"Mako-chan, are you alright?"
Mako felt the hand on her shoulder and looked at its owner.
Looked UP at its owner.
"I'm fine, Minako-chan, just a bit tired. You know how shopping
can wear a girl out!"
Minako nodded her head solemnly, knowing her friend's statement
to be only too true.
"If Mako-chan's tired, let's sit down for a bit," Rei called
back to the group from a little further along. "I wanted to get
started on the newest edition... Of... USAGI!"
A pair of wide and surprised eyes followed the blonde head in
unburying themselves from a volume of manga. In one swift motion
the book disappeared and Usagi was laughing hard, if unconvincingly.
She stopped after several seconds, and tried to look innocent. She
batted her eyelashes a few times and smiled sweetly. "Yes,
Rei-chan?"
It didn't work.
With a snarl, Rei grabbed her manga back from wherever Usagi
had hidden it and returned to the bag with her other purchases.
"Usagi, I haven't even READ that one yet!"
"No? Oh, it's really good, Rei-chan, towards the end Sailor V-"
"Usagi you idiot!"
It was impossible to determine if anything intelligible was said
afterwards, and the disagreement soon degenerated into a pair of
tongues being stuck out at each other anyway. As usual.
The two of them would stay like that all day if no one
interceded, but peace came in its usual form of Ami. She walked
between the combatants and grabbed each of them by a hand, tugging
them towards the mall benches in a rough and in a rather
un-Ami-like manner. She had lost the last of her patience with Rei
and Usagi somewhere around their fifth fight of the day. The two
immediately launched into simultaneous speeches defending
themselves, the words combining to make comprehension an impossible
task, even for one as smart as their blue-haired friend.
Ami just sighed to the world.
From a safe distance, Mako and Minako watched the usual battle
with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. After a moment, Minko
shrugged and winked at Mako before following the fading sounds of
bickering.
Mako turned back to what had made her pause in the first place.
She gazed at her reflection in the full length mirror that was
propped up in a shop window.
A delicate and demure five-foot-three Mako gazed back.
A brush, some hairspray, a mirror, enough make-up to open her
own cosmetics store... Mako was in heaven.
As soon as she sat down on the bench, she had delved into her
purse - her beautiful purse which matched her shoes which matched
her dress... She was ACCESORIZING! She was delighted.
The contents of her purse had been even better than she had
dared to hope, and the packages she had bought that day were all
from the petite clothing stores that she had only ever passed
before.
The short period of time that she had spent with her friends in
this form was the most comfortable she had ever felt when with them
in public. She had always towered over her friends, feeling awkward
and unsightly whenever anyone looked in their direction. She was
sure that everyone was always gaping at her.
But now she was no longer the amazon that sparked fear into so
many by her mere presence. Now, she felt truly like "one of the
girls."
She reached her decision. If there was a catch to this way of
life, she sure couldn't think of it. Taking a deep breath, Mako
closed her eyes and opened her mind. 'I wish-'
"Look out!"
The raw terror and panic in the voice caused the five heads to
swivel toward the sound as much as the words themselves. Within
seconds of the warning, half of the wall opposite the girls
collapsed, exposing a huge, salivating and feral looking
monstrosity, gripping one of the mall patrons by the neck. The
creature looked ready to rip the shopper's throat out, but chose
instead to drain his energy before tossing him aside and preparing
to grab another.
The area cleared in less than five seconds.
In less than five more, the monster was faced with the Sailor
Senshi, not pleased that their day off had been interrupted.
Sailor Moon opened her mouth, preparing to severely chastize the
creature for its behaviour and proclaim that she would not forgive
it, when a furiously bellowing roar made her think twice about
discussing the ethics of its actions.
She chose to hide behind Sailor Mars instead.
But for once, she had the right idea. "Defense positions,
now!" Venus shouted, leaping in front of Sailor Jupiter. Mars was
similarly shielding Sailor Moon and Mercury was behind all of them,
her visor in place and computer whirring.
Due to her height, or lack thereof, Jupiter found it impossible
to see the monster or attempt an attack. Whenever she poked her
head around her friend, Venus' arm shielded the way, covering her
again. Mako was beginning to get annoyed.
"Venus," Jupiter began calmly, "would you mind moving out of my
way so I can GET that thing and we can try to enjoy the rest of the
day?"
Despite the intensity of the situation, Venus favoured the girl
with a chuckle. "Jupiter-chan, what are YOU going to do against
that thing? Come on, now, stay still so I can protect you better."
Mako was incensed. What could she do? PROTECT her? Jupiter
was about to loudly explain how she could take care of herself just
fine, thank you very much, when a flash of heat and light signaled
that Mars had attacked.
An high pitched yowl of pain was the first indication that Mars'
fire had found its mark; the scorched stench of burnt flesh and fur,
the second. And then there was nothing, the only sound coming from
the crackling flames that raged where the monster been moments
before.
With a happy cheer, Sailor Moon threw her arms around Mars,
embracing the Senshi in a quick hug from behind. "Sailor Mars,
you're the greatest!"
Mars turned around when Sailor Moon released her, a huge grin on
her face. She gave her Princess a thumbs up. "Of course! You'd
think that by now you'd stop being so surp-"
The horrible sound that emerged from behind the flames indicated
that not only was the monster not dead, but it was less than happy
with Mars' attempt to change that condition. Before the priestess
could recover her position, a chunk of rubble from what had
previously been the wall shot through the air and connected with her
head.
Without making a sound, Mars was propelled across the mall and
into the unsuspecting Mercury. Both hit the benches on which they
had previously been sitting and slumped to the ground, unmoving.
"REI-CHAN! AMI-CHAN!" Sailor Moon turned her back on the
creature and started to move towards the bodies, her only concern
being for her fallen friends. Venus wasn't allowed such a luxury as
she noticed the monster, hurt and all the more dangerous, tensing
and reading itself to pounce.
On instinct, Venus began to move towards the Princess, but she
only got a few steps before stopping and casting an unsure eye
towards Jupiter, who had been staring, open mouthed at their
attacker. Which one was the target? Which one needed saving?
By the time Venus realized that she was the the monster's prey,
it was far too late for her to do anything about it.
"No, Minako-chan!" As another of her friends fell, Sailor Moon
prepared to attack. Wounded though it was, the creature was still
faster. The first hit knocked the weapon from her hands. The second
sent her crumpling to the ground to join her protectors.
Without a pause, the monster turned towards the only Senshi
still on her feet. Its eyes simmered with a burning hatred and it
bared its teeth.
'Move!' Mako's body was unresponsive. 'MOVE!'
The best day of Mako's life was slowly turning into her worst
nightmare, the wonder of her newfound situation ripped away by
the horror of what had happened. There had been no problem until
Rei had gone down, Ami quickly following. It was then that Mako
realized it wasn't there.
Her power.
That was why Minako was protecting her. Jupiter was powerless.
Well, that wasn't completely true. Mako could feel SOMETHING
stirring within her, but it wasn't the usual torrential storm that
was barely contained by her burly frame. What she had now was more
like a light shower. It was all that her new body could handle.
And so, Mako had watched each of her friends - family - fall, one
by one, completely helpless to do anything about it. She didn't
even have the physical strength to try and bruise the damned thing.
The monster knew it.
Now that all of its threats had been eliminated, it was almost
toying with her - not attacking, but not letting her out of its
sight, either. It was slowly circling the girl, not paying
attention to the bodies that were strewn everywhere. Consequently,
it never noticed that Sailor Moon was not out of the fight just yet.
Usagi had regained consciousness and quickly took in the
situation. Rei, Amy, Minako... They were all hurt, no telling how
bad. But Mako was still untouched. Usagi was going to die before she
allowed another of her friends to be attacked by this thing. Before
she could think about what she was doing, Sailor Moon had flung
herself around the creature's neck, trying to divert its attention
away from Mako and do as much damage as possible.
Mako was almost as surprised as the creature when, blond hair
flying, Sailor Moon launched herself at it and tried to bring it
down with her bare hands. She watched, entranced, as the once and
future Princess gritted her teeth and landed another blow to the
back of the thing's head.
Jupiter couldn't be strong here, so Sailor Moon was trying to be.
It was a valiant effort, but she never stood any real chance.
Once the creature had recovered from the shock, Usagi was plucked
from its back and thrown into the opposite wall, landing with a sick
thud.
As Usagi slid to the ground, Mako watched with horror.
'Not like this. I don't want this!'
There was an incredible feeling of deja vu as Mako opened her
eyes, again to be greeted by the mutli-coloured evening sky and
Negai's face hovering over her own. Unlike before, however, the
girl stayed lying on the ground; partly because she was getting used
to Negai's presence and partly because the mere thought of moving
made Mako's head throb in protest.
"Uhhh..."
"See? You're so much fun to talk to." Despite her words,
however, Negai looked sympathetic and waved her hand. Magically,
the guy with the jackhammer in Mako's head went on his lunch break
and she was able to sit up, taking the time to thank the woman
before a feeling of dread settled in her stomach.
"Usagi, Minako, Ami, Rei... Are they alright?"
"They're fine, Kino-san, they're fine! It was only a look at
what MIGHT have been, not how things are. Here, see for yourself."
A full length mirror, similar to the one that Mako had gazed
into during her 'vacation', appeared before her. Sure enough, there
she was, the same Makoto Kino that had been looking back at her for
years. Mako never thought she'd be so happy to be reminded of how
tall and out of place she was.
Negai peered over the top of the mirror. "Didn't like it, huh?"
Mako shook her head emphatically. "Nope. It seemed to be going
along great at first, but my friends... I couldn't fight with them
that way."
With a big sigh, Mako turned away from her reflection and the
mirror vanished. Negai stood by while Mako returned to the
outcropping she had been sitting on before, deep in thought. "My
friends are really all I have, they're my family. Ever since my
parents-" Her head jerked up, eyes wide.
"My parents..."
"Makoto, honey, what's the matter?"
The girl turned and faced the soft green eyes that were focused
on her, filled with concern.
"Nothing. Nothing at all is wrong. Everything's perfect... Mom."