her way to the door, taken aback by Rei’s final words. Without a backwards glance, she left the fire senshi’s room and headed home.

Calliste sighed. She hated to be so hard on the younger senshi, but they had no idea what they were facing. She had heard their story, how they had saved the world numerous times and had been reborn to fight again. She thought they understood that death by Janus’ hand meant no rebirth could happen. Their senshi souls would be trapped inside her forever, forced to do unspeakable harm and damage to the world they were sworn to protect. That was why Calliste had to stop Janus. That was why no more senshi could risk death. That was why she had to be alone.

The bus stopped a block from her apartment, and Calliste disembarked, thanking the driver politely as she left. The bus pulled away from the curb and Calliste turned towards home. Suddenly, she sensed Janus close by. Very close. She turned around full circle, wildly trying to pinpoint where the sensation was coming from.

“Calm down,” she told herself. “You’ll be no good to help if you panic.”

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. She was aware of the other people on the street, watching her as they passed, but she ignored them. Concentrating, she found Janus a few blocks down the street. Smiling to herself, she opened her eyes and took off at a run towards her nemesis.

*****

Sailor Stellanova was doing her best to stay a step ahead of Janus. She knew no help was coming, that she was completely alone to live or die by Janus’ hand. The wicked senshi knew this as well, and was toying with her to prolong her suffering.

“Aegyptus Sun Disc!” Janus exclaimed, tossing a fire ball at Stellanova.

The attack struck the already weakened senshi, tossing her aside like a rag doll. Rolling to a stop, she managed to struggle to her feet.

“Super Nova!” she called, throwing several glowing orbs at Janus

The balls exploded, but were not as strong as they had been when the long fight began. Janus covered her face and waited for the bright light to subside before renewing her assault. When she looked back to where Stellanova had been, she found the girl missing.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Janus called.

She fingered her small clay pot, stolen from Sailor Pandora quite some time ago, and waited for a sign that Stellanova was close by.

The weakened senshi was trying to calm her beating heart as she hid behind some crates. She hurt all over and wanted nothing more than to end this battle and go home to her mother and brother. The thought of them brought her some unknown strength and she silently amassed her powers for a final assault.

“Super Nova!” Stellanova exclaimed, popping out from her hiding place when Janus was close by.

The other senshi was surprised and barely had time to raise her hands in protection as the white ball exploded. She was thrown back quite some distance, landing against a brick wall and sliding to the ground. She lay stunned for a moment as Stellanova took a few limping paces towards her. Janus raised her head in time to see Stellanova fall to the ground, utterly exhausted.

“That… was… foolish,” Janus gasped, struggling to her feet.

She made her way to where the girl lay and rolled her over onto her back. Stellanova fought, but Janus quickly pinned her hands above her head and smiled pleasantly at her. Her hands were starting to glow.

“I’ll make it painless, since you put up such a good fight, little star,” Janus promised.

Stellanova looked up into her death, and her death stared back at her with turquoise eyes.

*****

Calliste ran until she thought her lungs would explode. She was still in quite a lot of pain from that afternoon’s battle with Janus, and she hoped she had enough energy in her to frighten Janus off a second time that day. She rudely pushed past people as she ran, stammering apologies and dodging traffic and oncoming cars. She did not want to be too late to save whatever senshi Janus had cornered. She prayed she would not be too late.

Several explosions reverberated through the streets, oblivious to everyone except Calliste. She had been following them for some time, and as they grew stronger she knew she was getting closer. She felt her pendant burning in her shirt, the power eager to be released, but she would wait until she could see her adversary before transforming.

She rounded a corner and found herself standing in front of her own shop. Across the street, her eyes widened in horror as she saw the result of the battle she had missed. Janus stood overtop of a fallen senshi, her hands glowing with power.

“No,” Calliste whispered, taking a staggering step forward.

Janus said something to her victim and raised her right hand into the air.

“No,” Calliste said a bit louder.

The black haired senshi plunged her glowing hand into the defeated senshi’s chest, and the girl screamed in pain. Jerking her hand back, Janus held a pulsing energy which she quickly thrust into her own chest. Lurching to her feet, Janus tottered back and forth, drunk on the power she had just consumed. Calliste saw her laugh to herself and disappear, leaving the body of her defeated foe on the cold ground.

Calliste’s eyes locked onto the small body as she ran across the road to reach her, ignoring the honking of traffic as she moved. The senshi was already starting to disappear as she reached her, and Calliste could see it was Sailor Stellanova. Cradling her in her arms, she allowed the tears to flow freely. She knew Janus killed senshi, absorbing their powers and making them hers, but she had never seen it happen. She had never heard the final death cry of the fallen warrior, or seen Janus stumble away, intoxicated with power. She had never held a body as it vanished into dust.

“NO!” Calliste yelled at the sky as Sailor Stellanova, the young girl Étoile, evaporated into the air.