Misperception by Papirini

battle in the park

MISPERCEPTION

Battle in the Park

It was already 4:50 when Operation Kill Jerkface was about to began.

“All right.” Hard-nosed, hard-hearted, and with an vanilla ice cream sandwich in tow, Kousagi faced her troops, a gleam in her eyes. “We know what must be done. You all know the plan. Swiftly, quickly, take no prisoners.”

“Sir!” A chorus of little voices responded to their leader. “Yes sir!!”

The group had swelled considerably as Vazgorth's list of unforgivable misdeeds grew through the afternoon. He ruined someone's sidewalk chalk portrait of Tourmaline by dousing it in water; he stepped on a girl’s foot and laughed at her pain; he stole a boy's sandwich and ate it right in front of him. Now, half the little kids in the park had banded together against Vazgorth, bent for revenge.

They couldn't just go to Tourmaline and the sailor soldiers. There was a simple reason for it. In their worlds, they were normally told to suck it up and bear it, laugh with the offenders and tattlers, and not to tattle because tattling made one look bad and wouldn't get one any friends. But Vazgorth was no playground bully: in fact he was dangerous to the point of true sadism. Had his powers been on par with what they were in his dimension, they would all be dead, or tortured, or worse. And on some subconscious level, they all knew it.

“Then let's do it.” Kousagi turned away. “Everyone, get in your positions.”

“YES, SIR!!”

“....Stop saying that,” the little girl cringed at the synchronized shouting. “I'm not a samurai!”

“YES, SIR!!!”

“...Never mind.”

At this, Kousagi started to walk off, and the kids, as per the plan, scattered. There was screaming and whooping, the false sense that the kids were just playing around and having a game of hide and seek. To the adults, it would look completely innocent.

Stay calm, Kousagi. Slowly, the lavender-haired girl walked towards the glen of trees. He's in there.....just...just approach him like nothing is happening....and when the time is right...

It wasn't very difficult to find Vazgorth, even within the copse. All around him, there was a circle of black energy, which occasionally lashed out and cut a tree, or singed the grass black. By the time Kousagi arrived, most of the grass was gone and nearly all the trees had been reduced to charred stumps.

“Hmmmmmph.” Kousagi could hear Vazgorth's mumbling as his eyes glowed bright red. “Must.....more power......damned world.....give me....more dark power....!!!”

“Hello, Vazgorth.”

Kousagi tensed up as Vazgorth's head snapped up. The red halo in his eyes disappeared, replaced by his cold, lifeless black orbs, which stared menacingly at her. For a moment, Kousagi felt her resolve waver, and her first instinct was to run away screaming.

....No!

“Oh. You.” The child gave a harsh laugh. “For a moment I thought it was a threat coming to me.”

“Hmph.” Kousagi's hands went into her pocket. “Well, I'm here to talk to you about something, Vazgorth.”

“I see.” Vazgorth stood up, a black mist rising from the ground as he did. “So you've finally decided to come grovel at my feet and exclaim the allegiance of you and your world to my family. You are intelligent for a girl.”

“No.”

Kousagi put her hands on her hips and glared as best as she could at Vazgorth, who simply glared right back at her for her insolence.

“I've come here to demand that you apologize for pulling my hair this morning. It was a mean thing to do and you shouldn't be doing it!”

“Oh.” Vazgorth smirked. “I'm so sorry, then.”

“You should be sincere in your apologies.” Kousagi didn't back down. “Or else you'll regret it, and I can promise that.”

“And how,” a wicked grin came onto his face, “Do you plan on making me comply with your orders? You're going to tell those ineffective adults?”

With Vazgorth's attention diverted onto Kousagi and her airs, several shadows of different shapes and sizes appeared amongst the trees and on the branches. Pairs of beady eyes opened and shut, all of them dead silent.

“No; I've already decided how I would do it.” Kousagi's hand went into her pocket. “As have all of the kids here whom you've wronged. You're going to regret messing with all of us, you jerk!!”

“What-”

Vazgorth's eye caught one kid's hand as the object he held flashed into his eyes. With an angry snarl, he shot his finger out. A spike of black lightning, which in his dimension would have instantly incinerated the boy and his weapon, only instead knocked it out of his hand, causing the boy to run off screaming and crying.

“You...!!!”

Vazgorth's snarl of hate turned into a scream of humiliation as he was suddenly attacked by unending streams of whip cream. He took his cape to him and tried to run, but at every side, he was bombarded with whip cream. Soon, he was completely white from head to toe.

“NOOOOO!!!” Vazgorth screamed like a girl. “NOOOOOO....Stoooooop!!!!”

“Everyone!” Kousagi whipped out a hot pink pen and waved it like a pointer..“Break out the condiments!!”

Just as the whip cream had been thrown at the dark child, now cherries, M&Ms, peanut butter cups and nuts were pelted at him with merciless efficiency. Most of the cherries slid off of him quickly and fell onto the ground, but many of the nuts and most of the candy managed to wedge themselves into the whip cream.

“Haha!” The kids laughed as they threw everything they had at him. “Yay! We got him! We got him!!”

Soon, Vazgorth was nothing but a giant pile of whip cream, cherries, candies, nuts, and when the kids had run out of food, sticks and stones. It quaked and shivered as it collapsed onto the ground, seemingly defeated by the onslaught.

“Hooray!!!” The kids all jumped up and down, screaming and clapping loudly. “HOOORAY!!!!! HOOO-”

”RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The whip cream, the condiments, and everything that covered him suddenly blew up and splashed onto the children. A giant red aura with black lightning surrounded Vazgorth, whose eye sockets had turned completely black from pure, unadulterated rage.

“MISERABLE.....” The children trembled as Vazgorth raised his hands. “PIGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

At the last word, lightning poured from his body, blasting nearly every child in the vicinity. Screaming and crying, the children scattered around, but it did them little good; lightning kept hitting them, and within the trees the power spread and even struck unsuspecting children who were not involved in the confrontation.

“Aaaaah!!!”

“Owwwwww!!”

“Help!!”

“DISGUSTING....PATHETIC....”

Years of being spoiled rotten and little or no contact with his peers had given Vazgorth a sense of superiority over all other children. The fact he would suffer a lifetime of ridicule if the people of his dimension heard about this was too much to bear. He decided, in his egotistical way, that there was only one way to eradicate the humiliation.

Everyone had to die in the most painful way possible.

“WEAKLINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“NO!!!”

One rather large chunk of lightning suddenly dissipated as it made contact with a faint hot pink line that suddenly appeared in the air. Vazgorth's eyes cleared to see Kousagi, her blue eyes flashing, holding up her pen, which glittered underneath the shield that was constructed around her. Also inside the shield were several more children, trembling as they huddled around the girl, their eyes widened with fear.

“What....” Vazgorth's eyes widened, his anger only increasing. “How!?!?”

“That does it.” Kousagi's squeaky voice suddenly evinced a hint of regal bearing that, before, seemed unlikely from someone like her. “Now you've really gone too far! Hurting all these kids and punishing unwitting bystanders is an act beyond forgiveness! It's time for you to be punished!”

She held her pen up higher, and suddenly, it flashed brightly within the shield. Simultaneously, a moon sign appeared both on the head of the pen and on Kousagi's forehead, shining brilliantly.

“Parallel Moon Power, Make-Up!!”

The shield suddenly dissipated, the lines of power enveloped Kousagi like ribbons. The spectral forms of rabbits from lives past – Bugs Bunny, Alice's White Rabbit, the 15th, 214th and 302nd Easter Bunnies – encircled her and entered into her body as her clothing changed into those of a sailor soldier.

“For love and justice,” She reappeared, with rabbit decorations on her buns and tiara, a lilac dress with pale cornflower blue bows and pink boots. She flashed a peace sign over her face. “I am the brand new Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, in this third battle of the new moon, you're punished!!”

Vazgorth didn't respond as the remaining children, instinctively realizing what was about to happen, all ran off with a chorus of squeals. He simply gave a huff of indignation as he regathered his energies and concentrated on the hateful figure of Kousagi.

“Damn you.”

A giant line of black lightning shot from Vazgorth's hands. Twice the size of Vazgorth himself, it flew towards the new Sailor Moon with a roar.

“YEEEEEK!! I don't know....” Her eyes bugged out, Sailor Moon quickly raised a hand up. “M-moon Virge! Come to my hand! QUICK!!!”

Instantly, a bright pink wand with a giant star jewel on top appeared in her hands. As quickly as she could, she threw the virge in front of her. At the end of the wand, a small crescent moon flashed, and the lightning dispersed at the power that came from it.

“What?!” Vazgorth's eyes widened as he poured more power into his attack. “That's impossible! Sailor soldiers are weak against my power!”

“Ugh!” Sailor Moon snarled as the lightning grew stronger. “I'll sh-show you who's weak!!”

Another pink shield seemed to form around the girl as she pumped more of her own power into the battle. By this time, the trees around them were almost decimated, the grass completely gone.

“Hmph! Another....shield?” Vazgorth rolled his eyes. “Weakling girl! I'm not surprised that's all you have!”

“That's where you're....hurrgh....mistaken.” Sailor Moon closed her eyes. “Cynthia the dentist pink-colored moon cat didn't train her disciple so lightly! This is my t-trademark attack!!”

“A cat?!” At this, Vazgorth cackled. “A cat?! What a stupid ignoramus! I trained alongside the Prince of the Four Hells and the Black Warlocks of Gordanic! I have the best teachers in my universe!!”

“...And you still suck.” Sailor Moon held out her wand even further. “Tektite Moon....”

Suddenly, the pink light began to condense and wrap into itself, forming a giant outline in front of the soldier. From the sky, glowing meteorites began to fall into the outline, some floating into it, some bouncing off the ground until it connected with the outline. Soon, the form was complete, and the Royal Moon Prince of Xaxalax was suddenly facing one of his worst nightmares.

"..What in...the Haradorian hells..." Vazgorth's eyes widened. "Is that?!"

 

It was a gigantic, hot pink cat head made from pink moon tektites, with large sparks for eyeballs and whiskers of fire that were each three feet across. A crescent moon sign shimmered hazily on its head.

 

"...MEOW!!!"

 

Like a prototypical Pac Man, the behemoth opened its mouth, revealing sharp white teeth that were each made from several thousand joules of particle energy. Then, with a roar, the teeth clamped down on the black lightning, snapping the beams in half and neutralizing it as it went down the cat head's magical, unseen gullet.

 

"...u....h.."

 

Vazgorth could only watch in abject horror. His eyes were huge, and his jaw was on the ground, as he watched his powerful attack get chomped down and swallowed up by what he could only describe as an over-colored piece of cotton candy with cat ears. He was so paralyzed by embarrassment - it was the only motion he could muster up at that moment - that he couldn't move as the cat finally swallowed the rest of his attack and came right up to him.

 

Then - with a sniff of its prey and a deafening, unholy meow - the cat head burst into a hailstorm of dust, turning Vazgorth into a humiliated pink dust devil.

“Hahaha!”Sailor Moon grinned. “Just like Cynthia taught me!! How do you like that?! I WIN!!!”

There was a long silence between that remark and the next. Vazgorth – caked in pink and white, drained of his powers – felt anger and indignation as never before. In a foreign land, no less, his illustrious name had been tarnished, his reputation destroyed. All he could do was let out a scream as he charged at his enemy and headbutted her, knocking her to the ground.

The fight was far from over.

-----------------------

The after lunch tea session was even more awkward than the brunch itself. Everyone was drinking tea, completely quiet.

“....It's cold.” Uromamo shuddered. “This t-tea is c-cold like ice. L-like n-needles...”

Naru looked around the circle as everyone else drank their tea in abject silence. The gulf that had suddenly appeared when Chibi-Usa appeared had grown larger, though no one was ready to admit it. At first, Naru had not been sure why everyone was not talking to her, but as the painful minutes went by, she began to make her own theory.

”Chibi-Usa.....will be here soon....!”

It has to be. She must exist with them, too. It must be...why else...would they be so hostile...?

Naru found it amazing, but it made sense, when she thought of her own memories which she herself barely managed to suppress. That was the reason why she, too, was having a somewhat difficult time talking to her sister; it brought up things that Naru wanted to forget on that day. It worried her that it was possible that so many people may have replaced Chibi-Usa in their realities; she wondered how Chibi-Usa came to appear to everyone else.

“Hm....yeah.” Gunther made a face as he poured the tea out on the ground. “This is yucky.”

“Gunther-chan,” Hitoko mumbled. “That is rude of you to pour out tea someone had made for you.”

“....Well....the grass can appreciate it for me!”

“Just shut up, Gunther.”

That last curt remark was made by Ranami; instinctively, Gunther threw up his hands in preparation. To his shock, nothing happened.

"But...you know," Ranami paused as she brought the cup to her lips, shying away from Gunther as she did so. "I need to say something that's been on my mind for some time since....I got here.”

“Huh?”

“Chibi-Usa...” The question seemed to come out of left field. “You....look nothing like I imagined."

"Eh?" Chibi-Usa's head came up at this. "What?”

“I said you look nothing like I imagined.”

“....What do you mean, 'than you imagined'?” Chibi-Usa's brow raised at this. “You're from another dimension, right?"

"..Yes, but....you existed there as well."

“What...?”

No one but Chibi-Usa seemed surprised as Ranami's confession came to light. It was especially no surprise to Naru; now she knew for sure hers and Chibi-Usa's were not the only places where the pink-haired girl had existed.

A-ha! Just as I thought...!

“It's true.” Ranami looked down. "You were the original heir of Crystal Tokyo. You went back to the past to save the world from the Black Moon.."

 

Ranami turned away as she spoke the last two words. The pink-haired girl's face paled slightly as she began to realize the ramifications of the blue-haired princess' words.

 

"You...?"

"..My parents gave me your room in the Crystal Palace." Ranami sighed, not looking at Chibi-Usa. "I didn't know about you, until some time ago. My mother never admitted to keeping political prisoners to my face; she always had a smile when she told me that there was no such thing in her world order – that such archaic methods were abolished when the Black Moon came and brought peace and equality. Then I found a box, hidden deep inside my closet, one I never saw before. There was only a small amount of your things left, but there was enough to tell me what had happened to you."

"Ranami-san...."

"You had gone back to the future to show Sailor Moon your mother so she could be healed. Then...Sailor Moon was captured by Diamond, and something happened to her during her imprisonment to cause her to change sides. Before you knew it, you were captured, sent into exile with all the sailor senshi. They killed your father. But you didn't fade right away when you arrived at prison...it took several years for the changes in the time line to take full effect, and you slowly, painfully disappeared in front of Venus' eyes for fourteen years...just around the time I was born..."

"My god."

"Please." Chibi-Usa shut her eyes. "Don't say anymore.."

"....I never forgave my parents for that sin."

 

Ranami still looked away. Her voice shook again, as it had before when Hitoko and her had argued. This time, though, the anger was far less directed at anyone but herself.

 

"Ranami-chan." Hitoko's hand suddenly appeared on Ranami's shoulder. "Their sins are not yours. Yeah, people are scared of you because of who you are.."

"..Including Chibi-Usa, obviously..."

"But you didn't physically kill Chibi-Usa.”

“...No....”

“Or attempt to, for that matter?"

“Gunther.” Hitoko glared at Gunther. “Don't even say it.”

“But you-”

"No.."

"Y-y-y-you did, though."

 

Suddenly, everyone was looking at Uromamo. The purple-haired boy's face was completely sincere and serious at this as he looked at Hitoko.

 

"Wh.whaaaaat?!?" Chibi-Usa's eyes bugged out as she started to scoot off. "T-tourmaline-san never mentioned anyone trying killing me....!!"

"Uromamo!" Hitoko's head turned towards the boy, her voice shockingly harsh towards him. "How dare you talk about that!! I just said...!!!"

"B-b-b-b-b-but.." Uromamo started to shake. "Y-y-y-you said th-th-th-this m-m-m-orning..th-th-that you d-d-d-d-did.."

".He is right, Hitoko-chan." Ranami couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "I guess my sins are paltry in comparison."

"You....I told you already this morning." Hitoko's normally calm face almost crimped up into a snarl at this. "I told you that I don't want to talk about it again!!"

"I don't think you have much of a choice now, Hitoko-san."

 

At this, Ranami's eyes looked over at the other side of the rice pot. Staring at all of them was Chibi-Usa, who's eyes were as wide as saucers as she tried to get up and run off. Restraining her was Casper, who easily kept the much smaller pink-haired girl from escaping. Naru, meanwhile, was just staring at Hitoko in surprise.

 

"Calm down." Casper shook his head. "She's not like that. It was a mistake, is all."

"But.....you tried to kill Chibi-Usa?"

"Goddamn it." Hitoko grit her teeth. "At this moment, Uromamo, you have no idea...."

"I-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-im s-s-s-s-s-s-s-sorry!!!!!"

"Don't be silly." Ranami shook her head. "He didn't know any better."

"But you guys know that this." Hitoko shut her eyes angrily. "What we said this morning.."

"There's no use hiding it anymore, Hitoko-chan." Casper's voice was low. "You may as well speak of it and get it over with."

"..Chibi-Usa and I missed a lot this morning.." Naru gulped. "Didn't we?"

"Hmph."

 

To Naru's chagrin, Casper didn't even respond to her question. He simply ignored it as he sat Chibi-Usa down once more.

 

What.. Naru's unease grew at the snub. What did I say....?

 

"All right." Hitoko huffed. "Yes, I really tried to kill you, Chibi-Usa. But I didn't know you were my half-sister at the time. I was tricked into doing it."

"Half-sister-"

"I was kidnapped by my grandfather, Sailor Mars' father." Hitoko spat on the ground at this, ignoring Chibi-Usa's exclamation. "The bastard dumped me in an orphanage where they made up the worst lies about my parents. They were drug dealers, they were bums, they sold me for money and dumped me in a garbage bin. Then the caretakers would beat me when I tried to rebel. I hated my life."

"Hitoko...."

"When I finally ran away, I met this guy. Brandon. That's the only name I ever knew him by." Hitoko clenched her fists. "He was a smooth guy. He fed me all this stuff about how much he loved me, how much he cared for me, how we'd never part. Then he started telling me about the imperial regime that ruled Earth, how it was horrible and how it abandoned people like me. He told me, he had this idea.."

 

Hitoko stopped at this and shook her head. Tears began to form in her eyes, which, to Naru, was a shock. Hitoko seemed so stoic, a rock, the glue of the group, such as it was.

 

"..Did...you kill them?"

"Of course not," Hitoko hissed, which caused Naru to draw back a little. "We were caught. He injured the queen, of course, but I missed the princess, whom I was supposed to kill. I'm a terrible shot. But they found us, took us in and interrogated us for hours on end. I never dreamed for a moment that I had been used; I just spouted out everything Brandon told me, because I thought it was right."

 

One tear finally did escape, a tear of rage. It was as if all the years of disillusionment was contained in that droplet, and when it fell to the ground, it shattered, spreading itself around in a million pieces.

 

"Then Sailor Mercury came in." Hitoko's eyes opened again, filled with more water. "I'll never know how she saw it..but she just started asking me all about my life. I didn't tell her at first, but...eventually, I just broke down and spent a whole hour raging to her about how bad my life was, and how I never...knew my parents...and the next thing I knew.." Hitoko's lip shook. "These two people came in, and...s-said, 'Hitoko. We're your parents.'"

 

At this, Hitoko buried her head into her hands and let out a long sob. The entire group was dead silent at this; no one said a word. Not even Gunther, who had again been thinking salacious thoughts about Ranami at the beginning, could muster anything at Hitoko's admission.

 

Hitoko-chan.

 

Only Casper showed no overt reaction, as he already knew what had happened. They had been the first two children through the folder, and he had overheard Tourmaline had speaking to Hitoko about what had happened, much to Hitoko's anger. The others had not heard the whole story; they had simply heard that Hitoko had tried to kill the princess of Crystal Tokyo. There had been nothing else beyond that until that moment.

 

"I.." After a long moment of silence, Hitoko wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, Chibi-Usa."

"It's ok.." Looking dazed and fazed, Chibi-Usa rose to leave. "I....it was lovely meeting-"

"Wait."

 

".....'ll have two daughters,...” they said.

 

A flicker of guilt flashed across Naru's mind as she remembered her own crimes. It had been buried in the strange surprises that had happened throughout the day, but at Hitoko's story, the feeling came back, stronger than ever.

 

“Chibi-Usa....” Naru grabbed her sister's arm. “I'm sorry...”

“Huh?” Chibi-Usa's eyes widened. “What-”

“I.....” The memories began to resurface again. “I know you as well. You....you were supposed to be born. Not me. And for years my parents left me on my own, made me feel like dirt because of you. I had no birthdays, no parties, no friends, and nothing I did pleased them. They even tried to change the past so you would be born, even at the cost of my own life! And all I could do was hate you. For as long as I could remember, I hated you.”

“Please let me go...” Chibi-Usa looked frightened at these words. “I-”

“And all I want to say is.....I'm sorry.”

Ranami and Hitoko were about to jump up and stop Naru, but stopped when they heard Naru's final words. They turned towards each other, dumbfounded at what was happening.

Sorry? Hitoko's eye twitched. She's sorry for replacing Chibi-Usa in her reality? I would have thought...with what happened this morning...

Strange. Ranami's eyes drifted. She was deprived of her parents' love. She finally admitted to it. And yet....unlike.....why isn't she angry right now?

Ranami's eye suddenly met Casper's at that moment. There was no confusion in his eyes; there seemed to be annoyance, even disgust and contempt, as he looked at Ranami with his red eyes.

....Oh. Ranami's eyes quickly cast themselves down to the ground. Right. I guess that's why I thought Naru-chan would be mad...

“.....Sorry?” Chibi-Usa was also evidently confused. “But....I thought, for sure.....you said you hated me.”

“I...did. And for a very long time, as I just said.” Naru quietly let go of Chibi-Usa's arm. “But...the more I thought about it, after I transformed into Sailor Moon, I realized that....it wasn't me. It certainly wasn't you. It was the people around me. My mother, my father, the senshi. Everyone who was supposed to at least protect me, if not love me as their own. They, who refused to see me as a part of them, who...who simply threw their hands up and called me a failure before I had a chance to prove....m-myself.....”

Shutting her eyes tightly, Naru wiped away the tears that were starting to come from her own eyes. In front of her Chibi-Usa's own eyes seemed to start swimming with her own tears of guilt.

“I'm....so sorry.” Chibi-Usa looked down. “I had no idea....”

“Oooh....oh.” Naru's lip still quivered as she spoke again. “No. I'm the one who's sorry. But I thought you should know that...I forgave you because...you had nothing to do with it. I mean....” She gave a nervous laugh as she smiled at Chibi-Usa. “You shouldn't feel guilty. You're a wonderful person, really, but I admit I'd dreamed for years what it would be like if I had met my phantom sister. At first, the purpose of my dream was to make you feel as miserable as I had felt whenever I was reminded of my place in everyone's heart, but....I came to realize that that would have been wrong.”

The rest of the group was completely silent as they all stared at the scene in front of them; it was as if they had the exact same long-festering feelings towards others who may or may not have been present that day. While some in the group felt something of a sympathetic pang for Naru's words, and deigned to forgive those who had wronged them, others were not yet moved by her words of sympathy.

“And now that I've met you, you really are a great person to know.” Naru wiped her eyes again, and her smiled widened. “I'm glad I got the chance to meet you, Chibi-Usa-chan. I wouldn't have it any other way than for us to be happy for one another like siblings should be, even though we don't exist alongside one another. So.....would you be my sister now?”

Chibi-Usa let out a squeaky sob as she slowly consented with a nod. It was obviously that she was trying to look strong and chipper even after she heard this confession. Before anyone could put in another word, however, the smaller girl had suddenly latched onto Naru, with a bear hug, nearly knocking the air out of her.

“Yes!!”

Most of those watching unconsciously let out a sigh of relief as the two embraced. Meanwhile, next to Ramami, Gunther had rematerialized with a wide grin on his face. He had seen what had happened and decided that the best way to have Ranami forgive him was to copy Naru's actions.

“Ranami-chan....plum of my eye-”

Gunther was barely in mid-air and gunning for his hug when a fist suddenly pummeled him just over his groin. With his mouth wide open to howl, but no sound coming out, Gunther collapsed on the ground, doubled over, with tears in his eyes

“Hooooomph....!”

“...No.” There was an oddly devious smile on Ranami's face, though Gunther couldn't see it, as he was whimpering in pain. “As you said before, we're not related.”

“...Damn........it....!”

So...complicated.

Naru closed her eyes as she hugged her sister back just as tightly tightly, taking in all of the smells and the feeling of her clothing in her hands and locking them into her memory. Thoughts of what her parents might have thought of Chibi-Usa were followed by other thoughts, other feelings.

I wonder....this sense of closeness.... Naru sighed. It's so strange. So many different secrets. It's as if Chibi-Usa and I were in the same boat, somehow.....what kind of boat, though, I....I don't know....

Behind her, Casper's face darkened. He simply turned towards the others; his reaction was written clearly on his face, and the others shuddered to see it.

....Fool. His hand grasped the knife in his pocket so tightly that his knuckles turned white. I....can't stand it....!

“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!!”

Suddenly, without warning, the avalanche began. Screams suddenly filled the air as little bodies appeared in front of the group, each silhouette screaming their heads off. Onward they stampeded towards the older ones, with smoke starting to billow in the trees of the glen that was situated behind them.

“What the...”

“Holy crap..!!!”

Everyone stood up at this. Chibi-Usa and Naru parted from each other's arms to see what was happening, just as the children ran them over. Gunther gave a shout as several of the horde ran to him, screaming and crying at the same time. This scene was repeated with almost everyone else in the group. Soon, amidst the confusion, someone knocked over the tea pot, which drenched the grass, and another person had stomped on Uromamo's feet.

“AAAAAAH!!!” He grabbed at Ranami and hid behind her. “TOE STEPPERS!! Th-th-th-th-th-th-they're af-f-f-f-f-f-f-fter m-m-m-m-me!!!!!!”

“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!!!!”

“What the hell!?” Hitoko looked at all the kids screaming at her. “What's going on?!”

“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!!!!”

“I got that,” Hitoko growled. “I'm aski-”

“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!!!!”

“HEY, I'm trying to a-”

“HEEEEEEEEEE-”

“SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!!!!!!!”

Everyone instantly stopped as Ranami's voice. Her eyes flashed red for a moment as she looked at the quaking children; after seeing their fightened faces, however, the redness died out.

“Sorry....sorry.” She took several deep breaths. “I'm....sorry. That was...my mistake.”

“....Heeelp!!”

“Hmm?” Ranami felt someone tug at her jacket. “What? What is it?!”

“It's...” At this, a silver-haired girl with strange clothing whimpered. “It's terrible!”

“And you are...?”

“...Z....Zandra.” The girl gulped. “Zukino....Zandra.”

“...Interesting.” Ranami roughly grabbed Gunther's hand, which had somehow gotten dangerously close to her behind once more. “What's going on here?”

“Th-the....” Zandra gulped. “The...lightning. We...w-we were trying to g-get back at him...for being mean....b-but he...he a-attacked us!!”

“He...?”

“The mean kid!!”

“....Vazgorth.”

The older kids looked at one another; even among them, they knew what Vazgorth was capable of. They turned back towards the kids to examine them more closely. Many of them had small burns and bruises on their arms, their hands, their faces. Some were covered in whip cream, which made little sense to Gunther.

“What....” Gunther poked at a pile of the white stuff. “What is this?”

“M-m-m-m-m-mind control cream!”

“It's whip cream, Gunther-san.”

“N-n-n-n-no!!!” Uromamo's eyes bugged out as he violently pointed towards the kid. “Th-th-they put min c-c-c-control cream on you and n-n-n-n-now y-y-y-you can't think or eat or sleep and it's b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-”

“Uromamo-chan.”

Instantly, Hitoko's wrists were up for Uromamo to see. Without hesitation, Uromamo grabbed on as tightly as he could, tears coming to his eyes.

“Is...is h-h-he...?”

“Mind control doesn't work here,” Hitoko responded quietly. “This is just the work of a little brat.”

“Y-y-you sure?”

“Yes, Uromamo-chan.”

“A little brat we need to take care of, right?”

“Well,” One kid raised his hand up. “Kousagi-chan is fighting him! At least she was when I ran off. But he's a bully, so who knows what he's done to her?!”

“Kousagi...” Chibi-Usa's eyes widened. “Oh dear. Not her...”

“You know her?”

“She's my younger sister.”

“Really?” Ranami's eyes widened slightly. “But surely, I thought you were an only child in this dimension...?”

“..In another dimension, of course. Not here.” Chibi-Usa huffed. “But she's been a handful for the entire day.”

“Well...I don't see any of the chaperones.” Ranami sighed. “Tourmaline-san or the senshi. Looks like we'll have to diffuse the situation.”

“I guess so.” Hitoko looked over at Chibi-Usa. “You up for it?”

“I have to be, don't I?” Chibi-Usa smiled slightly. “This is my dimension, after a-”

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!! DIE!!!!!!!!!!”

The banter was interrupted by the sudden, violent entrance of two small, dirty, bloody figures, tumbling through the grass and dust headlong into the crowd. Screaming, the kids began to stampede away at the sight.

“RUUUN! IT'S VAZGORTH!!”

“EEEEEK!!!”

“HANG on!!” Hitoko's voice rose above the squabble. “Calm down, everyone...”

“Dirty little...”

“No you don't!!”

The two tiny combatants could not have fought harder if their rivalry had spanned for years instead of hours. There was punching, kicking, spitting, slapping, scratching and biting going on for both sides. Blood started to spurt lightly on the ground, and grunting and crying could be heard from within the cloud that covered Vazgorth and Sailor Moon.

“Get off-”

“RAAGH!!”

“My finger!!”

“Miserable cur!!”

“Umph...!”

As the dust finally cleared, and the two fighters could be seen more clearly, the damage became far more apparent. The two had obviously run out of energy to use their powers and had been fighting physically for some time. Kousagi's virge was broken in half at her side, her blue cheek puffed out considerably and a long streak of blood trickled from a large scratch over her left eye. Vazgorth had many bruises, and his cape was torn and tattered; his mouth was trickling blood, and one of his teeth were missing. The ferociousness of the battle made even Hitoko reluctant to intervene.

“I...” The black-haired girl gave a gulp. “I'm at a loss...”

“So am I....” Chibi-Usa's eyes were as wide as basketballs. “That little brat is a sailor senshi?!”

“Apparently.”

“Have the people in my dimension lost their sake cups!?”

“....I don't know that expression could come from you,” Hitoko's eyebrows went up at this. “But, I'll take your word on it being a legitimate phrase and say yes.”

“Wow!” Gunther's mouth dropped. “This is more violent than an Apache raid.”

“Stop joking around, Gunther. We have to stop them before they kill each other!”

“Damn you!” Vazgorth went to elbow Sailor Moon in the face. “I'll make you cry for your god!”

“You evil bully!!” The elbow barely missed Kousagi, who dug her nails onto Vazgorth's clothing. “I'll....I'll rip your heart out!!!!”

“...But...” Gunther pouted. “I'm not joking...”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!” Uromamo jumped back with a squeal as they started rolling towards him. “D-d-d-d-d-d-d-don't k-k-k-k-kill me!! I s-s-s-s-s-s-s-surrender-!!!!”

“AAH!” The kids also began to panic and run again. “Heeelp!!!”

“Shit.” Hitoko grumbled as she attempted to get near them. “Come on, you two! Stop fi-”

She was interrupted when, without warning, Vazgorth's leg shot out and kicked Hitoko in the shin. Whether it was intentional or not was moot; either way, Hitoko was on the ground, swearing.

“You little...!!!” Hitoko sucked in a breath as she held her leg. “Damn it all....”

“Stupid kids.” Ranami's eyes suddenly changed red. “They just don't learn, do they?”

“Huh?!” Gunther's eyes widened at the sight of Ranami's change, and he quickly began to back away. “Oh no!! I didn't do anythi-”

“Someone catch one of them. Because one of them....”

“...Huh?”

Suddenly, Ranami's red eyes turned completely white, and she held her hands out in front of her towards the fighting children. Black lightning crackled on her fingertips; on her forehead, the Black Moon sign flashed brightly, and on her ears, her sword-shaped earrings flapped around wildly.

“Black Moon Wall!!!”

It was like a black seed formed between the two children, even as they clung to each other as tight as a chain. The black seed of a perpendicular tree that suddenly grew in between the two combatants and attacked each one. Like a spider with its prey, they were each grabbed by long tendrils of energy.

“What the-”

“HEY!!!”

Then, needing little prompting from Ranami, the tendrils split in half. Vazgorth was kept pinned to the ground while Sailor Moon was flung high into the air, screaming within an inch of her life.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaa.....”

“Aaaaack!” Gunther squinted as he ran around, trying to keep track of Kousagi. “DON'T WORRY, I'VE GOT YOU!!!!!”

“.....aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-OOF!!!”

She landed in Gunther's arms, hitting him in the stomach with the force of several hundred punches from his beloved Ranami. In an instant, Gunther lay flattened on the ground, whimpering in pain as Sailor Moon sat on him, shaking from head to toe from her near-death experience. On the ground, the tendrils released Vazgorth.

“Good catch, Gunther.” There was a smirk from Ranami as she spoke. “You almost missed her, though. But I guess that doesn't matter. That was....nice of you.”

“.....than........ou..........” Gunther's unconscious voice squeaked in agony in response. “Uuuuuuh.......”

“Why you-”

“Right!” Before Vazgorth could react to the situation, Hitoko grabbed him from behind. “Quick, Chibi-Usa-chan, grab his legs!!”

“...Right!” With a slight smile on her face, Chibi-Usa grabbed. Him. “I think you need a good punishment this time, Vazgorth.”

“NO!!” Vazgorth struggled to no avail against his female poachers. “Let me GO, you disgusting, vile...”

“If this his how he treats people,” Hitoko was obviously aghast at the boy's behavior. “He needs a good spanking or something.”

“Indeed he does.”

The group turned around to see Tourmaline standing at the top of the hill. Her expression, though still placid on the outside, hid a speck of something that obviously scared the younger children; every one of them shook slightly as she approached them, her own group of kids trailing her alongside the sailor soldiers.

“Damn.” Makoto spotted Kousagi and thumped Rei on the shoulder. “Look at her! I can't believe he'd beat up a girl like that...”

“Well...” Rei looked at Vazgorth with a hint of disinterest as she walked over to Kousagi, a first aid pack at her side. “He doesn't look too much better than she does.”

Vazgorth snarled as he saw Rei take out some anti-septic ointment and band aids from her bag. With quick fingers, she began to rub the ointment onto Sailor Moon's wounds; Kousagi began to draw back slightly from her as it was applied. After a moment, though, she untransformed and acquiescently gave Rei her arm to treat.

“Th-thank you...”

“Ooooh.” Vazgorth rolled his eyes. “Of course you help her. Now let me go!”

“No way.” Chibi-Usa held on tighter to his legs. “You're not going anywhere this time.”

“Tourmaline-san.” Ranami bowed her head down. “I...we were about to come you to about this.”

“It's all right, Ranami. I was informed of this little brawl by some very upset and concerned people and I came as quickly as I can.” She gave the shadow of a very angry glare towards Vazgorth. “I think you've out done yourself this time, Vazgorth. And you're definitely not getting away with it.”

“No!”

“You're coming back with me right now, Vazgorth. We'll give you some treatme-”

“NO!!!” Vazgorth squealed like the little brat he was, and he tried to kick Chibi-Usa. “I don't HAVE to listen to YOU! You're NOT my mother!!”

“...On the contrary, I think you'll find that you have no choice.” The glare darkened, and two violet eyes almost seemed to flash red, as Tourmaline came closer. “I don't think you want to go against me again, boy. I may not be all-powerful like you, but I guarantee you that you've tried my patience. If you anger me any further, you will regret it.”

There was something truly frightening in Tourmaline's voice when she spoke those last words. Even the older children stiffened as they heard her voice; they knew she wasn't trying to scare all of them, that it was mostly meant for Vazgorth, who needed a great deal of intimidation to back down. Even so, any doubt that Beryl's blood could have possibly run through such a sweet and kind person like Tourmaline Chiba's veins was instantly erased.

“I....you.....” Vazgorth's will visibly cracked as he saw that Tourmaline wouldn't back down. “Damn you.”

“I knew you'd see it my way.” At this, Tourmaline's natural kindness reasserted itself. “Now, Hitoko and Chibi-Usa. I think you should take him up to our station; Minako-san is still there, so she'll oversee these naughty children as they take their time-out for the rest of their stay here.”

“W-what?!” Vazgorth's eyes widened. “No....you can't....you can't do that!!!”

“Oh, and you will be turning Shields Darien back into a human.”

“NOOO!” Vazgorth gave her the glare of a broken man as he was carried off. “I hate you.....hate....you......”

“Um, Tourmaline-san.” Ranami looked at the older woman, slightly confused.“How do you mean these naughty...?”

“Rei-san.” She looked over at the other black-haired girl, who was tending to Kousagi. “She will be taking time-out also.”

“Mmm....But I don't wanna.”

“I'm sorry, Kousagi.” Tourmaline shook her head. “But you roused all the kids to fight Vazgorth and then you got into a fight with him. You really should have talked to me before doing that; instead you got yourself badly hurt, and a number of other kids were hurt as well.”

“I....” Kousagi's annoyed expression turned into one of guilt. “But I didn't mean to hurt other people.”

"Ooooh," Underneath her, Gunther moaned as he finally gained full consciousness. "My head..."

“Well, you didn't mean to, but it happened that way.” Rei wiped blood off of Kousagi's forehead. “You're a sailor senshi. You're supposed to be better than this, instead of getting into petty fights you know you can't win.”

“I'm....I'm sorry....” Kousagi turned away, tears in her eyes. “I guess I'm just stupid, then. Just like the girls tell me.....”

“I know you're sorry.” Rei turned the lavender-haired girl's face back to her. “The others know you are too. But that doesn't always heal the hurts that are dealt. You still must accept all the consequences of your actions as a sailor senshi. Do you understand me?”

“O...ok.”

“And don't cry.” Ranami watched as Rei smiled, wiping the tears from the girl's eyes. “You're not stupid. You're learning. Just remember this as a lesson, and next time don't get into this kind of fight.”

“I...” Kousagi sniffed. “I p-promise.”

“All right.” Rei held her hand out. “You have some time to think about it now, so come on. And don't worry about Vazgorth. He won't try anything on you. I promise.”

With a sad smile, Kousagi slowly nodded. She grabbed Rei's hand, ready for her punishment, ready to be led to the rest of her day.

She's......It's just a lesson for me. Just time-out. A punishment so I can be a better sailor.

When Rei wasn't looking, however, her expression upturned into a smile all of a sudden. In the background, she could hear Vazgorth screaming bloody murder.

Hehehe......I won!

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