Chapter 52
"Mamo-chan!" Usagi screamed as she saw his body crash through a table and land in a mangled heap on the floor. She rushed over to him and stood shielding him, then turned to face Yukabacera. "You monster, I'll fight you now!"
"No, Usagi-chan!" cried Ami. "You are the Princess. Our job is to fight so that you don't have to – to protect you with our lives if necessary."
"But…."
"No buts," said Rei. "Is Mamoru-san okay?"
"Who's going to face me next?" Yukabacera called out. "Have you decided yet?"
"I will," said Minako. She leapt onto the floor opposite him and stood facing him, holding her chain of light with both hands. Her face was stern and determined, and in that moment it was easy to understand how she had managed to fool the Dark Kingdom into believing that she and not Usagi was the Moon Princess. She looked every inch the part: a fierce and terrible opponent.
"I won't go easy on you," Yukabacera said as he picked up his fallen CFIS, this time with his right hand.
"I wouldn't expect it," Minako growled.
Yukabacera smiled, flicked on his weapon, and advanced, playing the beam round towards Minako. He was tense, watching his opponent intently, trying to get some measure of her strengths and weaknesses before moving on the offensive. Among his people, it was the females who were considered the more fearsome fighters – just look at Iosa, or Vateilika.
Minako lowered her eyes to watch the beam as it curved towards her. Yukabacera smiled, and fired a Shocksplinter at her. Then another, and another in rapid succession. Minako did not hesitated; she flicked her chain forward like a whip. It went straight through the first Shocksplinter, beating it aside; then it curled round and flicked the second down towards the floor, and then she struck it back across and sent the third flying into a pillar.
Yukabacera ground his teeth across his skin. He had not expected her to block all three shots, never mind so easily, but he could not afford to let his surprise make him lose concentration. He pressed the CFIS beam towards Minako, forcing her to step back. This was good. If he could run her out of room, she would not be able manoeuvre her chain to strike at the Shocksplinters.
Minako, sensing that she was being driven backwards, twisted the chain round and struck out with it towards Yukabacera's gun hand. He quickly threw his hand back out of her reach, at the same time turning the beam a little to prevent her advancing. But Minako surprised him again, stepping backwards and sideways out of the way of the beam to gain a little more space, and lashing out in a sudden movement with her chain. This time Yukabacera did not manage to avoid it, and he winced in pain as it scorched across his flesh.
He retaliated by firing another volley of Shocksplinters at her, keeping her busy as she swung the chain from side to side to flick them away. Then he moved in, driving the beam of his CFIS towards her, forcing her to shift to the side as she ducked out of its way. Another Shocksplinter, low, made her flick her chain downwards to hit it, and as he got her eyes to move down, he drove downwards with the CFIS, cutting into her space. Minako had to desperately leap backwards, and there was a flicker of light as the CFIS burnt off a corner of her ribbon.
Yukabacera, sensing victory, slammed the CFIS beam into the wall on one side of Minako, and shot a Shocksplinter into the wall on her other side. Now that she could not move, he would slide his weapons closer together, and she would not be able to dodge. But that gave her a second or so of freedom in which she did not have to react to his moves, and she smiled. She would show him that she, too, had more than one weapon at her command.
"Crescent Beam!"
A crescent of light appeared at the tip of her finger, and she shot it towards Yukabacera. He flinched and stepped back, the beam of his CFIS going in a wide arc as he temporarily lost control.
And then Minako hurtled towards him, lashing out repeatedly with her chain as she did. She knew that she had to drive him back fast, that any slip would lead to him gaining the upper hand over her again. And she knew that he had nearly had her back then, and now that he knew what to expect from her, if she let him have a second chance he would defeat her.
Yukabacera snarled, and concentrated hard on dodging Minako's attacks. He had to rely on a new strategy now: he would retreat, letting her think she was beating him, in order to drive her into a trap. He felt around with the CFIS, keeping her on her toes, but he knew that she was the one attacking now, and he did not have enough space to seriously threaten her.
He tried a Shocksplinter; as he expected, she flicked it away with her chain and continued to press forward. Another Shocksplinter, aiming for her knee. He had to get the chain out of the way. And then, as Minako came into the centre of the room and was directly in front of him, he dropped the CFIS and pulled the MPFB Devastator from his belt. It was a weapon of last resort; he knew that he would be knocked down and hurt from the blast. But he did not hesitate as he fired it straight into Minako's face.
A blue pulse of light shot out and exploded, and for a second the room seemed full of light and smoke. He could not see anything as he fell backwards; and when he tried to look up, the whole room was hidden from view as the explosion seemed to be tearing the very air apart in a whirlpool of rich blue light. He looked down instead, and reached for his fallen CFIS.
"I don't think so," Minako said, putting one foot firmly on the weapon.
Yukabacera could only gasp in astonishment. She could not – he could not believe she had survived that blast, and yet here she was, standing in front of him with one hand on her hip, the other holding her chain as she smiled and casually flicked it so it went around his neck.
"Had enough?" said Minako.
