PRETTY SOLDIER SAILOR MOON: FUTURE

Chapter 16: Wormhole to Nowhere

Ami and PallaPalla had been alarmed when Varan's Apple of Discord soared through the open window and immediately engulfed one of Ami's textbooks with dark worm-like tendrils. The morphed book then opened its pages and grew so large that it could engulf the astonished pair, sending them into a bizarre dimension of darkness and blotting colors that changed at random. Near them was a large version of the textbook lying on its side, which opened on its own and conjured text and symbols to rain upon them. Ami had to jump back a few paces while PallaPalla cartwheeled and flipped about gracefully.

"No way! What's going on here!?" PallaPalla exclaimed.

Ami kept calm as she ordered, "Call Chibi-Usa!"

"Okay!" the younger girl replied and flipped open a watch-like device on her wrist. She pressed a button to transmit her voice to her partners. "Chibi-Usa, where are you!?"

The other girl replied, "I'm walking to the clinic to visit you guys."

"Miss Ami and I are being attacked by an Erisian! We need you here ASAP!"

"Seriously!? Okay, I'll be right there!"

After cutting the line, PallaPalla stood next to Ami and they raised their transformation sticks.

"Mercury Crystal Power, Make Up!"

"Pallas Quartet Power, Make Up!"

Freezing water swirled around Ami's body and enveloped her, creating a ripple effect that changed the water into her Sailor Soldier outfit. PallaPalla balanced her toes atop a large blue ball and danced in an impressive ballerina-like pose as miniature orbs surrounded her like chains and morphed into her costume.

Sailor Mercury declared to the Erisian, "I am the Sailor Soldier of Wisdom and Exams, Sailor Mercury! Douse your head in water and repent!"

Sailor Pallas followed with, "I am the Sailor Soldier of Orbs and Celebration, Sailor Pallas! Let the festivities of a villain's defeat begin!"

The textbook Erisian shook about until it propped itself up on its end and shot pages into the air that morphed into portals. Then something horrifyingly eerie inched its head from the book pages before shooting straight for one of the portals and warping around the Sailor Soldiers. From what little they could see of it, the abomination resembled a gigantic worm with sharp teeth, a long tongue, and corrosive saliva dripping from its fangs while the Apple of Discord was lodged in its head, visibly functioning as the worm's brain.

Pallas scrunched her face and yelped, "That's just disgusting!"

"Here it comes!" Mercury shouted, remaining on guard as she watched the monster's movements through the portals. It passed by above them and spat acid at them, forcing them to jump aside.

"I can't take this gross stuff anymore! I'll shut you up good!" Pallas raged angrily as she summoned a large blue orb over her head and chucked it at the enemy, intent on jamming it into its mouth like a large piece of jawbreaker candy. Her plan backfired when a page tore out of the book and formed a warphole right in front of the Erisian, teleporting Pallas' ball through another hole and causing it to tackle her. Despite its size, it was moving too fast for her to react, and she was sent flying to the ground.

"Shabon Spray Freezing!" Mercury called out, summoning some bubbles in her hands.

This attack was similar to Shabon Spray, except this time the fog was much colder than usual. Even though she was dealing with a gigantic worm, a worm was still an insect, and she knew that insects didn't like the cold. She hoped the freezing air she just created would weaken the Erisian and give Pallas a chance to attack again.

However, the creature anticipated her attack and opened another portal directly in front of Mercury. Before she could register what was going on, she broke the bubbles into the gap by mistake. At first, nothing happened, and she thought that it had banished her attack. Then she heard Pallas call out, "Miss Mercury, behind you!"

The older Sailor Soldier discovered that a second portal had been opened behind her, which blew the Shabon Spray Freezing fog right onto her. She felt her limbs and cheeks go cold as small ice crystals formed on her skin.

"This can't be!" she gasped, shivering helplessly.

"Haaaahhh!" Pallas screamed, charging into the fog and grabbing Mercury's waist, pulling her out of the arctic air before it could freeze her entirely. She stood in front while the stricken young woman kneeled and shivered to warm herself back up. The Erisian suddenly popped out of another portal and tried to eat them alive with a lunging attack, but Pallas called out, "Pallas Orb: Fortress!" She summoned more blue orbs and made them stick together until they formed an impenetrable wall that the monster painfully collided against. It tried repeatedly to break through, but Pallas valiantly kept the wall up until Mercury recovered.

Back in the hallway, Zoisite was still having trouble opening the door to the study room. He was about to try using a blast of greenish lightning he created in his palms to blast it off, but then he heard light footsteps from the stairway. Sailor Arsenic Hyena was there, poised to shoot an arrow.

On the side, she thought, So I was right. This gentleman is one of the king's subordinates.

"You're that girl from the palace…" Zoisite remembered her. "When did you-?"

"Move aside," Hyena glowered. She fired her shot straight at the doorknob seconds after he jerked his hand away. The arrow pierced through the knob and allowed Zoisite to pry open the door. They peered inside and discovered the freakish parallel world, with Sailors Mercury and Pallas doing what they could to fight against the worm Erisian. The two Soldiers looked like they were having great trouble with it though.

"Zoisite!" Mercury exclaimed happily.

"You're here too, Hyena!" Pallas remarked.

"We'll back you up!" Zoisite declared, leaping into the dimension-room and creating a large icicle, hurling it at the monster. It retaliated by commanding the large textbook to shoot hundreds of razor-sharp pages at the ice, pulverizing it and catching Zoisite off guard in the air. Pallas shouted, "Pallas Orb: Barrage!" and threw dozens of blue orbs at the paper barrage, countering it before they could reach the stunned general. Hyena used this chance to dash in behind the worm monster and fire some arrows at the Apple of Discord in its head. However, they proved to be ineffective – the projectiles just embedded themselves into the metallic flesh and made the unfazed Erisian turn around.

"Just like last time…" she whispered. She jumped backwards as it shot more acid from its throat at her. It tried again, but Mercury called out, "Shine Aqua Illusion!" and sent a jet of cold water at the corrosive fluid, freezing it whole and making it shatter like glass before it could reach Hyena. Pallas and Zoisite caught its attention again with more attacks, making it focus on them while Mercury joined up with Hyena.

"The Apple of Discord needs to be destroyed as soon as possible," Hyena said. "But I won't be able to do it unless Sailor Chibi-Moon is here."

"I've heard about how you teamed up with her a while back," Mercury commented. "So only the power from the Pink Lady's Regalia and your piercing arrows will break through the apple's skin?"

"At the moment, yes. Discovering more ways of accomplishing this task would be most useful."

"Pallas just called for Chibi-Moon to come here, so the best we can do is stall it. But it's jumping through these portals at random and countering our attacks at an astonishing rate."

"Are you certain that its movements are not predetermined?" Hyena wondered.

"Even if I tried to analyze it, it will take too much time, and the Erisian might get stronger by then," Mercury nervously shook her head.

"Then our only option is to utilize arbitrary movements as well."

"Yes. The enemy's greatest strength often winds up being its weakness too. I have a plan, but I need all three of you to follow my instructions."

"I don't mind. Tell me what it is and I will convey it to Pallas and Zoisite."

Mercury quickly explained her idea to Hyena, then finished by adding, "You need to be discreet. It's figuring out our attack patterns faster than we can come up with new ways to counter them."

"That means it's either evolving at a tremendous rate or it's already highly intelligent… Whatever the case may be, you can rely on me to send the message."

Mercury conjured up another Shabon Spray to disorient the Erisian before it could attempt to swallow Zoisite whole, and Pallas kicked a large orb against its face to knock it back.

"Hah hah! How do you like me now, punk!?" Pallas taunted, pulling her eyelid down and sticking her tongue out. She suddenly felt Hyena place her hand on her shoulder. Pallas almost squeaked aloud, but Hyena covered her mouth and hissed, "Do exactly as I say."

"Wha-?"

Hyena whispered about Pallas' part of Mercury's plan into her ear, then said, "Wait for my signal."

"O-Okay…"

Hyena managed to reach Zoisite as well and told him what was going on. He smirked and kept his distance from the furious monster. He wasn't surprised that his future wife would devise such a clever scheme on short notice. The fog slowly dissipated, revealing that the creature had torn more pages from the giant book and created dozens of portals for it to fly through.