Sailor Moon Silver Legacy Vol. 1 Act IX [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/0fd97e43-196a-4657-8d16-c18592169506/dfx994a-b9aaca9c-50c8-48a5-bad5-975e5a913563.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzBmZDk3ZTQzLTE5NmEtNDY1Ny04ZDE2LWMxODU5MjE2OTUwNlwvZGZ4OTk0YS1iOWFhY2E5Yy01MGM4LTQ4YTUtYmFkNS05NzVlNWE5MTM1NjMucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.bwwL5o44b4ZUqk6KyTeBlVe5fUITp1M36Cw6U-2Nrno]
“What’s the matter Artemis?” asked Luna upon returning to Makoto’s apartment.
The white cat didn’t answer immediately. “I’ve come to a decision, Luna,” he announced.
“Oh?”
“I’m leaving.”
Luna looked stunned. “You’re leaving?” she exclaimed.
“I can’t sit idly by any longer, watching the world burn around us, watching Minako hurt herself. I’m leaving to find Setsuna and the others.”
“What? This is out of the blue.”
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. The situation has changed. It’s not fair for Minako and Ami to carry the burden alone. It’s time for the outer soldiers to rejoin the fight.”
“But Setsuna hasn’t been replying to our messages, and we lost touch with the others.”
“That’s why I’m going to find them. Now.”
“Now?” the black cat repeated, shaking her head in confusion. “Why now? Can’t it wait until Ami and Minako return?”
Artemis lowered his head. “We don’t know that they’re going to return this time, Luna,” he said in a grave tone. “If they do, well, keep an eye on Minako for me.” He then nuzzled his mate and stepped out onto Makoto’s balcony.
“Artemis, wait…” Luna started, unsure of what to say, her eyes watery. “Be safe.”
The white cat nodded and smiled reassuringly, then departed.
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“That’s right, humans. Kneel before Turboost!” declared a purple-skinned, humanoid Youma with a car grille for a chest plate and exhaust pipes mounted on its back. It advanced on a group of frightened civilians, backing them into one of the mall’s many fast-food restaurants, where they cowered behind chairs and tables.
“Please, no!” a mother cried as the monster raised its arms in her direction, turning, and shielding her two small children with her body.
The Youma’s body began to reverberate loudly like a racer waiting on a green light, and it taunted, “It’s time to surrender your energy!”
The children cried out in fear. However, all the noise abruptly changed to a sputtering and rattling, reminiscent of a stalled engine. Noticing this, the mother turned her head and surveyed their assailant from the feet upward.
The monster’s arms had dropped to its sides, and its face was frozen in an expression of surprise. There was a smoking, gaping hole in its forehead. The woman flinched as the monster crumpled to the floor and the purple parts of it seemed to dissolve into the air.
Framed in the restaurant doorway, beyond what was now a heap of scrap metal, stood a sailor-suited young woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, her clasped hands outstretched as if pointing an imaginary gun. “It’s okay now,” she said quietly.
“Sailor V?” the woman spoke with incredulity. “You’re a real person?”
“As real as they come!” said the masked hero with a wink. “Now, everybody, stay quiet and follow me. I’ll get you to the nearest exit.”
The flabbergasted woman picked up her smallest child and took her daughter by the hand, who whispered excitedly, “I told you she was real, Mommy!”
The group followed their savior without question as she guided them along the second floor of the mall, looking around corners as she went, and signaling for more civilians to join them from their hiding places in the passing stores. The journey was interspersed with the not-so-distant screams and protestations of those who were not so lucky.
Suddenly an explosion sounded, followed by raucous laughter, and a new plume of smoke billowed up over the balustrade from the floors below. Evidently, the monster’s allies were enjoying themselves. The large group let out murmurs of panic but covered their mouths when Sailor V turned to them with her finger to her lips.
“Okay, which way?” she spoke softly into her wrist communicator.
“I’ve opened a new door at the exit to your left. There aren’t any enemies in that direction,” Mercury’s voice replied with a note of frustration. “This barrier is a real problem. It’s even interfering with the building’s safety protocols!”
“That explains why the sprinklers aren’t going off,” Sailor V responded. “Try to fix it. If this place burns down, the victims who have already had their energy drained will be in trouble.”
“I’m on it, but it’s not easy to do while on the move, directing you, and creating the doors. It’s going to take time.”
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Upon arriving at the mall, Ami and Minako had transformed and headed for the vast rooftop. They weren’t surprised to find it burning and billowing copious amounts of smoke from several points. However, they were surprised to find a red magical barrier enveloping the entire building. Despite being translucent, it was solid, blocking their entry, sealing the exits, and trapping the mallgoers inside.
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After noting that the smoke was passing through the barrier, Mercury analyzed its physical makeup with her computer. She eventually generated a signal capable of disrupting it and creating a small entry point. Even so, their initial plan to evacuate citizens had hit a snag. She would need to create more doors from the outside if they wanted to lower their chances of discovery or interruption.
With this in mind, the soldiers separated. While Sailor V stealthily entered the mall, Sailor Mercury began traversing its outer edges. The latter clucked her tongue in annoyance as she Skywalked toward the hulking facility’s next nearest entrance.
Shuffling between analyzing the suspiciously powerful barrier, monitoring the energy signatures inside, and attempting to gain control of the mall’s systems was no small task, even for a genius, especially on the move. It would have been much easier using the sophisticated computer in her lab with its giant screen, but with only two of them in fighting form, that wasn’t an option.
This thought made Ami second-guess her decision to sedate Rei. Having Sailor Mars on their side at a time like this would surely have been beneficial. Was she gambling with people’s lives for the sake of her big plan? No. Ami dismissed that idea. What she was doing was for the greater good. In the end, it would all be worth it—if she survived the night.
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On rounding the final corner of the path leading to the nearest of Ami’s doors, Minako came upon tens, maybe hundreds, of unconscious bodies clustered around the entryway. Her brow furrowed in anger. They must have been trying to escape but were prevented by the magical barrier. Minako worried for a moment about the barrier. No ordinary enemy could have produced something like that. Its power and size were well beyond the abilities of your average Youma.
Remembering herself, she signaled to the group of citizens she had amassed, pointing them toward the exit. Some mouthed words of thanks or else smiled meekly as they passed her. She watched as they carefully stepped over bodies and through the small hole in the barrier beyond the glass doors.
“Sailor V, behind you!” Ami’s urgent voice warned.
Minako reflexively tucked and rolled but was grazed by something. The shoulder of her uniform was torn and soaked with blood. Oddly, the wound seemed relatively small.
“Just go!” Sailor V instructed the concerned civilians who had stopped in their tracks, then turned her attention to her approaching opponent.
The Youma was covered in neon-colored armor. A set of cylindrical yellow tanks was set into its torso, a tube from which led to a handless right arm with an orange muzzle and more of the plastic coating. It raised the arm in the direction of the fleeing rescuees.
“No, I’m your opponent!” said Sailor V.
All the same, the Youma attacked, releasing a narrow jet of pressurized water. With frightening range and accuracy, the woman from the restaurant was hit in the back, a visible, red gash appearing as she fell to the floor.
“Mommy!” her little girl cried as the other evacuees carried the family to safety through the barrier.
In that same moment, Sailor V spat with venom, “You’ll pay for that, scum!” and charged what she realized now was a Youma made from a type of water pistol she had owned as a child. Its liquid attack was why her shoulder had seemed extra bloody.
“SHE’S HERE! SHE’S HE—!” signaled the Youma as it slid the forestock of its pistol arm back and forth to reload. Before it could pump enough water from its tanks or finish its sentence, Sailor V unleashed a punishing set of Aikido moves.
A second later, she removed the Crescent Moon Compact affixed to her uniform, and uttered the magic words, “Crescent Cutter!” The curved item dazzled brilliantly, and she cleaved it through the Youma’s feeble, plastic armor in one swift, figure-eight motion.
Water gushed from the monster’s tank-like abdomen as it fell to its knees without another word. However, it had said enough. As its body turned to shadow and reverted to a broken Super Soaker, a new enemy appeared from over the balustrade.
“SHE IS HERE!” the new Youma barked to its allies, perching precariously on the handrail as it fired lumps of its own body at the last of the fleeing pack. “AND THE HUMANS ARE ESCAPING!”
Sailor V pivoted, and hurled her compact, crying, “Crescent Boomerang!” The shining weapon sliced through the air and sunk into her new opponent’s chest. But there it remained, dimmed, and refused to return to its owner at her behest.
This new Youma was of a different kind, something more like troublesome doll monster she had disposed of recently. There were no visible clues on its body to indicate what sort of object it had been created from, though. It was simply an amorphous, bipedal, multi-colored mass of…something.
Sailor V bit her lip as she processed the situation. Only four of the six enemies remained now, but an odd one had appeared, and its allies had been notified. They would surely gather following the news of her arrival, but she had to hold off on transforming until that moment. She couldn’t risk running out of power or stamina too soon, especially if whoever created the barrier was present.
Firing beams against her current opponent wasn’t smart since it didn’t have any obvious targets, but her weapon was lost. Or was it? As the odd monster moved an arm in her direction, Sailor V dashed forward. It released another spread of projectile body pieces, but she ducked them and lunged with all her strength, tackling the Youma over the handrail.
Stunned by the girl’s actions, the Youma had not reacted. As the two fell from the second floor, Sailor V gripped the protruding end of her compact, and spoke, “Crescent Cutter.” The golden object began to glow again, and she proceeded to carve its magical blade through the Youma’s body.
While Sailor V managed to pull out of their nosedive and touch down gracefully, the monster landed in a heap of separate sections. Still, the way her weapon had cut through the Youma’s body concerned her. It had a strange consistency, dense but soft. With her left hand, she had clutched her opponent for leverage, and a piece remained in her grip. She squeezed it, noticing how it reshaped almost like clay. Was this Multi-colored enemy made of Play-Doh?
Minako thought back on the Youma they had fought of late. Many of them had been comprised of broken or old-fashioned items and appliances. Those she had seen today consisted of scrap car parts or retro toys. Where was the enemy getting the objects to make their monsters? Junkyards and trash heaps? There was something amusing about that. Something odd, too.
Back in the day, the Sailor Soldiers’ enemies had been a little more selective about the objects chosen to create their minions. Unlike these new ones, they usually imbued items or people of special significance. Was the Blood Moon Alliance so afraid of confrontation, they were scrounging through garbage for resources? Queen Beryl certainly never would have resorted to that.
Minako’s mouth flickered with the briefest of smiles as she imagined their old nemesis dumpster diving. Recovering her train of thought, she wondered whether the Blood Moon’s reliance on sub-par materials was an indication of their true strength? If so, maybe they weren’t the threat Ami believed them to be.
“Sailor V?” Ami’s voice rang out.
“I’m okay,” she replied into her wrist device. “Thanks for the warning earlier, but you cut it close, you know!”
“I’m sorry, I was distracted with hacking the mall’s systems. Never mind that, though. The remaining energy signatures are closing in on your location! And what are you doing about the one on top of you?”
Just then, the sound of movement caught Minako’s attention. As she had feared, the Play-Doh Youma was special. Its severed chunks were molding together to reconstitute its body. Like Maladoll, it was the type of enemy that she would need to erase in one shot. For that, she would need her full powers. The battle was just beginning.