"Why do we get all these stupid monster attacks, anyway?" Sailor Moon complained as she brushed the moon dust off her uniform after yet another successful monster-slaying, this time in the open-air food court of the Minato-ku shopping district where she'd been celebrating her first paycheck with her friends. "I thought Setsuna said there weren't any more enemies coming for a while."
"I did," Sailor Pluto said from behind her, causing Usagi to jump and the other girls, who'd seen her appear, to hide their giggles behind their hands. "These are just leftovers, and the occasional cooking accident."
Everyone present shuddered at the mention of the monstrosity they'd had to exterminate in a high school home economics classroom in Nerima-ku a couple of months ago. Even Usagi's legendary appetite faltered at the memory of the stench it had produced.
"So how long are we going to be dealing with this stuff anyway?" Sailor Mars groused. "Eventually we'll have to run out of 'leftovers', right?"
The others muttered their agreement with the question, causing Sailor Pluto to smirk a little. "Oh, in another year or so it will have trickled down to about one a month, but as long as we're claiming all of Tokyo, we won't be rid of the problem complete—"
Anything else Pluto, or anything else, was going to say was cut off by a loud warbling alert from the Mercury computer. Ami made a quick check, and cried out in alarm.
"Portal opening, can't tell where from... it's just forming.... there!" she pointed at the sky. Suddenly a jagged black line appeared in mid air, which widened until it looked like a big crack in reality - which was essentially what it was. From their vantage point a couple of hundred meters away, the Senshi saw a small pink blurry figure hurtle through the opening, before heading their way.
***
As Arika exited the weird rip-thingy her blasted GEM had opened, she cursed her own stupidity. Mashiro, her sworn Master, had gotten hurt, and it was all Arika's fault. As usual.
It wasn't that Arika had done anything deliberately - far from it, with the Master/Otome bond, hurting your master would be suicidal - but her inattention had allowed one of Schwartz' latest Slaves to get in a cheap shot at her. And Mashiro, being not quite as sturdy as herself, had been pretty much knocked out by the feedback. With Mashiro down and in the path of the rampaging monster, Arika had panicked and basically picked her Master up and run - which would have been all right if it hadn't been for the her ever helpful GEM opening a damned hole in... whatever... in front of them as they were making their getaway.
Setting down on the first convenient rooftop, Arika checked her Master over. If the feedback had been anything like the last time, Mashiro was most likely suffering from a concussion because of the hit she'd taken to the back of the head. Arika could still feel the faint buzz in the back of her own skull, which meant it had been pretty powerful.
"Hang in there, Mashiro-sama," she cried out softly.
Her charge opened her eyes, and strained to focus on the face in front of her. Raising one hand to Arika's cheek, she whispered, "Go kill it, Arika-chan."
Relief, and determination, flooded Arika at more or less the same time. Her Master was OK, mostly, and had given her an order she was perfectly happy to carry out.
"Hai, Master!" She stood up, and turned to face the rift, which had now widened to the point where the Slave was nearly able to pass through. Perhaps it hadn't been the Blue Sky Sapphire behind it after all? Food for future thought, if there was time.
As she took off and floated up towards the monster, she called out and expanded her Element - the enormous wicked-looking twin-bladed crystal sword, and readied her finisher, the Bolt from the Blue - and then the world went white again, and the monster was no more - and neither was the rift. It took a few moments to register, before she cracked.
"Now what am I supposed to do?" she yelled to the heavens...
***
On a rooftop not far away, two cats, five young adults, and their older friend stared slack-jawed at the new arrivals.
"Who the hell was that?"
Everyone turned and stared at Sailor Pluto, who took a few moments to realize she'd been the one to voice the question....
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(Posted Mon, 09 Jan 2006 05:10)
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