"Sailormoon Dark Episode 25," Pretty Soldier Sailormoon, PG-13
Sailormoon Dark: Episode Twenty-Five
"The Final Galileon II. Ruby Eyes."
Written by Laurel
Inspired by the Japanese animated show Pretty Soldier Sailormoon.
The ideas for this fanfic were conceived in 1995, but this actual episode was written in July 2002. Revised September 2002.
Word Count: 5,748
Art on this episode banner drawn by Nancy and colored by me.
"Retrieve the Dragonfly for you, Mother Dearest? It'll be a cinch."
"Not if we get it first."
"As if. I kicked your mother's ass; you're not even half as tough as she was."
"I'll kill you for that, Baby Baby Love! I'll--Sailorarsenic, don't just sit there eating popcorn! Help me!"
"But I love to watch a good fight."
Pretty Soldier Sailormoon Dark Episode 25: The Final Galileon II. Ruby Eyes. The moonlight carries the message of love.
A furry head poked out from under Sailordarkcosmos' chair. "Am I allowed to come out now?" Dark Luna asked, expecting to be smacked again.
Darkcosmos couldn't help but laugh. "I never thought I'd see the day that the great guardian Luna would cower from me. You have no idea how much fun this is."
The cat grumbled, "You just wait until I catch you unaware. I'll scratch-"
"Shut up! I've got information. Sulphur, Arsenic, come here!"
The two Elementals entered her pocket of shadow. "Yes, my Queen?"
"I know how we're going to get the Dragonfly. A few of the members of Team Galileo once knew an American boy named Adam Hanson. One of them dated him, but he was a batterer. That is how they found each other again in this life; two rescued the third from his latest beating. Miraculously, a small portion of Sailorganymede's power was absorbed by Hanson-san when she attacked him. It's some sort of psychic ability he possesses. The Ganymede power within him manifests itself still today through the so-called 'miracle' of rubies materializing from his eyes," Darkcosmos explained.
"Ah. I've seen people do that on tv," Sailorarsenic mused. "Their tears turn into jewels."
"Yes. Naturally, it can be done, but Hanson-san is doing it on borrowed power. It is because of that ability that I think he will be able to help us capture the Dragonfly."
"Oh?"
"Baby Baby Love brought in the holder of the Chromium Shield. Sailordarkmercury says the powers associated with this Elemental Shield are similar to Ganymede's--Darkmercury's the one with all the chemistry knowledge, so..." She shrugged. "I figure if Hanson-san is instilled with Chromium's power, he should be a formidable opponent to Ganymede."
"What about the others?"
"You two can take care of them. Can't you?" Sailordarkcosmos asked the two Elementals.
"Of course. We're more than capable," Sulphur assured.
"Are you sure of that?" Baby Baby Love stepped into the shadows. Her voice contained an angry undercurrent. "You're forgetting, Sulphur, that I fought your mother in the past. If you fight anything like her, you'll never last against Team Galileo."
The comment accomplished just what it was supposed to; Sailorsulphur became angry. "How dare you say such things about my mother! What nerve! Why are you being so insulting? I thought we were on the same side."
"I guess you need to watch your back." As an afterthought, Baby Baby Love added, "It doesn't matter that you never got the chance to talk to Elios. He wouldn't have looked at you anyway."
Such bitterness in her voice! Sulphur understood now--Baby Baby Love had been listening in on the conversation she had with Arsenic, and heard everything she said about Elios. Two could play this game. "Don't worry, 'Chibiusa-chan.' I'm sure you're right about your husband's head not being so easily turned. I wonder, though, if he'll still look at you once he finds out how deep your darkness runs."
The two at odds glared at each other. Sighing, Darkcosmos said, "My child, Sulphur, not that I care about your love lives, but save the arguing over men 'til after the world ends, okay? Concentrate on my plan."
"Of course, Mommy Dearest. What comes next?"
"When Team Galileo is in trouble, they'll have no choice but to call their only missing member to them. You know how all of the senshi have this sort of psychic empathy with one another to varying degrees? That link is stronger between the members of a team. Somehow, they will call Kazan Tamamushi to them, and she will bring out the Dragonfly."
"I see. That just may work!" Baby Baby Love cutely put a finger to her lips, as if she was thinking. "But how can we make this mission even more interesting? A wager, perhaps?"
"What kind of wager?" Sailorarsenic asked impatiently. She was quickly tiring of the jealousy festival; couldn't they just get this over with?
Baby Baby Love replied, "Well, I've got two Elementals over there in my evil little workshop--Chromium and a mixed-up senshi called Xenonkingfisher. You two get Chromium, I get Xenonkingfisher, and whoever brings back the Dragonfly is the winner."
"What do we win?"
"A cookie," Darkcosmos retorted.
"And the satisfaction of knowing that you beat me," Baby Baby Love added. "Wouldn't that be satisfying, Sailorsulphur?"
That brought a mischievous smile to Sulphur's face. "It sure would. We accept your challenge."
Rolling her eyes, Sailorarsenic asked, "So why do you think your senshi is so much better than Chromium? Didn't you hear what Darkcosmos said?"
"Yes, I heard her. But I think Sailorxenonkingfisher has some very effective powers." Baby Baby Love dragged the dazed girl up off the floor. "Besides, I like her music."
Arsenic gasped. "That's Aian Hatsudouki, one of the singers from Noble 6! They're my favorite idol singers, next to the Three Lights."
"I knew the Three Lights!" Sailordarkcosmos said cheerfully. "They're close personal friends of mine. I hope they come back for a visit soon."
"I bet you do," Baby Baby Love mumbled. "Father told me about your 'friendship' with Seiya-kun."
"And just what does that mean?"
"Then you know what happened to the Three Lights?" Arsenic squeaked, interrupting. "Can you get me their autograph? When will they tour again?"
To change the subject, Baby Baby Love showed off her prize slave. "You can have her autograph later. Not now, though--she's awfully out of it. I had to do a lot of brainwashing to get her to leave her luxury penthouse. But who can blame her there?"
Aian blinked sleepily. "Twirly sucker... I see a twirly sucker..."
Suddenly Sulphur whined, "No fair! She gets a famous idol singer and all we get is some jerk who likes to beat his girlfriends!"
"A minute ago you thought you had the better one," Sailordarkcosmos grumbled with a roll of her eyes. Then she suddenly smiled. "But your Elemental is a celebrity too. His ability to produce rubies from his eyes has earned him a cult of followers. They think he's some sort of guru."
"But no one in Japan has heard of him. He might as well be a nobody," Arsenic complained.
Finally losing her patience, Darkcosmos snapped, "Go prepare for the battle! I'll tell you when I'm ready for you to leave."
"But my Queen-"
Darkcosmos, proving that she was still just Usagi, stomped her feet and flailed her arms in a childish hissy fit. "Why can't you do what I tell you when I tell you?!!"
The others scurried off, afraid their dark queen would next hold her breath until she turned blue.
Sailordarkcosmos let out a sigh, and, feeling better now that she didn't have whining mouths flapping in her ear, hovered her hand over the Dark Pearl. A black portal opened up nearby. Darkcosmos plunged her hand into it and rooted around a bit. The sound of confused screams came from the other side.
"Woops, not you. Not you. Excuse me..." Her hand fell on the person she wanted. "A-ha!" Darkcosmos pulled Adam through the portal. It closed behind him.
Very understandably, he was disoriented and confused. "Where the hell am I? How did I get here?"
Sailordarkcosmos took her seat again. "I brought you here through an energy portal. I am Sailordarkcosmos."
Adam balled up a fist. "Another one of those stupid sailor soldiers. You're friends with them, aren't you? Kita and her buddies?"
"No. I am their enemy. If you'll please shut your trap, I'll tell you why I brought you here, and how you can get revenge on them once and for all."
Several feet away, in a separate pocket of shadow, Sailordarkmercury and Sailordarkvenus whispered to each other as conspirators would. "With all the power she has, why do you suppose Darkcosmos keeps sending out her minions to do all the work? Why is she chancing another screw-up?" Darkvenus pondered.
"Because her power is exhaustable," Darkmercury replied. "I've analyzed it with my pocket computer. She doesn't know how to fully control the power yet, as it has been in the past. Remember her fainting spells when she first got the Sacred Cup? Same principle. Except this time, the power is not supposed to be hers. My computations show that somehow, the power has been forced in, so it will take her even longer to use it without difficulty. You've got to give her some credit, though--she thought this one through a little better than usual. She's showing some prudence, holding back like this."
Darkvenus grinned. "You're not seeing the big picture here, Darkmerc. With her in that position, it would be easier for us to take all that power away from her. Such forces weren't meant to be controlled by a dumb crybaby anyway."
"Oh no, no no no," Sailordarkmercury protested, shaking her head. "It's totally unlike me to plot against my leader like this. But... maybe just this once."
The two Dark senshi laughed... and laughed... until they sounded like the evil masterminds of betrayal they had become.
An ordinary #2 pencil could stand up to the pressures of hundreds of tests, many tough entrance exams, and tons of pop quizzes. But today, one pencil had met its match in a very annoyed college student named Ursula Majors. Hers was starting to bend just slightly under the pressure of her clenched fist.
Across the small dorm room, Tara sat at the computer playing her Azar Habib music video for the fifth time in the last half hour. "Hatt baby, hatt baby," she sang.
Next to her on the floor, her brother Nathan cuddled his two rabbits in his lap and fed them some carrots. "Is that good, Stephie? Do you want another? Do you want Daddy to give you another, huh?" he asked in a baby talk voice.
Ursula found it very hard to concentrate on her class work with Hatt Baby and 'Daddy' constantly intruding on her thoughts. Three people living in one tiny room was getting to her, but that was natural, wasn't it? Ursula massaged her temple with one hand and tapped her pencil on the desk with the other.
"Hatt baby, hatt baby. La la la, la la, la la la, la la..."
"Is that a good cawwot for Daddy's baby, huh? Her wuvs that cawwot!"
Good thing was, Nathan was getting kicked out tonight! One less person in this teeny little room! It was almost enough to make Ursula smile. Snnnnn...
"Vinna kinky roooooligt..."
"Yum yum yum! Her's my soft cuddly bunny baby, yes she is!"
...nnnnnnnAP! The two pieces of Ursula's pencil fell to the desk. "I'm going out for a little while, guys."
"Ursula, you gotta see this crazy video; it's so funny!"
"I'd love to, but later," Ursula sing-songed in her most polite voice, making a hasty exit, stage left. Ahhhh... out in the hallway, she could breathe again. I'm an only child. I've never shared a room before, she lamented to herself, and headed for the elevator, going past Kazan's door.
Unknown to Ursula, inside Kazan's room, she was sitting against one of the walls with a hand over her face, weeping quietly. A letter from her mother lay on the floor next to her. Dear Kazan, How are you? I hope you are doing well. Unfortunately, my letter bears some bad news that I know will upset you. I'm sorry to make you sad. But your father's execution date has been set for...
A part of Kazan wished she wasn't always so angry, so she wouldn't be so hard on the other girls on her floor. Then, maybe she would have a friend. The pain could be so much to bear alone. It made her heart ache until she thought it would burst.
The phone rang. Taking a few seconds to compose herself, Kazan answered the call. "Moshi-moshi?"#
"Kazan-chan, it's Doku. I wanted to see you. Will you come down to the front steps of the building?"
"Of course, Do. I haven't seen you in a couple of weeks. Did Mom tell you about-"
"Mom's told me everything. That's what I wanted to discuss with you. I'm waiting for you on the front steps," Sailorarsenic said into the phone.
"Okay. I'll be right down." The prospect of having someone to talk to made Kazan feel just a tiny bit better.
As she hung up the phone, Arsenic flashed two fingers at Sailorsulphur. "Lucky! She's coming right down."
Sulphur chortled. "Let Baby Baby Love play the waiting game. We'll have the Dragonfly by then."
Down in the lobby, Ursula enjoyed how much the other students there were not singing nor speaking baby talk to each other. "Sometimes I just need some time away," she sighed, finding the atmosphere satisfactory for class work.
Midori spotted her before she spotted him. Grinning, he sprinted off to get something, then came back to the lobby with a pack of Snack Crabs in his hand. "I'm sorry Kuroibi-chan; I was trying for a Diet Coke, I swear."
Ursula, after turning to see who was approaching her, cracked a large, honest smile, which she then toned down into her more reserved, serious demeanor. "Hi, you. Thanks," she laughed, taking the packet of snack food. "How did I ever live without these?"
"So, what's up for today?"
Ursula couldn't help but laugh, a little more boisterously than she had intended. "Quite a bit, actually. You remember our Floor Monitor? Kazan the Terrible caught Nathan staying with us this morning. You're not supposed to have people of the opposite sex sleep over on your floor, as you know. He's just a relative, but she didn't care--said she was going to write us up and have Nathan thrown out on his ear."
"Wow, that's unfortunate. Well, at least she didn't catch Kita and the guardian animals."
To that, Ursula had to sigh. "Unfortunately, Kazan saw them too. We all got totally caught this morning; it was a disaster. None of us know what we're going to do yet. I'm choosing not to deal with it for now and just hang out, do a little studying. I'm sure the mass eviction can wait until after dinner."
"Whatever you need to do, I'll help in any way I can, okay? Maybe they can stay with some friends of mine until we find a more permanent solution. Would that work out alright?" Midori queried.
Ursula nodded vigorously.
Vivian stood at the front window of the lobby, near where the workmen were installing the new glass in the front doors. Her cel phone rang, startling her out of her thoughts. "Moshi-moshi?"
"Triton, this is Tsukino-sama. Are you at the college?"
"Yes. I'm in the lobby."
"A bunch of the gang are on their way there. They're going to retrieve a Talisman for me. Would you be a dear and watch them to make sure they do what they're supposed to? I can't stand to have them show up empty handed again," Darkcosmos whined.
Vivian sighed to herself. "Sure, I can do that. What are we trying to retrieve?"
"The Dragonfly. A prized Talisman for my machine. The day I've been dreaming of will soon be here."
Suddenly Vivian closed her eyes for a few seconds, her head lolling against her chest. Just as quickly, her eyes fluttered open and she looked around. "Yeah, okay, I'll watch them and make sure they get this thing." Were those Nathan's friends standing over there? Why did she suddenly want to see the kindergartener so badly?
"Don't let them screw this one up, Vi-" Vivian didn't hear her because she hung up the phone.
Ursula furrowed her brow as Vivian approached. "Isn't that the snob from our American media class? The one Nathan likes?"
Midori's eyes instantly went to her legs. "That's her, alright."
"You can stop looking now," Ursula muttered.
"Aren't you Nathan's friends? Have you seen Nathan? Where's Nathan?" Vivian asked excitedly.
Ursula gave Midori an Isn't this strange? glance, then looked back at Vivian. "Uh, he's upstairs in my dorm room with his sister. Do you want to go up and see him?"
"Of course I do! He's so dreamy and sexy. Don't you think so? God I need him!"
"Um... are you feeling alright, Vivian-san?" Ursula questioned.
Instantly Vivian blinked and her face took on a confused, irritated expression. "Yes, that's my name. Now that we're clear on that..." She abruptly walked away, wondering what in the hell had just happened.
"Okay, what in the hell just happened?" Ursula asked Midori with a laugh.
Shrugging, Midori guessed, "Maybe she had a change of heart and decided to stop playing hard-to-get?"
"Yeah, now. That was really weird. Girls like her don't change their mind that easily; they string guys along for months. I'll have to tell him about it, though--it'll make his day." Grinning, she slid an arm around his neck. "Speaking of making someone's day..." Ursula had that "Kiss me" look in her eyes.
"Hmmmm... what could that look be for?" Midori slid his hands into her hair and gave her the deep, passionate kiss she'd been looking for.
Smiling into the smooch, Ursula was pleased to find that firecrackers still went off when they pressed their lips together, followed by bombs and even a really good parade. "Mmmm... wow..." Ursula sheepishly grinned down at his chest. "You know, I read somewhere that people who are thrown into dangerous situations together often fall for each other just out of the emotion of the moment. Do you think that could be what's happening to us here?" She looked up into his eyes with a tentative expression.
Midori pretended to consider it seriously. "Well, I have heard of that theory... maybe we should test it? How about tomorrow night, we go out on a regular old date, get some Diet Coke and Snack Crabs at the Yummy Snack, and see if we still like each other in the morning?"
She laughed lightly, hugging his neck. Like many other senshi, a normal, regular night on the town that didn't involve imminent danger sounded great to Ursula. Especially when she could spend it with Midori. "It's a date, then."
Still wrapped up in her thoughts over her own weird behavior, Vivian almost missed Kazan coming out of the elevator and heading for the front entrance. A-ha, the fight was about to begin!
Ursula at first wanted to make a big show when she saw Kazan, since they were in the lobby where Kazan had no authority. But then she saw the girl's face. Why did she look so sad? Usually her face was stern and creased with anger. Maybe there was something to Kita's suspicion that Kazan acted so mean because she was really very sad.
Following Ursula's gaze, Midori also watched Kazan pass by. He also wondered why the girl looked so sad, though he imagined it had something to do with her family.
"I wish I knew what to say to her to make her understand that we're not her enemy," Ursula remarked. "She's just so full of anger."
Strangely, Lappie trotted after Kazan, following her out the door.
"Huh. I think we better investigate this one. You with me?"
"Right with you, babe."
Ursula casually put her arm about Midori's waist and walked with him out the front door, past the workers putting in the new windows.
As usual, many students crossed the campus, going about their daily routine. Among them stood Sailorarsenic and Sailorsulphur. They saw Kazan coming down the stairs.
"Oh Kami..." Kazan sighed, rolling her eyes. She had seen her sister in this magical girls' uniform before, so she recognized her. "What are you doing here in that outfit, Doku?"
Sailorsulphur pulled a knife and put it to Arsenic's throat. "If you don't do something to stop me, I'll kill her."
Hiding nearby, Baby Baby Love rolled her eyes. "Oh, that's subtle. Get ready, slave," she said to Xenonkingfisher.
"I am ready," the hypnotized senshi replied.
Kazan let out a heavy sigh. "Knock it off, Do. I told you, I'm not one of these stupid superheroes you claim to be. Quit putting on this pointless show."
Fidgeting, Sulphur tried to figure out what to do next. Kazan wasn't buying it. "Um... I mean it!"
Midori curiously cocked his head, like a confused puppy. "Kazan knows her real name. She called her Doku."
"Yeah, she does. Kazan must know her in and out of uniform," Ursula remarked. "Just makes me more curious to know what's up here." She caught up with Lappie, and bent over to pretend she was petting him. "What's going on?"
"Kazan is Sailorio, my dear," the dog replied.
"Kazan the Terrible is the last member of my team?!"
"She is. And I think this little scene is some sort of trap." Lappie gestured with his head toward Sulphur and Arsenic.
Ursula leaned back and rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Oh, great. Midori, are you getting all this?"
"Getting it all. We must be careful with this one, and not act too quickly."
"What could they want?"
"They appear to want Io to come out." Lappie considered it. "I'm not sure if I should offer her the transformation wand at this time or not. We don't want to give the enemy exactly what they want."
"Maybe we should watch the situation and see if it becomes necessary," Ursula suggested. "In the meantime, Midori and I should probably transform." She took his hand. "I guess this is another one of those dangerous situations we keep getting into."
He smiled a mile wide. "I'm always up for a little excitement with you, Kuroibi-chan."
Ursula sweatdropped.
The men who were putting in the new windows suddenly noticed Sulphur and Arsenic. One of them began waving his arms. "No no, no no no no no! You can't fight here! You magical girls already busted up the front of this building. Take your argument somewhere else."
Smirking, Sailorsulphur pitched one of her Sulphur Urchins at one of the new panes of glass. It exploded, yelling, "POOF!" The glass shattered.
"We just replaced that!" the workman screeched.
Several students headed right for the window where Vivian was standing. "What's going on? Another magical girls' battle?"
"How exciting!"
Vivian rolled her eyes. "Been there, done that." Yawn.
A few girls frantically ran past Ursula, bumping into her and knocking her over. She flopped around on her side, yelping, "Ow ow ow ow ow!"
Midori turned to help her up. "You okay?"
"I fell on my transformation wand," she almost whined, pulling it out of an inside pocket of her jean jacket. "These things don't exactly travel well."
Looking at it, he busted out laughing. The top of the wand was star-shaped! "Oh my, there are so many pointy corners, too..."
"You ever fall on your keys? This was worse." Ursula hobbled around the corner of the building with Midori to transform discreetly.
"Chlorine Elemental Power, Make-up!"
"Callisto Satellite Power, Make-up!"
Shocked by the wanton destruction, Kazan turned from the broken window and looked at her sister. "Do, are you crazy?! You're taking this way too far!"
"You better do something to stop me," Sailorsulphur challenged.
"What the heck do you want me to do?!"
"Do what magical girls do. Save the day."
"But I'm not one of them," Kazan said with annoyance. "Why can't you just leave me alone about this?"
Adam had been hiding nearby, but patience had never been one of his strong points. The Chromium fuku normally would have fit the girl who rightfully owned it, but since her power had been put into Adam's body, the uniform had modified itself into a bright red metal torso with a green cape and black pants. Adam smiled with satisfaction at the feeling of such power coursing through his body. It was like the rush he got before the rubies materialized in his eyes, but much stronger. Maybe these magical girls weren't all bad. They sure contained interesting powers. Useful powers. Power Adam could leech off of to teach those Galileo bitches a lesson.
The two dumb chicks he was supposed to be working with were taking far too long to get this show on the road. The sister needed more convincing motivation.
He stepped out into the open. "I am Soldierchromium. I think it would be a good idea if you transformed." To punctuate his sentence, Chromium promptly punched Sailorarsenic hard in the face. "See?"
"HEY! You weren't supposed to do that!" growled Sulphur.
Kazan gasped. "How dare you hit her, you bastard!" She charged down the stairs toward him.
Soldierchromium grinned, then grabbed the stunned Arsenic's head by her hair and slammed her face into his knee. She fell back with a grunt of pain. "You'll have to make me stop."
"You're going too far!" Sulphur cried, going after him with the knife. Soldierchromium quickly smacked it out of her hand, but that didn't stop her from advancing on him with her pestle and her fists. Kazan, the best physical fighter of Team Galileo, also started to assault Chromium with angry punches. The shameless misogynist held his own, though they were getting in some good shots, and returned the punches with enthusiasm.
Sailorcallisto and Soldierchlorine, now fully transformed, ran to the top of the stairs. Callisto's eyes widened at the sight of Soldierchromium. The forces that fooled the eye and made senshi unrecognizable from their civilian forms did not fool her in this case--she could feel the Ganymede power that still remained in his body through the clairvoyant link she had with her team. The power screamed inside him, fueled by his anger and hatred. But he was definitely not a Galileon. She knew exactly who he was. "Adam."
Chlorine heard her; he whispered, "Adam?"
"The guy Kita used to date, who beat her. He's the reason we all met. Tara and I stepped in to help Kita during an argument, and he threw hot coffee in my face. We left him flailing in the dirt with his eyes crusted shut by Ganymede's attack. Looks like he found a way to use that power against us," Sailorcallisto explained.
"Humph." Soldierchlorine cracked his knuckles. "We soften him up, and save the left-overs for Kita, then."
Up in the dorm room, Tara and Nathan both felt their own power reflected back to them, but from an unfamiliar, angry source. Someone on the Dark side had cloned their power and was now daring them to come take it back. "What was that?" Nathan asked.
"I'm not sure. Let's go get Kita and check it out."
Baby Baby Love put her hand over her face and shook her head. "What a mess they've already made of this mission. Winning our little wager will be easy now. Xenonkingfisher, join the battle."
"Yes, master!" The enslaved senshi snuck toward the others.
Soldierchromium, avoiding her punch, stared intently at Kazan's flying fist. A beam of red light shined from his scarlet eyes, creating a blob of raw ruby material that covered her hand. It hardened into a jagged mass of rubies that held Kazan's entire hand inside it.
She looked at it in shock. "What is this?! I can't move my fingers!"
Chromium took advantage of the distraction and punched Kazan hard enough to knock her down. He then focused his ruby eye beams on her other hand, which lay at her side. Kazan realized what he was doing too late and let out a cry of frustration; she attempted to pull her hand away at the last minute and wound up with her forearm clustered to her side by a thick stream of rubies.
While Kazan floundered on the ground, Soldierchromium gladly went after Sulphur. She raised both hands to stop him. "Hey, we're on the same side, remember?"
"Whatever." He finally spotted Sailorcallisto standing at the top of the stairs, preparing to attack him, and smirked. "Your teammate is in trouble, Callisto. Shouldn't you give her that stupid little wand to transform?"
"That's not my job," Sailorcallisto called. Lappie sweatdropped. "By the way, long time no see, Adam, and that was the way I liked it. What the hell are you doing here?"
"I bought another thermos and I wanted to try it out on your face. You can let me know if it keeps the coffee hot enough again. Or, I thought it would be fun for me to leave you flailing in the dirt this time."
"But you're so good at it, Adam! Why don't you demonstrate your flailing techniques for us right now? I could never get enough of that," Callisto quipped.
From her blind side came the voice of Sailorxenonkingfisher. "Xenon Strobe!" The senshi held up a baton with a long ribbon attached to one end, and rotated it until the ribbon spun in graceful spirals. Two strobe lights she had on the front of her fuku pulsated until the light moved down the spiraling ribbon tunnel to the eyes of Callisto and Chlorine. All of their movements seemed to be in much slower motion than they actually were, as if they were under the hypnotic beam of a strobe light. Suddenly, Xenonkingfisher was right on top of them, elbowing Sailorcallisto in the face. She was knocked back into Chlorine.
"Ow... some sort of optical illusion," Callisto commented as she picked herself up. Soldierchlorine helped her to her feet, trying to keep one eye on Sailorxenonkingfisher. A trickle of blood ran from Callisto's bottom lip. "Looks like the dog was right; this is a trap where Dark senshi come out of the woodwork. Lappie, see what you can do to help Kazan. She may need her wand after all." She kept an eye on Xenonkingfisher, who was ready to attack again. "Chlorine, which one do you want? The strobe light or Cyclops?"
"It seems only fitting that you should get the first crack at the woman beater. I'll hold off the girl with the cute headlights here."
"I was hoping you'd make that choice. I'm dying to get a piece of our ruby-eyed little friend." Callisto started away, then came back and gave him a kiss. "Stop looking at her headlights."
As she charged down the stairs, Sailorxenonkingfisher asked, "Your girlfriend? Her headlights aren't as nice as mine."
Soldierchlorine was still chuckling from what Callisto had said. "The fact that you have huge blinking lights on yours makes them kind of hard to compare."
Snickering, Sailorxenonkingfisher began to circle him, as he did her, each stalking the other and waiting for an opening to strike.
Callisto rushed Soldierchromium with the Razor Claw aimed at his throat. He smiled ferally, waiting for her feet to hit the bottom step. "Now!" Chromium suddenly yelled.
Well finally, the boy was sticking to the plan! Sailorsulphur concentrated, her hands crossed over her heart, and in an instant a wave of green-yellow energy passed over her body. She now was dressed in the frock of Princess Helenia.
As Sailorcallisto raised the Razor Claw to strike Soldierchromium, Princess Helenia opened her hands toward her. "Mirror Entrapment!" she cried. A rectangular energy field with black, crackling sides shot out of her hand and crashed into Callisto. The senshi had not expected this, so she let out a cry of shock and then was silenced by her new glass prison. Several feet beyond where she had been hit, Sailorcallisto now appeared to be trapped inside a full-length mirror. She banged on its surface, but from the inside, and no sound came from her mouth though it moved in obvious pleas for help.
"Sailorcallisto!" Chlorine yelled. He tried to keep his attention on the Dark senshi that was ready to attack him and his Kuroibi-chan in danger at the same time, but it was very difficult. How would he ever get her out of there?
Baby Baby Love frowned, and swallowed hard at the painful memories the scene brought up. "It'll be impossible for her to escape from there on her own."
Princess Helenia turned to Kazan, struggling on the ground. "You better face the truth, Sailorio. If you don't, your teammate will be trapped in there forever."
"This is Aquamarine Black, coming to you live from Mirai Mugen University with an exclusive interview with Kikan Kyomu, the singer and pianist of the Kyomu Sisters. They will be playing to a sold out crowd tonight at--what? There's a senshi free-for-all going on right now in front of the main building?! I am so there!"
"You're not the only one. Everyone and their dog... guardian will be there!"
Sailormoon Dark Episode 26: The Final Galileon III. The Snare of the Unbearable Past. The moonlight carries the message of love.
----------------------------------------------------
In case you're curious about this "Hatt Baby" video Tara is watching during this episode, it really exists. The song is by a music artist named Azar Habib, and a very odd video for it (made by a Swedish fan) can be viewed online here. You can even download an mp3 of the song from any file sharing program you may belong to. I came across the song and very funny video while the link to it was being passed around on some aol message boards, and I heard the strains of, "Hatt baby, hatt baby..." coming out of my friend Karen's room. I've been amused ever since.
# Moshi-moshi = the standard way that a person would answer the phone in Japan
On to Episode 26: The Final Galileon III. The Snare of the Unbearable Past.
"The Final Galileon II. Ruby Eyes."
Written by Laurel
Inspired by the Japanese animated show Pretty Soldier Sailormoon.
The ideas for this fanfic were conceived in 1995, but this actual episode was written in July 2002. Revised September 2002.
Word Count: 5,748
Art on this episode banner drawn by Nancy and colored by me.
"Retrieve the Dragonfly for you, Mother Dearest? It'll be a cinch."
"Not if we get it first."
"As if. I kicked your mother's ass; you're not even half as tough as she was."
"I'll kill you for that, Baby Baby Love! I'll--Sailorarsenic, don't just sit there eating popcorn! Help me!"
"But I love to watch a good fight."
Pretty Soldier Sailormoon Dark Episode 25: The Final Galileon II. Ruby Eyes. The moonlight carries the message of love.
A furry head poked out from under Sailordarkcosmos' chair. "Am I allowed to come out now?" Dark Luna asked, expecting to be smacked again.
Darkcosmos couldn't help but laugh. "I never thought I'd see the day that the great guardian Luna would cower from me. You have no idea how much fun this is."
The cat grumbled, "You just wait until I catch you unaware. I'll scratch-"
"Shut up! I've got information. Sulphur, Arsenic, come here!"
The two Elementals entered her pocket of shadow. "Yes, my Queen?"
"I know how we're going to get the Dragonfly. A few of the members of Team Galileo once knew an American boy named Adam Hanson. One of them dated him, but he was a batterer. That is how they found each other again in this life; two rescued the third from his latest beating. Miraculously, a small portion of Sailorganymede's power was absorbed by Hanson-san when she attacked him. It's some sort of psychic ability he possesses. The Ganymede power within him manifests itself still today through the so-called 'miracle' of rubies materializing from his eyes," Darkcosmos explained.
"Ah. I've seen people do that on tv," Sailorarsenic mused. "Their tears turn into jewels."
"Yes. Naturally, it can be done, but Hanson-san is doing it on borrowed power. It is because of that ability that I think he will be able to help us capture the Dragonfly."
"Oh?"
"Baby Baby Love brought in the holder of the Chromium Shield. Sailordarkmercury says the powers associated with this Elemental Shield are similar to Ganymede's--Darkmercury's the one with all the chemistry knowledge, so..." She shrugged. "I figure if Hanson-san is instilled with Chromium's power, he should be a formidable opponent to Ganymede."
"What about the others?"
"You two can take care of them. Can't you?" Sailordarkcosmos asked the two Elementals.
"Of course. We're more than capable," Sulphur assured.
"Are you sure of that?" Baby Baby Love stepped into the shadows. Her voice contained an angry undercurrent. "You're forgetting, Sulphur, that I fought your mother in the past. If you fight anything like her, you'll never last against Team Galileo."
The comment accomplished just what it was supposed to; Sailorsulphur became angry. "How dare you say such things about my mother! What nerve! Why are you being so insulting? I thought we were on the same side."
"I guess you need to watch your back." As an afterthought, Baby Baby Love added, "It doesn't matter that you never got the chance to talk to Elios. He wouldn't have looked at you anyway."
Such bitterness in her voice! Sulphur understood now--Baby Baby Love had been listening in on the conversation she had with Arsenic, and heard everything she said about Elios. Two could play this game. "Don't worry, 'Chibiusa-chan.' I'm sure you're right about your husband's head not being so easily turned. I wonder, though, if he'll still look at you once he finds out how deep your darkness runs."
The two at odds glared at each other. Sighing, Darkcosmos said, "My child, Sulphur, not that I care about your love lives, but save the arguing over men 'til after the world ends, okay? Concentrate on my plan."
"Of course, Mommy Dearest. What comes next?"
"When Team Galileo is in trouble, they'll have no choice but to call their only missing member to them. You know how all of the senshi have this sort of psychic empathy with one another to varying degrees? That link is stronger between the members of a team. Somehow, they will call Kazan Tamamushi to them, and she will bring out the Dragonfly."
"I see. That just may work!" Baby Baby Love cutely put a finger to her lips, as if she was thinking. "But how can we make this mission even more interesting? A wager, perhaps?"
"What kind of wager?" Sailorarsenic asked impatiently. She was quickly tiring of the jealousy festival; couldn't they just get this over with?
Baby Baby Love replied, "Well, I've got two Elementals over there in my evil little workshop--Chromium and a mixed-up senshi called Xenonkingfisher. You two get Chromium, I get Xenonkingfisher, and whoever brings back the Dragonfly is the winner."
"What do we win?"
"A cookie," Darkcosmos retorted.
"And the satisfaction of knowing that you beat me," Baby Baby Love added. "Wouldn't that be satisfying, Sailorsulphur?"
That brought a mischievous smile to Sulphur's face. "It sure would. We accept your challenge."
Rolling her eyes, Sailorarsenic asked, "So why do you think your senshi is so much better than Chromium? Didn't you hear what Darkcosmos said?"
"Yes, I heard her. But I think Sailorxenonkingfisher has some very effective powers." Baby Baby Love dragged the dazed girl up off the floor. "Besides, I like her music."
Arsenic gasped. "That's Aian Hatsudouki, one of the singers from Noble 6! They're my favorite idol singers, next to the Three Lights."
"I knew the Three Lights!" Sailordarkcosmos said cheerfully. "They're close personal friends of mine. I hope they come back for a visit soon."
"I bet you do," Baby Baby Love mumbled. "Father told me about your 'friendship' with Seiya-kun."
"And just what does that mean?"
"Then you know what happened to the Three Lights?" Arsenic squeaked, interrupting. "Can you get me their autograph? When will they tour again?"
To change the subject, Baby Baby Love showed off her prize slave. "You can have her autograph later. Not now, though--she's awfully out of it. I had to do a lot of brainwashing to get her to leave her luxury penthouse. But who can blame her there?"
Aian blinked sleepily. "Twirly sucker... I see a twirly sucker..."
Suddenly Sulphur whined, "No fair! She gets a famous idol singer and all we get is some jerk who likes to beat his girlfriends!"
"A minute ago you thought you had the better one," Sailordarkcosmos grumbled with a roll of her eyes. Then she suddenly smiled. "But your Elemental is a celebrity too. His ability to produce rubies from his eyes has earned him a cult of followers. They think he's some sort of guru."
"But no one in Japan has heard of him. He might as well be a nobody," Arsenic complained.
Finally losing her patience, Darkcosmos snapped, "Go prepare for the battle! I'll tell you when I'm ready for you to leave."
"But my Queen-"
Darkcosmos, proving that she was still just Usagi, stomped her feet and flailed her arms in a childish hissy fit. "Why can't you do what I tell you when I tell you?!!"
The others scurried off, afraid their dark queen would next hold her breath until she turned blue.
Sailordarkcosmos let out a sigh, and, feeling better now that she didn't have whining mouths flapping in her ear, hovered her hand over the Dark Pearl. A black portal opened up nearby. Darkcosmos plunged her hand into it and rooted around a bit. The sound of confused screams came from the other side.
"Woops, not you. Not you. Excuse me..." Her hand fell on the person she wanted. "A-ha!" Darkcosmos pulled Adam through the portal. It closed behind him.
Very understandably, he was disoriented and confused. "Where the hell am I? How did I get here?"
Sailordarkcosmos took her seat again. "I brought you here through an energy portal. I am Sailordarkcosmos."
Adam balled up a fist. "Another one of those stupid sailor soldiers. You're friends with them, aren't you? Kita and her buddies?"
"No. I am their enemy. If you'll please shut your trap, I'll tell you why I brought you here, and how you can get revenge on them once and for all."
Several feet away, in a separate pocket of shadow, Sailordarkmercury and Sailordarkvenus whispered to each other as conspirators would. "With all the power she has, why do you suppose Darkcosmos keeps sending out her minions to do all the work? Why is she chancing another screw-up?" Darkvenus pondered.
"Because her power is exhaustable," Darkmercury replied. "I've analyzed it with my pocket computer. She doesn't know how to fully control the power yet, as it has been in the past. Remember her fainting spells when she first got the Sacred Cup? Same principle. Except this time, the power is not supposed to be hers. My computations show that somehow, the power has been forced in, so it will take her even longer to use it without difficulty. You've got to give her some credit, though--she thought this one through a little better than usual. She's showing some prudence, holding back like this."
Darkvenus grinned. "You're not seeing the big picture here, Darkmerc. With her in that position, it would be easier for us to take all that power away from her. Such forces weren't meant to be controlled by a dumb crybaby anyway."
"Oh no, no no no," Sailordarkmercury protested, shaking her head. "It's totally unlike me to plot against my leader like this. But... maybe just this once."
The two Dark senshi laughed... and laughed... until they sounded like the evil masterminds of betrayal they had become.
An ordinary #2 pencil could stand up to the pressures of hundreds of tests, many tough entrance exams, and tons of pop quizzes. But today, one pencil had met its match in a very annoyed college student named Ursula Majors. Hers was starting to bend just slightly under the pressure of her clenched fist.
Across the small dorm room, Tara sat at the computer playing her Azar Habib music video for the fifth time in the last half hour. "Hatt baby, hatt baby," she sang.
Next to her on the floor, her brother Nathan cuddled his two rabbits in his lap and fed them some carrots. "Is that good, Stephie? Do you want another? Do you want Daddy to give you another, huh?" he asked in a baby talk voice.
Ursula found it very hard to concentrate on her class work with Hatt Baby and 'Daddy' constantly intruding on her thoughts. Three people living in one tiny room was getting to her, but that was natural, wasn't it? Ursula massaged her temple with one hand and tapped her pencil on the desk with the other.
"Hatt baby, hatt baby. La la la, la la, la la la, la la..."
"Is that a good cawwot for Daddy's baby, huh? Her wuvs that cawwot!"
Good thing was, Nathan was getting kicked out tonight! One less person in this teeny little room! It was almost enough to make Ursula smile. Snnnnn...
"Vinna kinky roooooligt..."
"Yum yum yum! Her's my soft cuddly bunny baby, yes she is!"
...nnnnnnnAP! The two pieces of Ursula's pencil fell to the desk. "I'm going out for a little while, guys."
"Ursula, you gotta see this crazy video; it's so funny!"
"I'd love to, but later," Ursula sing-songed in her most polite voice, making a hasty exit, stage left. Ahhhh... out in the hallway, she could breathe again. I'm an only child. I've never shared a room before, she lamented to herself, and headed for the elevator, going past Kazan's door.
Unknown to Ursula, inside Kazan's room, she was sitting against one of the walls with a hand over her face, weeping quietly. A letter from her mother lay on the floor next to her. Dear Kazan, How are you? I hope you are doing well. Unfortunately, my letter bears some bad news that I know will upset you. I'm sorry to make you sad. But your father's execution date has been set for...
A part of Kazan wished she wasn't always so angry, so she wouldn't be so hard on the other girls on her floor. Then, maybe she would have a friend. The pain could be so much to bear alone. It made her heart ache until she thought it would burst.
The phone rang. Taking a few seconds to compose herself, Kazan answered the call. "Moshi-moshi?"#
"Kazan-chan, it's Doku. I wanted to see you. Will you come down to the front steps of the building?"
"Of course, Do. I haven't seen you in a couple of weeks. Did Mom tell you about-"
"Mom's told me everything. That's what I wanted to discuss with you. I'm waiting for you on the front steps," Sailorarsenic said into the phone.
"Okay. I'll be right down." The prospect of having someone to talk to made Kazan feel just a tiny bit better.
As she hung up the phone, Arsenic flashed two fingers at Sailorsulphur. "Lucky! She's coming right down."
Sulphur chortled. "Let Baby Baby Love play the waiting game. We'll have the Dragonfly by then."
Down in the lobby, Ursula enjoyed how much the other students there were not singing nor speaking baby talk to each other. "Sometimes I just need some time away," she sighed, finding the atmosphere satisfactory for class work.
Midori spotted her before she spotted him. Grinning, he sprinted off to get something, then came back to the lobby with a pack of Snack Crabs in his hand. "I'm sorry Kuroibi-chan; I was trying for a Diet Coke, I swear."
Ursula, after turning to see who was approaching her, cracked a large, honest smile, which she then toned down into her more reserved, serious demeanor. "Hi, you. Thanks," she laughed, taking the packet of snack food. "How did I ever live without these?"
"So, what's up for today?"
Ursula couldn't help but laugh, a little more boisterously than she had intended. "Quite a bit, actually. You remember our Floor Monitor? Kazan the Terrible caught Nathan staying with us this morning. You're not supposed to have people of the opposite sex sleep over on your floor, as you know. He's just a relative, but she didn't care--said she was going to write us up and have Nathan thrown out on his ear."
"Wow, that's unfortunate. Well, at least she didn't catch Kita and the guardian animals."
To that, Ursula had to sigh. "Unfortunately, Kazan saw them too. We all got totally caught this morning; it was a disaster. None of us know what we're going to do yet. I'm choosing not to deal with it for now and just hang out, do a little studying. I'm sure the mass eviction can wait until after dinner."
"Whatever you need to do, I'll help in any way I can, okay? Maybe they can stay with some friends of mine until we find a more permanent solution. Would that work out alright?" Midori queried.
Ursula nodded vigorously.
Vivian stood at the front window of the lobby, near where the workmen were installing the new glass in the front doors. Her cel phone rang, startling her out of her thoughts. "Moshi-moshi?"
"Triton, this is Tsukino-sama. Are you at the college?"
"Yes. I'm in the lobby."
"A bunch of the gang are on their way there. They're going to retrieve a Talisman for me. Would you be a dear and watch them to make sure they do what they're supposed to? I can't stand to have them show up empty handed again," Darkcosmos whined.
Vivian sighed to herself. "Sure, I can do that. What are we trying to retrieve?"
"The Dragonfly. A prized Talisman for my machine. The day I've been dreaming of will soon be here."
Suddenly Vivian closed her eyes for a few seconds, her head lolling against her chest. Just as quickly, her eyes fluttered open and she looked around. "Yeah, okay, I'll watch them and make sure they get this thing." Were those Nathan's friends standing over there? Why did she suddenly want to see the kindergartener so badly?
"Don't let them screw this one up, Vi-" Vivian didn't hear her because she hung up the phone.
Ursula furrowed her brow as Vivian approached. "Isn't that the snob from our American media class? The one Nathan likes?"
Midori's eyes instantly went to her legs. "That's her, alright."
"You can stop looking now," Ursula muttered.
"Aren't you Nathan's friends? Have you seen Nathan? Where's Nathan?" Vivian asked excitedly.
Ursula gave Midori an Isn't this strange? glance, then looked back at Vivian. "Uh, he's upstairs in my dorm room with his sister. Do you want to go up and see him?"
"Of course I do! He's so dreamy and sexy. Don't you think so? God I need him!"
"Um... are you feeling alright, Vivian-san?" Ursula questioned.
Instantly Vivian blinked and her face took on a confused, irritated expression. "Yes, that's my name. Now that we're clear on that..." She abruptly walked away, wondering what in the hell had just happened.
"Okay, what in the hell just happened?" Ursula asked Midori with a laugh.
Shrugging, Midori guessed, "Maybe she had a change of heart and decided to stop playing hard-to-get?"
"Yeah, now. That was really weird. Girls like her don't change their mind that easily; they string guys along for months. I'll have to tell him about it, though--it'll make his day." Grinning, she slid an arm around his neck. "Speaking of making someone's day..." Ursula had that "Kiss me" look in her eyes.
"Hmmmm... what could that look be for?" Midori slid his hands into her hair and gave her the deep, passionate kiss she'd been looking for.
Smiling into the smooch, Ursula was pleased to find that firecrackers still went off when they pressed their lips together, followed by bombs and even a really good parade. "Mmmm... wow..." Ursula sheepishly grinned down at his chest. "You know, I read somewhere that people who are thrown into dangerous situations together often fall for each other just out of the emotion of the moment. Do you think that could be what's happening to us here?" She looked up into his eyes with a tentative expression.
Midori pretended to consider it seriously. "Well, I have heard of that theory... maybe we should test it? How about tomorrow night, we go out on a regular old date, get some Diet Coke and Snack Crabs at the Yummy Snack, and see if we still like each other in the morning?"
She laughed lightly, hugging his neck. Like many other senshi, a normal, regular night on the town that didn't involve imminent danger sounded great to Ursula. Especially when she could spend it with Midori. "It's a date, then."
Still wrapped up in her thoughts over her own weird behavior, Vivian almost missed Kazan coming out of the elevator and heading for the front entrance. A-ha, the fight was about to begin!
Ursula at first wanted to make a big show when she saw Kazan, since they were in the lobby where Kazan had no authority. But then she saw the girl's face. Why did she look so sad? Usually her face was stern and creased with anger. Maybe there was something to Kita's suspicion that Kazan acted so mean because she was really very sad.
Following Ursula's gaze, Midori also watched Kazan pass by. He also wondered why the girl looked so sad, though he imagined it had something to do with her family.
"I wish I knew what to say to her to make her understand that we're not her enemy," Ursula remarked. "She's just so full of anger."
Strangely, Lappie trotted after Kazan, following her out the door.
"Huh. I think we better investigate this one. You with me?"
"Right with you, babe."
Ursula casually put her arm about Midori's waist and walked with him out the front door, past the workers putting in the new windows.
As usual, many students crossed the campus, going about their daily routine. Among them stood Sailorarsenic and Sailorsulphur. They saw Kazan coming down the stairs.
"Oh Kami..." Kazan sighed, rolling her eyes. She had seen her sister in this magical girls' uniform before, so she recognized her. "What are you doing here in that outfit, Doku?"
Sailorsulphur pulled a knife and put it to Arsenic's throat. "If you don't do something to stop me, I'll kill her."
Hiding nearby, Baby Baby Love rolled her eyes. "Oh, that's subtle. Get ready, slave," she said to Xenonkingfisher.
"I am ready," the hypnotized senshi replied.
Kazan let out a heavy sigh. "Knock it off, Do. I told you, I'm not one of these stupid superheroes you claim to be. Quit putting on this pointless show."
Fidgeting, Sulphur tried to figure out what to do next. Kazan wasn't buying it. "Um... I mean it!"
Midori curiously cocked his head, like a confused puppy. "Kazan knows her real name. She called her Doku."
"Yeah, she does. Kazan must know her in and out of uniform," Ursula remarked. "Just makes me more curious to know what's up here." She caught up with Lappie, and bent over to pretend she was petting him. "What's going on?"
"Kazan is Sailorio, my dear," the dog replied.
"Kazan the Terrible is the last member of my team?!"
"She is. And I think this little scene is some sort of trap." Lappie gestured with his head toward Sulphur and Arsenic.
Ursula leaned back and rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Oh, great. Midori, are you getting all this?"
"Getting it all. We must be careful with this one, and not act too quickly."
"What could they want?"
"They appear to want Io to come out." Lappie considered it. "I'm not sure if I should offer her the transformation wand at this time or not. We don't want to give the enemy exactly what they want."
"Maybe we should watch the situation and see if it becomes necessary," Ursula suggested. "In the meantime, Midori and I should probably transform." She took his hand. "I guess this is another one of those dangerous situations we keep getting into."
He smiled a mile wide. "I'm always up for a little excitement with you, Kuroibi-chan."
Ursula sweatdropped.
The men who were putting in the new windows suddenly noticed Sulphur and Arsenic. One of them began waving his arms. "No no, no no no no no! You can't fight here! You magical girls already busted up the front of this building. Take your argument somewhere else."
Smirking, Sailorsulphur pitched one of her Sulphur Urchins at one of the new panes of glass. It exploded, yelling, "POOF!" The glass shattered.
"We just replaced that!" the workman screeched.
Several students headed right for the window where Vivian was standing. "What's going on? Another magical girls' battle?"
"How exciting!"
Vivian rolled her eyes. "Been there, done that." Yawn.
A few girls frantically ran past Ursula, bumping into her and knocking her over. She flopped around on her side, yelping, "Ow ow ow ow ow!"
Midori turned to help her up. "You okay?"
"I fell on my transformation wand," she almost whined, pulling it out of an inside pocket of her jean jacket. "These things don't exactly travel well."
Looking at it, he busted out laughing. The top of the wand was star-shaped! "Oh my, there are so many pointy corners, too..."
"You ever fall on your keys? This was worse." Ursula hobbled around the corner of the building with Midori to transform discreetly.
"Chlorine Elemental Power, Make-up!"
"Callisto Satellite Power, Make-up!"
Shocked by the wanton destruction, Kazan turned from the broken window and looked at her sister. "Do, are you crazy?! You're taking this way too far!"
"You better do something to stop me," Sailorsulphur challenged.
"What the heck do you want me to do?!"
"Do what magical girls do. Save the day."
"But I'm not one of them," Kazan said with annoyance. "Why can't you just leave me alone about this?"
Adam had been hiding nearby, but patience had never been one of his strong points. The Chromium fuku normally would have fit the girl who rightfully owned it, but since her power had been put into Adam's body, the uniform had modified itself into a bright red metal torso with a green cape and black pants. Adam smiled with satisfaction at the feeling of such power coursing through his body. It was like the rush he got before the rubies materialized in his eyes, but much stronger. Maybe these magical girls weren't all bad. They sure contained interesting powers. Useful powers. Power Adam could leech off of to teach those Galileo bitches a lesson.
The two dumb chicks he was supposed to be working with were taking far too long to get this show on the road. The sister needed more convincing motivation.
He stepped out into the open. "I am Soldierchromium. I think it would be a good idea if you transformed." To punctuate his sentence, Chromium promptly punched Sailorarsenic hard in the face. "See?"
"HEY! You weren't supposed to do that!" growled Sulphur.
Kazan gasped. "How dare you hit her, you bastard!" She charged down the stairs toward him.
Soldierchromium grinned, then grabbed the stunned Arsenic's head by her hair and slammed her face into his knee. She fell back with a grunt of pain. "You'll have to make me stop."
"You're going too far!" Sulphur cried, going after him with the knife. Soldierchromium quickly smacked it out of her hand, but that didn't stop her from advancing on him with her pestle and her fists. Kazan, the best physical fighter of Team Galileo, also started to assault Chromium with angry punches. The shameless misogynist held his own, though they were getting in some good shots, and returned the punches with enthusiasm.
Sailorcallisto and Soldierchlorine, now fully transformed, ran to the top of the stairs. Callisto's eyes widened at the sight of Soldierchromium. The forces that fooled the eye and made senshi unrecognizable from their civilian forms did not fool her in this case--she could feel the Ganymede power that still remained in his body through the clairvoyant link she had with her team. The power screamed inside him, fueled by his anger and hatred. But he was definitely not a Galileon. She knew exactly who he was. "Adam."
Chlorine heard her; he whispered, "Adam?"
"The guy Kita used to date, who beat her. He's the reason we all met. Tara and I stepped in to help Kita during an argument, and he threw hot coffee in my face. We left him flailing in the dirt with his eyes crusted shut by Ganymede's attack. Looks like he found a way to use that power against us," Sailorcallisto explained.
"Humph." Soldierchlorine cracked his knuckles. "We soften him up, and save the left-overs for Kita, then."
Up in the dorm room, Tara and Nathan both felt their own power reflected back to them, but from an unfamiliar, angry source. Someone on the Dark side had cloned their power and was now daring them to come take it back. "What was that?" Nathan asked.
"I'm not sure. Let's go get Kita and check it out."
Baby Baby Love put her hand over her face and shook her head. "What a mess they've already made of this mission. Winning our little wager will be easy now. Xenonkingfisher, join the battle."
"Yes, master!" The enslaved senshi snuck toward the others.
Soldierchromium, avoiding her punch, stared intently at Kazan's flying fist. A beam of red light shined from his scarlet eyes, creating a blob of raw ruby material that covered her hand. It hardened into a jagged mass of rubies that held Kazan's entire hand inside it.
She looked at it in shock. "What is this?! I can't move my fingers!"
Chromium took advantage of the distraction and punched Kazan hard enough to knock her down. He then focused his ruby eye beams on her other hand, which lay at her side. Kazan realized what he was doing too late and let out a cry of frustration; she attempted to pull her hand away at the last minute and wound up with her forearm clustered to her side by a thick stream of rubies.
While Kazan floundered on the ground, Soldierchromium gladly went after Sulphur. She raised both hands to stop him. "Hey, we're on the same side, remember?"
"Whatever." He finally spotted Sailorcallisto standing at the top of the stairs, preparing to attack him, and smirked. "Your teammate is in trouble, Callisto. Shouldn't you give her that stupid little wand to transform?"
"That's not my job," Sailorcallisto called. Lappie sweatdropped. "By the way, long time no see, Adam, and that was the way I liked it. What the hell are you doing here?"
"I bought another thermos and I wanted to try it out on your face. You can let me know if it keeps the coffee hot enough again. Or, I thought it would be fun for me to leave you flailing in the dirt this time."
"But you're so good at it, Adam! Why don't you demonstrate your flailing techniques for us right now? I could never get enough of that," Callisto quipped.
From her blind side came the voice of Sailorxenonkingfisher. "Xenon Strobe!" The senshi held up a baton with a long ribbon attached to one end, and rotated it until the ribbon spun in graceful spirals. Two strobe lights she had on the front of her fuku pulsated until the light moved down the spiraling ribbon tunnel to the eyes of Callisto and Chlorine. All of their movements seemed to be in much slower motion than they actually were, as if they were under the hypnotic beam of a strobe light. Suddenly, Xenonkingfisher was right on top of them, elbowing Sailorcallisto in the face. She was knocked back into Chlorine.
"Ow... some sort of optical illusion," Callisto commented as she picked herself up. Soldierchlorine helped her to her feet, trying to keep one eye on Sailorxenonkingfisher. A trickle of blood ran from Callisto's bottom lip. "Looks like the dog was right; this is a trap where Dark senshi come out of the woodwork. Lappie, see what you can do to help Kazan. She may need her wand after all." She kept an eye on Xenonkingfisher, who was ready to attack again. "Chlorine, which one do you want? The strobe light or Cyclops?"
"It seems only fitting that you should get the first crack at the woman beater. I'll hold off the girl with the cute headlights here."
"I was hoping you'd make that choice. I'm dying to get a piece of our ruby-eyed little friend." Callisto started away, then came back and gave him a kiss. "Stop looking at her headlights."
As she charged down the stairs, Sailorxenonkingfisher asked, "Your girlfriend? Her headlights aren't as nice as mine."
Soldierchlorine was still chuckling from what Callisto had said. "The fact that you have huge blinking lights on yours makes them kind of hard to compare."
Snickering, Sailorxenonkingfisher began to circle him, as he did her, each stalking the other and waiting for an opening to strike.
Callisto rushed Soldierchromium with the Razor Claw aimed at his throat. He smiled ferally, waiting for her feet to hit the bottom step. "Now!" Chromium suddenly yelled.
Well finally, the boy was sticking to the plan! Sailorsulphur concentrated, her hands crossed over her heart, and in an instant a wave of green-yellow energy passed over her body. She now was dressed in the frock of Princess Helenia.
As Sailorcallisto raised the Razor Claw to strike Soldierchromium, Princess Helenia opened her hands toward her. "Mirror Entrapment!" she cried. A rectangular energy field with black, crackling sides shot out of her hand and crashed into Callisto. The senshi had not expected this, so she let out a cry of shock and then was silenced by her new glass prison. Several feet beyond where she had been hit, Sailorcallisto now appeared to be trapped inside a full-length mirror. She banged on its surface, but from the inside, and no sound came from her mouth though it moved in obvious pleas for help.
"Sailorcallisto!" Chlorine yelled. He tried to keep his attention on the Dark senshi that was ready to attack him and his Kuroibi-chan in danger at the same time, but it was very difficult. How would he ever get her out of there?
Baby Baby Love frowned, and swallowed hard at the painful memories the scene brought up. "It'll be impossible for her to escape from there on her own."
Princess Helenia turned to Kazan, struggling on the ground. "You better face the truth, Sailorio. If you don't, your teammate will be trapped in there forever."
"This is Aquamarine Black, coming to you live from Mirai Mugen University with an exclusive interview with Kikan Kyomu, the singer and pianist of the Kyomu Sisters. They will be playing to a sold out crowd tonight at--what? There's a senshi free-for-all going on right now in front of the main building?! I am so there!"
"You're not the only one. Everyone and their dog... guardian will be there!"
Sailormoon Dark Episode 26: The Final Galileon III. The Snare of the Unbearable Past. The moonlight carries the message of love.
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In case you're curious about this "Hatt Baby" video Tara is watching during this episode, it really exists. The song is by a music artist named Azar Habib, and a very odd video for it (made by a Swedish fan) can be viewed online here. You can even download an mp3 of the song from any file sharing program you may belong to. I came across the song and very funny video while the link to it was being passed around on some aol message boards, and I heard the strains of, "Hatt baby, hatt baby..." coming out of my friend Karen's room. I've been amused ever since.
# Moshi-moshi = the standard way that a person would answer the phone in Japan
On to Episode 26: The Final Galileon III. The Snare of the Unbearable Past.