After being informed the foot soldiers were purified, the other groups worried little about what they had to do to the other forces because they desired not to kill anyone. These weapons took some time, but it was not like the girls had not seen them used before. On a boat, the girls are trying to decide which weapons they could handle most effectively against water-based forces.
"I don't feel comfortable using a weapon." Due to her love of karate, which means 'empty hand,' Ariel always preferred to use her body instead of artillery.
"You use Jupiter's power as a weapon, right?" Juno quipped bodly.
"I only do that if I'm sure my karate would be ineffective," Ariel replied defensively.
"This is the most similar to your powers." Dawn softly handed Ariel a stun gun, not wanting to waste time.
"I've seen Holly use something similar to this." Juno heaved up a bazooka.
Shadow's dark eyes glowed in anticipation as she picked up twin sickles, similar to her energy blades, and threw Dawn a laser stinger! One of the most lightweight firearms for Dawn was the best; she is not as physically strong as some of the others.
"Never bring a knife to a gunfight..." Jewel chose one of the shotguns.
It was a few days before Lucius made another call, as he must have realized, when there was no report, his land assault had not gone as planned, and the civilians were not coming back! Helenia tried to soothe him, but he brushed her off, sending her crashing to the floor!
"Where are my troops?!" Lucius boomed over the communications in the Command Center.
Comet and Asteroid were startled off the console by the sound!
"Safe...from you and your disgusting magic!" Rose hissed.
"And you are?" Lucius's voice went back to being calm, collected, and icy.
"Rose is my biological sister, and I'm Quartz. We're additions to the family of Luna and Artemis." Quartz joined his younger sibling on the screen.
"You're from Mau?" Lucius asked.
"No. BTW, I'm Elizabeth." Jewel's indigo kitten answered Diana, sitting beside her with Quartz and his red sister shaking their heads.
"I guess Luna and Artemis give their gifts to just anyone." Lucius shrugged.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Quartz's black fur bristled.
"They take in three strays and give them all the ability to talk? I believe you should prove your worth before great rewards are given." Lucius elaborated.
"Things don't work like that here," Quartz remembered all the shelter kittens had been given the magic to talk, but the less Lucius knew, the better.
"Apparently. Well, I just called to wish whatever seamen you have good luck as they will play with some starving pets of mine soon." Lucius laughed and faded away into a blank screen again.
"He thinks he's scary." Quartz rolled his odd eyes.
"Lucius isn't brilliant either; he keeps giving us all the information we need," Diana added.
"Demi and the girls need to be told what's going on," Rose said urgently, her amber eyes gleaming in worry.
Comet and Asteroid quickly contacted Ariel.
"Ariel, can you hear me?" Comet inquired.
"Loud and clear," Ariel affirmed to Luna's red-eyed daughter.
"Lucius will send some of his aquatic 'pets' your way." Asteroid was divulged to the group.
"I'm guessing he doesn't mean fluffy kittens?" Dawn groaned, and so did Shadow.
It could be slightly creepy when Dawn and Shadow reacted the same way, considering the twins looked so different.
"He didn't specify, but considering what we know..." Comet knew cute was not in Lucius's taste.
"We'll stay vigilant, and I'm sure Demi is watching too. Thanks." Ariel replied gratefully, then ended the communication.
"Are you worried?" Shadow saw Ariel slump against the mast.
"No...well...in a way. Aquatic enemies will be no sweat for me, and Lucius should know that as Sailor Jupiter is known for electrical powers. So, it only makes sense I would be stationed here." Ariel explained.
"I hate to say it, but Ariel's got a point: Lucius knows how to manipulate a terrain to his advantage. Even when the odds seem against him, he comes up with something new." Memories from past encounters with Lucius flashed through Juno's mind.
"We'll just have to come up with new strategies, too," Shadow smirked.
Juno shook her head, feeling like the Neo and Dark Kingdom Senshi did not understand how evil Lucius could be. Dawn kept her eyes peeled for any lights from the tower Demi manned as it got dark. Eventually, two lights flared up in the tower window, and the girls ran to different sides of the boat to see where the horrors were coming from, but something did not add up!
"It's here!" Ariel called, seeing large dorsal fins glide by.
"No! Over here!" Jewel cried and cringed as she dodged 'arms' dotted with large suckers.
"You're both wrong!" Juno hollered as she swore she saw a humongous jellyfish!
Dawn did not speak but turned pale white; her blue eyes grew wide, and her jaw dropped as something monstrous rushed by under the water!
"We're surrounded!" Shadow had climbed to the boat's top and saw the gigantic something Dawn had spotted circling them!
"First things easy: We need to dry out that jellyfish. Who can get it stranded on land?" Ariel asked.
Jewel dived forward and used her magic to hurl the jellyfish far away. When she lifted it into the air, it was revealed its tendrils could easily reach a boat from land. Its body could have effortlessly capsized the Titanic! To their disbelief, the jellyfish began to walk on its hooked tentacles back towards them literally!
"Sunburn!" Dawn screamed, hoping to dry out the terror before it could touch them!
Thankfully, this worked just before the creature struck them from the land! Jewel's scream caught their attention: Whatever was swinging at her before had fully grabbed her now and was attempting to pull her into the depths! Ariel supposed this was either a giant octopus or squid, and the group did what they could to wound the arms. This did work in freeing Jewel, but it also forced the creature to reveal itself: A Kraken!
Like both orthopods, Ariel came up with another solution, "Shoot it between the eyes!"
Jewel did as she was told and, putting some magic behind it, the bullets pierced the monster's brain, killing it!
Next was rather unexpected: A Great White and Narwhal jumped onto the boat, stood up on their human-like legs, and even had human-like arms!
"Street Sharks?" Jewel joked.
"Seriously?" Shadow said through gritted teeth.
"They LOOK like Street Sharks!"Jewel gestured towards the creatures.
"You weren't kidding, Juno. Lucius thought out of the box!" Ariel commented.
"I tried to warn you," Juno commented.
"We think it's time to bring the fight to you. Out of the water and into the fire!" This Great White yelled in an excited and pleased manner.
"It's out of the frying pan into the fire. Situation fits, though." This Narwhal corrected.
"When I said I was curious how a shark would sound out of the water, this isn't what I meant. Electric Thunderclap!" Ariel attacked, but the shark held up one of its clawed hands. The attack was negated, and Ariel saw they were wearing gloves and boots made of rubber!
Rubber gloves are a great way to avoid getting electrocuted! Unfortunately, Ariel could do nothing when the man-like Narwhal, who looked way too small to be still as heavy as he is, pinned her down with his weight and tried to bite her head off or impale her, though Ariel avoided the horn and held up up her knees to keep him back! The shark snapped his teeth at them when the other girls rushed forward to help her!
"Interfere, and I'll tear you apart!" He growled.
As Ariel screamed, a shot went off, and the shark collapsed to the deck, dead! Everyone looked around, eventually spotting Juno, who looked sick to her stomach, at the realization she had just killed an apex predator, another living creature! Enraged, the Narwhal knocked out Ariel and charged at Juno!
"Shot it in the blowhole!" Shadow commanded.
Juno fumbled with the bazooka for a second, letting off another shot, which smashed a hole into the boat's hull!
"What are you doing, you little fool?! Was that for me?" This Narwhal lunged at Juno, but she slid under him, and, having a better sight of the blowhole from behind, she shot at it.
Luckily, she did manage to strike it, but this animal howled in agony and slipped back into the ocean, disappearing from view.
"Damn, it's going to go back to Lucius!" Jewel swore as she tried to rouse Ariel.
"It won't make it. While it's not dead, it will be, or whales and sharks will eat it. Out here, there is no room for mistakes. Those who are weak or sick are weeded out early in aquatic life." Shadow preached.
"We're not in the clear yet." As Dawn said this, a bellow, too loud for any whale to make, sounded, and something rammed into the side of the boat so hard the girls were thrown into the rail on the opposite side of the vessel!
"What in the name of Queen Serenity-?!" Jewel began but was too shocked to speak as she saw a leather hide cruise around them!
"Whatever it is, it's BIG and not going down without a fight." Shadow observed gravely.
"If this is an all-hands-on-deck scenario, we can't hope to defeat it without Ariel's assistance." Jewel looked at her twin Senshi, her yellow eyes full of distress.
"Juno, go get the first-aid kit. I'm unsure what's in there, but we need whatever we can get." Shadow ordered as they moved Ariel inside the cabin. The boat was still rocking from the waves caused by the monster's swimming, but it was safest here...for now.
"Shadow, this boat..." Dawn looked at the floor, but Shadow knew her blonde opposite was thinking about the smashed hull.
"Sis, see if you can find a pump somewhere in here. It may buy us minutes only, but everyone counts."
Sadly, Dawn could only find a small pump, but it will have to do.
The girls did everything they could to wake Ariel gently, and she gradually came to after 15 minutes. At this point, the floor was getting moist, so the group moved to the top of the ship, even if it made Ariel slightly dizzy.
"What's going on?" Ariel sounded uncharacteristically out of it as she is always in her best mind.
"We're still fighting Lucius, but we beat the Narwhal. We're battling...well...we don't know what it is yet, but here..." Dawn gets Ariel to hold her stun gun at the ready.
Despite the girls not knowing what this thing might do to them, they knew they would be in the water by morning, and that was not any better of a position than where they are now! Suddenly, right in front of them, rose a Sea Serpent! Similar in size and shape to 'Nessie,' but with no eyes or describable nose, it is bright blue and seems to smell with its tongue!
"Should we transform?" Dawn whimpered.
"If you want to. I don't think I would be able to take it..." Ariel gagged a little.
Everyone except Ariel, activated their heroine forms. At least they are at their most powerful and have more energy this way.
"It's skin is like leather. So, we need to find its weak spot. We should stun it before attacking." Super Sailor Universe did not like the idea of sending any one of them near this serpent!
"Is there any way I can get closer?" Ariel knew the closer she got, the more effective her shots would be.
"I can levitate you?" Universe offered.
"I'll try not to hurl." Ariel kept her eyes ahead to balance herself as she flew toward the beast!
Most of Ariel's shots just bounced off this behemoth's skin! However, she did annoy the thing enough that it opened its mouth, and Jupiter's daughter could get a few shots into the maw before Universe pulled her away from possibly being eaten! Finally, this monster screeched as the shots started to take effect on its much softer insides, and the girls used their powers so the weapons would not affect its tough skin. While the attacks did do damage, it was not enough!
"Let's try and pull off a combo!" Super Sailor Sun suggested.
"Electric Energy Dragon Explosion!" A glowing, green dragon emerged from Universe's Ribbon Heart Scepter and ensnared the sea serpent!
Not a minute too late, the dragon exploded, ending its life and the sea serpent's!
"I guess that's it...?" Sun hoped she was right.
"Maybe for us, but Lucius isn't done." Ariel huffed and puffed.
"We're still sinking!" Shadow shouted.
"I can levitate us and the boat to land." Universe pointed out.
"Why didn't you already do that?!" Juno asked incredulously.
"We were sinking and being attacked by monsters!" Universe snapped as she did not think well when panicked.
Regardless, Universe brought them back to shore. To their relief, Gracie, Emily, and Trisha helped Ariel. Ivy embraced the now de-transformed Jewel and Dawn while high-fiving Shadow. Tiger's Eye gave Juno an understanding look, which was enough for her. Due to needed recovery, Neo-Queen Serenity had the deepest and most secure rooms reserved for the injured.
Those of Lucuis's creatures, who were found dead, were disposed of before the boat could be repaired, but that was not a worry anymore; the only concern now was which way Lucius would attack next and what he would send as fighters.