PRETTY SOLDIER SAILOR MOON: FUTURE
Chapter 42: Storm of Love and Justice
The sky turned dark from thick clouds rolling in, as if the environment responded to the tremendous might of the two electric dragons and provided the atmosphere for a dramatic showdown. As if representing the two warriors' wills, the two beasts clashed in a flash of blinding white lightning, each struggling to overpower the other. Varan thought she would have an easy time conquering Jupiter, but she found herself struggling so hard that she thought her clenched crystalline teeth would dislodge from her gums. Then through the crackling voltage, she saw why she was having such difficulty.
Nephrite had joined Jupiter's side and held her shoulder, transferring his energy into her body so she could amplify her attack. Her dragon successfully bit through Varan's, leaving a trail of loose violet sparks to dissipate as it continued its rampage towards the Camarilla. She was in such disbelief that she couldn't react fast enough to dodge the serpent-like monster, giving it the chance to engulf her in enough voltage to kill a normal person. Through the white storm, the couple heard Varan's animal-like screams and waited to see what would happen.
When the attack wore off, they found Varan standing perfectly still. Wisps of smoke curled off her charred body and armor, and her mask was completely destroyed which allowed her long snake-like tongue to hang low out of her jaw. The spear in her hand clattered to the ground and she fell backwards with a thud.
"We did it…" Jupiter gasped.
"Yes. Now we can take this one into custody," Nephrite said, reaching his hand out to generate some magical ropes that bound Varan's arms and legs. "Perhaps we can finally get some answers to what the Animus Syndicate is planning."
That was when they heard a series of explosions in the distance. Jupiter remembered Juno and Hyena's battle against Jouji and frowned hard as she said, "This fight's not over yet. You should stay here and rest."
"I'll make sure our prisoner does not escape," he replied and faced Varan.
Juno and Jouji ran parallel to each other before dashing in and performing jumping kicks. While they were caught in this devilish stalemate, Hyena got behind Jouji and squatted, murmuring, "Random Flurry," and generating numerous energy arrows between her fingers. She drew her bow and fired all of them at once. Rather than actual material projectiles, these ones were made out of magic that could bend shape and chase after Jouji; the magical shots even resembled ferocious hyena heads for a split second before they converged on him.
Juno jumped out of the way, while Jouji rolled aside and blocked the arrows that pursued him no matter how much he ran, ducked, dodged or parried them. Although he blocked most of them, some successfully damaged his armor further. While he was stunned, a miniature tornado formed around Juno's palm and she smacked the ball of her thumb against his chest, sending bits of black metal flying everywhere. The Sailor Soldiers could finally see traces of the Apple of Discord beneath the cracks, but they needed at least one more good strike to break through.
"Yeah, we've almost got him!" Juno cheered.
Hyena warned her, "A journey of 100 kilometers is only half over at 90."
"What does that mean?"
"It means not to let your guard down, even if your goal is visibly in sight."
Indeed, Jouji seemed more enraged than before as he gathered all of his power into his hands and punched through the cement roads. The two warriors could see trails of broken concrete heading their way, but they came so fast that neither of them had the chance to get out of the way. A pair of fantastic explosions rocked the surrounding buildings and sent the girls flying backwards. Hyena's back slammed against a building, while Juno's body did a 180 and tumbled face-first onto the pavement. Hyena cringed and opened her eyes too late as an exhausted Jouji stood over her with malice in his eyes. He grabbed her throat and held her high off her feet, then extended a short sword hidden in his gauntlet and aimed it at her chest.
"Hyena!" Juno shrieked.
Jouji tried to stab the Sailor Soldier to death, but then he heard footsteps running toward him, followed by a feminine war cry. Sailor Jupiter balled her hand into a tight fist and delivered the strongest punch she could to his face. Her punch sent Jouji flying back, and the others thought they could hear his jaw breaking. He accidentally released his grip on Hyena, and Jupiter caught her before she could hit the ground.
"Are you okay!?" Jupiter cried out.
After a couple of coughs, Hyena muttered, "Your timing could not have been more impeccable. It seems I owe you one."
"Nah, I'm repaying the debt for you saving Nephrite."
Juno recovered and joined the other two as Jupiter reported, "Speaking of which, Nephrite has Varan in custody. All we need is one more good attack to destroy Jouji's armor, and everything will be over."
"He just expended a good deal of his energy for those explosions. If there is any time to strike, it is now."
"Then let's do it, Boss!" Juno grinned, and Jupiter nodded in agreement. They stood side by side and raised their arms, with Jupiter's body crackling electricity while a small tornado surrounded Juno and billowed her skirt. The sky turned a deep shade of green and thick black clouds rolled in. Juno hurled her vicious twister at Jouji, sending him flying into the air uncontrollably.
Jupiter threw her hands forward, and together they called out, "Green Thunderstorm!"
The lightning surrounding Jupiter shot straight for the clouds, then bore down upon the possessed man like a bright white sword. The intense spark only lasted for a split second, but it was enough to eliminate the rest of his armor and expose the Apple of Discord. Hyena stood a good distance away from the storm and readied a single large needle-like arrow.
"Execution Needle," Hyena chanted, firing straight for the apple. The white-hot projectile broke through and destroyed the demonic fruit, eradicating the formless black beast dwelling within. Fortunately, the attack didn't go deep enough to hit Jouji whatsoever, so he reverted to normal as the winds carried him back to the ground safely.
With the ordeal over, the green skies returned to their usual blue hue, and the Sailor Soldiers felt a wave of tremendous relief wash over them. Despite the large amount of property damage caused during the two fights, they were glad that no one was killed. They heard the doors to Umino's shop open and spotted Naru and Umino hesitantly coming out to see if everything was okay.
"Is it over?" Naru asked.
"Yep! Everything's hunky dory now!" Juno flashed her a thumbs up.
"Is Jouji all right? He turned into that vicious monster, and…"
Hyena assured her, "He does have some injuries and a great deal of exhaustion, but will make a full recovery."
"I see. Then I can return this to him."
"Hm?" the younger Soldier wondered. Naru kneeled over Jouji's unconscious body and silently removed her engagement ring, resting it in his hand and closing his fingers around it. She walked away without looking back, and Jupiter solemnly murmured, "I'm really sorry, Naru…"
"It's okay. I'm still young, so I can always try again. I really must thank you all for helping me find out the truth, no matter how hard it may be."
"Of course. Love is not something that can be taken lightly. You wanted to be sure that both you and your partner felt the same way about each other."
Naru nodded, then asked, "Where's Nephrite? I want to thank him too."
Jupiter brought everyone to where her fiancé kept a strict eye on the unconscious and bound Varan. The Camarilla heard their footsteps and woke up. Although groggy, she regained her angry vigor once she caught Hyena in her sights.
"You-! You… traitor!" she snarled.
"Many hearts have nearly been broken because of your selfishness. I do hope you're prepared for the consequences," Hyena declared. "Or are you intent on delivering another anticlimactic parting line before escaping? Not that it appears you can escape from those shadowy veins anyway."
Varan could feel her anger being pushed over the edge. She couldn't forget Hyena's talent for churlish insults that irritated people in the way she wanted; Varan figured that her own fury was exactly what her former ally desired, and grew even more resentful because of that.
"It seems our captive will be saving her words for the interrogation," Hyena muttered. "I have a few hard questions of my own for her, so we should-"
Just then, a small series of hexagon-shaped wormholes opened up above their heads that resembled honeycombs. Thousands of tiny bees swarmed through the holes and assaulted everyone except for Varan.
"What in the world!?" Naru gasped.
"Get down!" Umino yelled and forced his friend to the ground. Nephrite and the three Soldiers were so astounded by the surprise swarm that they had to cover their heads as well. Nephrite lost his concentration and mistakenly dropped the shadow ropes keeping Varan bound. Jupiter sent small bolts at the insects and killed several of them. She realized that the bees had metallic parts and exclaimed, "Are these things supposed to be robots!?"
Robotic bees… Hyena clenched her teeth. Only one person would be capable of inventing such a weapon!
A larger hexagon-shaped hole opened up, and the yellow-robed Camarilla named Apis flew through. While everyone else was distracted, she grabbed her comrade and exclaimed, "Let's get outta here!"
"No!" Varan objected. "I told Upala that I would die trying to get the Silver Crystal! I refuse to be executed for failure!"
"Oh, you and your martyr-like ways. I've got it all covered! Naja and Gyps are waiting for you at the secret place!"
"'Secret place'!?"
Apis' bee wings buzzed as she flew back into the larger portal with Varan in tow. Once they were gone, the robot bees followed them back in the honeycomb portals, which then closed without a trace.
"Damn!" Juno swore. "Who the hell was that!?"
"The final Camarilla, Apis," Hyena said. "She's a gifted genius who is extremely talented with technology. Some say she has invented devices that are 100 years ahead of their time."
"That so? Guess I'll have to alert Chibi-Moon and the others."
Hyena thought to herself, Yes… It was Apis' – or rather, Sailor Cadmium Bee's – planet that I departed from. It was her capsule that allowed me to reach Earth safely. Apparently she hasn't been as involved with this battle as the other three have, but now with the others seriously injured, she has no choice but to make an appearance next time.
She was disrupted from her musings when Naru called out, "Nephrite!"
"Naru…" the general whispered nervously.
"I… I really missed you…"
"So have I. But much has happened since then, most important of which is that I have proposed my love to Makoto. My time with you was most delightful, but I-"
"No, don't worry about it," she smiled. "I'm really happy for you and Makoto. I just only have one thing to ask of you."
"I think I know what it is."
"Yeah! Our promise!"
Umino wondered, "Promise?"
"Just before Nephrite was killed 1000 years ago, he and I made a promise to each other. We were never able to fulfill it back then, but now I want to finish it! Of course, you and Makoto are welcome to come with us too!"
"Okay… But where?"
Naru chuckled and giddily put her hands together. "To have a chocolate parfait!"
"Chocolate… Wait, that's it!?" the nerdy man yelped.
"What do you mean 'that's it'!? It's extremely important to me!"
"O-Okay, okay! If that's all it was, then, uh… Eh heh heh heh…"
Jupiter nudged his shoulder and asked him slyly, "What did you think it was? A kiss?"
"No! That wasn't it at all!"