Minako just wanted one day. One freaking day where a villain wasn't behind or showed up at an event. Can't she just enjoy shopping or get the chance at an acting career? Something? No. It was always 'mwahaha, I'm evil and gonna ruin your thing' with these guys. Well screw them. She was going to show this bad guy who was in charge of this area. It wasn't evil. It was the forces of good. Sailor Venus was in the house.
As she took a step forward, she stopped herself. Was it a good idea to transform in front of so many people? A secret identity was supposed to mean something and there were too many people around. Perhaps she would need to run away for a second but the bad guy could hurt people in the meantime. She couldn't let that happen. No, she had to defeat him here and now.
She walked backwards slightly but then stopped as she watched him. No one was moving and he only seemed mildly annoyed. She quirked her head as she watched the guy. He looked so over the top 'evil' in his dress. He even had that moustache she had seen on a lot of western cartoon villains. The long and curly one. Yet, he hadn't done anything so far. Perhaps she was wrong and he wasn't evil.
"What are you doing?" Artemis whispered into her ear, "You've gotta transform now."
"Hang on, Artemis." Minako raised a hand to shush him, "Maybe we're wrong. Maybe he isn't a bad guy and he's just confused. If that's the case, I should help him."
"Just look at him," Artemis pointed his paw at the guy, "He looks evil."
"Artemis," Minako huffed and crossed her arms with a mild glare on her face, "You shouldn't judge people by their appearances. He could be a sweet guy."
"If you do not tell me where I am," the strange man shouted as he lifted a hand, fire dancing over the metallic glove, "I will burn you to a crisp, peasants."
Artemis gave her a deadpan stare as she looked away embarrassed, "Oh yeah, he's a pretty sweet guy."
Before Minako could say anything, a woman screamed and everyone started to run away from the guy. He simply huffed and stopped the fire, scowling as he did so. This was the perfect opportunity. Minako rushed into the clothes racks to hide and transform. It should only take her a second. She closed her eyes and focused on her transformation.
"Venus," she held up her magical rod, "Power!"
With that said, the world changed for a split second for her as the magic quickly changed her outfit and unlocked her true powers. She stood proudly in her Sailor Scout outfit, ready to take on any evil doer. "Alright," she fist pumped, "Let's do this."
"Stay safe, Sailor Venus." Artemis jumped off her shoulder and looked up at her with worry, "We don't know what he's capable of."
"Don't worry," Minako smiled, "If I can take on a centuries old evil witch, I can take this guy."
She rushed out to meet the new threat. Said new threat was looking around confused as he idly wandered around the store. He picked up a dress and sneered, as though he was disgusted by it. He scoffed and let go of it, ready to depart and do… whatever villains tend to do. Minako wasn't having any of that.
"Stop," she skidded behind him, causing him to turn around to look at her, "In the name of all that is good and right in this world, I ask-"
"Good heavens," he quickly looked away and shooed her away, "What is the matter with you, woman?"
"Eh?" Minako looked at him, confused by his outburst.
"You're showing off that much skin?" The man kept his head turned away, "Are you some harlot? Am I in a strange brothel?"
Minako scowled, "I am Sailor Venus and I've come to stop your evil ways."
The man turned his head to look at her and blinked a few times. Then he started to snicker. Then his head went backwards as he let out a booming laugh. He pointed at the Sailor Scout, who at this point was looking rather peeved. "You? A young lady of the night? No. I cannot believe this is happening. This is a joke no doubt. You are probably a woman who lives in the theater and wishes to play her role in real life, yes? An actress or are you really a lady of the night who wishes to undo her vile deeds by beating me?"
"I'm none of those things, you dirty old man!" Minako shook her fist in anger.
"Old man?" The man scowled, "Do you now know who I am? I am Vauquelin. A master mage and I am certainly not evil."
"Oh?" MInako calmed down a bit, "Then what do you plan to do?"
"I plan to take over the Franks and possibly the world," he spread out his arms.
"That sounds pretty evil," Minako got into a battle stance.
"To those of little minds, yes." Vauquelin pointed an arm and a ball of finger appeared at the end of his metal gauntlet, "But I am a genius like no other. The world will flourish under my reign. That is why I am here, even if my destination isn't my intended one."
"What are you talking about?"
"I don't need to tell a harlot anything," he scowled, "Leave now or you will burn."
"Sorry, but I've dealt with hotheads before." Minako smirked, "So I know how to deal with you."
"Trust me, little girl." Vauquelin snarled as the fire at his fingertips grew larger, "You don't know what you're dealing with." With that said, he fired a ball of fire right at her.
True to her word, Minako or Sailor Venus in this instance, dodged easily. Sailor Mars had much more elaborate fire attacks and she had watched her friend use them a number of times. This would be no different. The villain fired more balls of flame but the sailor scout nimbly dodged all of them with the grace you would expect from a trained warrior. Yes the place around her burned but it was better then getting hit with that attack herself and there were no civilians around to get hurt.
Sailor Venus held her hand out and a spinning crescent blade of yellow energy appeared in it. She spun her hand around and threw it, "Crescent Boomerang."
The villain moved his head to the side to avoid it but it cut off a segment of his moustache. He blinked in confusion as he felt the remains of that side of his facial hair, "My moustache… You're a mage… AND YOU CUT OFF MY MOUSTACHE!"
"Oh-oh," Sailor Venus gulped and jumped aside to avoid a torrent of fire. She had to act fast. She couldn't just keep dodging and his renewed attacks were stronger than before. She smiled. Thankfully a sailor scout wasn't limited to just one type of attack. She turned around and rolled underneath one fire attack.
Her inner magic soared as she called upon one of her stronger binding techniques, "Venus Love-Me Chain!"
With that said, a golden heart shaped chain twirled around her and then flew forward with the wave of her hand. It quickly found its grip on the extended gauntlet. Vauquelin blinked in surprise and his fire went out. He stared at the chain and then at the scout as though he was still processing it.
"Leave now, or I will make you regret it." She scowled, keeping a hold of the chain.
Vauquelin sneered, "What? Do you really believe I should quiver before an amature magus who dresses like a lady of the night? Bah, you are a fool. I will destroy you with eeeeeeeeeesssssss!"
As he was talking, Sailor Venus had enough. The scout was a patient woman… Okay that was a lie. She was not patient at all and she was not going to stand around and listen to someone insult her. Oh yes she would stand and listen to villains prattle on all day. It was rude to interrupt and many times the villains would tell them a thing or two about their plans. It helped them out and it was exciting. Listening to an old man insult you though? Not at all. So she shocked him with the chain.
It may be rude, but it was satisfying to shut him up. He jittered as magical electricity raced around his form. It wasn't enough to seriously hurt him. She may be Sailor Venus, but she was also MInako. All of the beings they had destroyed before had been beyond saving and not human like they were. This guy may want to take over the world, but he was human. So she was going to take him down and keep him alive.
"Surrender and it will stop."
The villain just stood there, taking the attack. It looked like he would fall over any second now. That is until he grabbed the chain. Before she could react he pulled back hard. Hard enough that it swept her off her feet since she was still holding on. He whipped the chain to the side, sending her crashing into a wall. He cricked his neck and waved his arms slightly as though getting his muscles back in order.
"Interesting trick," Vauquelin scowled as he looked over at the fallen scout, "Had I been an ordinary magus, I would be down and out. But I am no ordinary magus. I am Vauquelin. I have designed a suit worthy of my form. One that can channel all sorts of elements." His gauntlet sparked with electricity, "Let me show you true lightning."
Sailor Venus's eyes widened. The attack was fast and strong. Her body was much more durable as a scout, even bullet proof, but she wasn't sure how well she could tank that attack. She couldn't dodge it either. Not enough time. So she had to use another attack. She pulled her arms back and a golden little heart spun in her hands. She thrust them forward and called out:
"Rolling Heart Vibration!"
The little spinning heart rotated forward. The current and vibrations it gave out easily caught and redirected the lightning elsewhere. One bolt nearly hit the villain, who ducked from it.
He blinked again in surprise, "You have many tricks, little magus. However, they cannot save you forever. For I am Vauqulin and I-"
"Rolling Heart Vibration!"
"Let me finish," Vauquelin thrust his arm forward to fire another dozen bolts of electricity to black the attack. He used his other glove to knock away a bolt that would have hit him, aware of the type of attack being used.
However he didn't see Sailor Venus rushing forward due to the sparks making him shut his eyes for a couple of seconds. With her enhanced speed, that was enough for the sailor scout. Her chain had shifted into a sword. Venus Wink Chain Sword to be exact. She rarely got to use this attack but right now she had to get close. She could dull the blade so a blow to the head would knock him out. She got up close and swung it, prepared to hear it clunk the sorry excuse for a warrior out.
What she didn't expect was for her sword to be stopped by another sword. This one made of ice. It kept her blade at bay, inches away from his head.
"What?" She spoke in confusion.
"As I said earlier," Vauquelin pushed her back. She jumped away to avoid him slashing her with his ice sword, "With this suit, the elements are mine to control. Ice, lightning, fire. All trivial compared. I can do it all. So prepare to meet your end at my ha-"
Before he could finish, a bright light sparked in the area. They shielded their eyes. Just as it appeared and the villain flinched away, a huge griffon smashed into him. He was sent sprawling as it finally planted its talons over his form. It snarled and gave out a loud shriek into his face. Before it could kill him however, Vauquelin smashed his fist into the creature's chest. Thousands of volts of electricity shot straight into the beast. It gave a cry of pain as it was blasted away.
"Foul creature," Vauquelin got back onto his feet, "If you are here, then that Paladin must not be far behind."
"Right you are!"
Sailor Venus turned her head to see a cute, pink haired woman rush forward with her lance. Vauquelin blocked it with his ice sword, trading blows with the strangely dressed woman. Of course, she wouldn't judge. She wore a strange outfit too and both outfits were pretty good to be honest. She honestly wished she was that good up close fighting. Of course, most of the sailor fights revolved around throwing magic. So up close battles weren't too common enough to warrant serious training. The pink haired woman's speed was marvelous. It was magical to look at, like she was a sailor scout.
"Whoa, did you get a haircut?" The pink haired woman smiled, "You should have finished it. It looks weird to talk to a man with only half a moustache."
Vauquelin turned bright red with fury, "I only need one half of a moustache to be a better being then you, Paladin." He thrust his hand forward, causing a large bit of air to send him flying, "This isn't over!" With that said, he threw down a ball which released plumes of smoke.
"Darn it," the strange woman ran forward, only to see the smoke clear and the villain gone, "Always with the tricks. Why can't magus like him just be content to play the role of jester. I played it a few times. It's pretty fun."
"Uhhh," Sailor Venus didn't know how to respond to this situation, "So… are you going to attack me now?"
"Of course not," the strange woman turned around before gasping. She rushed forward and took her hands in her own, "Your outfit is so cute. I absolutely love it."
Sailor Venus couldn't help but smile. This woman didn't seem hostile and she was pretty cute on top of complimenting her dress, "Thanks, so is yours."
"I try," the woman pulled back and twirled, "I love being cute. Now," she stopped and gave her a stern gaze, "What are you doing here?"
"I was fighting that guy," Sailor Venus said, "Vauquelin, I think."
"You were?" The strange woman blinked in awe. Then she went back to being stern and wagged her finger back and forth, "That's no good. That guy's not to be trifled with. Leave that to the experts."
Sailor Venus harrumphed and put her hands on her hips, "And who are these 'experts'?"
The woman opened her mouth before shutting it. She looked around and then shrugged, "Well I guess it's just me. Say, who are you?"
"Sailor Venus."
"Oooh," the woman smiled and fistpumped, "A name of mystery. Well I have one too. I'm Sailor Paladin. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," Sailor Venus's mind was scrounging for information. Was this another sailor scout or was she something else. She'd have to talk to her about this.
The strange woman gasped and raced over to the griffon. It was only now that Sailor Venus could make out the saddle and other such things. So it was domesticated. It made sense given how the woman was fawning over it.
"Are you alright?" Sailor Paladin rubbed her hands over the creature's fur/feathers, "Hopefully you are. Otherwise Bradamante is going to kill me."
That's when she could hear people charging into the area, "Police, anyone still in there?"
"Oh-oh," Sailor Paladin said as he got on top of the creature. It shakily got onto its feet, "I better go. I don't know what a 'police' is, but it doesn't sound nice to me. Besides, I've got to find the bad guy. See you later, Sailor Venus."
"Wait!" Sailor Venus called out but the other Sailor had already galloped away. She sighed. She'd get to talk to her later then. She turned to stare at the police officers before her and struck a pose, "Don't fear. Sailor Venus is here."
"Ah," one of them said, "It's one of the sailors. Stand down everyone."
She was thankful that the sailor scouts had a good reputation in town, given how often they had to save people from monsters. If only she didn't have to keep her identity a secret. Then she could get all the fame and boys she wanted. Oh well. That was the life you lived as a superhero.
