Capricorn led Saturn through the park, right to a black hole in the ground. She smiled. "Here, this is it!"
Saturn peered closely into the dark, but couldn't see anything. "Um... THIS is your home?"
"Of course," Azusa replied. "Why, I think it's the most cute of all houses in Nerima!"
Now Saturn was sure of it: The girl was somehow the victim of her own illusions.
"Come, follow Azusa," the turquoise-skirted Senshi told her new friend and climbed down the hole. Saturn looked around before following her.
Setsuna looked out of her hiding place. "A hole in the park? Not very impressive... At my time, even the Youmas had style."
"You sure there are Youmas down there?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Well, it looks like it. Perhaps we can end this once and forever. Although I have the feeling we need some assistance... Call for the other Senshi, would you?"
Moon nodded. "Okay!"
----
"They're coming," the dark figure told her servant. "I'll go back to the main base, you stay and welcome our 'guests'.
"Yes, my lady!" Duplicas bowed down. "But what about the Chaos Vial?"
"I'll take it with me! Now go, they already entered the cave!"
----
Saturn followed Capricorn through the dark tunnels, lit only by torches hanging from the walls.
"Here we are," Azusa finally said when they entered a bigger cave, filled with loads and loads of stuff. "This is my biiiig collection! When we use this, we surely will be able to give all people in Nerima their own cute little things, right?"
Saturn nodded, while looking around. "Yes, I think so..."
Suddenly, the hideous face of Youma Duplicas appeared in the darkness. "What are you doing, Capricorn?" she asked in her raspy voice.
Capricorn smiled. "I'm bringing my new friend home, grandma! Her name's Saturn! Isn't she a sweet girl?"
"So, you're Sailor Saturn..." murmured the dark form. "I already witnessed your powers in Scorpion Valley... let's see how well you do when your older teammates aren't there to help..."
Saturn gasped. "You're that Youma? But we destroyed you!"
Duplicas cackled madly. "Destroy me? Hardly! You only killed one of my duplicates... I have the ability to create clones of my body... hence my name! As long as my main body remains intact, you can't kill me! Hell, you don't even know if I'm actually here or if this is another one of my copies..."
Saturn gripped her glaive. "This time, I'll make sure you're gone for good!"
But Capricorn stopped her. "What are you doing?" she asked in a frightened voice. "This is my grandma! You can't kill her! Please, leave her alone!"
Grandma? Capricorn really must suffer from her illusions if she saw that Youma as a member of her family.
"I guessed it was you," Sailor Pluto's voice came from behind them. She stepped into the light, followed by all of the other Senshi. "You're the same Youma that killed Lady Zodiac on that day, isn't that correct? We always thought Jupiter had destroyed you... but as I see now, it was only one of your decoys!"
Duplicas grinned. "So, you found me out, eh? Well, it doesn't matter! Now that we've almost collected enough chaos, we soon will be able to revive our queen..."
"That can't be," Mars shouted. "Beryl's dead! Our princess herself fought her and died in the moment..."
"Maybe..." the Youma grinned. "But your princess is alive again, isn't she... as are you!"
"Don't worry about that now, Mars," Saturn shouted. "We have to help Azusa somehow! She believes that Youma is her grandmother!"
"If you don't leave granny alone, I'll make you leave!" Azusa certainly didn't sound like her normal self. "Grandma always brought me so many cute things when she came... I won't let you take her away from me!"
Sailor Moon stepped forward. "Please, Azusa, we're not your enemies... We only want to help you!"
"No, you're not!" Capricorn shouted. "You're bad guys... and you're in trouble now!" Her eyes flashed pink.
Suddenly, the scene around the Senshi shifted. Azusa and Duplicas were gone, and they were all standing in a very small room with no exit.
"Where are we?" Leo wondered. "This is no normal room, is it?"
"You're right," Mercury nodded. "This has to be one of her illusions!"
Suddenly, the walls began moving. "Are you sure this is an illusion?" screamed Scorpio. "Because I don't want to be crushed!"
"Just concentrate and focus on our enemy," Pluto shouted. "This trick won't stop us!"
Scorpio gulped and closed her eyes. 'This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real...'
Then the walls were gone and they once again were standing in the cave.
"Why did she drop the illusion?" wondered Mercury.
Then Leo gasped. "Look!"
Sailor Virgo had approached Capricorn. Her aura of peace and calm seemed to make Azusa unsure of her actions.
"You poor thing," Kasumi said. "What did she do to you? What happened to your real grandma? Come, tell me... Don't be afraid!"
And suddenly, Kasumi knew! Reading the emotions of Azusa's soul, she realized why the girl had been acting like this all her life.
When she was still a little girl, she always had received gifts from her grandmother, and the old woman always told her little granddaughter how 'cute' they all were. Little Azusa loved her granny more than anyone else on this world. But when she died... Azusa couldn't bear the thought! Her mind got locked in place, and her dormant Senshi powers created the illusion that she still had to collect as many cute things as she could, as her grandmother wasn't there to give them to her. That also made her behave like the little girl she was at that time.
Also, Duplicas tricked Azusa into believing she would be her grandmother, and made her collect even more items, and do even more criminal deeds than before. The Capricorn Amulet was the only amulet that was in the possession of the Youma until now, and she gave it to Azusa to boost her powers even further.
Kasumi shook her head. "Poor, poor Azusa! See the truth: This monster isn't your grandmother! And you mustn't steal those things from the other people... They'll be very sad if they don't give them back."
"She's right, Azusa," Saturn nodded. "Give them back as I told you, and everything will be fine!"
Azusa shivered, and tears began flowing down her face. She looked back at Duplicas. "Grandma!"
Sailor Libra had seen enough. She stepped forwards. "Libra's Balance... balancing out truth and deception!"
Her light surrounded Azusa, who got even more confused as in her eyes, the image of her grandmother melted away to be replaced by that horrible creature...
Virgo hugged her. "It's okay," she whispered. "Aura of Serenity!"
And Azusa was being filled with calmness and determination. She was at peace with herself.
Finally, Sailor Moon stepped forward. "Sailor Capricorn, you're one of the Sailor Senshi and worthy of joining us to fight for peace and love... Moon Healing Escalation!"
And with Sailor Moon's shining light, the last bit of illusions vanished from Azusa's eyes, and finally her mind was completely free from any weird thoughts.
She stood up and looked at the Youma.
Duplicas nervously stepped back. "No... you can't... leave me alone..."
Capricorn closed her eyes. Her main powers were illusion and a degree of mind control... but she also had an offensive power.
She held out her hands to the left and right, and shining, curved weapons that somehow looked like a goat's horns, appeared between her fingers.
"Capricorn Boomerang!"
The twin blades twirled through the air, homed in on Duplicas and hit her face directly in the middle.
Duplicas screeched as her body completely turned into a dust cloud that exploded outwards. She didn't get the time to say any last words, this time.
Sailor Capricorn turned back around. Then, she knelt down before Sailor Moon. "My princess... I apologize for the things I've done... and I humbly ask you to let me rejoin your court!"
Sailor Moon smiled, and for a short time, her identity as Princess Serenity shone through her sailor fuku. "Rise, Sailor Capricorn, and be welcome within our ranks!"
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(Posted Wed, 06 Sep 2006 11:26)
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