Chapter 5
Sailor Jupiter jumped backwards with a clumsy hop before falling onto her butt as she reacted to the half dozen arrow-tipped tendrils that shot out and up at her. The barrage of symbiotic lances missed her head and chest by only a few inches. As soon as she landed she began to scamper away from her attacker by using her hands and feet. She was trying desperately to put as much distance between Carnage and her as she could. Her face was a look of absolute horror as she kept her eyes glued to her opponent as she did not dare let him out of her sight for even a second. She was still struggling frantically to comprehend what had just happened and what was occurring now. Her mind raced feverishly as she quickly replayed the events of the last three minutes.
A mysterious and clearly evil young man had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and proceeded to first darken the immediate area with thick black clouds before launching a powerful looking energy orb at them. Carnage had valiantly pushed her out of harm's way but had ended up taken the full force of the attack himself as a result. The nature of their opponent's attack had confused her at first as it did not explode on impact or physically damage Carnage. The energy sphere had instead become a semi-transparent bubble and had proceeded to periodically zap him with powerful and extremely painful looking bursts of mystic lightning.
She had originally thought that the bubble was draining his life energy which was a tactic that many of their past enemies had used before. Her response had been to launch a counter-attack at the young wizard in the hopes that she could release her husband from his spell by eliminating him or at the very least break her concentration so the bubble could no longer be maintained. She had managed to hit him directly with her Supreme Thunder attack but it did not have the desired results she had been hoping for. Her electric assault had only been successful in moderately weakening the black clad mystic but not ending the magical attack he was continuing to conduct on her husband. However when the orb mysteriously disappeared seemingly on its own after about a minute and a half the true nature of the sorcerer's attack had become terrifyingly clear to her.
As she finished her mental recall of the past few minutes Carnage sprung up to his feet and turned to face her. His large mouth quickly twisted into a cruel and malevolent smile. The glare in his large solid white eyes was different and contained something that she had never seen before insanity. Sailor Jupiter scrambled herself up into a standing position and went into a defensive stance with her hands up at the ready and her feet firmly planted against the ground. Her eyes narrowed into tiny slits and her lips pursed together into a thin horizontal line. She tried to maintain her usual serious and tough composure but deep inside her she was terrified beyond all measure. Her husband was one of the best hand to hand combatants she had ever seen. His symbiotic partner's powers allowed him to attack from multiple directions at once in addition to a plethora of other abilities. This made him extremely dangerous in close quarters and severely limited her defensive options in she allowed him to get too close to her.
She knew that she could not attempt to block any of his physical attacks or she would risk having her limbs sliced off by one of his seemingly infinite symbiotic weapons. She couldn't get close to him to try and strike him without taking the very risky gamble that she might get stabbed or impaled from a weapon that protruded from somewhere on his body that she would not see coming.
As she looked at the monster that taken over her husband's body she desperately tried to hold on to the belief that somewhere inside that creature was the man that she loved. She had to try and reach him somehow if she was to have any hope of breaking the brain-washing magic that her real enemy had cast on him. She decided to see if directly addressing the man underneath the living alien costume might be enough to shake the spell's hold on him.
"Sean, I know you are in there. Please, stop this!"
"Stop? Why on Earth would I want to do that?"
"Please Sean. I don't want anyone to get hurt."
"No one will get hurt? Man! Where's the fun in that?"
In a flash of movement Carnage placed his hands down on the ground and launched himself at Sailor Jupiter like a feral jungle cat. His mouth was open wide like a lion getting ready to deliver the death bite to the poor animal it had selected to be its prey. His arms were outstretched in front of him with the razor-sharp claws poised and ready to sink into the soft flesh of her torso.
Sailor Jupiter managed to jump out of the way in the nick of time with again only a few inches to spare. Her reaction time was slower than usual as she was still distracted by having to fight for her life against her husband. Her brain was still struggling to deal with the sudden change in events. Her lack of focus caused her body to land improperly from her evasive maneuver and sent her teetering backwards. She landed on her butt once again but she had no time to curse herself for being sloppy and uncoordinated as her eyes caught a sudden and abrupt blur of red-ish movement.
She jerked her head up and saw Carnage twisting around from the crouched position he had landed in following his predatory lunge. He stood back up and looked down at her. As he did so he extended both of his arms out to the sides. Instantly his left hand morphed into a large pickaxe while the other changed into morning star mace. As soon as the instruments of death had solidified he rushed towards her.
He covered the distance between them in a few strides and swung the pickaxe down at where she was sitting when he came within striking distance. In response Sailor Jupiter pushed herself back and barely avoided the point of the pointed instrument. It struck the ground in between her long legs but it was still far too close for comfort. She had no time to breathe as the mace hand came down almost after the pickaxe hand made contact with the ground. This forced her to move back along the ground again. Just like before she just barely managed to avoid a direct hit but the pitch axe hand had been given enough time to be raised again and come back down at her. She kept moving backwards on her hands and feet in a frantic and clumsy crab-like fashion as she continued to avoid the alternating tools of death but still being unable to get back to her feet and mount any sort of offensive of her own to halt the deadly assault.
"Carnage, stop please. This isn't you! Don't you remember who I am?
"Correction beautiful lady. This is me the real me! I'm Carnage! That's who I am! As for who you are, you are just the first victim of the true Carnage!"
"Carnage! Stop toying with her and kill her quickly! The other Sailors will be here soon."
Carnage stopped his assault on Sailor Jupiter and looked up at the top of the grassy mound. Sailor Jupiter took the opportunity that had been given to her to put some distance between her and him. When she was felt she was far enough away she too looked up at the only other person present in the area. Her green eyes focused in on the person responsible for corrupting her husband into this murderous monster.
The young man dressed all in black was continuing to be slow in his recovery from her earlier thunder attack. He was still down on one knee but his upper body was more erect than it had been and his forearms were resting on the top of his bent knee. He was glaring down at both of them with an intense stare from his seemingly black eyes. His mouth was curled upwards into a malicious-looking sneer. Sailor Jupiter felt a small tingle of nervousness flow through her insides as she recognized that particular look. She had been on the receiving end of that very same expression more times than she wanted to remember by a large number of their past enemies.
Carnage on the other hand stood up straighter and all but abandoned his attack posture as he seemingly forgot all about Sailor Jupiter. He engaged into a staring contest with the malevolent young man for several seconds before breaking out into a fit of insane laughter. His mace weapon melted away and turned back into its original humanoid shape while the pickaxe weapon remained firmly in place.
"Ahhh… the man that made me what I am today! I suppose I should thank you for that!"
Before the young mystic could respond to his comment Carnage quickly extended his non-weaponized arm forward. A thick strand of symbiotic material shot out of the end of his limb and moved at high speed towards its target. As the end of the pseudopod got closer it morphed into a large solid square block. It struck the man directly in the centre of his chest and knocked him backwards and out of their view as he fell down the other side of the mound Sailor Jupiter guessed.
The tendril retracted back to the main body after it made contact and the square block quickly reformed once again into its usual five fingered hand shape. At the same time the pickaxe hand also returned to the humanoid form as well. Once the changes were completed Carnage put his arms back down at his sides and let an exaggerated sigh pass through his non-existent lips.
"Ah well… a faint heart never won anything but a dull and boring life. Now where were we?"
Sailor Jupiter knew instantly that her brief rest period was now over. She had to come up with some sort of strategy to keep her alive as she had now run out of both time and options. She couldn't keep being on the defensive because sooner or later Carnage would physically connect with her and when that happened it would be all over. Her only option was to take the offensive and hopefully either knock him out or perhaps even undo what the mysterious man had done to him with a literal shock to his system. She absolutely hated that it had come to this with everything inside her but she simply had no choice now. If she didn't do something now she was unequivocally sure that he would kill her without a second thought if given the chance.
Carnage stalked towards her as his black toothed grin sent shivers up and down her spine as he looked directly at her as he approached. His fingers repeatedly opened and closed which was a sign of his growing excitement over what he hoped was about to occur. Sailor Jupiter didn't let him see her nervousness as she needed complete focus. She waited until he got within three feet of her. This was a very dangerous gamble to let him get that close to her but it was her best chance to ensure that he didn't have any time to counter her tactic.
She sprang into action when he reached his arm back and created a long curved blade from his left arm. As he swung it in a deadly downward arch towards her she dropped to the ground which caused the blade to pass harmlessly over her. In one fluid motion she straightened her leg outwards and swung her body in a circular motion to perform a smooth leg sweep.
Her desperate martial arts-inspired move paid off as the top part of her shin connected perfectly with the outside area of his ankle. The force of the momentum generated by her enhanced Sailor strength was enough to successfully knock his feet out from under him and send him crashing backwards to the ground. As he fell hard against the grass-covered field Sailor Jupiter quickly got up on her hands and feet and poised herself like a jungle cat ready to pounce about two feet away from him. When he sat up she launched and successfully landed a perfect side kick that connected with the underside of his chin. The impact of her knee-high white boot snapped his head back and sent him back down to the ground. As soon as her foot finished its lateral arch she jumped back up to her feet and began to focus her mental concentration.
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"
She quickly collected the life energy from the surrounding plants and flowers. She focused the gathered mass of organic force into the tip of the antenna in the middle of the tiara just as she had earlier when she used her 'Supreme Thunder' attack. The top of the rod began to glow green as the amount of energy quickly accumulated and grew. When she felt she had gathered enough life force she began to spin around on the soles of her white boots like a ballerina with her arms stretched up above her head. As she spun around in place, blasts of leaf-shaped green energy shot out from her tiara's antenna and headed directly for the spot where Carnage was sitting back up again at that exact moment. He saw the multiple projectiles coming at him and quickly threw up an oval-shaped shield with a quick morph and merger of his hands. The rapid succession of the numerous impacts as the jade projectiles struck his shield and the resulting forward momentum and power generated by them sent his body sailing backwards as he did not have the time to properly plant his feet to the ground.
He skidded along the rough terrain for a couple of yards and left a visible trench in the dirt as his body's tough skin bore through the rock and dirt of the soil. He dug several tendrils from the sides of his rib cage and legs into the ground as he was propelled backwards which halted his body's slide. When he had come to a complete stop he threw his head up and looked back at her. His mouth was snarling in her direction as red drool dribbled out of the corners of his mouth.
"Now that wasn't very nice! Is that anyway to treat the man you love?"
"You're not him! But mark my words I am going to get him back!"
"Ohhh… I like your spunk! It will make your death all the more enjoyable!"
Carnage got back up to his feet. He looked down at his left arm and then back at her. He extended his arm out as he lifted his head. The palm of his hand turned upwards to the sky and his fingers became bent at the knuckles so that they were standing straight up. With a quick backwards snap of his fingers, the claws at the end of each of the fingers instantly elongated into a long spike. From her spot a short distance away Sailor Jupiter could tell that that the pointed tips of the finger gaffs were razor-sharp as they almost gleamed in the little natural light that was still presently around them.
'All that's missing is the animated sparkle at the end of each one.'
She mentally kicked herself as she knew that it wasn't the time to be thinking of such ridiculous things. She had to keep her mind on her opponent or she would get sloppy in her movements again which could lead to her death. She snapped her focus back as he raised his head and cast his gaze back onto her.
"Got your will in order?"
He threw his arm out towards her before she could respond. The miniature organic lances shot forward as the symbiotic material covering his arm grew and extended at lightning speed. It covered the distance between Carnage and Sailor Jupiter in a less than two seconds. In response she jumped high into the air as the finger spikes passed underneath her. She twisted her body in mid-air and landed again in a perfect crouched position with her eyes facing right at him. She sprung into another jump before her feet fully settled to the ground. Calling upon her many years of kung fu and martial arts training she fully extended her right leg and got the rest of her body into the proper position for a textbook flying kick.
"Sailor Jupiter Kick!"
Her kick was placed perfectly as her white knee-high boot hit him square in the chest. A loud grunt escaped from his mouth as the air was forced out of his lungs by the kick's impact. She landed in front of him and sprang upwards to connect with a two-punch combination. She first threw an upwards backhand with her left hand then a vicious teeth rattling uppercut with the right. The vertical blow of her second strike lifted him off of his feet as her enhanced strength paired perfectly with the temporary distraction that her two previous hits had caused. Carnage landed hard onto the ground once again with a loud thud. Sailor Jupiter barely stopped to register the sound as her mind raced to plan out her next offensive strategy.
As it turned out Carnage recovered much faster than she had anticipated. He quickly sat up and shot some jagged pieces of his symbiote from his chest up at her. She instinctively jumped up into the air again and twisted her body like an Olympic gymnast to avoid the deadly barrage of organic darts. However the large number of red projectiles acted like a shotgun blast and spread out into a wide cluster which made it impossible to avoid them all.
Three of the crimson pellets grazed the side of her body one just above the left side of her hip and another striking her in the middle of her right thigh. The third dart hit her in the front of her right shoulder. It cut deep into the muscle tissue and rendered her right arm completely useless. The wounds left by the other two razor-edged darts cut deep into her flesh as they passed by her. They drew a large amount of blood and quickly proceeded to stain her Sailor suit an ugly cherry colour. She closed her eyes as she winced before letting a guttural scream escape her mouth as the intense feeling of pain reached her brain a few seconds after she was hit. The adrenaline coursing through her veins was acting as a temporary pain killer delaying the feeling of anguish from being registered by her mind. She collapsed into a heap on the ground when she finally landed as her injured right leg gave way underneath her as it quickly failed to support her body weight.
"He shoots… he scores! The crowd goes wild!"
Carnage flapped his arms up and down like an athlete looking for the attending spectators' approval. He was even so arrogant as to turn his back on her as he did so. It was his way of showing her that he was not the least bit worried about her and that he had absolutely no respect for her or the challenge she posed towards him. His childish actions only served to further convince Sailor Jupiter that this was not the man she loved as her true husband would never make such a cocky move when engaged in any sort of battle.
He hammed it up to the imaginary crowd for a few more seconds before spinning back around to look at her. As he completed his turn multiple strands of symbiotic tissue and tendrils shot out from various points along his chest, arms and legs. Sailor Jupiter would normally have been able to avoid such a tactic with her augmented Sailor speed and agility but the deep abrasion in her right leg's thigh muscles made moving next to impossible and thus slowed her reaction time down considerably.
The symbiotic pseudopods wrapped tightly around her and binding her arms to her sides and her legs together which left her completely at his mercy. Carnage retracted the strands back into his body and pulled her along with them until she was practically face-to-face with him. Up close his breath smelled like rotting meat and his white eyes flashed and flared with the unmistakable gleam of pure evil and complete madness.
"Dinner Time!"
The fear of her impending death terrified her. She had faced her own mortality several times and been actually killed on a couple of occasions during her career as Sailor Soldier. She closed her eyes and let a single tear drop down her cheek from her right eye. If this was how she was going to die she didn't want to see it coming.
"Crescent beam!"
"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"
"Deep Submerge!"
A thin yellow laser beam struck the middle of the tendrils holding Sailor Jupiter that ran from Carnage's body to hers. It cut through some of the strands which made them lose much of their tensile strength. A second later a jet of ice water splashed over her and completely drenched her. It flash froze the symbiotic bonds that were wrapped around her. The extremely cold water temporarily made the red alien restraints very brittle which allowed Sailor Jupiter the opportunity to flex the muscles in her arms and shatter them into many pieces. Carnage let out a 'yelp' of pain as his symbiote reacted to her sudden escape and its appendages being violently broken apart. He didn't have any time to further respond as the final attack struck him dead centre in the upper torso. The large baby blue sphere of concentrated water energy sent him hurdling back against the side the grassy mound behind him. He struck it with incredible force and caused a noticeable dent to form in the side of the ridge underneath him. He slumped down as his body went limp as the impact temporarily stunned him.
The newly arrived Sailors rushed towards their fallen friend who was struggling to stand up on her injured leg. Her Sailor uniform was torn and in tatters in several places which exposed her white skin underneath. She was bleeding profusely from several locations along her legs, arms and central core area. Apparently when Carnage had wrapped her up in his symbiotic tendrils, he had also made the strands jagged and thorny like barbed wire. The sharp barbs and points had dug into her flesh and costume as they held her which added another level of sadistic horror to the already nerve-racking encounter. Sailor Uranus and Mars held up their battered team mate as her body struggled to recover from the sudden loss of blood and the internal shock of being hit with the freezing cold water.
"Jupiter, what the hell is going on?" Sailor Mars intently asked.
"We were attacked, something happened to Carnage. He has been corrupted, gone insane—" Sailor Jupiter replied back.
"What? Attacked by whom?" Sailor Venus inquired, not waiting for Sailor Jupiter to fully finished her answer.
"Some man with magical powers. Carnage knocked him to the other side of the mound. I don't think he is dead though." Sailor Jupiter informed her, nodding her head towards the grassy hill.
Suddenly an unearthly screech cut through the mid-morning air and the Sailors quickly turned their heads towards where the sound was coming from. Carnage was bounding towards them down on his hands and knees like some wild jungle cat. When he was close enough he pushed off with his legs and pounced forward like a tiger. It quickly became clear that he was aiming for Sailor Mars as his intent was to tackle her down to the ground and more than likely eviscerate her if given the chance. Sailor Mars quickly let go of Sailor Jupiter and let Sailor Uranus took her friend's full body weight. She stood her ground and planted her white boots firmly into the ground. She reached behind her and pulled out a thin piece of paper with large Japanese lettering on it. She held the paper close to her face and closed her eyes.
"Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen! Evil spirit begone!"
She threw the paper at the rapidly advancing Carnage as the last word left her lips and it landed square in the middle of his face in the think space between his large white eyes. He stopped his charge and remained completely still as if he was frozen in place which was often the main result of Sailor Mars''Akuryo Taisan' attack. The other Sailors relaxed their bodies as they looked at the still form of their unexpected opponent from their various positions around the field. Their faces all reflected their collective cautiousness given what little they knew about their current situation. Sailor Uranus and Neptune were clearly skeptical that Sailor Mars' attack had indeed achieved what it appeared it had.
"That was too easy."
"I agree Uranus."
"We don't have time to second guess ourselves. We need to quickly get him back to the Crystal Palace so Neo-Queen Serenity can heal him."
Sailor Uranus and Neptune nodded their heads in acknowledgement of Sailor Mercury's comment. Normally Sailor Jupiter and Uranus would be the ones that did the heavy lifting but with Jupiter being severely injured, Neptune was the next strongest of the available Sailors. Both of them had great reservations about getting in such close proximity to Carnage when his current status was questionable. However as Sailor Mercury had pointed out, they did not have the luxury of time and each second that passed was perhaps one second closer to Carnage breaking the hold Mars' spell had on him, if it had indeed worked.
They approached him from the left and right. Their eyes consistently scanned every inch of him as they kept themselves ready to move at a moment's notice if he even so much as twitched. When they got to within a foot of him they exchanged a look between them and silently decided on a method to transport him. They knelt down together and put their hands underneath him. They grasped each other's wrists in a crisscross pattern which formed an 'X' underneath him. They were just about to stand up and thus lift him using their Sailor-enhanced strength when they heard something that put them in full alert mode.
"Ohhhh… I felt a tickle!"
Sailor Uranus and Neptune's eyes flapped wide open and they instantly let go of each other's wrists. As they jumped back from him Carnage shot out four razor sharp blades from the middle of his back. Two of those blades were aimed at Uranus and the other two at Neptune. In their current kneeling position they couldn't move as quickly as they normally would have if they had been standing. One of the blades cut deep into the side of Neptune's ribcage as she tried to twist her body out of the incoming weapons' path. Sailor Uranus had the same idea but was slightly faster than her partner. The blades coming at her narrowly missed at scoring a direct hit. The smooth sharp edges of the organic blades sliced across the side of her left arm and right shoulder. They were superficial wounds and not life-threatening but were still deep enough to draw an unsettling amount of blood. The realization that her body had ended up between the blades and she had barely avoided a fatal strike to her head or torso was not lost on her.
Carnage remained crouched down on his hands and knees as he proceeded to laugh manically as he took in the results of his surprise attack. Sailor Neptune was curled up into a fetal position on the ground a few feet away from him. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her head was down as she felt an intense pang of pain each time her ribs expanded and contracted with each breath. On the other side of him Sailor Uranus was down on one knee. Her left hand was covering the wound on her right shoulder and blood could be seen seeping through her fingers as it stained her white gloves. The deep cut on her arm was dripping blood to the ground and quickly forming a small puddle underneath her. Her head was up and she had a fierce look on her face which only grew in its intensity when she saw her partner and lover's current situation. Carnage looked right back at her but didn't seem the least bit un-nerved by her 'death stare'. In fact he appeared to be relishing it.
He stood up and took a step towards Sailor Uranus. As he approached her he held up his left hand in front of him. As he continued to stalk towards her the tension and the faint smell of fear quickly filled the air. Two curved spikes grew out of the back of his raised hand like a pair of bladed samurai gauntlets. He saw her eyes flash as she took note of the new weapon her opponent was now wielding. All around him tendrils and pseudopods waved and wiggled around him like snakes dancing to a charmer's musical instrument. When he came within striking distance of her he pulled his arm back in preparation to thrust it forward and drive the points of the spikes into her head.
"What colour do you bleed Sailor?"
As he brought his hand down in its deadly swipe a bright orange light suddenly illuminated both of their bodies in the limited light that the supernaturally created black clouds above them allowed. A second later a long slender object struck the attacking hand of Carnage and passed through his symbiotic skin like a hot knife through butter. It was followed quickly by a loud verbal announcement that was a blessing to Sailor Uranus.
"Mars Flame Sniper!"
The smell of burning organic material and temporarily wave of intense heat was felt by Sailor Uranus. It was instantly followed by an inhuman howl from Carnage as he clutched his injured arm and brought it close to his body where he cradled it with his other arm. He turned around to look at where the attack had come from as his white eyes flashed with both anger and frustration at having his kill interrupted.
Behind him and a short distance away Sailor Mars stood. Her body was still in the archer position she went into when performing her 'Flame Sniper' attack. Right now she had another flaming arrow at the ready and it was aimed directly at him. Her violet coloured eyes were focused and the look on her face told everyone that she was prepared to do what she had to ensure that no more blood was spilled as a result of this monster even though it had once been her close friend and team mate.
"Carnage! Stop this rampage right now! Don't force me to use this!"
Carnage was silent for a second as if he was considering her threat. His left hand was slowly recovering from her first flaming arrow but the ease that it had gone through his living skin was something he could not ignore. He was still confident that he could tear through these Sailors like tissue paper and fertilize the wild flowers with their mangled bodies but he had to be smart about it. Sailor Mars was the only warrior among them that possessed the right kind of power to seriously harm or even kill his symbiote. If he continued to fight them she would more than likely get at least another successfully hit on his body before he could take her out which could very likely and literally stop him dead in his tracks. His message had been delivered and there was no need to drag out the opening act in his symphony of death and destruction when there was so much more he wanted them to see. He relaxed his shoulders and straightened his body up before going into another bout of insane laughter.
"Ta Ta, see you in the funny papers!"
With that tasteless quip he broke out into a run as his enhanced symbiotic powers allowed him to clear the span of the field in less than fifteen seconds. When he had begun his escape run Sailor Uranus jumped back up to her feet and started to take off after him. Sailor Saturn the youngest of the Sailors rushed after her with the intention of helping her team mate since Sailor Neptune was out of commission. Sailor Mercury and Venus quickly intercepted them before they passed by them and held their arms out to their sides to let them know that they didn't want them to pass.
"Wait! We need to get back to the Palace!"
"Out of my way Mercury. We need to stop that monster before he harms anyone else!"
"We will Uranus but we need to get Neptune and Jupiter medical attention first and we have to make sure the King and Queen are safe. We don't know where he is heading and we have to make their safety as our top priority!"
Sailor Uranus gritted her teeth as she took in Sailor Mercury's statement. She knew that she and Venus were right but she hated the circumstances they now found themselves in. It was their sworn duty as Sailors to guard and protect Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endyimon from any and all harm. If Carnage managed to invade the Crystal Palace and successfully kill them while they blindly tried to track him the utopian prophecy that had been promised would not come to pass and the Earth would fall back into the darkness and despair that had previously consumed it.
"Fine… let's get moving then! The sooner we re-group at the Palace the sooner we can track Carnage down!"
She turned around and hurried over to where Sailor Neptune was lying on the ground and carefully picked up her girlfriend cradling her body close to her. Sailor Mars and Venus likewise helped Jupiter back to her feet after she had fallen over during the short fight and draped her arms over their shoulders since she still couldn't put her full body weight on her injured right leg. Sailor Mercury activated her VR visor and pulled her micro-computer out so that she could scan the area with a program that would run continuous sweeps of their surrounding area. She was trying to watch for any other enemies so they wouldn't be caught by surprise or Carnage if he doubled back with the intention of finishing them off.
They began to head back to the Crystal Palace when they heard a sound come from somewhere behind them. They all spun around just in time to see a small rock finish its downward roll off of the grassy mound. Their eyes traced the stone's path up the hill and found themselves looking at a young man.
He was dressed head to toe in black clothing. His black hood had been completely knocked back which exposed his completely shaven head. He had a tattoo of an upside down black crescent moon in the centre of his forehead just above the space between his eyes. He was clearly injured as he was down on his hands and knees and appeared to not have the physical strength to stand up on his feet. He felt their collective stares and glared down at them with a facial expression seemed to suggest that he was both angry and more than a little disappointed that they were all still alive.
"That's him! … That's the guy that attacked us and corrupted Carnage!"
Sailor Venus didn't waste any time. She let go of Sailor Jupiter and raised her arm above her head as she closed her eyes. She extended her index and small finger while keeping the rest clenched into a fist. She focused her mind on gathering the necessary power from her surrounding environment. After a few seconds she created a chain of golden energy which swirled all around her body. When the heart-shaped links of the chain were fully formed she directed it at the young man by throwing her raised arm down in his direction.
"Venus Love-Me Chain!"
The chain flew through the air and wrapped tightly around the man binding his arms and legs together in much the same fashion as Carnage had done with Sailor Jupiter earlier. She pulled their enemy roughly down the hill until he came to a stop at her feet. She reached down and picked him up using her enhanced Sailor strength to lift the deadweight of his body. As the young man struggled against the energy chain that securely held him Sailor Venus reached her right arm back and punched him where she thought his jaw would be underneath the oversized black hood that fallen back over his head as she had pulled him down the grassy hill. As she picked up their now unconscious prisoner Sailor Saturn proceeded to take her place in helping Sailor Mars with Jupiter. Despite her smaller body size she used her Silence Glaive staff to give Jupiter a walking stick as a support.
With their captive securely in toll they resumed their trek back to the Crystal Palace where they hopefully would get some answers and stop the insanity that seemed to be consuming the beginning of this once sunny day.
End of Chapter 5…