Chapter Fifteen
"That BASTARD! I'll kill him this time!"
The ranting, predictably, was being conducted by Uranus, who was absolutely livid over Sephiroth's high-handed action. Neptune, standing nearby, tried to calm her partner down, with little success. "Uranus, we talked about this earlier..."
"But that doesn't give him the right to simply brush us off like that while holding Saturn hostage! I don't care HOW in love they are, I'm...what the?!?"
Looking back over Neptune's shoulder, Uranus blinked, her eyes immediately narrowing. The others followed her gaze, and gasped.
In the midst of the camp ruins, their aircar was now totally devastated. The hood was crumpled, with energy(both of a magical and natural nature) leaking out into the ground. The rest of the body was in no better shape...what there was of it. It seemed to have been neatly bisected, with the top half having been tossed away.
"Look alert...they might still be around," Venus whispered urgently. Nodding, the rest of the group fanned out in a defensive pattern, their eyes scanning the surrounding area.
Without warning, a loud 'THWACK!' was heard, immediately followed by a cry of pain from Uranus, who was sent flying by some invisible force. Jupiter and Neptune both looked around wildly, attacks ready to fly at a moment's notice...and were also sent flying by apparently the same force...though nothing could be seen.
Serin tried to scan the area now, but his sword was unavoidably knocked out of his hands. Somehow, he sensed something coming, and managed to narrowly avoid a hissing blade that slashed through the air. As he landed, a wince preceded a small spray of blood from a cut on his right cheek.
Though it was hard to see, everyone managed to catch sight of two transparent shapes slowly rise from the ground. As they fully stood, they suddenly began flickering, electric arcs coruscating off of them. Several tense seconds passed before they coalesced into visibility, revealing themselves to be humanoid...to an extent.
Both seemed to be similar in make, resembling high-tech ninjas, what with their cybernetic exterior that covered them like a skin. Every part of their body was covered, including their faces. Aside from the faceplates(one had a blank visor over his face, while the other's face was apparently connected by three parts, with a glowing red sensor in the middle of his forehead), there was one other distinguishing feature: while one was painted in shades of blue and white, the other was painted in shades of grey and red. The grey ninja carried a kodachi in his left hand with a reverse grip. The other showed no signs of carrying weapons, but Serin and the senshi knew that one didn't need to carry weapons to be deadly.
The blue ninja spoke first, with a voice that echoed slightly with a mechanical undertone. "Give us the Ginzuishou, and you will not come to harm. Resist us, and die."
Everyone tensed at the demand, as Venus putting the crystal safely away as quietly as she could.
"Like hell...the Ginzuishou is going back where it belongs!" Uranus snarled.
"You are mistaken...it will go to our master, either with your consent, or without it," the other ninja deadpanned, in a voice that was similar to, but very different from, the first's.
"Don't underestimate us," Jupiter warned, the space between her hands crackling with electricity.
Both ninjas stared at the senshi, allowing Serin an opportunity. Silently, he focused his mind, calling his sword to his hand. Once it appeared there, he leapt forward as silently as he could, his sword raised for a disarming blow...only to have it blocked by the kodachi-wielder. Barely taking a breath, Serin leapt back, his sword raised in a defensive posture as his opponent advanced on him, the kodachi still held in a reversed grip.
In the meantime, the other ninja leapt forward at the senshi, who were slightly startled...most creatures backed off or kept their distance at the sight of four senshi charging their attacks. But with inhuman speed, the bare-handed warrior slammed his elbow into Uranus' gut, driving the breath from her lungs, and disrupting her attack. Flowing with the movement, he spun around her slumping form to snap off a kick at Jupiter's head, which she barely managed to dodge...only to catch it anyway on the reverse stroke.
Venus managed to fire off a Crescent Beam at her target, but the ninja saw it coming and easily dodged it, leaping high into the air and flipping with the grace of a gymnast before slamming his heels onto her left shoulder, cracking the bone. A gasp of pain was forced from the senshi of love's mouth as she staggered back, falling to the ground.
Neptune fired off her own attack, a Deep Submerge, which the ninja again saw coming. This time, he simply danced to the side, leaping forward in a powerful bound to drive a foot into her face. Neptune stood frozen with fear, as she couldn't move in time to avoid the strike.
Suddenly a shout of "Death Ribbon Revolution!" came from the side, forcing the ninja to cancel his attack and leap out of the way of ANOTHER attack, the black ribbons that Saturn had summoned slicing into the ground before disappearing.
The ninja turned to look at the dark-haired senshi of silence(along with her glaive) briefly before raising his hands and clenching the fists, forcing four gleaming claws to erupt from his hands. Holding them crossed over his chest, he stood, waiting as the senshi regrouped. Saturn immediately went to Venus, attempting to heal her broken shoulder. Uranus quickly pulled out her Space Sword and bit her lip at the sight of the ninja's claws.
"This doesn't look good," she muttered.
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Serin slashed at his opponent's left side, which the warrior contemptuously blocked and countered with several rapid fists to his upper body. Staggering back, he barely managed to block all of the ninja's masterful strikes.
He had been put on the defensive almost immediately, despite the awkward stance that the ninja attacked with. And no matter how hard he tried, his efforts to mount an effective defense came to naught.
Still, he knocked aside another attack, driving his sword hilt at the body of his opponent. The warrior, for his part, spun to the side effortlessly, and stabbed downward with his blade.
A searing pain lanced through Serin's wrist, driving a growl of pain from his lips as he winced. Glancing down, he saw that the ninja's kodachi blade had pierced not only through his skin, but also through the first part of his lower arm. Blood dripped down the blade as he ceased moving, trying not to increase the damage that had been done to his limb.
A rush of air was his only warning before a fist slammed powerfully into his face, immediately followed by several more blows across his body. Finally, with the sword pulled from Serin's arm(drawing a growl of pain from the paladin), the ninja carelessly spun on one heel, nailing his opponent with a roundhouse kick that sent the paladin crashing into the remains of a building wall.
His mind hazy with the pain and blood loss, Serin struggled desperately to get to his feet, hearing the footsteps of his enemy approach. Unfortunately, his body constantly refused to listen to him, or simply responded sluggishly...and as he managed to get to one knee, the ninja seemed to 'float' in, driving his sword through the paladin's knee, eliciting a scream of pain from his mouth. Pulling the sword out again amidst a short spray of blood, the ninja placed the tip of his sword at Serin's neck.
"Convince your comrades to surrender...and your life will be spared," the cybernetic warrior reasoned.
Clutching his knee, Serin growled, "Like...hell! I won't betray the trust I've earned...and I WILL NOT endanger my sister!!!"
It was at that moment that something unexpected happened. The ninja visibly shook at Serin's defiant statement, the kodachi lowering slightly. The sensor then blinked several times, almost as if it were an actual eye, while the warrior shook his head.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Uranus and Saturn leapt forward in a two-pronged attack, their weapons slashing from two different sides, at two different heights. Their enemy, seeing their true plan, simply blocked the strikes with his claws. Shoving them back, he then took the initiative and leapt up slightly, delivering a mid-air split kick to each senshi, which stunned and knocked them back. Seizing the initiative, the ninja darted forward at the others, who had been hanging back, ready to fire their attacks if he dodged the first ones.
The suddenness of their enemy's counterattack surprised the senshi, and so they were easy prey for the ninja, who first slammed an elbow into Neptune's gut, disrupting her attack. Sliding around her slumping body, he then drove a clawed fist into Venus' shoulder, pinning her to a wall amidst a short spray of blood.
"Aaahhh...!" she screamed, grabbing at the bladed weapon, which the ninja stubbornly kept buried in her shoulder, causing a large red stain to grow on her fuku.
"VENUS!" Serin screamed, attempting to regain his feet, but dropping back down with a growl of pain as his knee protested violently. The other senshi screamed in shock, but none could get close enough to help her, nor did they have a good shot where they were. Everyone could only watch in horror as the warrior raised his other claw and then brought it down in a blur...
Only to have it be stopped with a loud 'KEEN!' sound. The source became obvious quickly: shockingly enough, the first ninja was blocking his comrade's attack with his kodachi!
The two ninjas stared at each other for a long moment before the one with the kodachi shoved the killing claw away, and slashed at the other, shattering the blades that held the senshi of love pinned. The second hopped back, his postured suggesting one of confusion...which was mirrored almost exactly in the posture of the senshi.
Viciously, the two attacked each other, their blows effortlessly blocked, re-directed and/or countered as they searched for an opening in the other's defense. The blows and movements became too fast even for Jupiter and Uranus, trained martial artists, to follow. And incredibly, it seemed that the speed of their exchanges was increasing further!
A slight movement caught Uranus' eye, and she blinked. Venus, despite her wound, was trying to surreptitiously regain her feet and aim her index finger at the two combatants. Impressed by her strength of will, the wind senshi looked for a way to assist her comrade, but could find none...save for praying that she was able to pull it off.
Finally, the combatants spun, with the claw-bearer's back facing Venus, as he unleashed a rapid series of punches on his opponent. Seeing that she'd never get another opportunity, Venus whispered, "Please...please hit them..." Gathering her energy, she fired off one more Crescent Beam. The yellow beam arrowed forward, impossibly fast. Everyone who saw it held their breath, hoping for a favorable outcome...
And collectively let it out as the first ninja was struck dead-center by the attack. Passing right through his body, it arrowed in on the second attacker...
...who easily dodged it by rolling to the side almost casually. Tensing, the senshi prepared themselves to renew their attack, hoping that against one, they had a real chance now.
The ninja, for his part, looked over at his comrade's body, then at the senshi. For a long moment, no sound or movement was made as the two opponents stared at each other.
Finally, a familiar sound, one of an approaching aircar, was heard. The cybernetic warrior turned his head in its direction, and then slowly nodded. Sharply returning his gaze to the senshi, he flipped a jaunty salute at them. "Another time, perhaps...we shall meet again," he ominously stated. With that, he flipped backwards high into the air, his invisibility activating in midair. A soft sound of his landing was heard, and then absolute silence, save for the growing noise from the aircar.
Too stunned to even accept their good fortune, the senshi immediately crowded around Venus, Uranus probing the wound methodically as the senshi of love winced at the pain. Serin managed to hobble over about halfway before he was met by Jupiter, who forcibly sat him down, insisting he was to wait for his wound to be healed.
Saturn focused her energy on Venus' gash, while explaining to everyone what had happened after they had been forcibly ejected. She had just finished healing her friend when the aircars(there had been two, rather than one) landed, disgorging the royal family, a small group of guards, and Mercury, Urawa, and Mars.
The guards were quick to set up a perimeter, searching for the missing attacker. Venus was all too happy to relinquish the Ginzuishou back to their friend and leader while Mercury went over to the enemy casualty, cautiously followed by Urawa and Uranus.
"Interesting that he hasn't disintegrated away by now," the wind senshi observed. Mercury nodded idly, stopping at what she judged to be a safe distance before pulling out her computer and activating her visor. Tapping into the device at an inhuman speed, she received results almost immediately that made her blanch. After a long, pregnant pause, she typed in a few more commands and prompts, much slower this time. Urawa, who glanced at her from the side, wondered what was wrong. He had been worried today too, concerned by his vision that one of the senshi was going to die. Thankfully, that hadn't come to pass...but his wife's reaction was unnerving, to say the least.
Suddenly, Mercury dropped her computer and raced toward the body, ignoring Uranus' startled shout. Kneeling beside it, the girl genius searched for the catch to its visor, stumbling upon it quite by accident. Just as her comrade and husband reached her side to pull the ice senshi back, she fell back, having successfully pried the visor loose.
All three of them silently stared at what was revealed, each feeling the blood drain from their faces. Uranus, after a brief moment, stood and aimlessly walked away, shaking her head slowly and blinking. Shortly afterwards, Neptune came across her partner, a worried frown crossing her face upon seeing her like this.
"Ruka...wh, what's wrong?" she asked.
Uranus blankly looked up at her aqua-haired lover, and whispered, "You'll never believe what Mercury just found out...about that ninja."
The tone of voice, more than the statement, began to panic Neptune further. "What? What's wrong, Uranus?"
Gesturing half-heartedly, she muttered, "Just go see...go see. You'll find out soon enough."
Torn between fear, and curiousity over what could cause her lover to be so shaken, Neptune turned and ran over to where the wind senshi had indicated.
It was easy to see exactly where she needed to go, as there was a small crowd already there. Saturn was kneeling nearby, taking deep breaths as she clutched her stomach. Many of the other senshi were in a similar state of shock to Uranus. Venus was the most distressed, crying hysterically.
Finally overcome with panic, Neptune uncharacteristically pushed a guard out of the way to get a good view...and gasped loudly.
The corpse was human.
"That BASTARD! I'll kill him this time!"
The ranting, predictably, was being conducted by Uranus, who was absolutely livid over Sephiroth's high-handed action. Neptune, standing nearby, tried to calm her partner down, with little success. "Uranus, we talked about this earlier..."
"But that doesn't give him the right to simply brush us off like that while holding Saturn hostage! I don't care HOW in love they are, I'm...what the?!?"
Looking back over Neptune's shoulder, Uranus blinked, her eyes immediately narrowing. The others followed her gaze, and gasped.
In the midst of the camp ruins, their aircar was now totally devastated. The hood was crumpled, with energy(both of a magical and natural nature) leaking out into the ground. The rest of the body was in no better shape...what there was of it. It seemed to have been neatly bisected, with the top half having been tossed away.
"Look alert...they might still be around," Venus whispered urgently. Nodding, the rest of the group fanned out in a defensive pattern, their eyes scanning the surrounding area.
Without warning, a loud 'THWACK!' was heard, immediately followed by a cry of pain from Uranus, who was sent flying by some invisible force. Jupiter and Neptune both looked around wildly, attacks ready to fly at a moment's notice...and were also sent flying by apparently the same force...though nothing could be seen.
Serin tried to scan the area now, but his sword was unavoidably knocked out of his hands. Somehow, he sensed something coming, and managed to narrowly avoid a hissing blade that slashed through the air. As he landed, a wince preceded a small spray of blood from a cut on his right cheek.
Though it was hard to see, everyone managed to catch sight of two transparent shapes slowly rise from the ground. As they fully stood, they suddenly began flickering, electric arcs coruscating off of them. Several tense seconds passed before they coalesced into visibility, revealing themselves to be humanoid...to an extent.
Both seemed to be similar in make, resembling high-tech ninjas, what with their cybernetic exterior that covered them like a skin. Every part of their body was covered, including their faces. Aside from the faceplates(one had a blank visor over his face, while the other's face was apparently connected by three parts, with a glowing red sensor in the middle of his forehead), there was one other distinguishing feature: while one was painted in shades of blue and white, the other was painted in shades of grey and red. The grey ninja carried a kodachi in his left hand with a reverse grip. The other showed no signs of carrying weapons, but Serin and the senshi knew that one didn't need to carry weapons to be deadly.
The blue ninja spoke first, with a voice that echoed slightly with a mechanical undertone. "Give us the Ginzuishou, and you will not come to harm. Resist us, and die."
Everyone tensed at the demand, as Venus putting the crystal safely away as quietly as she could.
"Like hell...the Ginzuishou is going back where it belongs!" Uranus snarled.
"You are mistaken...it will go to our master, either with your consent, or without it," the other ninja deadpanned, in a voice that was similar to, but very different from, the first's.
"Don't underestimate us," Jupiter warned, the space between her hands crackling with electricity.
Both ninjas stared at the senshi, allowing Serin an opportunity. Silently, he focused his mind, calling his sword to his hand. Once it appeared there, he leapt forward as silently as he could, his sword raised for a disarming blow...only to have it blocked by the kodachi-wielder. Barely taking a breath, Serin leapt back, his sword raised in a defensive posture as his opponent advanced on him, the kodachi still held in a reversed grip.
In the meantime, the other ninja leapt forward at the senshi, who were slightly startled...most creatures backed off or kept their distance at the sight of four senshi charging their attacks. But with inhuman speed, the bare-handed warrior slammed his elbow into Uranus' gut, driving the breath from her lungs, and disrupting her attack. Flowing with the movement, he spun around her slumping form to snap off a kick at Jupiter's head, which she barely managed to dodge...only to catch it anyway on the reverse stroke.
Venus managed to fire off a Crescent Beam at her target, but the ninja saw it coming and easily dodged it, leaping high into the air and flipping with the grace of a gymnast before slamming his heels onto her left shoulder, cracking the bone. A gasp of pain was forced from the senshi of love's mouth as she staggered back, falling to the ground.
Neptune fired off her own attack, a Deep Submerge, which the ninja again saw coming. This time, he simply danced to the side, leaping forward in a powerful bound to drive a foot into her face. Neptune stood frozen with fear, as she couldn't move in time to avoid the strike.
Suddenly a shout of "Death Ribbon Revolution!" came from the side, forcing the ninja to cancel his attack and leap out of the way of ANOTHER attack, the black ribbons that Saturn had summoned slicing into the ground before disappearing.
The ninja turned to look at the dark-haired senshi of silence(along with her glaive) briefly before raising his hands and clenching the fists, forcing four gleaming claws to erupt from his hands. Holding them crossed over his chest, he stood, waiting as the senshi regrouped. Saturn immediately went to Venus, attempting to heal her broken shoulder. Uranus quickly pulled out her Space Sword and bit her lip at the sight of the ninja's claws.
"This doesn't look good," she muttered.
------------------------------------------------------------
Serin slashed at his opponent's left side, which the warrior contemptuously blocked and countered with several rapid fists to his upper body. Staggering back, he barely managed to block all of the ninja's masterful strikes.
He had been put on the defensive almost immediately, despite the awkward stance that the ninja attacked with. And no matter how hard he tried, his efforts to mount an effective defense came to naught.
Still, he knocked aside another attack, driving his sword hilt at the body of his opponent. The warrior, for his part, spun to the side effortlessly, and stabbed downward with his blade.
A searing pain lanced through Serin's wrist, driving a growl of pain from his lips as he winced. Glancing down, he saw that the ninja's kodachi blade had pierced not only through his skin, but also through the first part of his lower arm. Blood dripped down the blade as he ceased moving, trying not to increase the damage that had been done to his limb.
A rush of air was his only warning before a fist slammed powerfully into his face, immediately followed by several more blows across his body. Finally, with the sword pulled from Serin's arm(drawing a growl of pain from the paladin), the ninja carelessly spun on one heel, nailing his opponent with a roundhouse kick that sent the paladin crashing into the remains of a building wall.
His mind hazy with the pain and blood loss, Serin struggled desperately to get to his feet, hearing the footsteps of his enemy approach. Unfortunately, his body constantly refused to listen to him, or simply responded sluggishly...and as he managed to get to one knee, the ninja seemed to 'float' in, driving his sword through the paladin's knee, eliciting a scream of pain from his mouth. Pulling the sword out again amidst a short spray of blood, the ninja placed the tip of his sword at Serin's neck.
"Convince your comrades to surrender...and your life will be spared," the cybernetic warrior reasoned.
Clutching his knee, Serin growled, "Like...hell! I won't betray the trust I've earned...and I WILL NOT endanger my sister!!!"
It was at that moment that something unexpected happened. The ninja visibly shook at Serin's defiant statement, the kodachi lowering slightly. The sensor then blinked several times, almost as if it were an actual eye, while the warrior shook his head.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Uranus and Saturn leapt forward in a two-pronged attack, their weapons slashing from two different sides, at two different heights. Their enemy, seeing their true plan, simply blocked the strikes with his claws. Shoving them back, he then took the initiative and leapt up slightly, delivering a mid-air split kick to each senshi, which stunned and knocked them back. Seizing the initiative, the ninja darted forward at the others, who had been hanging back, ready to fire their attacks if he dodged the first ones.
The suddenness of their enemy's counterattack surprised the senshi, and so they were easy prey for the ninja, who first slammed an elbow into Neptune's gut, disrupting her attack. Sliding around her slumping body, he then drove a clawed fist into Venus' shoulder, pinning her to a wall amidst a short spray of blood.
"Aaahhh...!" she screamed, grabbing at the bladed weapon, which the ninja stubbornly kept buried in her shoulder, causing a large red stain to grow on her fuku.
"VENUS!" Serin screamed, attempting to regain his feet, but dropping back down with a growl of pain as his knee protested violently. The other senshi screamed in shock, but none could get close enough to help her, nor did they have a good shot where they were. Everyone could only watch in horror as the warrior raised his other claw and then brought it down in a blur...
Only to have it be stopped with a loud 'KEEN!' sound. The source became obvious quickly: shockingly enough, the first ninja was blocking his comrade's attack with his kodachi!
The two ninjas stared at each other for a long moment before the one with the kodachi shoved the killing claw away, and slashed at the other, shattering the blades that held the senshi of love pinned. The second hopped back, his postured suggesting one of confusion...which was mirrored almost exactly in the posture of the senshi.
Viciously, the two attacked each other, their blows effortlessly blocked, re-directed and/or countered as they searched for an opening in the other's defense. The blows and movements became too fast even for Jupiter and Uranus, trained martial artists, to follow. And incredibly, it seemed that the speed of their exchanges was increasing further!
A slight movement caught Uranus' eye, and she blinked. Venus, despite her wound, was trying to surreptitiously regain her feet and aim her index finger at the two combatants. Impressed by her strength of will, the wind senshi looked for a way to assist her comrade, but could find none...save for praying that she was able to pull it off.
Finally, the combatants spun, with the claw-bearer's back facing Venus, as he unleashed a rapid series of punches on his opponent. Seeing that she'd never get another opportunity, Venus whispered, "Please...please hit them..." Gathering her energy, she fired off one more Crescent Beam. The yellow beam arrowed forward, impossibly fast. Everyone who saw it held their breath, hoping for a favorable outcome...
And collectively let it out as the first ninja was struck dead-center by the attack. Passing right through his body, it arrowed in on the second attacker...
...who easily dodged it by rolling to the side almost casually. Tensing, the senshi prepared themselves to renew their attack, hoping that against one, they had a real chance now.
The ninja, for his part, looked over at his comrade's body, then at the senshi. For a long moment, no sound or movement was made as the two opponents stared at each other.
Finally, a familiar sound, one of an approaching aircar, was heard. The cybernetic warrior turned his head in its direction, and then slowly nodded. Sharply returning his gaze to the senshi, he flipped a jaunty salute at them. "Another time, perhaps...we shall meet again," he ominously stated. With that, he flipped backwards high into the air, his invisibility activating in midair. A soft sound of his landing was heard, and then absolute silence, save for the growing noise from the aircar.
Too stunned to even accept their good fortune, the senshi immediately crowded around Venus, Uranus probing the wound methodically as the senshi of love winced at the pain. Serin managed to hobble over about halfway before he was met by Jupiter, who forcibly sat him down, insisting he was to wait for his wound to be healed.
Saturn focused her energy on Venus' gash, while explaining to everyone what had happened after they had been forcibly ejected. She had just finished healing her friend when the aircars(there had been two, rather than one) landed, disgorging the royal family, a small group of guards, and Mercury, Urawa, and Mars.
The guards were quick to set up a perimeter, searching for the missing attacker. Venus was all too happy to relinquish the Ginzuishou back to their friend and leader while Mercury went over to the enemy casualty, cautiously followed by Urawa and Uranus.
"Interesting that he hasn't disintegrated away by now," the wind senshi observed. Mercury nodded idly, stopping at what she judged to be a safe distance before pulling out her computer and activating her visor. Tapping into the device at an inhuman speed, she received results almost immediately that made her blanch. After a long, pregnant pause, she typed in a few more commands and prompts, much slower this time. Urawa, who glanced at her from the side, wondered what was wrong. He had been worried today too, concerned by his vision that one of the senshi was going to die. Thankfully, that hadn't come to pass...but his wife's reaction was unnerving, to say the least.
Suddenly, Mercury dropped her computer and raced toward the body, ignoring Uranus' startled shout. Kneeling beside it, the girl genius searched for the catch to its visor, stumbling upon it quite by accident. Just as her comrade and husband reached her side to pull the ice senshi back, she fell back, having successfully pried the visor loose.
All three of them silently stared at what was revealed, each feeling the blood drain from their faces. Uranus, after a brief moment, stood and aimlessly walked away, shaking her head slowly and blinking. Shortly afterwards, Neptune came across her partner, a worried frown crossing her face upon seeing her like this.
"Ruka...wh, what's wrong?" she asked.
Uranus blankly looked up at her aqua-haired lover, and whispered, "You'll never believe what Mercury just found out...about that ninja."
The tone of voice, more than the statement, began to panic Neptune further. "What? What's wrong, Uranus?"
Gesturing half-heartedly, she muttered, "Just go see...go see. You'll find out soon enough."
Torn between fear, and curiousity over what could cause her lover to be so shaken, Neptune turned and ran over to where the wind senshi had indicated.
It was easy to see exactly where she needed to go, as there was a small crowd already there. Saturn was kneeling nearby, taking deep breaths as she clutched her stomach. Many of the other senshi were in a similar state of shock to Uranus. Venus was the most distressed, crying hysterically.
Finally overcome with panic, Neptune uncharacteristically pushed a guard out of the way to get a good view...and gasped loudly.
The corpse was human.