Too soon a time will tell
Of a classic group that fell.
Far from the skies they clamor
In all their magnificent glamour
To reshape the bounds
Upon which here founds.
To be sought for justice
In the midst of darkness
Their knowledge surprises
Despite the lack of likeness
Their hearts are solid set
To conquer evil's bet
To win their lives, who shall know?
But a bitter tale we each shall sew.
Bitter yet
Bitter no
Bitter chooses thou shalt show.
The world was spinning, no picture clear as they found themselves jut into an abyss of pure chaos. Their eyes were wavering, the bodies of their comrades no longer in plain sight as gravity thrust them every which direction, violently, callously and without care. The screams that surely escaped their parched lips were stifled by the whistling sounds deafening their senses as they went deeper into the void. Clutching tightly one bright-eyed female managed to grab hold of one of her dear friends. As if life desperately depended upon it, she clung herself unceasingly on the limb of the unsuspecting girl while she prayed that the others too found someone to tie.
Her golden pigtails writhed scathingly about, nearly gaining the sharpness of newly crisp knives and without movement she remained fastened to the arm of her friend with eyes tightly shut in the whirlwind of disaster. Her body collided roughly with the frigid terrain of Earth beneath her to elicit a sharp gasp of pain. Vision impaired, she lay limply, reluctantly losing the grip she held just mere seconds ago. And slowly, she lost consciousness.
"Ahmmm," was the unearthly groan that sounded constantly from the disheveled heap strewn across the desert sands. "AHMMM!"
"Shut up already," came a rather blunt reply. "I hear you!"
Despite the vicious rendition of disapproval, the owner of the groans seemed to spring to life, her body bending at the waist to better position her eyes for searching.
"Rei?" The brunette muttered. Quickly her emeralds found the familiar raven-haired woman hunched over on all fours hacking out her lungs. "I thought we were split."
"Me too," Rei managed to wheeze out as she continued to try and clear the sand from her esophagus. "Until I heard your annoying groans."
The brunette scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief as her friend's usual sarcastic tone never seemed to fade no matter how strange the situation.
"Sorry I disturbed you," she replied. "Though I think they're nothing in comparison to your hacking."
The ebony-haired woman shot a menacingly glare in the brunette's direction but desisted as she noticed the towering woman now on both feet. Though she herself was always known to be a sure spitfire, she was a smart one and knew better than to try and scrapple with her Amazon friend. Dusting herself off as best she could, she pushed herself from the ground and stood with hands on her hips. The vast unscathed land was overbearing, mounds of sands rippling endlessly in every direction.
"Where are we?"
Neither of the two could seem to be able to think up the answer. Frustrated lines creased their furrowed brows in contemplation but it would surmount to nothing. Last they remembered they were fighting youma before the five of them were plunged unsuspectingly into some kind of vortex. Speaking of all five of them…
"Venus Creasant Beam, SMASH!"
As if caught in some unmentioned drill, the two women hastily bound in the direction of the cry. Rei was first to arrive, her sights set on a stagnant blonde who frigidly jerked around in search of something.
"Venus, what is it?" Rei cautioned, her own body tense with suspense.
She unconsciously backed herself against Venus, eyes skimming the ground in scrutiny.
"Shh," Venus hushed. "Move very slowly…THERE!"
She jumped, accidentally causing Rei to let out a vile train of fire. Astonished, Rei spun around to catch a glimpse of what Venus was looking at.
"EEK!" Rei squealed, much unlike herself. She shivered in fear, flailing with excitement to try and get away. "Mars Fire, IGNITE!"
The wall of flames missed miserably, the enlarged violet hues trembling with uncertainty.
"Venus!" She cried. "Get it!"
Nervous, Venus stuttered to catch it, her skin crawling with tremors.
"It's too fast!" She bellowed, scouring nervously for the now submerged and stealthy thing.
The two were again together, stepping lightly about them as they desperately searched for some way to end the torment. Eyes again widened, they each spotted the little black-legged creature, stinger hanging tauntingly over its lithe body.
"Get it!" Rei cried.
"I'm trying!" Venus muttered in distress throwing beams upon beams to try and fry it. With expert speed, the creature dodged each blow.
"It's getting closer!"
"I know!"
"VENUS!"
Gasping, the tall brunette finally made it to the scene, her eyes darting across the plane for the offender.
"Where is it?" She let out in exasperation.
"There!"
The two girls wrestled to hide behind the tall brunette who blinked with confusion as she witnessed the scurrying miniscule little thing.
"That?" She pointed in disbelief.
"Kill it!" Venus cried.
"Kill it?"
"Do it Mako-chan! Before it stings us!"
"Stings us?"
Makoto laughed quietly to herself, scratching the back of her head as the two continued to squirm uncontrollably behind her. With gloved hands, she padded carefully toward the small creature and let it skitter into her palms. Grinning devilishly, she faced her friends in mock innocence.
"You're scared of this little thing?" She cooed. "But it's so cute!"
"Mako-chan get it away from me! I swear I'll singe your eyebrows off if you don't!"
"Eww, Mako-chan! Why are you touching it?"
Amused, Makoto watched them make fools of themselves before she finally let the poor little creature go.
"And I thought this was a serious matter…" she drifted.
Rei huffed indignantly, folding her arms across her chest.
"I'm allergic to scorpions," she said. "Their venom could kill me even if it's just one drop so excuuuuuse me for trying not to die!"
As if expecting another explanation, violet and green traveled to land on their blonde companion. She shrugged.
"I hate anything that crawls," she said shivering at the mere mention of it.
Still rather entertained, Makoto laughed heartily to which Rei was not well pleased.
"If you're done cackling like an old hag now," she stated harshly. "How bout we actually try and figure out where we are."
"Ooh," Venus commented. "A little grumpy aren't we."
Before Rei could settle her vicious claws into Venus, Makoto interrupted.
"Alright, alright," she said. "Now I'm just taking a stab in the dark here but I think we're in the middle of a desert."
"You don't say," Venus grinned with a wink.
With a deep sigh, Rei nodded. "So we need to find some sign of human civilization and see if we can't find some information."
"Sounds good," Venus remarked. "But which way do we go?"
Their faces drained of color as the realized just how endless this desert was. How were they supposed to know which direction would lead them to human contact? Each girl gulped nervously, their dry throats reminding them of another issue.
"You guys didn't happen to bring a bottle of water by chance, did you?" Makoto asked wryly.
The silence was enough to answer her question, the sweltering heat caressing their glazed skin as they contemplated their next move.
"Well," Venus spoke. "I for one nominate Rei to give us our direction."
"What?" Rei bitterly spat.
"I agree," Makoto chimed in.
"Mako-chan!" Rei reprimanded. "How am I supposed to know which way to go?"
"You're psychic," Minako stated plainly. "So use your psychic abilities to point out the way."
The lackadaisical reference to Rei's spiritual ability was insulting, offensive even but she disregarded the comment as her anger seemed to stir even more dryness in her throat which she could do well without.
"This is stupid," she mumbled but turned nonetheless trying to find some kind of unseen link or pull to a certain direction. With eyes shut, she concentrated turning nearly a complete ninety degree angle before stopping. "This way."
Whether she actually believed this was the right way to commence walking, she was uncertain but she sure as hell wasn't going to just sit around and bake in the sun without making some type of progress.
"You think the others are okay?" Asked Minako with a small frown.
A comforting hand was placed at her shoulder, the friendly green eyes glistening with reassurance.
"I'm sure they're fine."
The walk was grueling, each senshi hardly able to stay focused on their path. Their legs were numb, their arms were numb, everything was numb but they pushed forward nonetheless. No fight before had left them in such a drained state, each girl slowly succumbing to the buried insanity shifting in their brains. Even their uniforms were beginning to tremor, threatening each minute to completely leave them in the elemental fabric that they came.
"I wish Sailor Mercury was here," Venus mumbled, staggering slightly in her walk.
"You're not the only one," Jupiter agreed, lazily wiping sweat from her brow.
The day seemed to last forever, the sun never once ceasing its pulsing heat waves.
"Being the senshi of fire is no help in even this situation," Mars groaned, wincing slightly at the scratching in her throat.
"No?" Venus remarked, truly piqued with interest by this revelation. She stopped in her place to think more on that topic but immediately was left dumbfounded. Her body waved uneasily until her eyes just rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed.
Mars and Jupiter's fatigued bodies couldn't comprehend even the swiftest movements as they struggled to stagger back to Venus' now civilian state. Her spaghetti strapped white tank was drenched with sweat, seeping steadily even into the fabric of her striped blue high shorts.
"Sorry guys," she frowned trying to get up but Jupiter stopped her.
"You've got no shoes," she pointed out warily. "I'll have to carry you."
Not allowing a single word of protest, Jupiter heaved Minako with the assistance of Mars onto her back.
"I'm sorry," Minako kept repeating to which Jupiter constantly shook her head.
"Is that—"
Jupiter and Minako's eyes darted forward trying to catch what Mars might have seen.
"I think it is," Minako coarsely whispered.
"Thank God," Jupiter muttered wobbling unhealthily onward.
Minako's brows scrunched as she stared at the loosely defined outline ahead.
"I think it's a clown…"
"I hate clowns," Jupiter frowned.
"A clown?" Mars grimaced. "Damn, it must be a mirage then."
"No," Minako said. "I think he's real."
"What kind of clown is he?" Jupiter asked, her voice teetering on nearly inaudible.
"There are different kinds?" Mars asked. By now her mind had completely escaped her, the idea that she'd be entertaining the conversation about types of clowns despicable in any other circumstance. However, the sun had a tarnishing effect on her judgment, one that had left her open to anything and everything despite how ridiculous.
"Yeah," Jupiter replied meekly. "There's the killer clown It and there's the friendly clown Bozo. I personally prefer the friendly clown, if there must be a clown…"
"Ahh," Mars hummed in a meditative state as if achieving enlightenment. "I get it now."
"So, Minako-chan, what kind is it?"
Minako squinted her eyes to try and get a better view but she just couldn't manage. Defeated, she sighed.
"He's too far to tell."
Minako's body was nearly limp on Jupiter's back, red and green glowing simultaneously to unravel the supernatural uniforms. Both Mars and Jupiter had reached their limit, their civilian forms softly landing in the padded sand. Their eyes were tempting them to rest, Makoto and Rei unable to resist any longer. Staring blankly towards the sky, Minako blinked inquisitively when the painted face of a curious man poked into her frame of sight.
"Guys," she mumbled hoarsely, her hand blindly reaching to try and shake one of them until she simply gave up. "He's definitely a Bozo."
Thank you for reading. I hope you feel inclined to review. Next will be Mercury and Moon's landings.
Again, thank you for reading.
Disclaimer:
I don't own Sailor Moon or Naruto.