Chapter 10: A Slimy Experiment
"Peridot Prism Power, Make Up!" Annabelle and Mary rushed to see what was going on when they heard their sister transform, as they assumed that it was another attack. When they got to Rebecca's room, they found her inside, wearing her Sailor Peridot uniform, but there didn't seem to be anyone she was fighting.
"Is it invisible? Annabelle, can any of the Senshi turn themselves invisible?" Sailor Amethyst demanded.
"I don't ever remember hearing about that, but they might've been given new powers," Sailor Ruby guessed.
"There is no enemy in the room. I was merely going to analyze my Senshi powers. It seems I have the ability to create some kind of green slimy substance, but I would like to know what it exactly is," Sailor Peridot explained calmly.
"You got us all scared for no reason! You should've warned us first!" Mary whined, detransforming along with her younger sister.
"Peridot Slimy Adhesion!" Sailor Peridot called, ignoring Mary as she aimed her attack into a big plastic bowl. Most of it fell in with a splat, although a little bit of the slime landed on Rebecca's carpet.
"You didn't answer me. Why didn't you tell us you were just experimenting with your powers?" Mary repeated.
"I did. I wrote a note and put it on the table," Sailor Peridot replied. Annabelle suddenly squeaked and looked embarrassed.
"Oops! I think I accidentally hid it when I put my book on top of it!" she admitted, "I was thinking so much about what I was reading that I didn't look where I was putting things. I was thinking about the Sailor Senshi, the ones named after planets and how some of them have powers similar to what it says in my astrology book, but there's something weird. How come there isn't a Sailor Sun?"
"You're the Sailor Senshi expert in the house," Mary shrugged.
"No, she has a good question. The Sun contains most of the mass in the solar system and is obviously the main source of life on Earth. It is strange that the Sailor Senshi are led by Sailor Moon rather than Sailor Sun," Rebecca agreed as she turned back into her regular self.
"Maybe Princess Twinkle is Sailor Sun? She was someone Sailor Mercury mentioned when she attacked that big meeting we had the other day, and it sounded like she's someone they're taking orders from," Mary suggested, and then she looked at the slime that was in the bowl and on the floor. "What are you going to do with that? Do you even know how to clean it up?"
"That will be part of the experiment. I wasn't intending to make a mess on the floor, but it's good that I did, in a way, because then I can test how cleaning materials work with it," Rebecca said.
"I wonder if its edible," Mary said with a bit of a smirk, "Not that YOU should eat it. Maybe you should feed it to one of those other Senshi when they attack again as a test."
"I suppose I could try to aim it at their mouths. But first, I am going to run some tests on the sample I have here," Rebecca answered. She then left her room and came back with carpet stain remover and some water. However, instead of using either, she knelt down and touched the slime, intending to see if it could be simply picked up off the carpet. She then quickly drew her hand away with a gasp. When she had touched the slime, it felt like it had stung her! But why didn't it hurt to use her attack? Was it because the Senshi outfit came with gloves?
"What happened? Does it hurt to touch your own slime?" Annabelle asked worriedly. Curious as to how her sister's experimenting would turn out, she had stayed in Rebecca's room to watch.
"Yes. It feels like it has a stinging poison in it. But it doesn't hurt when I use my Senshi attack, so maybe I need to be Sailor Peridot to be immune to its effects. Or it's because the Senshi outfit comes with gloves. There's only one way to make sure. Peridot Prism Power, Make Up!" Rebecca called for the second time that day. This time, Annabelle wasn't scared, because she knew that it was for the sake of scientific research, and not because there was an immediate danger. Sailor Peridot then pulled her gloves off, leaving her hands bare while still transformed. She then poked at the slime on the floor with one finger. This time, it didn't hurt, not even when she scooped it up with her bare hands and dumped it into the bucket, leaving only a few bits stuck to the carpet.
"So being a Sailor Senshi protects you from the poison? I guess that makes sense, but what about the other Sailor Senshi, like the ones we're fighting against? Or are you the only one protected from it?" Annabelle asked.
"I don't know. If you would like to transform and then touch it like I did, you could find out for yourself. But a good scientist doesn't experiment on people without their permission, so you should only touch it if you want to. I don't want to make you do something that might hurt you," Sailor Peridot replied as she put her white gloves back on.
"I don't want to touch it. I think it's like how Sailor Mars isn't hurt by her own fire but could burn us with it," Annabelle said.
"That's exactly true. Your fat sister is lucky she's not in here, otherwise I would burn her to a crisp for what she made me see," snarled a voice that both girls recognized.
"Sailor Mars! I don't really want to fight you, but I can't let you hurt Mary! Ruby Prism Power, Make Up!" Annabelle yelled, red swirls of light transforming her into Sailor Ruby.
"Peridot Slimy Adhesion!" Sailor Peridot called, aiming her attack at Sailor Mars's face. Sailor Mars tried to dodge, but the slime hit her bare legs as she dove onto the floor. Sailor Peridot saw her cringe in pain, but it was ambiguous as to whether or not that was from the slime or from her rough landing.
"Sailor Mars, why did you join Princess Twinkle? I thought you were loyal to Sailor Moon!" Sailor Ruby pleaded.
"I still am. There is no difference between following Sailor Moon and following Princess Twinkle. They both want the same thing, to get rid of YOU! Mars Flame Sniper!" Sailor Mars yelled, jumping back up and shooting an arrow of flame at Sailor Ruby. Sailor Ruby tried to dodge, but she didn't get away in time, and the fire struck her.
"Who is this Princess Twinkle, then? Do you know why she wants to get rid of us?" Sailor Peridot asked calmly, facing down Sailor Mars and blocking her sister, who was rolling the flames out on the floor.
"Because you are preventing her from ascending to the throne of the world. And you are evil Sailor Senshi! Evil spirits, begone!" Sailor Mars called. A small scroll appeared in her hand, and she slammed it into Sailor Peridot's head, knocking the other Senshi over.
"My sister is NOT evil! But you might see something evil and scary if you mess with me!" Sailor Amethyst challenged, entering the room.
"Please don't say things like that! You'll just make them hate us even more!" Sailor Ruby pleaded from her spot on the floor.
"How can you still be on her side after it looks like she burned you?!" Sailor Amethyst snapped.
"Why...why didn't it work?" Sailor Mars suddenly whimpered as she stared at Sailor Peridot, a look of horror on her face. Sailor Peridot had taken the scroll off of her face and gotten back up, and that seemed to have frightened Sailor Mars very much.
"Maybe because I'm not evil? What was that supposed to do? Did you think I was possessed by a ghost? I don't know much yet about how my Senshi powers work, but I doubt it's because of any demonic possession," Sailor Peridot said calmly.
"How could Princess Twinkle and Sailor Moon be wrong?! Why don't I sense any evil aura from you?! You must be disguising it! I will make you show your true evil!" Sailor Mars screamed, lunging at Sailor Peridot, who was too startled to dodge and got knocked back down again.
"Get off of her! And quit taking orders from someone who was lying to you!" Sailor Amethyst snapped, grabbing Sailor Mars's sailor collar and yanking her off of Sailor Peridot.
"She's not lying to me! SHE'S NOT!" Sailor Mars raged, this time jumping on top of Sailor Amethyst, who fought back and the two Senshi began wrestling and fighting on the floor, neither one bothering to use her magical powers. Sailor Mars then suddenly disappeared in a flash of red light, and Sailor Amethyst pouted.
"I could have knocked her out so we could have captured her! Why does she have to be able to disappear like that?!" Amethyst whined. Sailor Mars reappeared in Princess Twinkle's throne room, having been pulled there by Princess Twinkle herself.
"You're NOT lying, are you?! Why can't I sense any evil from the Gemstone Senshi?! Why didn't my ofuda work?!" Sailor Mars demanded.
"They are very tricky girls. I should have warned you that they have warded themselves against your ofuda, it was something those traitorous cats did for them to fool you into thinking that they were not evil," Princess Twinkle explained gently. She then turned to Makoto, who was also in the throne room. "Sailor Jupiter, I wan't you to go next. This time, your target must be one of those cats. They are seemingly defenseless, but are dangerous in their own ways. If you can't bring one of them here to us, then destroy them."