The Langoliers by Himeno
This short story contains "The Langoliers" created by Arthur C Clark for his novel of the same name. The novel was later made into a movie.
Sakura's Sailor Astera also appears in the story.

Western Pacific Ocean

In the bright light of day, almost invisible against the sun’s glare, a shifting multicoloured door opened. For a moment it hang there in silence, then a chomping echoed through the shimmering window.

Ten minutes later, a mass of large cannon ball like creatures appeared in the opening. They were nothing but a mouth of chainsaw like teeth, and they moved west...

The Langoliers were coming.

--------
Tokyo, Japan

Hoshi sat at a desk in the school library, studying for the upcoming exams. She held her hands to her ears to try to block out the noise, which was progressively becoming louder.

“What is that damn noise? I can’t work like this. It just keeps getting louder.” cried Hoshi. Around her, the other students in the library stood up moving towards the windows. Without warning, there was a loud crashing sound as a skyscraper a few blocks away was cut in two moments after a thin black line appeared. Hoshi, and the rest of the student body, stared in shock as the next building in the line suffered the same fate.

Tapping the shoulder of another student, Hoshi whispered, “Rei, get the others. I’ll go check it out.” With a nod, both girls ran off.

--------
Downtown Tokyo

Sailor Caloris arrived to a sense of utter chaos. Giant cannonball like things were zipping from building to building tearing them apart, all the while, the chainsaw like sound rattling away.

Hearing a shout, Caloris looked towards one of the collapsed buildings. “Amethyst Light Beam”. A purple beam emerged from a crystal and enveloped one of the flying balls, which then shattered apart.

Suddenly, a large group of Langoliers turned towards the unknown senshi. They opened their mouths, displaying their chainsaw rows of teeth, and then charged.

Sailor Caloris ran towards the blonde haired senshi, calling “Caloris Steam Inferno”. As the smoke cleared, Caloris arrived next to Sailor Astera with a questioning gaze. Before the other senshi could say anything, a pair of Langoliers exited the fading cloud of stream and knocked the senshi down.

Astera pushed herself back to her feet. While surveying the area, she looked down at Caloris. “Get up. We have work to do.” Without a word, Sailor Caloris rose, waiting for the next attack.

---------
Elsewhere

The Inner senshi were running towards the downtown area when they were stopped by another group of the cannonball monsters. Attack calls rung through the air as a mix of flame, water, lighting and metal brought down a number of Langoliers.

Jumping aside as a new wave came in, Mars opened her communicator to its urgent beeping.

“Guys, I could use your help down here...” screamed Caloris through the link.

“We’re a little bus...” Mars was cut off by a scream behind her; a Langolier had come in from behind, tripping Sailor Venus and was carrying her around by the leg.

-------
Downtown

Caloris rolled aside, letting a Langolier past to be vaporised by her unexpected partner.

Looking in to the communicator, Caloris asked, “Mars? Are you there?”


Overhead, a scream was heard, moments before a Langolier exploded into crystal. Mars came back into the communicators video feed. “Venus... It... ate her...” The image of Sailor Mars turned to see a group of Langoliers heading straight for her and the other inner senshi.

Caloris stared at her communicator in shock, hearing the sounds of more screams. The video cut into static, “Rei?”

Rising to face the monsters, Caloris screamed “Glacier Mandala”. The attack cut through four Langoliers precisely as two crystal spires rose above the buildings.

Looking towards Astera as still more Langoliers circled them, Caloris asked “Run?”

Shaking her head, Astera replied “No. Not yet”, before attacking again with her Amethyst Light Beam.

Avoiding the attack, a pair of Langoliers dived into the ground where their ravenous teeth sliced through the road surrounding the senshi. “Alright, now we run.”

Jumping over the darkness that had appeared around them, the pair of senshi ran, the ground falling away behind them. Rounding a corner, Caloris and Astera nearly collided with Sailor Moon, Mars and Mercury with a group of the monsters close behind.

Tears flowed down Sailor Moons face while she sobbed. “Mako-chan, Mina-chan... gone...” She hang limply to Mars’ back as the remaining Inner senshi run ahead. Around them building after building fell into the rapidly expanding void.

Before long, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Caloris and Astera were pushed back against each other surrounded by hundreds of chomping teeth.

The Langoliers suddenly dived forward to claim the last remnants of the landscape. As the ground faded into nothing, five crystal spires exploded into existence.

The End


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