Makoto’s apartment was considerably worse for the wear. All it had taken was Rei’s hint that the Senshi knew of Ranma for Shampoo to decide that the best way to obtain further information was to beat it out of these girls.
Well, that’s not entirely accurate. After Rei’s comment of “You could say that…”, the conversation devolved thusly:
“What that supposed to mean?”
Rei caught her mistake a moment too late. “Er, nothing! Nothing!”
“Shampoo think you all try to keep secret from her.”
“Well,” said Minako, with timing only she could have managed, “let’s just say we know how accurate his name is.”
There was a brief pause as the others groaned and/or blushed at the blonde’s comment and Shampoo decoded the etymology of her Airen’s given name. This done, she produced a pair of bonbori, and with a shout of “YOU I KILL!”, began the assault.
In any case, the apartment was now thoroughly trashed, and the Inners were certain that Shampoo wasn’t a normal human. However, since she hadn’t transformed into a more hideous form, tried to drain their life energy, or attempted to extract a tangible manifestation of anyone’s soul, they weren’t completely certain that she was an enemy. Therefore, they ran the risk of exposing their secret identities to an innocent if they transformed themselves. The paradigm shift had proven most perplexing.
Su and Shinobu, on the other hand, were quite accustomed to a furious girl swinging a lethal weapon, heedless of bystanders and collateral damage. At least this one didn’t have a clothes-shredding technique.
It was a stalemate of wild swings and frantic dodging until one of the bonbori slipped out of Shampoo’s grip, flew into the kitchen, and crashed into the oven.
It should be noted that on the gates of Io Castle, there is a plaque. It reads as follows:
The Royal Family of Jupiter and His Moons welcomes you to Io Castle.
Please obey the following provisions while inside:
1. Do not pick flowers without permission
2. Do not lick any giant crystals. Those are electric generators, not giant pieces of rock candy
3. Under no circumstances is any unauthorized person to enter the Private Royal Kitchen unless he or she enjoys the idea of acting as a target for archery training as taught by Sailor Sagittarius.
It should also be noted that, while the Planetary Senshis’ memories of their previous lives are few and far between, their personalities are nigh identical. Furthermore, memories of any amnesiac can sometimes be recalled during a time of great personal stress.
The reason all of this should be noted is that once the Amazon’s bludgeon lodged itself in Makoto’s oven, the Senshi of Jupiter snapped. With a battle cry easily mistakable for the roar of a feral beast, she charged. That is to say, she rushed towards Shampoo as her body began to crackle with electrical energy.
The first punch landed with a sound like a thunderclap and sent Shampoo flying in the same arc as her weapon. She landed with only slightly more grace. Extracting the rounded mace from the appliance wreckage, the Amazon dashed at the Jovian, who caught the swung weapon one-handed. The only visible exertion on Makoto’s part was a small grunt. She then smirked darkly.
The electric aura still crackling about the vengeful chef was easily conducted through the metal bonbori, and it soon had Shampoo paralyzed. Fortunately, the voltage and current intensity were only on par with a stun gun, so the energy wasn't a lethal threat to its victim. Nevertheless, the Amazon’s eyes held something rarely seen within them: fear.
Electricity seemed to ooze out of Makoto’s every pore as she drew back her other fist, ready to deliver a finishing blow.
“SACRED FONT!”
The water nailed the Jovian Senshi in the small of her back. Without the control of the transformation, Makoto’s aura short-circuited, and the feedback sent the girl herself into unconsciousness. Smoke rose from her body.
“Mako-chan?” A timid Usagi broke the silence. She and the other Inners had been stunned by the display of rage and magic.
“She is fine,” reported a dutiful Sailor Aquarius. The earmuff-like Aquarius Computer was in place and the tanned girl was scanning both combatants. “Xian Pu will also recover fully, though her paralysis will likely persist for fifteen to twenty minutes.”
Shampoo, who had fallen on her back while still locked in position, made little noises indicating she was not pleased with this news.
Aquarius turned to Usagi and whispered, “My Liege, may I note that this is the perfect opportunity to rid ourselves of this potential security breach? Without evidence, her claims of conversant felines will be disregarded as the ravings of a madwoman.”
The future regent of the world took a few seconds before replying, as though weighing the suggestion on some unfathomable moral scale. “Huh?”
Let it be known it is indeed possible for an omniscient narrator to facefault.
“She’s stunned and helpless,” summarized Minako. “If we leave her somewhere now, she won’t be able to reveal anything about Luna and Artemis, since anyone who talks about talking cats must be dates!”
“Nuts,” Rei interjected.
“Whatever.”
Usagi came to a decision. “We aren’t abandoning her anywhere.”
“What!?” Luna emerged from an overturned couch. “If this girl reveals the truth about Artemis and me—”
“She won’t,” replied the Princess, and given the inflection, it was Serenity who spoke. “We’re going to help her find Ranma.”
“But she’s crazy!” protested Minako. “Around the corner! Insane in the plantain! Unplugged!”
After a thoughtful interlude spent decoding the mangled idioms, Serenity-Usagi elaborated. “We may not agree with her customs, but she is doing this for love. I know I’ve said and done some crazy things in the name of Love and Justice. Is Shampoo really so different?”
“At least you never had Makoto beat the crap out of you,” observed Rei.
Usagi frowned at this, her regal presence dissipating. “Yeah, we’ll have to fix that first. Shinobu-chan?” The girl was nowhere to be seen.
“She has been hiding in the bathroom,” said Aquarius.
“Hiding” was an understatement. A more accurate description of Shinobu’s current actions was, as they saw, “ cowering in the tub in the fetal position, eyes shut, calling for her Sempai.” While violent rampages were a part of everyday life in the Hinata Sou, they had almost never been directed towards Shinobu. Without the confidence boost inherent in her transformation, she’d pulled a tactic from the proverbial playbook of Sir Robin the Not-Quite-As-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot.
After several attempts from all present to undo the shell-shock, Minako went for the direct approach and turned on the showerhead. As she spluttered out of the tub, Shinobu bowed apologetically to everyone. “G-gomen. I don’t do very well with this sort of thing.”
Usagi smiled sympathetically. “I know the feeling. Still, right now. We need Sailor Virgo.”
One Maiden’s Purity later, Makoto was seeing what could be salvaged from what had been her living room while Shampoo was given directions to the Hinata Sou. As the Amazon biked off into the night, Luna asked Usagi, “You could have easily healed both of them. Why have Shinobu do it?”
“She needs the practice,” replied the Princess. “And she needs to learn how strong she really is.”
“I seem to recall another girl about whom I once felt the same way,” noted the Mau, impressed with the maturity of her ward. She turned and saw said ward was suddenly tearing up. “Usagi?”
“I-I just realized,” sobbed the blonde. “No oven means Mako-chan can’t make any of her delicious recipes!”
The mooncat sighed. Well, easy come, easy go.
The Roman Coliseum. Once, it held fantastic beasts that hailed from all corners of the known world. Once, life and death were decided there by the orientation of a thumb. Once, mused Sailor Eris, it had been a nameless field that had never known a human presence. That sure had changed.
The rogue Senshi browsed the ruins of the lion pits. Looters and archeologists had seemingly stripped them of anything of value, little more than the occasional bone sticking out of the ubiquitous carpet of dust. Eris let her senses guide her, leading her to the corner of one cell. Once, it had been the prison of a true king of beasts, a predator who had slain more than a score of men before it was slain by its own attendants.
The befuku’d woman brushed through the dust, hearing the faint call with something far removed from any material eardrum. Finally, a bit of metal was exposed. She snatched it and examined her find. Slightly curved, with a symbol on the convex side like a stylized omega, or a whip in mid-crack. The Senshi of Chaos grinned. “The Leo Amulet. It’s mine.”
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(Posted Fri, 22 Feb 2008 05:45)
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