Sailor Moon Silver Legacy

Act VII: Cleansing Fire (Part 4)

On Rei's forehead, glowing scarlet, the symbol for Mars had appeared. Following this, a faint red aura began to envelop her body, and the restraints that bound her wrists to the bed began to give off smoke. A path of scorch marks was spreading across each of the thick leather straps as if being seared by a lit cigarette.

Rei watched the computer Youma getting to its feet beyond the now empty window frame, her teeth bared and a look of hunger in her wild eyes.

"Does not compute. Does not compute," Datadump repeated, confused by the human girl's inexplicable burst of power. "Must eliminate!"

Rei strained with all her might against the weakening ties, and finally, the right one tore away. With her freed hand she pulled at the other and severed the second strap. As the monster made its way back into the room with its screen glowing dangerously, Rei leaned forward and released her ankle ties. Finally free of her shackles, she leaped off the bed just as Datadump fired its attack.

Rei's blasted pillows released a hail of feathers into the air as she launched herself at her target like a madwoman. She pushed the mass of computer parts into the corridor and against the opposite wall, where she began clawing and pulling at wires. Datadump hit the girl several times with its flailing keyboard arms, but like a rabid dog, she wouldn't relent and wrestled the monster to the floor.

"Eliminate! Eliminate!" cried Datadump, firing more energy rays from its screen.

However, straddling the machine monster's chest with her knees on its shoulders, Rei grabbed the monitor that was its head and angled it away from her, so its shots were fired down the long corridor, instead. With the beast all but disabled, she began muttering under her breath.

"Release me, human!" Datadump demanded.

Rei ignored the monster's cries, and continued muttering, "Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen. Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen."

"Your words do not compute!" said Datadump, but there was worry in its robotic voice.

"Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen. Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen," the girl continued, her eyes closed tightly as the strange red aura that surrounded her grew stronger.

"Does not compute! Does not compute!" said Datadump helplessly. "Shearoff, I require assistance! Shearoff!"

"Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen. Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!"

Suddenly, the cloak of red energy around Rei enveloped the Youma. Then, her eyes flashed open with menace, and she bellowed, "Akuryo Taisan!"

Datadump began to shake uncontrollably and give off smoke, and sparks flew from its body as if it were short-circuiting. Its screen flashed intermittently, briefly displayed a pixelated image of a bomb with a fuse, then went black.

Panting, the girl in the hospital gown watched as a clump of black mist escaped the monster's screen, and the mass of equipment below her fell apart.

***

In lieu of the stairs, which were now full of evacuating staff and patients, Mercury leaped out of the window the furnace Youma had entered through, and Skywalked up to Rei's floor. In just a few bounds, she arrived at a second shattered pane. Evidently, this floor had also been penetrated by the enemy that way.

Hopping inside, Mercury flattened herself to the wall, checking around corners before she proceeded to Rei's room, careful to step over the many victims that lined the floor. Oddly enough, her visor was still detecting the signal that was so similar to Minako's. She didn't understand it, but at least that meant Rei had not been taken yet.