Chapter 16 – What You Want, I Can't Provide
"No! Tell me you're lying! Please."
"I'm awfully sorry, Mako-chan," Usagi murmured, patting her friend on the arm before she turned back to her tumbler of honeydew milk tea and donburi bowl. They were seated on a bench in a quiet garden spot in the college's horticulture department, ostensibly just sharing a late lunch. In reality, she'd called her friend that morning and arranged to meet so that she could pass on the latest news from their mutual friend and comrade who was still buried in her lab…and who'd rightly figured that Makoto would take the news better from their princess. "I know you were hoping for better news."
Makoto looked crushed, twisting the green tip of her ponytail around her finger dispiritedly. It was more just the tip that was green, though, as her hair color, once it had begun its change, had progressed rapidly in its transition from auburn to other. It was as if it had only been waiting for the chance, and now Makoto's hair was, from root to tip, a soft, natural green, and had grown so long (even longer than Rei's and Minako's) and unruly in its tumbling curls that she couldn't even manage to hide it under a wig any longer. Some part of it was always sliding free and blowing the disguise of normality, so Makoto had been forced to give up.
"So Ami really said there was nothing she could do? My hair's going to stay like this…forever?"
"Um…well, no," Usagi temporized. "Not necessarily. She just said that it wasn't an illness, but that by her best estimate, it was magic. She didn't much like that either, since it's hard to quantify magic, and you know how Ami-chan is. She said it defied explanation. But she also said she didn't think it was outside magic. Or harmful. Not…malicious, I think, was the word she used. She said, though, that she's still not sure about why your hand keeps itching and said you should still use the skin cream."
"It doesn't help," groaned Makoto, before stuffing a spicy tuna roll into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed hard, barely tasting the tasty sushi, though it had been made with enough wasabi to make her eyes water and set fire to the plastic tray. "Any time any male gets too close or anything, I just about go berserk with the itching." She paused, mulling over Usagi's words.
"I don't understand how it couldn't be outside magic," objected Makoto finally, her lips twisting into a frown. "That would imply I was doing it and I don't want it like this. I mean, my auburn hair wasn't exactly common here, but at least it was within the acceptable normal spectrum of human." She held out a fern-toned lock sideways for Usagi to see. "This just marks me as a freak of nature."
"Actually," murmured Usagi, reaching up to touch a glossy ringlet, "Now that I'm used to it, I think it's rather pretty like that. It emphasizes and brings out the deeper color of your eyes, Mako-chan."
Somehow, instinctively, Usagi always knew what to say to cheer her friends when they were down. Makoto gave her a weak, hopeful smile. If it was a lie, it was a good one. "Really?"
There was a vigorous affirmative nod from Usagi, who then turned her excessive vigor to sucking a particularly fat tapioca pearl up from the depths of her glass. The sweet but gummy black boba bead stuck for a moment in the straw, then gave way with an audible pop, shooting all the way down the back of Usagi's throat. She began to choke and sputter and Makoto found herself distracted rather firmly from her own concerns as she pounded Usagi on the back and tried to figure out whether she needed to perform the Heimlich maneuver on her well-meaning, but inherently klutzy friend.
The two friends spent the rest of the afternoon together, Usagi uncharacteristically acting as a sob sister while Makoto enjoyed the unaccustomed luxury of having someone to listen devotedly to her for a change. For the first time since she'd been accepted into college, Makoto decided to intentionally blow off her afternoon classes. Usagi, never one to study too hard, was with her all the way. But in her own way, Usagi was learning, for that afternoon as they laughed and cried together, she heard things about the normally very private Makoto that she'd never known before. She even heard the complete and unabridged story about Makoto's sempai.
However, cathartic emotional releases require fuel. Nothing went better with girl talk than chocolate, and fortunately Makoto had just the ticket, so they headed back to her dorm, gabbing the entire way.
"…and since that night my mood's just been all over the place. Up, down and sideways. If I didn't know better, I'd think I had terminal PMS." Makoto said, as she turned the key in the lock to her dorm room.
That drew a shocked giggle from Usagi which proceeded to turn into a very indiscreet snorting fit as she gasped and waved a hand, "Nah…that'd be Rei-chan's department."
Makoto froze in the doorway, seemingly riveted to the spot. Her crochet handbag slid from her shoulder to the floor with a soft plop. Usagi, not expecting her friend to just stop, bumped into her and let out a dismayed yelp. Makoto never budged.
"Omigosh," gasped Usagi, sobering rapidly as she peered around Makoto's shoulder at a room that was little more than a blank canvas. "You've been robbed!"
And so it appeared. The room, which had been tidy but stuffed that morning, had sometime during the day been stripped back to a level of bareness that was comparable to when Makoto had first seen it before she moved in. The bureau drawers, which were slightly ajar, were clearly empty. All of Makoto's books, her personal effects and other items were gone. Even the bedding had been stripped, leaving only a mattress which looked naked with only its blue and white stripped ticking.
Makoto zoomed into the room with a gasp, her head swiveling wildly as she confirmed the facts. "Everything's gone! How can this be? Who would do such a thing?"
Slightly unsteady on her feet, Usagi tripped over Makoto's purse and stumbled into the little room, looking around wildly. Her gaze happened to light on the bed and she squinted. There, almost hidden against the stark whiteness of the pillow was a sheet of folded paper bearing Makoto's name written in a bold slashing style.
"Uh…Mako-chan," she said, pointing.
She wasn't heard. Makoto was wringing her hands and trying not to cry, though she felt like bawling. When she'd moved into the dorm she'd had to store nearly everything, bringing with her only those few items that she most prized and couldn't live without. They were the items that connected her to her family and friends.
"It's gone." Makoto let out a despairing wail. "All my special, irreplaceable things like the pictures of my parents, the chest with my mother's things. Her tea set and wedding fan. Even from the window ledge…Kamekichi…the plant in the little terracotta turtle pot that Motoki-kun gave me when I moved into the dorms…"
Shaking her pigtails, Usagi pushed past her babbling friend and snatched up the letter, wrapping her friend's hands around it. "Mako-chan, focus! Someone left you this. Maybe it will explain things."
"Eh?" she sniffled. "What's this?"
"You might read it and find out," hinted Usagi with a pleading note in her voice. She gave a tiny sigh of relief when Makoto started to comply.
Carefully Makoto unfolded the missive, scanning the contents. Usagi watched like a hawk, gasping when Makoto's face went from pale to bright red in the blink of an eye, angry flags of color flying in her cheeks as she sucked in a breath. The note was crushed between her fingers and Usagi noted with concern that Makoto was holding it so tightly that her knuckles had gone white.
"What did it say, Mako-ch…?"
"That's it!" Makoto interrupted, ranting. "The nerve! The absolute gall! I can't believe he did it!"
"Why?" asked Usagi blankly, when she ought to have asked who.
"He's gone too far this time, that cocky, arrogant, son of a…"
"Who?" Usagi finally managed the proper question just in time.
"I'm going to go ninja on his face and get my turtle back, dammit!"
"What?" sputtered Usagi, screwing up her face in total confusion. "What ARE you talking about?"
Makoto's eyes narrowed into little emerald slits that still flashed with explosive ill humor and outside sudden thunder rattled the dorm windows as the environment reacted to her stormy emotional state. "Neil, dammit! Nephrite! Whatever you want to call him. HE took MY things! Specifically mentioned Kamekichi, saying it looked cute on the bureau and that I still had my knack for growing things. As if he would know! He also said he was expecting me at Sachi-Sachi hall." She made a feral sound, low in her throat.
"When? Now?" Usagi's mouth dropped open and she stared, wide-eyed. "Wait. Isn't that the hall for…"
"Exactly," Makoto hissed furiously. "Probably was his idea of a sick joke. Well far be it from me to disappoint the man." She took a few brisk strides forward and Usagi couldn't help wondering if the infuriated lightning senshi was going to go out the window and shinny down the drain pipe to save time getting to a violent confrontation with her thief.
Quickly Usagi scuttled forward to bar the way to the window, her cerulean eyes widening in faint awe as a jagged green-white fork of lightning split the sky. "Now, Mako-chan, I know you're upset, but you can't go off half cocked like this." She shuddered viscerally as thunder rumbled again. "Please Mako-chan, you've got to calm down. Pleeeease. For me…"
Had anyone else asked, Makoto would have likely have paid absolutely no heed, but that tiny piteous plea from her princess…from Usagi-chan, was another matter. Guilt swept through Makoto. She knew that Usagi hated thunder storms. They all knew it, and yet she'd let her temper get the better of her.
She took a series of deep, shuddery breaths, trying to re-center herself with her own version of the mantra Rei had taught them. 'Find a happy place. Find a happy place. Find a happy place, dammit!'
It took a while, but the ominous rumbling of the thunder and the flashes of thunder slowly ceased, although the sky remained suspiciously dark and filled with roiling clouds. Usagi, however, was grateful for small favors.
"Mako-chan," she suggested hesitantly, "Maybe you should go talk to him. Obviously that's what this was about."
"After what he did…then and now?!" she cried in disbelief. "I wouldn't give him the satisfaction," Makoto fumed.
A wonderful idea suddenly occurred to her, though, and an awful, uncharacteristically malicious grin spread across her face at the thought. Even though she wasn't a shred psychic, Usagi moaned, feeling the small hairs on the back of her neck prickle at what was coming.
"I'm going to call the police. You know, they deport foreigners who commit crimes."
"Mako-chan!" gasped Usagi, looking horrified. "You can't! You know he didn't want the stuff…I mean, your things."
"I know." Makoto rubbed her hands together gleefully. "But he took them, just the same. Oh yes, this is perfect. Perfect, I tell you! They'll deport him and ship him back to Canada and then my life will go back to normal except the green hair, but I can live with that. Dye it, maybe." Half to herself she muttered, "And my traitorous heart will go back to normal too."
"And you know what else, Usagi-chan," she added, shaking her head as if coming out of a small trance.
The tiny blonde whimpered miserably, waiting for the shoe to drop. "What?"
"I'm going to do it later."
"Huh?"
"Come on, Usagi-chan," Makoto laughed aloud, her good mood restored at having a plan of action. She scooped up her purse and twirled around with a flourish before grabbing her odangoed friend by the hand. "I'll teach him to think he can manipulate me like this. I've just got someone to let see me so he can stew for a while. Then we can go do something fun and just when he's wondering what I'm going to do next, then I'll lower the boom on him. Neil Sterne, you messed with the wrong lady!"
Usagi moaned again. It didn't really matter where they went, she knew. They were destined to find trouble. Sterne-san's completely idiotic action had been that of a man who was completely desperate. Desperate people were unpredictable when provoked. And Makoto was intentionally setting herself up to tweak him. There would undoubtedly be hell to pay.
Makoto, oblivious to her leader's discomfort, tugged her out the door, crying, "Let's go!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Never in her widest dreams could Usagi have imagined how right she would be, nor where Makoto would actually drag her: the Kitai Home For Children.
"Mako-neechan! It's Mako-neechan! Mako-neechan!"
The exuberant cries of little girls, ranging from one barely more than a toddler to perhaps six years of age, darting toward them as they entered the courtyard gates, had both Makoto and Usagi, albeit reluctantly, smiling. They swarmed around Makoto's legs, tugging at her hands and her skirt. She seemed not at all surprised to find them playing there, though no adults were in sight.
"Fly me, onee-chan!" demanded one of the girls, whose sparkling eyes were just barely visible beneath her the blunt-cut bangs of severe institutional haircut. "Pleeeeease?"
"Okay, small fry," Makoto consented. "One Kohana-chan in orbit!"
With a broad grin that was no longer forced, Makoto swooped down and scooped up one of the girls with the ease of a doll, then flipped her upside down, swinging her through the air, secure in strong, protective arms. Giddy squeals of childish delight followed as the girl spun like a little acrobat before Makoto plunked the pair of small feet back down on terra firma and reached for one of the others who was clamoring loudly for her turn on the Mako-Express.
"You next, Susumu-chan. And then you, Naoko sweetie, and finally, Maiko, my littlest imouto, you get an extra loop for being so patient!" The tiny girl with the petite raven ponytail which bounced so like Makoto's, danced excitedly.
In spite of a feeling of unease, Usagi couldn't help but laugh at the antics of the kids, who were still flocking around like eager little birds. Suddenly she caught sight of one of the children's caretaker nuns peering through the front window. The older woman was smiling indulgently at her friend and shaking her veiled head. It was clear that Makoto was, per her explanation on the way, well known to the folks at this orphanage.
That thought made Usagi's heart twinge as she considered Makoto's words earlier that day about how very rare it was for one of the orphans to be adopted into a family and the subtle and sometimes not so subtle prejudices against them. Had Makoto not had the support of her friend Shinozaki's family and her parents' life insurance money to buy her way out, she probably would have, after her parents' deaths, remained stuck until she was grown in this place which, though neat and seemingly well appointed, was unmistakably institutional with all the cold sterileness that entailed, right down to the mathematically clipped bushes in the garden. No wonder Makoto had grieved so, Usagi thought, when she'd had to leave her tiny but cozy apartment for the college dorm. She'd made a real home for herself following her parents' deaths and then lost it again.
Mamoru would feel exactly the same way, she realized, for the first time truly appreciating the home and family she usually took for granted. Not everyone had that luxury. Her tender heart aching, Usagi offered up a quick silent prayer to whatever deities might be listening that the children here and in such children's homes and orphanages everywhere would all find homes where they would be loved and cherished.
Usagi's sudden urge to cry, though, was forced down behind a watery smile as she saw the pride in Makoto's eyes as she lined up the girls for inspection. "I want everyone to meet a friend of mine, Tsukino-san. She's one of my oldest and dearest friends, and she came here with me today to play with you. Usagi-chan, these are Sato Kohana, Watanabe Susumu, Takai Naoko, and Kobayashi Maiko."
"Konnichiwa, Tsukino-san," the girls chorused happily to the rabbit-pigtailed woman who was a friend of their dear oneechan. They, somewhat surprisingly, weren't a bit shy.
"Call me Usagi-chan," invited Usagi, bending down to get a better look at them.
"Can you play Oshikura Manju?" chirped one of them with studied innocence, naming the simple playground shoving game. Her name was Maiko, Usagi thought, as she tried to connect the names Makoto had rattled off to the proper faces. She was the smallest of the four, and she looked mischievous as a monkey. No wonder Makoto liked her.
"No," Makoto interjected, mock-severely as she clucked her tongue and caught the girl up in her arms, giving her a gentle shake. The child merely giggled, looking unconcerned as Makoto continued, "And neither can you rowdies. Too rough. But we can go inside and play quietly. Then, if you're good, maybe in a while we can go out back and play Dahrumasan Ga Koronda or tag or something." Her eyes twinkled merrily at Usagi. "I know you've had plenty of practice running fast enough for those games."
"I'll play, but only if I get to be the oni first," Usagi demanded, winking at the other three little girls who cheered. Maiko, however, remained unconvinced. Deprived of her first choice, she turned a pleading eye on Makoto and begged, "Can't we play senshi instead? We love that game. They fight the baddies and save the world. You two can be the monsters."
"Oh yeah," chorused the others in approval. "Senshi! Senshi!"
A startled look, Usagi noted, had crossed Makoto's face. Evidently this was something new from the girls. She leaned down, her pigtails falling forward as she asked, "So you four like the Sailor Senshi, hmmm? Well who likes which one?"
"I like Mars. She's awfully tough." Susumu piped up, holding up her hands as if hurling a fire ball at a phantom youma. She then struck a signature pose, pointing. "I'll punish you!"
"Sailor Jup'ter is tougher," Maiko insisted, tugging at her ponytail. "She protects people. And she wears her hair in a cute ponytail like Mako-neechan and me. I like her best." The little girl never noticed when Makoto's face went an embarrassed shade of pink.
"Sailor Moon is nicer than either of them, though," objected Naoko, causing Usagi to smother a pleased grin behind her palm. "'An she has a wand…thingie." She patted one of Usagi's signature silver buns of hair. "You like her too, don'tcha?" She grinned when Usagi nodded.
"Sailor Venus is the best of them all," Kohana insisted, grinning broadly and flashing a very familiar V sign. "Cause she's two-faced!" At that pronouncement, both Usagi and Makoto practically fell on the ground laughing.
Susumu rolled her eyes in a manner that was almost scarily reminiscent of her own favorite senshi, Mars. "Not two-faced, Kohana-baka. She's got a double 'dentity. Venus and V."
"Doesn't anyone here like Sailor Mercury?" asked Makoto with an inquisitive tilt of her head. From all accounts she'd ever read, Mercury was arguably the most popular senshi…or at least in a dead heat with Moon. To the petite genius' considerable embarrassment, she ranked far higher with the fanboys…a dubious distinction to be sure.
"Yeah," Naoko said with a small grin. "Rin-chan does. But she can't play today 'cause she's grounded for taking apart the matron's alarm clock to see how it worked, but she couldn't put it back together right. It kept going off all night long."
Usagi gasped, holding her stomach which hurt from all the laughter. "Okay, okay…we can play senshi later if you want." The little girls, save Maiko who was still in Makoto's arms, cheered and ran for the door to the children's home.
"Tell Housemother Takeshi we'll be right in, girls," Makoto called after them.
She shifted Maiko over onto her hip in a practiced motion before heading up the walkway. The little girl snuggled in comfortably, sure of her welcome, looping an arm around Makoto's neck. She then popped her free thumb in her mouth, looking blissfully happy. Looking for all the world like a proud parent, Makoto smoothed back an errant lock of hair which had escaped from Maiko's ponytail before sending the littlest girl on her way with a gentle motherly pat on the behind. The girl, with impressive speed, darted to the door, leapt for the too-high door handle and swung it open neatly, disappearing inside.
Usagi sighed, looking pensive. "You're so good at that sort of thing, Mako-chan, I'll have to take lessons from you when Chibi Usa-chan comes along, because I'm such a klutz."
"Whatever do you mean?" asked Makoto, looking mystified.
"That." Usagi waved her hand airily to encompass her friend's interactions with the girls, especially little Maiko. "You looked so natural with her in your arms like that. So competent and self-assured. Maybe someday you can adopt kids like those who really need a family most. Because, I think it's obvious that you were born to be a mother, Mako-chan."
The tall young woman flushed bright pink as she began to protest, "Usagi-chan, I…"
"The rabbit-haired one is correct, but you're wasting your time on pathetic brats like these, isn't she, brother?" drawled a cynical-sounding voice that had both women turning, only to swallow convulsively, Usagi in surprise and Makoto in horrified recognition. "After all, if their own blood didn't want them, why should anyone else, hrm?"
Makoto's face contorted in sudden rage at that and her hands balled into fists.
"If you say so, Erebos," drawled the pink-haired Azrael, looking quite overcome by ennui, his face twisted in a jaded sneer. "I've never been interested in either mothers or children. But I helped you find the Earth Crystal holder as promised." He chuckled, knowing Erebos, who was not overly blessed with brains, though he possessed an abundance of brawn, would never believe how easy it had been to track the woman after meeting her only once. "And now I'm gone. Just remember that you owe me, brother. And I always collect." He disappeared in a poof of Technicolor smoke, leaving Usagi staring in disbelief.
As Usagi gawked, Makoto shoved the blonde firmly behind her. "Run!" she ordered Usagi, her tone brooking no arguments. "That was the fellow from the other night! If anything happens to me, protect the kids, but save yourself." At those icy words, Usagi raced to call for backup, while Makoto remained, glaring at the…well, he wasn't exactly a man…before her, whose hair was the color of papaya flesh, or possibly a mango, a disturbing combination with a face that was literally tar black and liberally streaked with bone white stripes. He was big, she noted. Very, very big, and at least a head taller than his candy-floss haired brother. Not that it bothered her, as she cracked her knuckles expectantly. The bigger they were...
"Get the hell out of here," Makoto demanded, glaring at Erebos, who had fortunately, from her point of view, shown no interest whatever in Usagi as she fled. "Whatever you want here, you'll damn well have to go through me to get it!"
"That's the whole idea," he said with a smirk that made Makoto fume. "You've got the Earth Crystal and I'll be having it from you."
Makoto's eyes narrowed. 'What the name of Zeus is an earth crystal and why does this bozo think I have it?'
"Don't worry now," Erebos said with a smile, looking quite smug. "I'm not the brutal thug that my late, unlamented brother Thanatos was. I'll collect your Earth Crystal, but I won't hurt you the way he would have. I promise, this won't hurt a bit," he lied.
"I don't have an Earth Crystal," Makoto snarled, pulling out her henshin wand and holding it aloft. Even if she had, she wouldn't give it to him. "If you knew anything about anything, you'd know I was Jovian, not Terran. I'll generously even prove it for you. Jupiter Eternal Power, Make-Up!"
With impressive speed, he hurled a…something at Sailor Jupiter mid-transformation. It resembled a beam of black energy which sliced through the halo of green-white lightning around her with a scalpel's accuracy. She'd not been expecting it and it slammed into her chest, knocking her back about a half a meter and sending her henshin wand skittering away from the impact of the blast.
Usagi let out a sharp cry of alarm and grabbed her broach. Sailor Moon and the other senshi were needed…now.
Erebos grinned and held out a claw tipped finger, beckoning. "Now come here, my dear."
"You have got to be kidding me." Sailor Jupiter openly gawked at him, shaking her head in disbelief.
The contortion of his face was almost comical as Erebos did a total double take. "What? Defiance? Come here at once!" he shouted, pointing at a spot immediately before him.
"Hell no!"
Suddenly, Erebos appeared a lot less winning, glaring at Jupiter like a spoiled child denied a treat. "Why the hell aren't you under my control?" he growled at her, as if she should know. "The mind bond should have worked! Why didn't it work?!"
Sailor Jupiter's lips twisted into a mou of disgust and she glared daggers at him. "Is THAT what your little black light whammie thing was supposed to do? Turn me into some sort of mindless toy of yours? You bastard! How about you try my whammie on for size instead?!" She threw herself forward and hurled a vicious punch to her foe's nose, smirking as she felt the give and heard the sickening crunch of pulverized cartilage. "Take that, you sicko mind rapist!"
Green blood poured from his nose, staining Jupiter's glove a shade reminiscent of pond scum, only less attractive. Erebos let out an ear-ringing bellow as he toppled backward. "NO, DAMN YOU! YOU HAVE TO GIVE ME THE EARTH CRYSTAL!"
"Over my dead body," sniffed Jupiter, forgetting for a moment she didn't have what he wanted, crossing her arms over her chest. "SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!"
Lightning split the heavens, racing to Jupiter's call. Flinging her hands outward, she hurled the crackling, white-hot mass of power at Erebos like a hundred kilometer an hour fastball, but at point blank range. The energy enveloped him with a blinding flash and he let out a bellow. Pleased, Jupiter turned away, dusting her hands together in satisfaction. "That wasn't so hard."
History has long proven that pride goeth before the fall. And so it was that day.
As the mass of storm finally dispersed with a sizzle, it revealed a truly furious Erebos. A truly furious and mostly unscathed Erebos who was ready to make Sailor Jupiter suffer for her audacity.
Sailor Moon let out a shriek of alarm. "Jupiter! Look out!"
Her warning was too little, too late. Erebos lunged, grabbing Sailor Jupiter by the throat and lifting her right off her feet, his fingers wrapping around her now all too aptly named choker, his other hand tearing at the bow over her heart.
"I don't know why the mind bond failed, but you're going to regret raising a hand to me, lightning witch, even if your pitiful attack didn't do much more than tickle," he informed her, taking special pleasure in watching her pale. "I would have been a benevolent master, but now…you'll just die instead. Slowly. But first I'll extract your crystal the hard way. From your bleeding, broken, soon-to-be corpse."
His strange chartreuse colored eyes burned at her demonically, almost hypnotically, over his swollen and battered nose and Sailor Jupiter reacted more than thought, blocking the freakish sight from her own eyes by hurling a quick Flower Hurricane attack at his, making him scream. Contrary to his earlier yell, this was a pained cry and Erebos dropped her unceremoniously to claw at the stinging, blinding spray of delicate pink petals.
Sailor Jupiter scampered like a hare to put some distance between herself and the demon, wheezing as she tried to suck some breath into her starving lungs through a bruised windpipe. She hoped to goddess that Usagi had gotten somewhere safe and had managed to call the other senshi. Anything that could just bounce off one of her lightning attacks was a foe not to be sneezed at.
Gathering her strength, she spun nimbly on her toes, powering up her strongest blitz attack, the Jupiter Oak Evolution, and launching it with the power born of desperation.
The lightning storm, compressed into a thunderous swirling cyclone of electric green leaves surrounded Erebos with its fury, but he roared and lunged forward, bursting free, though he bore the marks of the attack. Livid white marks scored his skin and more of the putrid looking blood oozed from them.
"Damn it!" swore Jupiter, leaping to the top of the orphanage's surrounding wall as he clawed at her, missing her by a hair, his fist literally punching through the concrete block and sending stinging chips flying. "Get the hell away from me, you freak!"
Sailor Jupiter dove headlong away from him, somehow managing to somersault in midair to land on her feet. She was starting to panic. She'd thrown her heaviest artillery at him and had barely made an impact. What did it take to put the overgrown mango-head down anyway?
"Use your plant attacks!" Sailor Moon screamed popping up out of the bushes near the building.
"Of course." Jupiter felt like slapping herself for her own stupidity, her only excuse being that everything had happened so fast it had left her dizzy.
Her power was two-fold, a rarity amongst the senshi, though one she rarely thought about. Her Oak Evolution was the perfect example of the duality, melding both the plant and lightning forces in a single attack, though the lightning was certainly the more dominant force. Now that Sailor Moon had pointed it out, she realized that the blonde was right…botanical or nature based attacks had been the only ones that had seemed to make a dent in this demon. And yet, to her they always seemed so much weaker, or at least with less bang for her yen power-wise, than her electrical attacks that she usually didn't even bother unless it was for distraction purposes. She only had one more in her arsenal anyway, that she knew about, but she it was worth a try since she was rapidly tiring and running like a rabbit was humiliating. The senshi of protection was supposed to be above needing it herself, dammit!
Erebos wrenched free his fist, leaving a hole in the heavy blocks the size of a child's head, and bared his teeth at her, running his long tongue along them with a liquid slurp. Jupiter shuddered realizing that those teeth were in rows, razor sharp and more reminiscent of a shark's maw than human dentition. Grimly she intoned the attack phrase.
"Jupiter Coconut Cycl…"
She was cut off with a strangled gasp as he lunged with lightning speed and wrapped his hands around her throat, dragging her up against a body that fairly pulsed with inhuman strength. "Oh no you don't, botany bitch!"
Dimly over the pounding of her own pulse, Sailor Jupiter heard a scream that she knew must be Sailor Moon's, and she bucked as the deeply ingrained urge to protect her princess warred with her body's own instinct to preserve its life. 'I swear, if she doesn't stay back to protect the kids, I'm going to come back after I die and haunt her!'
"Now what shall I do with you?" he chuckled darkly as Jupiter twisted frantically in his grasp, clawing at his iron-like fingers which were digging into her throat. One hand stroked possessively over her breast, making her cringe as her skin crawled and she felt like vomiting. "How about we try this again, hrmmm?"
"No," she managed to squeak out with what felt like her last breath, though the only result was further compression of her windpipe. Black spots began dancing before her eyes. 'Maiko's going to be so disappointed in me,' she thought as she began to black out.
A verdant green glow began to form under Erebos' fingers as, with one hand, he shredded through the rosy bow over her heart and dug into her flesh. Makoto silently screamed in anguish, feeling like she'd somehow been torn in two as her body, independent of all conscious thought, attempted to curl in a protective fetal ball. What had he done to her? She was very minimally aware of a flash of emerald green and Erebos's cry of triumph. 'Is that…the…Earth Crystal?'
"How about you take your goddamned hands off her before I sever both your arms at the wrists?!" rumbled a low, gravely and very dangerous sounding voice.
Nephrite was beyond pissed.
He'd fully expected to have a totally livid Makoto racing to confront him after he'd left his note on the bed in her emptied dorm room. He'd been counting on it. In fact, he'd been unable to hide his triumphant smile when he spotted her headed his way, feeling not a shred guilty about unceremoniously switching her living arrangements after the attack on Sailor Mars.
He'd felt especially vindicated after he'd seen and, to his horror, recognized the vindictive orange-haired witch who was spending a new life tormenting others, this time as the RA from Hell. It was his absolute duty to protect her from that harpy, Beryl, and any other threats. The fact that it also coincided with his plans to draw her out, was a happy coincidence indeed.
But when Makoto had merely passed by without a comment, wearing a satisfied smile that made his stomach churn nervously for no good reason, he'd been left completely at sea, unsure of what to do next. The plan ought to have been a sure thing, knowing his quick tempered angel as he did. His highhanded actions should have guaranteed her presence, but instead she'd swept past with the grace of a queen, not even deigning to shoot so much as a disparaging glance in his direction, as her petite blonde friend struggled to keep up with her leggier stride.
He'd debated with himself for a few long minutes whether to go after her before he'd finally decided that Zarek's idea of letting her come to him was an idiotic notion. She needed protection, whether she knew it or not. He'd followed at a distance, watching as the two young women had disappeared within the gated confines of the orphanage. Since he couldn't blow her cover, he had determined to wait outside, some distance away for her, but when the attacks started, that was it as far as he was concerned. Cover blown or no cover blown.
In spite of what Zoisite or Jadeite might have said, Nephrite considered himself a reasonable man, but the dark angel with the mustard yellow-colored hair had pushed him too far when he'd laid a hand on Makoto. Especially after hearing from a still shaken Jadeite exactly what the demon's foul kin had done to Sailor Mars. His white-knuckle tight clench on the handle of the wicked oversized battle ax that presently rested against his shoulder was only the most outward sign of Nephrite's phenomenal inner fury. Colonel Mustard was going to pay dearly.
"Why should you care what I do with her?" demanded Erebos, struggling to hold onto the writhing woman while he focused his attention on the angry ax wielder who'd just threatened to shorten his sleeves for him. "This has nothing to do with you, Terran," he said with a look of pure contempt for the king before him.
"It's an old Elysion custom," Nephrite snarled, his tone icy as an arctic wind. His indigo eyes glittered with all the warmth of a glacier as they locked with Erebos'. "Call me old fashioned if you must, but I just get really madder than hell at seeing men paw women who clearly don't want their attentions.
Had a wrathful Zeus himself laid down a rain of thunder bolts in the small courtyard, Nephrite's next words couldn't have had a greater impact or been more shocking.
"Especially," he continued in a harsh, rumbling growl, "when the woman in question happens to be my wife!"