Disclaimer: "Sailor Moon" doesn't belong to me, nor do any of its characters. No profit is being made off this story. No infringement of any rights intended.
Chapter IV- A Shadow Takes Form
The surrounding world seemed to reduce to slow-motion, as the enemy continued its tantalizingly slow advance.
"Pluto Planet Power!" Setsuna cried again, gripping the transformation pen, "Make Up!"
Again, nothing happened.
A cold weight settled in her stomach as the woman pondered the consequences of her unsuccessful transformation.
Fighting the nauseating waves of panic, she raised her eyes, only to find the creature almost within arm's length. Instinctively, she jumped backwards, looking for whatever weapons she could improvise. The lack of any noise was daunting—an enemy who did not speak presented the most dangerous type.
"What are you looking for…what do you want!" she tried again, retreating further.
Getting it to talk would have bought her time…
…though she doubted the utility of that extra time.
She felt her back touch the cold glass of one of the flower containers. There was no space left to move back. Setsuna felt another twinge of panic creep down her spine, as her hands instinctively moved across the glass surface.
"Damn it!
Her fingers had brushed across a crack in the container, and a small fragment of glass had embedded itself into her skin.
With a trace of bitter irony, she recalled how she had been discussing that very casing with Small Lady—wondering who had broken it. Then, the creature had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere…and the loss of her powers had left her defenseless in to the new threat.
But Setsuna had lived long enough to know, one should never go down without a fight.
Swiftly, she drove her elbow through the already fissured glass, ignoring the pain that shot up her hand as the case shattered around it. She averted her eyes just long enough to spot one of the larger shards, and pick it up.
"I'm warning you, stay back!" the young woman cried, holding the shard like a dagger pointed at the intruder.
For its part, the dark creature did not seem overly intimidated. If anything, it had become more alert when the glass had shattered, and was rapidly gliding towards the green-haired woman, its long, black arms crossed in front of its midsection, in a classical defense position.
Setsuna raised her improvised weapon.
The creature emitted a low hiss. It loomed over her, ready to attack, when…
"Hold it right th—"
"Deep Submerge!"
Setsuna instinctively turned towards the direction of the voices, relief flooding through her as she recognized the familiar sight of a massive surf of seawater. A blue orb of energy passed her by, slamming into the creature that had come within a few inches from her.
"I'm sorry, Sailor Moon", she heard Sailor Neptune say, "but it wouldn't have stopped to listen to you."
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"Stay here, little boy, I have to go, alright?"
The younger child grasped her hand tightly, obviously frightened by the recent events. Chibiusa let out a small sigh. She had run far enough from the creature's location to feel safe. Even more, she had warned everyone she had met on the way to keep away from there—though how many believed her, she did not know. And after she had run as fast as her feet could carry her to the far side of the park…
…all she wanted to do was go back.
But the young boy refused to let go of her hand, whimpering every time she tried to draw it away.
"Listen…little Ryuu…you have to understand…my place is there right now!" She sat the little boy on a bench. "You're safe here…"
But the child whimpered even louder.
Chibiusa watched him helplessly. She was torn between the desire to go back and help her friend, and the urge to stay with the scared boy. She had hoped they would run into his father. Yet, no one had claimed the child. Where was his father? Why wasn't he looking for Ryuu?
Just then, as an answer to her silent prayers, a man's voice boomed from behind her:
"There you are, Ryuu! What did you think you were doing, pulling that disappearing act on me! Daddy is not happy with you, young man!"
The pink-haired girl turned just as a wiry man bent over the wooden bench. He had coal-black hair, and a grayish stub that gave him a nonconformist look. The boy reached his small arms and the man effortlessly picked him up.
"Are you Ryuu's father?"
"Why, yes I am. Tsumbono Ryou, at your service, young lady." As he looked at her, the girl noticed he shared the boy's hazel eyes. "And I think I have to thank you for retrieving my little runaway."
"Uhm…you're welcome…" She turned on her heels, ready to head back. "And keep away from the section of the park with those hybrid plants!"
Just as she was about to break into a run, a strong hand gripped her shoulder, holding her in place.
"What are you…let go!" Chibiusa furiously tried to yank away from the man's grasp, but he held firm. "Let me go! I have to help Puu!"
"Just a minute, young lady! What was it about the hybrid plants?" The man's voice now sounded impatient and concerned. He gave her a stern look. "Why should I keep away from that section?"
"Because there's some kind of creature attacking there! Now let go of me!"
"Creature! Attacking my precious plants!" He sounded downright panicked as he said the last words, and his eyes had widened in shock. "You better not be making this up, kid! It's not a very good prank!"
"It's…no…prank…" Chibiusa muttered, as she squirmed in his grasp.
"I'm not going to let go if the first thing you do is go running back there!" The man grabbed her upper arm and shook her slightly. "If there really is something dangerous, you should stay here where you're safe! This isn't child's play!"
"You don't understand, my friend is out there!" She turned and gave him an angry glare. "She told me to run to take your son to safety! If you hadn't lost him in the first place she'd be safe now too!" The accusing words had come out in a furious shout. "Now let me go!" Chibiusa yelled again, jerking her arm from the man's grasp.
He seemed shocked at her words, and stopped trying to hold her back. Once free, the pink-haired girl dashed down the same alley she had come from.
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"Hold it right there! You're disrupting this beautiful flower exhibition and ruining our day out! You still have a chance to turn, walk away and not come back! If not, I, Sailor Moon, will punish you, in the name of the moon!"
Setsuna let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. At the far end of the narrow alley, she discerned seven familiar figures. The Sailor Senshi had—as per custom—arrived just in time.
"Are you alright?" Sailor Mercury ran to the green-haired woman, ready to offer any medical assistance she could. "You're bleeding!"
Setsuna looked down at her hand, and realized she was still clutching the shard. It took a small effort to unlatch her fingers from it. As the piece of glass fell to ground, she discovered her hands were shaking.
"It's nothing. I'm fine, thank you."
Before Mercury could argue any further, an alarmed cry came from behind.
"Watch out!"
The remaining warriors quickly positioned themselves in front of the two. Just as Sailor Moon had delivered her speech, the creature had slowly made its way back to its feet. It showed no residual traces of injury—if anything, it seemed even bigger, and more menacing than before. Its black hands reached forward, long fingers clenching and unclenching spasmodically, as if impatient to grab a hold of the warriors.
"It's still alive!" Sailor Mars—rather unnecessarily—pronounced.
"Not for long" came Jupiter's reply, as the warrior slipped into her attack position.
"We'll make sure it doesn't harm anyone again", Venus confirmed.
"Wait!"
They all turned to face an adamant Sailor Moon.
"We have to know its intentions first! We can't just attack it because we don't know what it is!"
Uranus turned to Sailor Moon with an arched eyebrow.
"Will you grow up…" she muttered under her breath.
"It isn't going to tell you anything…" Setsuna said tiredly. "It did not speak a single word…"
The blonde leader of the Inner Senshi looked almost pleading.
"We have to know why it's here! And I can't destroy it without solid reason!"
"It attacked one of us!" Uranus pointed out, almost angrily. "What more reason do you need?"
"It's coming!"
Venus's alarmed cry broke the dispute. Instantly, the Senshi fell in formation around their recognized leader, with Uranus and Neptune taking the lateral flanks, while Mars, Jupiter and Venus covered Sailor Moon on both sides.
Mercury cast Setsuna a concerned glance. In her eyes, there was an unspoken question, but the girl was discreet enough not to ask it. She could see the other was still somewhat shaken by the close shave with the creature.
"Maybe you should sit this one out", she suggested.
Setsuna gave her a doubtful look. She could read the confusion on Mercury's face, and knew the girl wondered why she had not transformed—but she was not ready to admit to the loss of her powers. But could she really stand by and watch the others fight?
With a wave of revulsion, she admitted to herself she had done that so often before, as part of her duty. Hadn't she always feared she would eventually do it out of habit? That she would grow shiftless, and watch idly as others fought battles she should have taken part in?
"No!"
The answer was almost desperate, yet her usual composure faltered only slightly.
"I'll help", she continued, averting her eyes from the blue-haired warrior's, to avoid seeing the same unspoken question in the other's gaze.
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"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"
Jupiter's attack hit the intruder frontally, pushing it backwards. Its feet glided across the concrete alley, leaving black scorch-marks. As the last traces of electricity shimmered in the air around it and vanished, it straightened its stance once more. Its eyes narrowed to two horizontal slits, as it watched the Senshi intently.
"Impossible…!" Sailor Jupiter was baffled. Not only had her attack caused no visible damage, but the creature…
"It's…changed!"
The warrior watched agape, as the enemy, who had previously resembled an abnormally elongated black silhouette, seemed to contract in a much more human form. Its tendril-like limbs grew shorter, and more muscular. Its midsection, that had been thin and weedy, seemed to expand to support the new distribution of weight. In shape, the creature now almost resembled an unnaturally muscular, burly man—except for its height, that was still almost double as tall as the tallest of the Senshi.
Its head, previously almost tear-shaped, smooth and featureless, became oval. Blunt features carved their way onto its face, making it into a distorted parody of a human face.
"It's…copying us…?"
Facts seemed to support Mercury's theory. The creature had managed to imitate the human figure to a certain extent—except for the proportions. Also, its entire body was still completely dark, a pitch-black with an almost metallic shine that seemed to reflect the light.
"It was a shadow…"
Setsuna's whisper went almost unnoticed, as everyone was too astounded to pay attention. But her words had described the creature's transformation well. It had previously resembled a shadow spread across a wall, just far enough from a source of light to make it stretch to such unusual proportions.
And now, the shadow was taking shape.
Just like the nightmares had shown her.
"I don't care how it looks! Burning Mandala!"
The fire rings circled the creature, and eventually hit it forcefully, pushing it backwards another few feet. But again it stood, unaffected, and resumed its steady march.
"Why doesn't it say anything…?" Sailor Moon almost whimpered. "What…what does it want?"
"Whatever it wants, it's not going to get it here!" came Uranus's sharp reply. "World Shaking!"
The Senshi of Wind slammed her energy orb into the creature's midsection, and watched in grim satisfaction as the enemy was lifted off the ground and thrown into a nearby tree, where it doubled over and lay motionlessly.
Mercury activated her visor and studied the creature attentively. She frowned in confusion.
"This can't be…the reading are completely abnormal…"
"Is it destroyed?" Uranus asked impatiently.
"I can't tell! Its energy levels are so unstable! And I can't detect a mass center or any weak spots! I can't even realize whether it's organic or inorganic! The supplied data seems completely foreign! It's—oh, no..."
The creature moved, and once more rose to its feet in one swift move.
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"Why aren't the attacks working?" Sailor Mars demanded from her blue-haired colleague.
"I…don't know…it's too different from anything we've ever faced before…"
"Sailor Moon!" Neptune turned to their leader. "Use your attack, it might work!"
The blonde swallowed hard, and gave the Senshi of the Sea a hesitant look. She was not at all convinced violence would be the best way to go…and none of their attacks had worked! She had never been all that powerful when it came to physical strength…
…and she was reluctant to attack a creature she knew nothing about.
She felt the others' gazes upon her, and looked each of them in the eyes. They conveyed mixed feelings: understanding, reproof, condescendence, encouragement. She moved her gaze to their enemy, who had once more achieved a defensive stance, and was staggering towards them. Her friends moved back to give her a clear shot.
Sailor Moon silently invoked her Spiral Moon Rod, and aimed it at the creature.
She opened her mouth to voice the attack.
Please, please, just stop and turn around…I don't know what you are but I don't want to hurt you...something tells me not to…
She closed her eyes for a second, hoping her wish would be heard.
"What are you doing! Watch out!"
Sailor Uranus's alarmed voice startled the leader of the Senshi, and she opened her eyes just in time to witness the blonde warrior charge by her.
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Uranus's feeling of increasing frustration caused the Senshi of Wind to frown menacingly. Why did not of the attacks work? She hated the sensation of futility—why could she not defeat the enemy like she had countless times before?
Her partner, Sailor Neptune, had met her gaze for one short moment, and the blonde had known her feelings were echoed. She hoped that Sailor Moon's attack would neutralize the creature. She would not have been surprised if it had—after all, their Princess's powers were highly unpredictable, and certainly great. Too bad the girl had such a flimsy nature, and could not fully grasp the substance of a battle.
Uranus hoped Sailor Moon would eventually understand fighting was often necessary to preserve peace—yet, at the same time, a small conflicting part of her struggled to shield the Princess from that realization for as long as possible.
She watched their leader summon her weapon, and waited for the attack.
It never came.
With a surge of panic, Uranus noticed the enemy was charging faster towards the blonde who had—of all foolish things!—closed her eyes. Just as anger flooded her, the teal-eyed warrior drove forward, to counter the creatures attack. She could think of thousands of furious words to shout at Sailor Moon—but the priority at the moment was protecting the imprudent girl's life.
She could not risk sending another energy ball that might not be strong enough to stop the creature's dash. The warrior summoned her talisman as she charged the enemy head-on.
Gripping the handle of the space sword, she launched herself on top of the intruder, and drove the blade forward with all her strength…
…only to find it recoil just as forcefully.
Uranus felt the handle of the weapon shove hard into her stomach, as an electric jolt surged through the creature's body. The shock threw her backwards with such force, that the warrior flew several meters through the air, before landing hard against the pavement.
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It had only been a few seconds since she'd seen Uranus dash by her, but for Sailor Moon they had gone by in slow motion. With wide eyes she had noticed the blonde warrior move to intercept the creature and attack it straight on.
"Uranus!"
Neptune's frantic cry had erupted almost instantaneously—almost as if the aqua-haired Senshi had sensed the other's pain before it even happened. The Senshi of the Seas rushed to her fallen partner, her concern momentarily overpowering her deeply rooted sense of duty.
Sailor Moon watched as Neptune kneeled by the blonde warrior. New determination built up inside her. Eyes brimming with tears, she turned towards the enemy, tightening her grip on the Spiral Moon Rod.
"She attacked one of us, what more reason do you need?"
"Moon Spiral…" she shouted unwaveringly, aiming the staff at the dark-colored intruder, "Heart Attack!"
She could feel the power washing over her, and channeled it resolutely towards the creature. In a shower of colorful sparks, the attack hit its target.
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AN: Review please! I need to know you're actually reading;) Thanks!
Myosotis