Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 8: Hunting Season.
Episode 113: Vulture.

By Razor Knight
Last update: October 28, 2015
Last edited: June 14, 2017

"One week to go until I'm eighteen," Usagi said.

"And it feels like we've been friends for decades," Rei mused.

Mako was paying attention to the training battle, but still heard that. "Guess friendship is about quality, not quantity." She saw one of the fighters fly to her, and dodged to the side. "Hey, fight him, not me."

Earth stood up and sighed. "Sorry about that, but Terry is in full battle mode today."

Usagi flinched as she saw Dragon Mercury kick Lilith away. "He seems to be holding back a lot less than usual."

The Dragon looked at her. "That's because I want them to power up outside of battle. It's silly that we're always saying we can upgrade through training, and yet it's always been life or death situations that did it."

"We raise our power close to its limit through training," Ami countered. "It may not be obvious if you don't spend a lot of time looking at Aiko's training logs, but it's there. It also explains why we don't power down or get tired after one shot in our new 'levels.'"

He smiled. "I... Admit I never looked at the logs more than as a reference."

"And that's why I'm the brains of this couple," Ami noted.

"Where's the sweet, shy Ami I fell in love with?"

Ami smiled at that. "Still here, but being around someone with an ego as big as yours may have affected me after all these years."

"I thought-" The Dragon started, then leapt back as Earth and Lilith both tried to hit him, hitting each other instead. "-so." He looked at his two foes in turns and nodded. "Nice try, I was wondering how long I would have to 'be distracted' before you tried that."

Earth staggered up, rubbing her nose. "Damn it, he kicks our rears while talking to his girlfriend."

Lilith smiled. "That's not nice of him. Maybe we should give him a reason to take us seriously."

Earth saw Lilith sumon her daggers, which were glowing white. "I agree, let's take things up a notch." As she said that, her claws - which she had seldom used in battle, and she wasn't afraid to admit that - appeared, but they had an odd, green glow.

"I don't need my powers to know what they're about to do," Usagi commented.

"Earth Cosmic Power!"

"Lilith Cosmic Power!"

Ami sighed. "Guess that proves it can happen during training."

"Yeah, we just need a jerk making fun of us," Mako commented.

"Makes me wonder how I'll power up next time, then," Dragon Mercury joked.

Earth didn't bother waiting, she jumped right out of her transformation, trying to slice the Dragon's face. He dodged that, but tripped and fell on his face. "Heh, lucky."

"That's all me," Lilith said and sat on Dragon Mercury's back as he tried to stand up, then put one of her daggers near his neck. "Just give u-"

Earth saw Lilith get hit by an airboard, and frowned. "Damn it, stop making fun of us!"

The Dragon leapt back, avoiding a claw slash, then rolled under his foe, summoning his two swords and using them to knock the two daggers flying straight for him away. "I'm not, and was never, making fun of you."

Lilith smiled as the Dragon rushed at her. "Guess to beat someone like you, we'll need to be trickier than usual."

The Dragon stopped right in front of Lilith, and spun around, blocking her from attacking. "As I thought, you're using clones again, that's-" He stopped as he felt something pressing against his neck, and saw the Lilith in front of him vanish. "... Well played."

Again, an airboard hit Lilith, except this time around, it passed through her. "The more I level up, the better I get at using these clones," she said as a dozen Liliths appeared around him.

Her foe looked around, seemingly trying to figure out who the real one was. But he wasn't, he was trying to figure out why Earth hadn't attacked yet. "I see, or rather, I don't see," he said as he closed his eyes.

"Giving up?" Lilith teased.

"No, but a warrior's eyes can be a liability when dealing with illusions," he said as he kicked to the side. His kick connected, and a very surprised Earth appeared, kneeling on the ground and massaging her stomach. "So that's how," he said without opening his eyes.

"How the heck..." Lilith started, then saw the Dragon charging, heading straight to one of the clones. "Not yet," she said and the clones vanished.

The Dragon looked around. "I was sure that was the only one I could actually hear," he said, turning to Lilith.

"You should know how I did that, Terry."

He frowned. "Using illusions and teleportation at the same time," he said. He then saw the clones appear again, and sighed. "I give up. You win."

Earth stood up and glared at him. "What the hell-"

"Karin, stop it," Lilith said. "I think I know what he means. We would have beaten him in the end."

"I would need time to analyze your powers and see a way to beat you, and you two weren't giving me that."

Ami smiled. "Strategy is only useful in a fight if you can apply it."

"That pretty much sums it up. Also, the purpose of this training battle was to get you to level up, and you already did."

Dragon Mercury walked to Lilith and looked at her daggers. They were slightly shorter than before, but they had symbols engraved on their blades. "... So, what's their name now?"

"As obvious and boring as it sounds, they're called 'Karma,'" Lilith said.

Earth looked at her claws, which now looked like sharpened vines. "And these are the Dryad Claws."

"I would like to take a claws-er look at them," Dragon Mercury joked.

"That was a bad pun, even for you," Aiko noted.

"Our fearless leader is still recovering, so I'll go keep our prey entertained."

The woman looked at the man in front of her. Just like Rex, he was bald, but he was also shorter, and didn't quite look like a fighter at first glance. His pointy nose curved downwards, almost looking like a beak, and making the coincidence between his name and a certain creature of the planet they were targeting quite amusing. "Be careful, Vulture."

"Ain't I always-"

"No, and that's why I'm saying that. I think the Senshi of Sol have already taught us we shouldn't underestimate them."

"I hate to admit it, Hyena, but you're right."

The base was almost empty, but the three people in it were busy talking about their 'job.'

"... And we thought it was about time we told the world about who we are."

Ami looked at the two girls in turns. "It's your decision, you don't really need to-"

Yukiko shook her head. "Having a secret identity is not as cool as it looks in anime. It's annoying to have to cover your own tracks."

"You didn't seem to care when you were covering up for us," Ami noted.

"I was doing that..." Yukiko paused and then let out a sigh. "I've already told Usagi this- I didn't just cover up for you on the internet to 'protect you' from the fans. I felt important being one of the few who knew who you were, and wanted to make sure that didn't change."

Ami smiled. "Even heroes can be selfish, once in a while."

"I'm no heroine, though."

"I'm sure if you ask those you've helped out there, they'll disagree with that."

Aiko frowned. "Even if we do tell the world who we are, I think I'll avoid telling them who I really am."

"I could help you with telling the whole truth," Ami said, "tell me if, or when, you want to let your secrets out, and I'll help you."

Hana appeared right then and hear that last part. "Hi, girls. So, I'll be the only one left with a secret?"

"Well, there's the three Huntresses and Ail and Ann..."

"Demon Hunters are still a urban legend," Hana said, "and Ail and Ann... They don't really do a lot of superhero things, so they're relatively unknown."

"What's stopping you from dropping the mask?" Aiko asked. "Uh, sorry if my question is-"

"What's stopping me? Frankly, I'm not sure anymore. I got used to the 'mask' after all this time. But lately, civilians have been growing suspicious. The Senshi set an example, an example I'm not following, apparently."

"Sorry."

Hana looked at Ami. "Don't apologize. In Usagi's place, I would have done the same thing. Heck, I would have transformed the moment I saw my mother was in danger, and to hell with secret identities."

"Usagi said that, looking back, that's what she should have done. Anyhow," Ami said, "what brings you here, Hana?"

"I thought Shingo would be here. Lately I've been too busy with my 'job' and when I'm not busy, he's hard to find."

Aiko sighed. "You should have asked me."

Hana looked at her, and nodded. "I guess I... Forgot who you are. But don't you have to wait for us to use magic to know where we are?"

"That was years ago, with the magic power you guys are leaking out, I can see where you all are."

"Big Sister Aiko," Yukiko mused.

"I've been working on a way to detect when a Senshi transforms to be able to tell when someone is being attacked-" Aiko stopped and looked up. "-and it worked. Lilith and Earth seem to be engaging an enemy."

"Is it Rex?"

"I can't tell. They're cloaking themselves from me, I'll check to see if there's any cameras nearby-"

Ami shrugged. "Don't bother, we'll just go there."

Minutes earlier, Chie and Karin were in a fast food restaurant. "This food is great."

Chie smiled. "Told you you would like it."

Karin looked around and let out a sigh. "I would like it more without everyone staring at me while I eat." The crowd took the 'subtle' hint and stopped looking at them.

"It's the price of fame," Chie said. She enjoyed the attention a lot more than Karin did, but she could understand why her girlfriend wasn't too fond of having all eyes on her.

"I know that, but... It's all the time. Even though it's been months since we told the world, there's always going to be someone staring as I walk by. Is having a normal date too much to ask?"

Just as she said that, three men walked in, wearing masks on their faces. They all took guns from their business outfits and pointed them at the crowd. "On the ground, everyone!"

Karin sighed and stood up. "Guess there's my answer."

One of the men saw the two girls walking to them, and glared. "Hey kids, do you want to die or what?"

The second man recognized them. "Oh shit. Those two are Senshi!"

The other two men waved their guns at the crowd. "Make any move and we'll shoot!"

Karin sighed and stopped, then looked at Karin for a second before turning back to the three would-be thieves. "You must be quite desperate to be robbing this place and not a bank."

"We've got info that this place's got a safe. They wouldn't have it if they didn't need to store something worth stealing."

Chie smiled. "I see. So you said that if we make any moves, you'll shoot at the customers. Guess you really got us in a tight spot."

Karin chuckled. "By the way, did you know we Senshi can use our magic without moving?"

The split second it took the men to figure out what Karin meant was more than enough for them to be surrounded by stone, which effectively trapped them inside. "Damn it, you bitches-"

Chie heard a noise coming from inside the 'cage' and looked at Karin. "Karin..."

"Wasn't me. As you can see, guys, you shouldn't shoot inside there because the bullet will bounce right off."

"Let us out of here!"

"Sure, why not." The cage 'vanished' but everyone could see the three men had their arms and legs encased in stone. "You're still going nowhere until the cops arrive."

"That was quite entertaining."

Karin looked to the side and saw a man standing there, looking at them in turns. His black suit, bald head and beak-like nose made him look like a bird. "What's your name, Dodo?"

"Vulture, actually," the man corrected. "Let's go outside, girls. This place is too crowded."

"What if we don't want to-"

Vulture sighed. "Listen, while I usually have no reason to hurt or kill those who aren't Senshi, you would be giving me a reason to. And after your little display a minute ago, I'm sure you wouldn't like that."

Chie glared at him. "Well, since you're asking nicely, we'll have to follow you outside."

"Good."

"You know, I thought you would just attack us without waiting for us to-"

Vulture nodded as he floated up, and the two girls could see he had a layer of black, metal feathers under his arms. "Your kin can only use their abilities to their fullest when transformed."

"... That makes no sense, you'll make things harder on yourself," Chie said. "Not that I mind, though."

"A chance of losing gives spice to the hunting," Vulture explained. "Anyhow, go ahead."

The two girls transformed and glared up at Vulture. Earth turned to look at Lilith for a moment, and Lilith smiled at her. Good, she had a plan.

Vulture saw the two girls just standing there, and sighed. "Ugh, if you're not going to try, then don't mind me!" He flew straight at Lilith, but was stopped by Earth, who kicked him in the side, sending him crashing to the ground. "... Nice one."

Earth chuckled. "Thanks. I'm just the muscle, though, Lilith is the one with the plans."

"She is? All she's doing is standing there, staring at me. A bit annoying, I must say."

"Standing still and doing nothing are not the same," Earth commented.

Vulture frowned. "Standing still when you're being hunted is the same as being dead," he noted then shot a beam at Lilith, but the beam passed through her. "What the-" He felt two stabs in his back and grunted. "Ugh... An illusion. I should have expected that."

"Touche, Parrot."

"It's Vulture," the man noted. "You'll need something better than a couple pokes to take me down."

"Good, I'm already working on it," Lilith said.

Vulture noticed something right then. "Hey, where's the other girl?"

"Fun thing about illusions is that they can not just make you see what's not there. They can also cloak what's there."

Just as he heard that, Vulture felt something stabbing through his chest. "Damn... It."

Earth appeared near him, her claws dripping black blood. "So, is that enough?"

Vulture spat some blood and smiled. "I can still beat you."

"Not if we beat you first."

The man saw several other Senshi there, and sighed. "Not in the mood to fight a pack right now. I'll catch you next time."

Lilith saw Vulture vanish and fell to her knees. "Good timing."

Mercury smiled. "We just scared him off, but he didn't seem quite fit to fight."

Lilith nodded. "Illusions are useful, but they really tire me down."

Earth helped her up. "You know, being able to make someone invisible... That's awesome."

"Can't do it for long, and I can't use it on more than one target."

"... Still awesome. All I can do is throw rocks at people."

Usagi was meanwhile back at the base. "You know, it's quite annoying."

Aiko smiled. "I remember back when you didn't like fighting."

"I don't like seeing my friends get hurt, I don't like having to kill to stop evil beings. But I got used to it. I know we wouldn't probably be here if I hadn't become Cosmos, but just because I know it, it doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Maybe you could ask dad to build you a battlesuit."

"No, I think I'll just wait until my powers come back." She didn't really need a battlesuit to fight, anyway.