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PRETTY SOLDIER SAILOR MOON: FUTURE
Chapter 10: Arsenic Toxicum Power
High in the stratosphere above Japan, the Camarilla known as Apis – the one who wore yellow robes and had a bee-themed mask – floated in midair and gazed down upon the crystalline structure within the center of Tokyo. Although she was hundreds of miles away, she could use the bug-like eyes on her mask as a pair of visors to zoom in on Earth’s surface. Statistics beeped on the monitors, and she smiled in amazement.
“This is such a lovely planet. I can see why Earth’s Sailor Soldiers would want to protect it so badly,” she commented to no one in particular. “I wonder if it would stay this beautiful if we were to take the Silver Crystal away… Well, not much I can do about that. Alkima deserves to have the same beauty once again. No, maybe even greater. To put one lone planet on a higher pedestal than an entire galaxy is quite silly.”
She whipped her hand out, teleporting an Apple of Discord from Eris’ tree in Upala Acropolis. “More importantly, I must fulfill our first mission before taking the Silver Crystal. You there, Erisian.”
Apis commanded the apple as evil energy brimmed within its golden skin. “Find the one named Sailor Arsenic Hyena – a girl emitting this particular energy signature - and apprehend her.”
The Camarilla held an orb containing the Sailor Soldier’s essence that she had preserved, using it as a marking tool for the Erisian to find its prey. She added coldly, “Destroy any and all other obstacles in your way if need be.”
With its orders issued, the Apple of Discord plummeted towards Tokyo, vanishing in a streak of golden light. Apis silently teleported herself back to Upala Acropolis, confident that the monster would handle the rest.
**
The thunderstorm started to dissipate into a light drizzle, so Chibi-Usa said to Midori, “I think it’s safe to go to the bus stop now.”
“It certainly is getting late. Your roommates are probably concerned by now,” Midori looked at her watch.
It was at this moment that Apis’ evil apple fell upon a lightning rod that had been struck a couple of times during the storm. Although it was pierced through, the apple gathered the energy brimming within the rod and transformed it into an Erisian resembling an apple-shaped orb with a large rod extending from the top instead of a stem, which also grew legs and arms. Some kind of demonic figure formed within the electric orb; apparently it represented the Erisian’s soul. The monster charged its rod and sent a huge wave of lightning around the area.
The bolts struck the ground as pedestrians walked by the parlor. The sidewalk was violently scorched and nearby glass windows shattered. Everyone shrieked at the same time and scattered in different directions. Chibi-Usa yelped and covered her ears from the piercing sound, while Midori slouched forward and squeezed her eyes shut. The light emitted by the lightning was incredible, so much that anyone would be blinded if they looked at it directly.
Once the cacophony settled down, Chibi-Usa gasped when she saw the Erisian terrorizing people right outside. A communicator beeped in her pocket and she answered it immediately, exclaiming in as hushed a voice as she could, “I’m here!”
“Chibi-Usa!” Luna remarked on the other line. “We just picked up a signal from an Apple of Discord! It’s-!”
“I know! It’s attacking everyone just outside of here!”
“Are you kidding!? How did it appear so suddenly!? Anyway, you need to fight it! Artemis is contacting the Quartet to come as backup!”
“Got it!”
She cut the connection and looked back at Midori. She was just recovering from the shock and gasping for air, her heart beating at an unhealthy speed. Chibi-Usa told her, “You should go through the back and find medical help. You don’t look so good.”
“I’m okay… But what are you going to do?”
“I’ll go find help, just like last time!”
“Okay…” Midori wheezed, still sounding flustered. She stumbled towards the back of the parlor and left Chibi-Usa alone. Now that everyone had been evacuated, she could transform without worry.
“Pink Moon Crystal Power, Make Up!”
Chibi-Usa morphed into Sailor Chibi-Moon and ran outside the café to intercept the Erisian. She thought that Midori had escaped during the mayhem… but she hadn’t. The quiet girl had stayed in hiding and witnessed Chibi-Usa’s transformation. She wasn’t surprised in the least; she already knew that Chibi-Usa was the princess of Crystal Tokyo and a Sailor Soldier. Midori remembered her face from the attack on the palace last week.
Now that Sailor Chibi-Moon and any other potential witnesses were gone, Midori could begin her own transformation phase. She unpocketed a ring with an apatite gemstone and slipped it onto her right ring finger, then stroked the gem to energize it. It shone with a peculiar light blue-green sigil resembling Sailor Venus’ symbol, except the heart was upside-down and the vertical line ran through it.
“Arsenic Toxicum Power, Make Up.”
Green mist whirled out of the ring and surrounded her body, engulfing her in a poisonous fog until only her silhouette could be seen. It covered her body and formed into a bodysuit, then a sailor collar, a grey shirt, and a green skirt, finishing off with an orange neckerchief. A familiar bow and arrow formed in Midori’s hands and she fired through the mist, breaking it apart and revealing herself in Sailor Arsenic Hyena’s costume. After whirling around once to create another arrow in her hand, she finished her transformation and stood in her trademark pose.
**
Sailor Chibi-Moon dashed toward the Erisian as it loomed over a frightened mother and her baby in a stroller. She wasn’t going to bother with the traditional introduction, just as Sailor Arsenic Hyena had chastised about in the previous battle.
“Moon Tiara Action!” she shouted, throwing her energized tiara at the orb. To her dismay, the attack didn’t slice through the apple like it had the previous monster. The tiara was deflected off the orb with a hollow metallic sound, and it returned to its stunned owner’s hand. She did succeed in drawing the Erisian’s attention away from the mother so she could escape with her child.
“No way!” Chibi-Moon gasped. Although she was competent as a leader and a warrior who could purify monsters, she was virtually incapable of fighting battles on her own. While she had been in training, she was always accompanied by someone else to do the fighting with her. This was the first time that she was caught in a real battle all by herself. She honestly had no idea what to do beyond dodging attacks and running away.
The Sailor Soldier ducked low to avoid a stream of lightning bolts. Another barrage barreled for her, but she grabbed her Pink Moon Stick as a last resort and yelled, “Pink Sugar Heart Attack!”
A stream of pink hearts blew out of her wand and countered the electricity. They were caught in a stalemate as their powers struggled to dominate each other’s. Chibi-Moon struggled to maintain her offensive, but it was proving to be very difficult. Although she did her best to repress her panic, the monster could still feed off of her distress and grow stronger, which was apparent when it slowly started to get the upper hand.
The Erisian suddenly yelped at a high pitch and ceased its assault, allowing Chibi-Moon to break through and pummel it with the heart pulses. It jumped back and maintained its distance. She looked at its elbow and discovered a silver arrow piercing through the joint. She followed its trajectory and found Sailor Arsenic Hyena standing on a fire escape stairwell above them.
“Hyena!” Chibi-Moon exclaimed elatedly.
The calm Soldier jumped down next to her and commented darkly, “You’re quite clumsy without your guardians, aren’t you?”
“I can’t help it! I’m not used to fighting alone! I’m better with fighting alongside my friends! But I need to stall it while the Sailor Quartet are on their way!”
“That won’t get you very far if you need to survive on your own.”
“You’re here now, so I don’t need to worry about that.”
“Hmph,” Hyena grunted, having to agree with Chibi-Moon. They refocused their attention on the Erisian as it had pulled out the arrow from its arm. Hyena instantly snapped her fingers, causing the projectile to explode into a puff of greenish smoke. The creature lost its vision for a few moments as it fumbled around in the poisonous mist. Although the toxins were useless against this mechanical beast, the smokescreen was enough for Hyena.
“Perfect Aim,” she murmured in a low voice, creating a small magic circle in front of her face that resembled target crosshairs. The Erisian glowed Paris green for a moment as the magic circle attached itself to the monster. Perfect Aim wasn’t an offensive skill; its purpose was to allow Hyena to fire from a much farther distance than humanly possible and still hit her target. In other words, it temporarily boosted her accuracy to absurd levels.
The lightning-rod monster wasn’t sure of what just happened, but it noticed Hyena and Chibi-Moon as they leapt a few times and landed upon a high-rise terrace. Sailor Arsenic Hyena readied her arrow, summoning a cloud of green energy to converge within its tip. The monster let out a pulsing cry and jumped after them.
“Dew of Death,” she chanted ominously, firing her shot. The arrow flew about half a mile and accelerated in flight thanks to Hyena’s power, turning into a proverbial green rocket. It clashed against the Erisian’s apple-like structure in a powerful burst of smoky energy, making a sort of splashing dew-like sound before exploding, and sent it hurtling backwards onto the road with a fantastic crash.
The Sailor Soldiers, confident that Hyena had successfully killed the enemy, jumped down from their vantage point and nervously approached the crash site. Chibi-Moon anxiously asked, “Do you think it’s dead?”
“Never say for certain until the proper checks are done. Many careless mistakes have been made because the enemy’s death was not ascertained first,” Hyena replied.
Just as she made that forewarning, a brilliant bolt of electricity instantly broke through the smoke. They gasped and rolled out of the way simultaneously, narrowly avoiding instant death. The livid Erisian stood back up, and the extent of the damage was revealed; Chibi-Moon’s Pink Sugar Heart Attack had created a few dents in the armored apple’s exterior, while Hyena’s Dew of Death managed to rip one of its arms clean off. Unfortunately, these injuries weren’t enough to kill it. In fact, it was in the process of regenerating its lost limb, and it seemed to be more furious than before.
Hyena clenched her teeth and growled, “The Apple of Discord has created a metallic barrier to protect the Erisian’s spirit. It’s evolving more rapidly than I’ve ever seen before.”
“What do we do? Neither of our attacks are working!” Chibi-Moon panicked.
The girls stared at the Erisian as it lumbered towards them. The demonic soul-creature dwelling within the orb flashed its eyes as it focused its attention on Hyena. She widened her eyes and grabbed Chibi-Moon’s hand, forcing her to run with her as the monster unleashed another volley of electricity at them. Hyena exclaimed, “We must retreat! The only way to stop it is for you and your guardians to perform that freezing technique again!”
“You mean Pink Lady’s Freezing Kiss? But I don’t know how long it will take for them to get here!”
“Even so, the best we can do distract it so it doesn’t harm anymore townsfolk!”
“Will it get stronger in the meantime!?”
Hyena grumbled, realizing the flaw in her strategy. Chibi-Moon was right; even if they stalled the Erisian, it would still get more powerful from absorbing the discordant energy surrounding them. Hyena wasn’t sure if the freezing technique would even work at that point. The duo had no choice but to stop it themselves, and they needed to do it fast. They had to figure out a way to pierce through the Apple of Discord’s armor and eliminate the evil soul dwelling within the Erisian before it could evolve enough to gain intelligence. Once that happened, their chances of winning would be even slimmer than they were right now…
Chapter 10: Arsenic Toxicum Power
High in the stratosphere above Japan, the Camarilla known as Apis – the one who wore yellow robes and had a bee-themed mask – floated in midair and gazed down upon the crystalline structure within the center of Tokyo. Although she was hundreds of miles away, she could use the bug-like eyes on her mask as a pair of visors to zoom in on Earth’s surface. Statistics beeped on the monitors, and she smiled in amazement.
“This is such a lovely planet. I can see why Earth’s Sailor Soldiers would want to protect it so badly,” she commented to no one in particular. “I wonder if it would stay this beautiful if we were to take the Silver Crystal away… Well, not much I can do about that. Alkima deserves to have the same beauty once again. No, maybe even greater. To put one lone planet on a higher pedestal than an entire galaxy is quite silly.”
She whipped her hand out, teleporting an Apple of Discord from Eris’ tree in Upala Acropolis. “More importantly, I must fulfill our first mission before taking the Silver Crystal. You there, Erisian.”
Apis commanded the apple as evil energy brimmed within its golden skin. “Find the one named Sailor Arsenic Hyena – a girl emitting this particular energy signature - and apprehend her.”
The Camarilla held an orb containing the Sailor Soldier’s essence that she had preserved, using it as a marking tool for the Erisian to find its prey. She added coldly, “Destroy any and all other obstacles in your way if need be.”
With its orders issued, the Apple of Discord plummeted towards Tokyo, vanishing in a streak of golden light. Apis silently teleported herself back to Upala Acropolis, confident that the monster would handle the rest.
**
The thunderstorm started to dissipate into a light drizzle, so Chibi-Usa said to Midori, “I think it’s safe to go to the bus stop now.”
“It certainly is getting late. Your roommates are probably concerned by now,” Midori looked at her watch.
It was at this moment that Apis’ evil apple fell upon a lightning rod that had been struck a couple of times during the storm. Although it was pierced through, the apple gathered the energy brimming within the rod and transformed it into an Erisian resembling an apple-shaped orb with a large rod extending from the top instead of a stem, which also grew legs and arms. Some kind of demonic figure formed within the electric orb; apparently it represented the Erisian’s soul. The monster charged its rod and sent a huge wave of lightning around the area.
The bolts struck the ground as pedestrians walked by the parlor. The sidewalk was violently scorched and nearby glass windows shattered. Everyone shrieked at the same time and scattered in different directions. Chibi-Usa yelped and covered her ears from the piercing sound, while Midori slouched forward and squeezed her eyes shut. The light emitted by the lightning was incredible, so much that anyone would be blinded if they looked at it directly.
Once the cacophony settled down, Chibi-Usa gasped when she saw the Erisian terrorizing people right outside. A communicator beeped in her pocket and she answered it immediately, exclaiming in as hushed a voice as she could, “I’m here!”
“Chibi-Usa!” Luna remarked on the other line. “We just picked up a signal from an Apple of Discord! It’s-!”
“I know! It’s attacking everyone just outside of here!”
“Are you kidding!? How did it appear so suddenly!? Anyway, you need to fight it! Artemis is contacting the Quartet to come as backup!”
“Got it!”
She cut the connection and looked back at Midori. She was just recovering from the shock and gasping for air, her heart beating at an unhealthy speed. Chibi-Usa told her, “You should go through the back and find medical help. You don’t look so good.”
“I’m okay… But what are you going to do?”
“I’ll go find help, just like last time!”
“Okay…” Midori wheezed, still sounding flustered. She stumbled towards the back of the parlor and left Chibi-Usa alone. Now that everyone had been evacuated, she could transform without worry.
“Pink Moon Crystal Power, Make Up!”
Chibi-Usa morphed into Sailor Chibi-Moon and ran outside the café to intercept the Erisian. She thought that Midori had escaped during the mayhem… but she hadn’t. The quiet girl had stayed in hiding and witnessed Chibi-Usa’s transformation. She wasn’t surprised in the least; she already knew that Chibi-Usa was the princess of Crystal Tokyo and a Sailor Soldier. Midori remembered her face from the attack on the palace last week.
Now that Sailor Chibi-Moon and any other potential witnesses were gone, Midori could begin her own transformation phase. She unpocketed a ring with an apatite gemstone and slipped it onto her right ring finger, then stroked the gem to energize it. It shone with a peculiar light blue-green sigil resembling Sailor Venus’ symbol, except the heart was upside-down and the vertical line ran through it.
“Arsenic Toxicum Power, Make Up.”
Green mist whirled out of the ring and surrounded her body, engulfing her in a poisonous fog until only her silhouette could be seen. It covered her body and formed into a bodysuit, then a sailor collar, a grey shirt, and a green skirt, finishing off with an orange neckerchief. A familiar bow and arrow formed in Midori’s hands and she fired through the mist, breaking it apart and revealing herself in Sailor Arsenic Hyena’s costume. After whirling around once to create another arrow in her hand, she finished her transformation and stood in her trademark pose.
**
Sailor Chibi-Moon dashed toward the Erisian as it loomed over a frightened mother and her baby in a stroller. She wasn’t going to bother with the traditional introduction, just as Sailor Arsenic Hyena had chastised about in the previous battle.
“Moon Tiara Action!” she shouted, throwing her energized tiara at the orb. To her dismay, the attack didn’t slice through the apple like it had the previous monster. The tiara was deflected off the orb with a hollow metallic sound, and it returned to its stunned owner’s hand. She did succeed in drawing the Erisian’s attention away from the mother so she could escape with her child.
“No way!” Chibi-Moon gasped. Although she was competent as a leader and a warrior who could purify monsters, she was virtually incapable of fighting battles on her own. While she had been in training, she was always accompanied by someone else to do the fighting with her. This was the first time that she was caught in a real battle all by herself. She honestly had no idea what to do beyond dodging attacks and running away.
The Sailor Soldier ducked low to avoid a stream of lightning bolts. Another barrage barreled for her, but she grabbed her Pink Moon Stick as a last resort and yelled, “Pink Sugar Heart Attack!”
A stream of pink hearts blew out of her wand and countered the electricity. They were caught in a stalemate as their powers struggled to dominate each other’s. Chibi-Moon struggled to maintain her offensive, but it was proving to be very difficult. Although she did her best to repress her panic, the monster could still feed off of her distress and grow stronger, which was apparent when it slowly started to get the upper hand.
The Erisian suddenly yelped at a high pitch and ceased its assault, allowing Chibi-Moon to break through and pummel it with the heart pulses. It jumped back and maintained its distance. She looked at its elbow and discovered a silver arrow piercing through the joint. She followed its trajectory and found Sailor Arsenic Hyena standing on a fire escape stairwell above them.
“Hyena!” Chibi-Moon exclaimed elatedly.
The calm Soldier jumped down next to her and commented darkly, “You’re quite clumsy without your guardians, aren’t you?”
“I can’t help it! I’m not used to fighting alone! I’m better with fighting alongside my friends! But I need to stall it while the Sailor Quartet are on their way!”
“That won’t get you very far if you need to survive on your own.”
“You’re here now, so I don’t need to worry about that.”
“Hmph,” Hyena grunted, having to agree with Chibi-Moon. They refocused their attention on the Erisian as it had pulled out the arrow from its arm. Hyena instantly snapped her fingers, causing the projectile to explode into a puff of greenish smoke. The creature lost its vision for a few moments as it fumbled around in the poisonous mist. Although the toxins were useless against this mechanical beast, the smokescreen was enough for Hyena.
“Perfect Aim,” she murmured in a low voice, creating a small magic circle in front of her face that resembled target crosshairs. The Erisian glowed Paris green for a moment as the magic circle attached itself to the monster. Perfect Aim wasn’t an offensive skill; its purpose was to allow Hyena to fire from a much farther distance than humanly possible and still hit her target. In other words, it temporarily boosted her accuracy to absurd levels.
The lightning-rod monster wasn’t sure of what just happened, but it noticed Hyena and Chibi-Moon as they leapt a few times and landed upon a high-rise terrace. Sailor Arsenic Hyena readied her arrow, summoning a cloud of green energy to converge within its tip. The monster let out a pulsing cry and jumped after them.
“Dew of Death,” she chanted ominously, firing her shot. The arrow flew about half a mile and accelerated in flight thanks to Hyena’s power, turning into a proverbial green rocket. It clashed against the Erisian’s apple-like structure in a powerful burst of smoky energy, making a sort of splashing dew-like sound before exploding, and sent it hurtling backwards onto the road with a fantastic crash.
The Sailor Soldiers, confident that Hyena had successfully killed the enemy, jumped down from their vantage point and nervously approached the crash site. Chibi-Moon anxiously asked, “Do you think it’s dead?”
“Never say for certain until the proper checks are done. Many careless mistakes have been made because the enemy’s death was not ascertained first,” Hyena replied.
Just as she made that forewarning, a brilliant bolt of electricity instantly broke through the smoke. They gasped and rolled out of the way simultaneously, narrowly avoiding instant death. The livid Erisian stood back up, and the extent of the damage was revealed; Chibi-Moon’s Pink Sugar Heart Attack had created a few dents in the armored apple’s exterior, while Hyena’s Dew of Death managed to rip one of its arms clean off. Unfortunately, these injuries weren’t enough to kill it. In fact, it was in the process of regenerating its lost limb, and it seemed to be more furious than before.
Hyena clenched her teeth and growled, “The Apple of Discord has created a metallic barrier to protect the Erisian’s spirit. It’s evolving more rapidly than I’ve ever seen before.”
“What do we do? Neither of our attacks are working!” Chibi-Moon panicked.
The girls stared at the Erisian as it lumbered towards them. The demonic soul-creature dwelling within the orb flashed its eyes as it focused its attention on Hyena. She widened her eyes and grabbed Chibi-Moon’s hand, forcing her to run with her as the monster unleashed another volley of electricity at them. Hyena exclaimed, “We must retreat! The only way to stop it is for you and your guardians to perform that freezing technique again!”
“You mean Pink Lady’s Freezing Kiss? But I don’t know how long it will take for them to get here!”
“Even so, the best we can do distract it so it doesn’t harm anymore townsfolk!”
“Will it get stronger in the meantime!?”
Hyena grumbled, realizing the flaw in her strategy. Chibi-Moon was right; even if they stalled the Erisian, it would still get more powerful from absorbing the discordant energy surrounding them. Hyena wasn’t sure if the freezing technique would even work at that point. The duo had no choice but to stop it themselves, and they needed to do it fast. They had to figure out a way to pierce through the Apple of Discord’s armor and eliminate the evil soul dwelling within the Erisian before it could evolve enough to gain intelligence. Once that happened, their chances of winning would be even slimmer than they were right now…
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