"Naru… what have they done to you?" Usagi asked, horrified at what she was seeing.
"You like her? I'm personally quite proud, myself." Reign said, making their way towards Usagi, with Sailor Chaos standing in place behind them, "Originally I was torn between Chaos and Nemesis, considering that's the tenth planet after all. Or, more accurately, was. But something about Sailor Chaos just felt… right."
"You think this is funny?!" Usagi shouted, grabbing Reign by the collar and reeling back to strike them.
"A little bit. Sailor Chaos?" Reign said, and with a snap of their fingers, Chaos dashed toward Usagi and grabbed her by the throat, pinning her against a wall.
"Naru, please…" Usagi pleaded, trying to claw the girl's hand off of her throat, "... don't do this."
"That's not my name anymore." She said, her voice full of malice.
Usagi conjured her wings out of her back and flew upward, finally escaping Chaos's grip, "Don't worry Naru, I'll make this right!" She said, conjuring the Moon Stick into her hand, "MOON HEALING ESCALATION!" She cried as energy from the Silver Crystal washed over Naru.
"Hnngh… NO!" Naru shouted as crimson lightning exploded from her body, dissipating the energy around her.
"What? But it should've-" Was all Usagi had time to say before being struck by a flying kick from Naru, which sent her tumbling onto the front lawn.
"Ah ah ah." Reign said, descending down next to Chaos, "You should know by now it's never that easy."
Sailor Chaos launched toward Sailor Moon with a flurry of blows, most of which she was able to dodge until one finally connected to her gut, forcing her back and knocking the wind out of her. It wasn't until she looked up that she realized she had been forced into a cluster with her friends, with their assailants closing in from all ends.
"This is bad." Mars said breathlessly.
"But we can't… hurt them…" Usagi choked out.
Sailor Chaos was the first to charge, her eyes dead set on Sailor Moon. That is until she was distracted and stopped dead in her tracks by an object which had been thrown from above and was sticking out of the ground in front of her: a rose.
Wasting no time, Tuxedo Mask did a midair somersault over Naru's head and landed next to Sailor Moon.
"You." Reign sneered with their voice full of contempt.
"Tuxedo Mask…" Usagi said weakly.
"Save the pleasantries for later! We're getting out of here!" Tuxedo Mask shouted, throwing down a smoke bomb. When it cleared, the heroes were nowhere in sight.
"Dammit." Sailor Chaos muttered.
"Don't worry." Reign said, placing their hand on Naru's shoulder, "You'll have plenty more opportunities."
…
The Inners regrouped at the Hikawa Shrine, gathered in Rei's room, the heroes each mulled over the events of the last battle in their minds.
"I can't believe this…" Usagi said, with Mamoru attempting to comfort her.
"Alright, well, let's go over what happened." Minako said, standing up while holding an ice pack on her head.
"We got our asses kicked, that's what happened." Makoto said as Ami applied a bandage to her arm, "Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, turning to her blue-haired girlfriend.
"Sweetie, I'm fine." Ami said with a reassuring, but tired smile, "Well, as fine as any of us can be, I suppose."
"I can't believe I didn't see this coming." Rei said, leaning forward while sitting on the edge of her bed, "This is all my fault. If I hadn't stopped practicing maybe I would've-"
"Hey, no. Absolutely not." Minako said, sitting next to Rei and placing her hand on her shoulder, "This is not your fault." The Guardian of Beauty turned to her friends, all of whom wore similar faces to Rei, "It's not any of your faults, okay?" She asked, earning some nods and grumbles from her friends.
"Alright, good. Now let's get down to business." The leader of the Inner Guardians continued, "We're dealing with an enemy who knows our identities and isn't afraid to invade our personal spaces. So from now on we're using the buddy system. No one, at any point, is to be without another team member with them. Is that clear?"
Once again, Minako received noises and gestures of affirmation from the others in the room.
"Mako, you can stay at my place." Ami said to her green-eyed lover.
"Alright." Makoto replied affirmatively.
"Usako… do you-?"
"I'll just tell my mom I'm staying over at Ami's to study. She'll be so happy to hear that she won't pry too much." Usagi answered before her boyfriend could even finish the question.
"And I guess… you can stay here…" Rei said softly to Minako, prompting a light blush from the leader of the Inner Guardians.
"Uh… yeah… sounds good."
"Well, if we're gonna do that I need to run home and grab some things." Makoto said, standing up.
"Yeah, I guess that makes three of us." Minako said, "But remember to have your communicators ready in case something happens."
…
"Are you sure your mom will even be okay with me staying over?" Makoto asked as she and Ami made their way up the stairs of Makoto's apartment building.
"She's working nights through next week, so we're good." Ami responded, "Although even if she wasn't, it's not like she has to worry about you getting me pregnant or anything." Ami said with a smirk.
"Ami!" Makoto exclaimed, shocked, "I never thought I'd hear something so crass out of you!"
"What can I say, you all have been rubbing off on me." Ami said as she watched Makoto unlock her door.
"Sure, but-" Was the last thing the Guardian of Thunder said before she opened her apartment door and turned white as a ghost.
"Mako?" Ami asked, walking over to see what was the matter. She then looked into Mako's apartment and realized what had invoked this reaction in her other half.
Naru Osaka was sitting on Mako's couch. She was in her civilian form, wearing simply a tank top and shorts, but she was twirling a dark crimson object in her hand which was unmistakably a transformation pen.
"Well, it's about time you two showed up." Naru said, standing up from the couch and facing the couple, who finally stepped in from the hallway and closed the door behind them, both making sure not to take their eyes off of the red-haired girl.
"Oh, I heard you two finally got together, congratulations. Not sure how it didn't happen sooner, with how obvious Ami's crush was."
"Get to the point." Mako said, positioning herself in front of Ami, "Why are you here?"
"Ah, you see, that's the thing." Naru said, holding up her transformation pen, "I've kinda gotta bring you both in."
"Yeah right." Makoto said, pulling out her Crystal Change Rod, with Ami doing the same.
"Y'know, I would say I hoped it wouldn't come to this, but…" Naru said, raising her pen over her head with a smirk, "... I'd be lying. Chaos Power!"
"Jupiter Crystal Power!"
"Mercury Crystal Power!"
"MAKE UP!"
While Ami and Makoto were surrounded by water and electricity respectively during their transformations, Naru became enveloped with inky black shadows and crimson lightning, before the three finally emerged, transformed into their sailor forms.
Makoto acted fast, dashing towards Naru and tackling her, sending them both crashing through the adjacent window and onto the street.
"Ooh, feisty, I like that!" Chaos said as the two impacted the pavement, sending civilians scattering in fear of their own safety. Meanwhile, Ami pulled up her communicator to call her friends to aid them in battle.
…
"Did you really need to bring that much?" Rei asked, looking at the full bag that Minako had slung over her shoulder.
"I like to be prepared, okay?"
"Tell me that the next time you bring home one of your tests." Artemis said as he walked beside them.
"Oh, shut it you." Minako said, before both her and Rei's communicators went off. Opening it quickly, Minako was met with the sight of Ami's worried face, "Ami, what's wrong?"
"It's Naru! She's here! She ambushed us in Mako's apartment!"
"Alright, don't worry, we'll be right there!" Rei said as the two dashed towards Makoto's apartment building.
"Venus Crystal Power!"
"Mars Crystal Power!"
"MAKE UP!"
…
"Oh, Usagi! It's been a while!" Naru's mother, Mayumi said as she opened the door to Usagi and Mamoru.
"Mrs. Osaka! I was wondering if you've seen Naru?" Usagi asked.
"Maybe if I can find her when she's not… that, I can help her." Usagi thought to herself.
"No! I've been so worried; she hasn't come home in days!" Mayumi cried.
"Days?" Usagi said, feeling ice running through her core.
"How long has she…?"
"Do you know where she is?" Mayumi asked, looking at Usagi with pleading eyes.
"I… I…" Usagi began, unable to figure out what to say.
"No ma'am." Mamoru stepped in, "She was just going to meet with her at Crown, but Naru never showed up."
"Oh, I see…" Mayumi said, disappointed.
"Have you asked Umino? Maybe he-" Usagi began, before being cut off.
"Umino?" Mrs. Osaka said incredulously, "Can't see why she'd be with him, considering he broke up with her just a few weeks ago."
"He… what?" Usagi asked, stunned.
"You didn't know?"
"No, I… I haven't really…"
"We'll keep on the lookout for her, and let you know if we find her." Mamoru once again interjected.
"Alright… please do…"
Before long the couple had left the premises and were making their way toward Usagi's home.
"Usako, are you alright?" Mamoru asked, noticing Usagi's fallen facial features.
"Yeah… I guess I just-"
Suddenly, Usagi's communicator went off. She flipped it open to reveal Ami's panicked face.
"Ami, what's-?"
"It's Naru! She's at Mako's apartment building!"
"Don't worry, we'll be right there!" Usagi said, closing her communicator.
Usagi and Mamoru ran down the street, before attempting to cut through a nearby alleyway. As they reached the halfway point of the alley, however, a flash of dark energy knocked them onto their backs.
Looking up, Usagi was met by none other than the Four Queens of Heaven.
"Sorry princess," Haruka said with a smirk, "we can't let you interfere."
…
Mercury and Jupiter each held one of Chaos's arms, attempting to restrain her while causing the smallest amount of harm possible.
"Please, Naru, stop! We don't want to hurt you!" Mercury pleaded.
"Oh, of course you don't. After all…" Chaos said, forcing her arms together causing Mercury and Jupiter to slam into one another, "You're far too good for that, aren't you?"
Chaos looked down at her opponents, who were currently crumpled on the ground after having the wind knocked out of them.
"Venus Love Me Chain!" The dark guardian heard, before being wrapped in a chain made of energy and forced onto her knees.
Venus and Mars landed next to their friends, the former still holding one end of the chain restraining Chaos.
"You guys okay?" Mars asked, helping both her friends to their feet.
"Yeah, I'm good." Jupiter said, not letting down her guard.
"Good." Venus said, before turning her attention back to their adversary, "As for you," she continued, tugging lightly on the chain, "you're not going anywhere."
Chaos giggled in response, "Aww, you think you're in control here." She said, as her body began to emanate crimson electricity, "That's adorable."
"Everybody get down!" Mars cried as the Sailor Guardians scattered in various different directions.
"Chaos Dark Extermination!" Chaos shouted, sending hundreds of crimson bolts from her body and toward the Sailor Guardians, who were able to just barely avoid them by dodging and ducking behind objects like cars and lampposts.
"Alright, I've had enough of this!" Jupiter said, "Supreme-"
"No, Jupiter, we can't!" Venus said, getting between her and Chaos, "She's not right! She's- gah!" Venus cried as she received a blow to the head from Chaos.
"Not right? Quite the contrary…" Chaos said, weaving between the different Guardians' various attempts to restrain her, "I've never been better! Chaos Solar Winds!"
The Guardians quickly found themselves swept away by a hurricane's worth of wind coming from Chaos's body. While it flung them back, the wind itself felt like glass shards across their skin.
"You always looked down on me. Thought you were better than me. Well guess what?" Chaos said with a deranged smile, looking down at her foes who were still picking themselves up from her last attack, "Now I'm the one with the power!"
"Naru… that's not true." Mercury said, holding her injured arm, "We-"
Chaos dashed forward and was immediately face to face with Mercury.
"That's. Not. My. Name." She said, blasting Mercury back into an adjacent building.
"Mercury!" Jupiter cried, before turning back to Chaos, enraged, "That's it!" She shouted before charging at Chaos, "No more playing around!"
"Jupiter!" Venus and Mars cried simultaneously, running after their friend.
Chaos sprouted a small smirk, "Suckers." She said, as her body once again erupted with crimson lightning, "Chaos Dark Extermination!"
The trio were each assaulted by the attack, and knocked onto the ground, all three sorely injured.
Chaos warped over to where Mercury lay, and picked her up, slinging her over her shoulder.
"Well, this was fun, but I've got what I need." Chaos said, turning to the injured guardians.
"N-no!" Jupiter said, forcing herself to her feet, "Put her down!" She demanded, before charging at Chaos.
"See ya." Chaos said, and in a flash both she and Ami were gone.
"NO!" Jupiter cried, collapsing onto her knees in the spot where Chaos had just stolen the love of her life, "AMI!"
Venus and Mars approached Jupiter solemnly, both trying to figure out how best to support their friend, before she started repeatedly slamming her fist into the ground below her, creating several large cracks in the road.
"NO! NO! NO!"
"Jupiter! Mako! Stop!" Venus said, dropping to her friend's level and grabbing her arm. It wasn't until Jupiter stopped struggling against her that Venus released her grip.
"We'll get her back… okay?" Venus said weakly.
After a long silence, Jupiter rose to her feet, "I know we will… and when we do…" She said, clenching her fists in anger, "... Sailor Chaos is mine."
Alright so, I know it's been a minute since the last chapter and... I can explain.
Long story short, over the summer I started a new job, which made it difficult to make time to keep this story updated. Not helped by the fact that, even though this chapter was pretty much finished before I posted the last one, every week that went by where I didn't edit and post it the task just felt more and more daunting, especially since this chapter is pretty important in the grand scheme of the story.
I'll try to get back to bi-weekly updates after this, but I obviously don't want to make any promises that I might not be able to keep. So, for now I'll just say the gap between this chapter and the next almost certainly won't be as long between the last one and this one.
TLDR: Sorry that this took so long I was adulting.
ANYWAY. Naru has turned on her friends, but what do she and Reign want with Ami? And how could the Inners hope to get her back? Well, guess you'll have to keep reading to find out.
Also, just a quick fun fact, Sailor Chaos's attack "Chaos Dark Extermination" is largely inspired by the song "Exterminate Time" by Tetra-Fang. I was listening to the song a lot at the time when I was conceptualizing her character, and I'd go so far as to say it's basically her unofficial theme song, so go give it a listen if you haven't!
watch?v=gkdJ5KbS_mU
That's it for this chapter, but please come back next time for Chapter 9! Please remember to leave a comment! I always love seeing what people think of the story! And until next time, take care everyone!
