Second one's up, with an added smidgen of Ami/Mako for fun. Thanks for the reviews, guys!
Hirsute
Hairy.
Jupiter arrived in time to see a trash can sail through the air and collide with Sailor Mercury. With a cry of pain the team's tactician was floored, the unwieldy projectile clattering noisily against the pavement before rolling to a stop.
"Mercury!" Jupiter yelled. She sprinted towards her, but to her surprise Mercury staggered back to her feet, holding up a hand to stop her.
"It's alright, Jupiter. She isn't interested in me."
"She?" questioned Uranus, following behind. Haruka had been sparring with her when Makoto's communicator had gone off, so she had driven Makoto downtown and tagged along for the battle. Jupiter hoped she hadn't wounded Uranus's pride by beating her to the battlefield: Uranus was indisputably the fastest senshi, but show Jupiter an injured Mercury and she moved like a bullet.
Presently Jupiter wrapped an arm around Mercury, supporting the bulk of her weight, and glowered angrily over at the youma.
It looked like a humanoid version of a cat, sporting a white sailor fuku. Its fur was short and sandy and it looked to be more or less Ami's height. Two large pointed ears stood from its head and a long tail swished impatiently. It stalked around a small wooded area of the park, sniffing the air. Mercury, as usual, was right: the thing was paying them very little mind at all.
"What is it?" Jupiter asked, noting the sailor suit. "A phage?"
Mercury shook her head. "Something new. Whoever our enemy is, it seems they produce youma by combining the DNA of two species. It's basically a chimera."
"Are either of those species shockproof?" asked Jupiter darkly. She was watching the large welt start to form on Mercury's cheek and plotting a healthy dose of revenge.
Uranus smirked at her, little sparks of yellow energy gathering in her fingertips. "Let's find out. World..."
"No, don't!" Mercury cried. "That's precisely the problem! The chimera – it's half Artemis, half Minako-chan."
Makoto's jaw almost hit the floor. "That's Minako-chan?!"
To be fair, its fur did look a similar colour to Minako's hair, and it certainly explained the fuku.
The energy evaporated from Uranus's hand. "Then what the hell are we supposed to do with it?"
Mercury summoned her mini-computer with her free hand, checking her readings. "Sailor Moon will have to heal them when she gets here. Until then, damage control is our only option. It shouldn't be too difficult; like I said, it isn't really bothered by us. The only reason it attacked me was because got between it and Luna to scan it."
"Luna?" Jupiter murmured. She and Uranus shared a glance and turned back to Mina-Artemis. The chimera flicked its gaze left and right, its ears swivelling attentively, apparently trying to locate something in the trees. "Is that who she's looking for?"
Mercury nodded. "Yes. From what I can tell, the youma is responding to a pheromone signature. In other words," she concluded with a slight blush, "it's chasing Luna because Artemis is attracted to Luna."
"Poor Luna," Uranus remarked.
Mercury smiled sheepishly in spite of herself. "I'm sure Luna won't thank me for making her live bait, but she's the only thing keeping them out of trouble."
Jupiter laughed, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly. "Well, at least it doesn't have Minako-chan's senshi powers."
No sooner had the words left her mouth than Mina-Artemis's gaze fixed on one branch in particular, apparently having located their beloved guardian. Effortlessly, it slung out a Love-Me Chain. It wrapped the weapon around Luna's middle like a lasso and she was dragged down the trunk of the tree, flailing her hind legs in protest and carving a set of claw marks in her wake.
"Spoke too soon, I guess," said Jupiter.
Minako-Venus-Artemis reeled Luna the rest of the way in like a fish, clamped her into its arms and started happily licking her behind the ears. Luna scrambled to escape, but the chimera's grip was rock solid.
The senshi regarded the scene in open dismay.
"Mercury," Jupiter asked slowly, "does saving Luna's sanity qualify as damage control?"
Mercury put her computer away. "She's suffered enough," she said sincerely. Jupiter and Uranus nodded solemnly in agreement, and together they headed towards the pair – or trio, depending on how one looked at it.
Before they could get there, however, a familiar voice cut through the air ahead of them.
"You, who would molest an innocent maiden cat without permission!" cried Sailor Mars, emerging from behind a lamppost. "In the name of Mars, I'll chastise you!"
"Mars!" Mercury called. "Don't attack it! It's Minako-chan!"
Mars's eyes almost popped out of her skull. "It's what?"
Mina-Artemis mewled, its gaze resting on Mars. The two stared each other down for a few moments.
Mars's eye twitched. "Guys? Why is she looking at me like that?"
The chimera sniffed Luna. Then she sniffed in Mars's direction. After a few moments' consideration, it released the traumatised feline, turning the full force of its intrigue upon the new arrival. Jupiter watched Luna hit the floor with all the grace of a bag of sugar and stagger off to safety in unco-ordinated zigzags.
Mina-Artemis took a step forward. Mars took one back. Then Mina-Artemis made a strange little growl in the back of its throat, a funny, curious sound to match Minako's playful blue eyes.
"M-...Minako?" Rei asked nervously.
Mina-Artemis's nose twitched. Its tail whipped purposefully back and forth. And then it pounced.
"Minako, no! Minako! Mina, stop it!"
Jupiter, Mercury and Uranus looked on helplessly as Mina-Artemis knocked Mars onto the grass and leapt on top of her. It started nuzzling its head into the crook of Mars's neck, an action Jupiter spontaneously recalled to be scent-marking.
Jupiter felt Mercury move beside her, switching on her visor. "Why is she after Rei? Have I missed something?" she asked herself.
Mercury was so cute when she was confused, and for once Jupiter knew something she didn't. She slipped the arm around Mercury up to one of her blue earrings and gently switched the visor back off. "It's okay, Mercury. You didn't miss anything."
Mercury went beetroot, peering up at Jupiter in realisation. "You mean...?!"
Jupiter grinned but said nothing. Instead she turned her attention back to the scenario she was pretty sure neither Rei nor Minako would ever live down.
Mars was now busy trying to threaten Mina-Artemis with a handful of fire, but this only seemed to make it more interested, cuddling as close to Mars and the heat source as possible.
"No! Bad Mina!" Mars snapped, face ablaze. "Get back! Fire is scary, damnit!"
Suddenly Mina-Artemis sat up. It glanced at the fire and then at Mars, and then did something which sent an already embarrassed Mercury's temperature straight through the roof.
She pinned Mars down, stuck out her tongue and started to lick Mars's jaw line. Mars let out a surprised yelp and flushed darkly as Mina-Artemis emitted a noisy, satisfied purr.
Jupiter cringed and laughed, Mercury squeaked and Uranus burst into a fit of belly laughs.
Unable to do much about the spectacle, they watched as Mars's loud objections declined into begging before finally dissipating into nervous, incomprehensible whimpers. Jupiter couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw her shiver involuntarily.
Uranus's guffaws eventually subsided. She wiped a tear from her eye. "Please let Minako remember this."
Light footsteps sounded behind them and Jupiter felt the tension leave Mercury's shoulders. "Thank goodness," Mercury sighed.
"Sorry I'm late, guys!" called out Sailor Moon between wheezes. She stopped in front of them, hands on her knees as she caught her breath. "There was this other youma, and I had to fight it, and I learned this new attack and..."
Her eyes fell on Mars and the chimera and she shrieked. "What the heck is it doing to Rei-chan?!"
"Just stop it, Sailor Moon..." groaned Mercury wearily, thumb and forefinger now pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Right," Sailor Moon nodded. With that, she took out her eternal tier. "Moon… Unity… Peaceful Restoration!"
A circle of bright lights flew out in the direction of the chimera and, for a few moments, the world went white. When Jupiter was able to stop shielding her eyes, she peered through her fingers to see if it had worked.
Sure enough, they were separated. A few yards away, Artemis lay on the ground, blinking dazedly.
Minako, however, was still on top of Rei, the tip of her tongue now frozen in place on Rei's pulse point. She stayed like that for a few moments, most likely trying to work out the best way to get out of this situation. She pulled away from Mars and sat up, giggling apprehensively.
"Hi, Rei," she said.
Jupiter half-expected Mars to throw a fit. And yet she didn't. She just sat up a little more, cheeks tinged pink, and looked at Minako like she was seeing her for the first time.
Then she threw a fit.