Artemis had been watching him for a long time. He had been watching and waiting patiently. For over half an hour, he had sat in the shadows, waiting for the man to leave. Only then, could he make his move.
There. The man was turning away. Artemis continued to watch, making sure that the man wasn’t only turning away for a moment. Yes, he was leaving. Artemis watched as the man moved out of his sight. Slowly, carefully, he eased out of his hiding place, keeping a wary eye out for the man, should he suddenly come back.
He was nowhere in sight.
Now that he had his chance, he had to move quickly. He leaped up to the counter next to where the man had been standing and glanced around. The man still had not returned. Now that he was sure that he was in the clear, he bent down to claim his prize.
“You thieving cat!!!”
Artemis’ head jerked up as he froze in panic, dropping the fish that he was just about to carry out of the kitchen. The man had returned.
“Hold it! Stop!” the man shouted as Artemis turned and took to his heels. He leaped off the counter just in time to avoid the rolling pin that flew through the air where his head had been and crashed into the pans hanging on the wall behind him.
Artemis rushed out of the restaurant as the chef flung several metal cooking utensils after him, each striking the ground and just barely missing him.
“Wait, I said!” the chef shouted after throwing another pot at Artemis. The pot crashed into the wall just above the garbage can that he had been standing on, but he had already leaped off of it and raced out of the alley.
“Where did it go?” the chef growled as he stormed out of the alley, a pin and a skillet in either hand, searching for any sign of the escaped white cat. “Damn….”
“I thought I was going to die!” Artemis exclaimed as he collapsed on Usagi’s bed, panting from running the entire way there.
“You’re such a klutz,” Luna muttered in exasperation as gave him a flat look.
“Thanks a lot!” he retorted indignantly as he hopped back up to his feet. “I’m only trying to find the enemy’s hideout!”
“It seems you’re only looking in restaurants for them.” She gave him a wry look. “Are you sure that you had no intention of stealing some food?” Her smirk widened as she watched him sweatdrop in chagrin. “Get your act together or you’ll be labeled a dumb cat.”
“I’ve had enough!” he exclaimed angrily as he hopped down off of Usagi’s bed and headed for the door.
“That Usagi!” Chibiusa grumbled as she made her way down the hallway carrying a bunch of folded blankets and other clothes. “She doesn’t even do her own laundry!” She walked down the hallway, past Shingo’s room, as she made her way to Usagi’s room. “Open up!” she shouted as she prepared to kick the door open.
Artemis padded toward the door, then stopped as he glanced at Luna over his shoulder and huffed as he turned away in irritation. He took two steps and was promptly thwacked in the face by the door suddenly swinging open.
A few minutes later, Artemis finally woke up with a huge headache. He was lying on Usagi’s bed once again, with Luna, Chibiusa and Usagi all sitting on the bed around him.
“I’m sorry, Artemis,” Chibiusa said as she reached down to touch the bump that had appeared where the door had hit him. “Does that bump hurt?”
From the scream of pain that Artemis bellowed, it obviously did hurt.
“It looks like the Moon!” Chibiusa said with a laugh. Luna and Usagi promptly started laughing with her.
“You’re such a klutz, Artemis,” Luna said as she laughed.
“Sorry, sorry,” Usagi said as she stopped laughing. “Don’t get so mad.”
“Don’t worry,” Luna said as Artemis jumped off the bed and furiously padded toward the open door, then through it. “He’s just a little irritated because he hasn’t seen much action lately.”
“Hmm?” Usagi said, looking questioningly at Luna.
Artemis stuck his head through the doorway and glared at Luna. “I’m never talking to you again, Luna!” he shouted, then stalked away.
Usagi and Luna followed Artemis, but lost sight of him once he left the house.
“Maybe you were too harsh on him,” Usagi said as they glanced around, looking for any sign of him.
“You think so?” Luna asked penitently.
“Anyway, I’ll be the go-between so you two can make up,” Usagi said cheerfully. “So, don’t you worry about it.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Luna muttered.
Minako was sitting in her chair, knitting, when Artemis padded sulkily into her room and sat down in the middle of her bed without saying a word. She continued to knit for a few more moments, waiting to see if he would say something, but he remained silent.
“What’s wrong, Artemis?” she asked as she continued to knit.
“Even I have something called men’s pride,” he muttered.
“Oh, you had a fight with Luna, I take it?” she said knowingly. Her grin widened as she watched Artemis react with a surprised look.
“You know,” she began as she put down her knitting, “they say that you may find a shadow spot when you throw yourself into a stream.”
Artemis sweatdropped. “‘Shallow spot,’ not ‘shadow.’”
Minako grimaced slightly as she started knitting again. “That’s one way of saying it,” she replied. “Anyway, you have to compress some things to make it work out in the end.”
“Compromise,” he replied flatly. “Not compress.”
Minako grimaced again. “Uh, that’s right. If you don’t make compromises and make some sacrifices, nothing will ever be resolved.”
“Sacrifices…,” he murmured broodingly as he frowned in deep thought. Okay, I’ll show them. Luna will see.… His mind made up, he leaped off the bed and headed toward the door.
“What?” Minako said as she watched him leave. “What’s wrong, Artemis?”
“Do you think Artemis is at Minako’s?” Usagi said to Luna as they both continued to run. They hadn’t found any sign of Artemis since he had left Usagi’s house, so they had continued to search.
However, they didn’t have far to go until they found him… or rather, Usagi’s foot found the top of Artemis’ head.
“Aren’t you a klutz?” Luna teased.
“You called me a klutz again!” Artemis growled furiously.
“Calm down. Calm down,” Usagi told him. “Now, I’ll be the mediator here.”
“Will you move your foot first?”
Usagi looked down to see that she still had her foot on his head.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said as she moved her foot off of his head. As she moved her foot, she noticed that she had left a footprint on his head. The combination of the footprint and the incensed look on his face was too much for both her and Luna, so they began to laugh out loud.
As the two laughed at his expense, Artemis furiously stalked away, leaving them behind.
“Huh?” Usagi said as she and Luna stopped laughing. “Where did…?” She quickly turned to Luna. “It’s all your fault, Luna.”
“What?” Luna shot back. “It’s your fault, Usagi-chan.”
The sound of their laughter grated in his mind as he walked down the street. It just wasn’t right; how could they go and laugh at him just because Usagi had to go and step on his head? It wasn’t his fault.
While he continued his brooding, he noticed that among the pile of trash he was just now passing, a box had suddenly slid down from the top and came to a stop just before falling to the ground. The top of the box was knocked off, revealing four mewling kittens.
Artemis hurried over to the box and looked over the four kittens. None of them seemed to be injured, but all of them were mewling sadly.
The honking of a car horn startled him as he turned to look in the direction the noise came from. As the car drew closer, he decided to hide and wait to see what was going to happen.
The red car pulled up beside the box of kittens and stopped. From behind the nearby lamppost, Artemis watched as a man stepped out of the car and walked over to the box of kittens. Without a word, he picked up the box of kittens and put them in his car, got in, and drove off.
“I wonder where he’s taking them. This could be a chance to prove myself.” With a look of determination, he started to follow the same path that the car had taken.
Once again, the red car had pulled over and the man exited his car. The man slowly made his way toward the stray dog that was eating out of an overturned trashcan and held out some food in his hand.
“Come here,” the man beckoned to the dog. He grinned and petted the dog gently as it ate out of his hand. “Good boy. Good boy.”
“He’s going to kidnap that dog!” Artemis assumed as he watched the man lead the dog to his car.
“Com along now,” the man said as he opened the door to his car and let the dog jump in. Once the dog got in the car, he climbed in after it and drove off.
Emerald slowly walked down the street as she held out her black crystal earring, letting it lead her toward another negative point. As soon as her earring started reacting, she stopped and held it out in front of her while looking up to see what it was pointing at.
“The negative point must be there this time,” she stated as she grinned. As she attached her earring back onto her ear, she began to notice people laughing at her as they passed by.
“Beauty can be such a crime…,” she said to herself as she misunderstood what the passersby were laughing about. Her head jerked up as she realized that something warm was splashing on her right foot. She looked down and saw a small dog with its hind leg raised as it did its business on her foot.
“I’m not a lamppost!” she shouted furiously as the dog ran away. “Wait, you little…! Hey!!!” she yelled as she chased after it, right into the place where her earring had indicated a negative point. However, the negative point wasn’t foremost on her mind at the present time.
Just moments after Emerald chased the dog into the compound, a red car turned right, entering the compound. In the back seat, Artemis peered out of the car, hoping to finally see where the car was taking him.
While the car was entering the compound, Makoto, Ami and Ryoku stopped as the car passed by in front of them. Makoto and Ryoku both gave a start as they saw Artemis, but Ami was too caught up in her book for her to notice.
“Ami-chan, Ryo-chan, wasn’t that Artemis?” she asked as she turned to the others.
“I’m not sure,” Ami replied as she looked back down at her book. “I was busy memorizing my last English word for today.”
“I think it was Artemis,” Ryoku replied. “I’m too certain, though. I only saw him for a second or so. It didn’t get a very good look.”
“Do you think that a hundred a day is too few?” Ami asked suddenly.
Makoto sweatdropped as she put a hand to her head in chagrin. “I think that sounds just right,” she said awkwardly.
Ryoku just gave Ami a wry look, then shrugged. “Do as many as you want,” he replied and started walking again, leaving the others to catch up with him.
Artemis stared at his surroundings after he snuck out of the car. It was certainly different from what he had expected. The place was almost like a park; the grass was green and trimmed, there were trees growing here and there, and there were several animals, mostly cats and dogs, lounging around in the grass, letting the sun shine down on them through the leaves of the trees.
What is this place? he wondered, slightly baffled at this turn of events.
As the man carried the box of kittens into the room, the sounds of other animals barking or meowing or otherwise, greeted him. The stray dog merely glanced around, then followed the man further into the room, where a woman in a veterinary coat turned from what she was doing and stood up to greet him.
“I see you found more abandoned strays,” the woman said as she adjusted her glasses and walked over to where the man set down the box of kittens. The dog quietly laid down next to the box and lazily stretched out and yawned.
“Well, I’ll leave them here for you to examine,” the man said as he straightened up from setting the box on the floor.
“Sure,” she replied as she knelt down and picked up one of the kittens and smiled down at it. “You were very lucky to be picked up by such a kind man,” she told the kitten.
Without warning, a jolt of electricity shot through both the woman and the man from behind. The woman let out a cry of pain as she reflexively dropped the kitten, then dropped unconsciously to the floor, the man hitting the floor a second behind her.
Emerald laughed smugly behind her feather fan as she stepped into the room and held out her crystal earring again. The crystal began to swing more violently than before as she held it out in front of her.
“The negative point is here,” she surmised. “Dark Henge!” she shouted as she summoned another crystalline statue from the future which struck the floor in the exact spot the earring jewel had marked. She grinned arrogantly to herself as a column of dark energy from the future flowed down into the figurine. As more energy poured into the figurine, a small black hole appeared on the floor around the figurine.
“Come forth, Droid Dogma!” she ordered, commanding a red-skinned Droid to appear from within the column of blackness. The whip-wielding Droid then changed from her pink and dark gray outfit to a perfect simulation of the lady veterinarian that Emerald had just incapacitated moments ago.
As the black column of dark energy slowly started to grow, the eyes of the dog and kittens began to glow red.
The disguised Droid smirked as she snapped her fingers. Instantly, the dog and the four kittens all stood up on their forelegs and started walking forward.
“My goodness…,” Emerald said, slightly impressed. “Bravo!” She then began to laugh, causing all of the animals to lose their concentration and fall over.
“Emerald-sama, please keep your voice down,” Dogma requested.
Emerald blushed slightly as she hid her face behind her fan in embarrassment.
“What?” Minako said in surprise as Makoto told her and the others what she, Ami and Ryoku had seen after they had all gathered at Usagi’s house and went up to her room. “Artemis went to the ‘Great Animal Kingdom’?”
“I wonder why he went there?” Usagi added.
“What is this place like?” Luna asked.
“It’s a place where they raise unwanted pets and animals,” Makoto explained.
“They also have veterinary facilities for sick or injured pets or strays,” Ryoku continued.
“People who want a pet can adopt through them, too,” Ami added.
Usagi folded her arms and nodded to herself as she came to a conclusion. “Seems obvious he has run away,” she stated.
“Run away?” the others repeated in disbelief.
“That’s right,” she continued, spreading her arms out as if indicating that it should’ve been obvious to them. “He’s sick of Luna’s constant badgering, so that’s why he has run away.”
“Don’t be silly,” Luna said as she turned away from the look Usagi was giving her.
Usagi put her hands on her table and leaned forward over it as she gave Luna an intent look. “The only one who can get Artemis back is….”
The others stared at Usagi as they waited for her to finish her dramatic pause.
“…you, Luna!” she declared, thrusting a finger severely at the black cat.
“No, I don’t want to,” Luna retorted as she closed her eyes and turned away. “Besides, you’re blowing this way out of proportion.”
“Are you sure?” Usagi asked. “You could regret it for the rest of your life.”
“Luna, you can be pretty harsh sometimes, and I think that you’ve really upset him,” Rei pointed out.
“The ‘Great Animal Kingdom’ must have crocodiles, pythons, and tigers!” Minako said, making Luna’s imagination show her horrible visions of what might happen to Artemis. “Maybe by now, Artemis is just… a spirit in the sky…,” she continued, making her voice tremble at the end for dramatic effect as she raised her hands up to her chest and let her fingers droop downward while making her expression appear vacant and zombie-like. Everyone else just stared at Minako and sweatdropped.
“You do realize that you look somewhat like an idiot, don’t you?” Ryoku asked dryly with his arms folded.
“That’s not very nice, Ryo-kun,” Minako said with a frown as she dropped her hands. He only shrugged apologetically in reply.
“All right, I hear you,” Luna replied curtly. “I’ll go. Will that satisfy you?”
“You’re going to the zoo, right?” Chibiusa asked as she suddenly burst into the room with her backpack already on her back. “I’m going with you!”
Once again, everyone present sweatdropped. “Um… not as such, kiddo,” Ryoku said understatedly as he gave Usagi a you-handle-this look.
“Chibiusa, Luna’s not going to the zoo for fun,” Usagi explained.
That only served to make Chibiusa irate. “Not fair!” she sulked as she pouted. “I’ll tell Mamo-chan on you if you’re going to be mean!”
Usagi folded instantly. “Let’s go together Chibiusa, okay?”
In response, everyone sweatdropped once again, while Ryoku additionally shook his head in exasperation. “Usagi-chan….”
“Let’s leave this to Luna,” Makoto suggested after everyone recovered.
“I agree,” Minako agreed, then turned to Luna and raised her hands to her chest and let her fingers droop again. “Bring Artemis back before he’s like this….”
Luna sweatdropped in vexation as Ryoku gave Minako a flat look. Minako laughed in chagrin as she dropped one hand and put the other behind her head.
“I give up…,” he muttered as he shook his head again and sighed.
When the kittens and the dog that he had been watching came out of the main building by themselves, Artemis smiled in relief. “Thank goodness they’re safe,” he said to himself as he came out of hiding. “I can go home now.”
He was just about to leave when he heard sounds of amazement coming from the people who were walking along the pathway going between the Great Animal Kingdom and outside the premises. When he glanced back, he gasped in astonishment as he saw the four kittens walking forward on their hind legs in a line as the dog followed closely behind.
“That’s impossible!” he exclaimed as he witnessed the kittens leaping up to the dog’s back and crouching as they continued to remain on their hind legs only all in the same straight line.
“That’s amazing, daddy!” a little girl exclaimed excitedly.
As the dog came to a stop and the kittens jumped off, Dogma stepped out with the rest of the animals while still in her human disguise. “Now we present to you fascinating animal tricks!” she announced as she raised her arms and spread them out dramatically.
When she snapped her fingers, all of the dogs suddenly began to assemble in a huge, five-tier, dog-pyramid with the four kittens once again perching on the top dog’s back while sitting on their hind legs with their forepaws in the air.
By now, there was a large crowd gathered to watch the animal display. Once the pyramid was complete, the entire crowd began to applaud. “I want that kitten on the very top!” a little boy declared as he pointed to the kitten out in front.
As the crowd continued to marvel at the animals, they failed to notice that the animals’ eyes were beginning to glow red. Suddenly, all of the animals charged forward and attacked the crowd, causing them to scatter and flee in terror. People screamed as dogs bit at arms and cats scratched at faces. Dogma stood, sneering wickedly as the crowd fled for the gates.
“This is not normal!” Artemis gasped as he was being chased by the very dog that he had followed to this place. He quickly darted around a tree and leaped over a fallen trashcan, in hopes of making the dog lose track of him.
“Over here!” he heard a familiar voice call out from inside the fallen trashcan. As he turned back to see who it was, Luna stepped partly out of the trashcan.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, surprised to see her there.
“Come on, hurry up!” she said urgently as she backed into the trashcan again. Artemis promptly ducked inside just as the dog started running toward the trashcan. The dog leaped over the trashcan and kept going without giving it a second look. Luna and Artemis watched the dog depart with equally relieved looks on their faces.
“Safe…,” Artemis sighed as he turned to Luna and frowned slightly. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to take you…,” she began, but trailed off.
“To take me…?” he repeated questioningly, his frown fading away in surprise.
“Nothing,” she amended as she turned away brusquely. “I was just passing by.” She glanced at him again. “The question is, what are you doing here?”
“Just something,” he replied nonchalantly.
“Did you screw up again?” she asked bluntly.
Artemis’ expression hardened as he walked out of the trashcan. “Anyway, Luna, you should go home,” he said as he walked away. Maybe the enemy has taken over this place.… I’ll show them all.…
He paused as he noticed that Luna was following him a short distance behind him. “Don’t follow me,” he snapped as he glared back at her.
“I came because I was worried, and this is what I get?” she shot back. “I’m going home.”
Artemis’ eyes widened when her heard that Luna was worried about him. “That’s why…,” he murmured to himself as he watched her leave. “For me….” He turned around and started to go after her, but stopped after taking a couple of steps.
Damn, what am I doing? he thought as he realized what he was about to do.
“Luna, if I get out of this alive, we’ll meet again!” he called out to her as he turned around and went back.
“Artemis!” Luna shouted as she glanced back… just in time to see him land on a soda can, slip, and fall flat on the ground. So much for a dramatic exit.
“Ouch!”
“Klutz…,” she muttered as she sweatdropped.
“Call the police!” someone in the crowd shouted as everyone began to head for the nearest payphone. Since the animals were cutting off most of the exits, outside help seemed to be the only way out.
Unfortunately, one of the squirrels – who also seemed to be under Dogma’s influence – had already begun to chew through the telephone wire, effectively cutting off outside communications.
As the crowd began to realize how hopeless things were becoming, Dogma began to step through the pack of animals with a malicious grin directed toward the huddled mass of people.
“Help us!” a woman begged fearfully.
“Do something about this!” a man demanded.
Once Dogma reached the middle of the pack of animals, she reverted back to her Droid form. The crowd watched in fear as Dogma whirled her whip over her head and snapped it toward a man and his son standing in the front of the crowd. The man desperately shoved his son away as the whip wrapped around his neck and started to shock him with electrical energy.
As Dogma was busy with the terrified crowd, Emerald watched over the Dark Henge and laughed as the dark column around the small green statuette grew.
“The Dark Henge is growing wonderfully,” she said, smirking in anticipation.
Usagi and Minako both cautiously peeked around the entrance to the Great Animal Kingdom and glanced around.
“Sending Luna by herself worries me…,” Usagi said restlessly.
“Really,” Minako agreed. “They can be such a nuisance at times.”
They both jerked back in surprise as a small group of people ran by screaming.
“What’s going on?” Usagi exclaimed as she and Minako watched the crowd flee, then turned back toward the Great Animal Kingdom. “Something must’ve happened inside,” she reasoned as darkness started to gather in the sky over the place. “Minako-chan, let’s transform.”
Minako nodded grim agreement as both girls brought out their transformation items.
“Moon crystal power, make up!”
“Venus star power, make up!”
Dogma whirled her whip again and struck down yet another one of the trapped humans, rendering the poor victim unconscious as she dropped to the ground with the rest of the people who hadn’t escaped, each of them out cold as well. The rest of the remaining crowd stood paralyzed by fear as they kept their eyes on the whip she was still whirling over her head.
Damn! Artemis thought furiously as he poked his head out of the bush he was hiding in. I won’t let this happen right before my eyes! But… I sure am lucky to have accidentally come across the enemy. His eyes narrowed determinedly. I’ll get her!
Artemis burst out of the bush and started charging toward Dogma, but his approach didn’t go unnoticed. While leapt into the air to attack, the kittens all hurtled themselves at Artemis as he was airborne, tagging him in midair and knocking him out of the air. Artemis hit the ground hard, dazed from the combined attack of the four possessed kittens. As he struggled to stand back on his feet, the four kittens landed back on the ground in a perfect line and stared at him with their lifeless gaze.
“Snap out of it!” he called to the kittens. “Come to your senses!”
Dogma walked up to him as he reached his feet and smirked as she whirled her whip once again. She snapped her whip at the white cat, but he flung himself to the side, leaving the whip to cut through the air where he once stood. Unfortunately, what he neglected to notice was that all of the possessed animals had apparently forgotten the humans in favor of encircling him and Dogma. One of the dogs kicked Artemis back toward Dogma, sending him sprawling in front of the Droid’s feet.
Once he had gotten back on his feet, he quickly glanced around him. His expression hardened as he realized what a bind he was in. Damn.… Faced with no other alternative, he advanced toward the Droid, limping slightly from the last attack he had endured. He had not taken three steps before his right hind leg was ensnared by a rope whipped at him by a monkey sitting on the back of one of the many dogs surrounding him. The monkey then yanked on the rope, pulling him away from the Droid and off his feet once again. As if dogs and kittens weren’t bad enough.…
Dogma began whirling her whip overhead once again in preparation for the finishing attack. Artemis closed his eyes and tensed up for the blow he knew he wouldn’t be able to escape. Just before the whip descended on him, Luna suddenly performed a flying tackle on the monkey holding the rope that ensnared Artemis’ hind leg. Before the whip could strike him, Luna yanked on the rope as hard as she could, pulling Artemis away from the whip at the last possible moment.
“Luna!” Artemis exclaimed in disbelief as he shook his leg free of the rope while she leaped down to his side.
“Stop it!” Luna said anxiously as she looked at him with deep concern. “You can’t beat her alone, Artemis!”
“No!” he retorted harshly. “I’ll beat her and prove to you that I’m not a klutz!”
“You’ve proved your point. Stop it!” she pleaded.
“Luna….”
Dogma raised her whip again, whirled it over her head and snapped it down at the two cats, forcing them to leap away in opposite directions. As Luna neared the edge of the ring of possessed animals, a dog kicked Luna back toward Dogma, knocking her down to the ground with a yelp of pain.
“Luna!” Artemis shouted concernedly as he turned worried eyes toward her and started to run toward her. Before he reached her, he stopped and turned toward Dogma with a look of righteous anger on his face.
“Stop it, Artemis!” Luna called out to him, but he refused to listen as Dogma lashed her whip at him once again.
“Venus love-me chain!”
The chain of energy struck the whip just before it hit Artemis, causing the tip to explode in a small puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, the two cats were nowhere to be seen. Dogma tossed her ruined whip aside and whirled left and right, searching for them as the cats ducked into one of the bushes.
“You’ve changed the innocent hearts of animals to evil!” Sailor Moon declared as she and Venus stood back to back within the bushes that the cats had withdrawn to.
“God and Buddha may forgive you…,” Venus continued.
“But it won’t get past the two of us!” the two Scouts exclaimed simultaneously.
“I’m the Sailor Warrior fighting for love and justice, Sailor Moon!”
“Likewise, Sailor Venus!”
“On behalf of the Moon, I’ll punish you!”
Dogma glared at the two Scouts for a moment, then thrust an arm toward them, commanding the animals to attack.
“What?!?” both Scouts exclaimed as both their eyes widened in mirrored expressions of alarm as all of the animals suddenly charged at them. Some of the animals merely ran by them, but some of them leaped up to attack as they ran by. As they watched the animals that had run past turn around to take a second pass at them, they found themselves at a loss. They didn’t want to attack innocent animals that were only doing these things because their minds were being controlled by the Droid, but they couldn’t seem to get past the attacking animals.
“What’ll we do?” both Sailor Moon and Venus murmured worriedly.
Artemis could take no more. “All right,” he growled, scowling as he prepared to leap into the fray. “I’ll….”
“Don’t!” Luna shouted.
“But we can’t leave them!”
“Sparkling wide pressure!”
“Burning mandala!”
“Avalanche barrage!”
The three attacks combined into a pillar of electrically-charged, burning spears of stone rising up from the ground a short distance away from the attacking horde of animals. The visual display combined with the small tremors coming from the center of the pyre was enough to make the pack quail in fear and retreat behind a nearby tree.
“Shine aqua illusion!”
Mercury’s attack surrounded the tree, and the animals around it, as it slowly began to build a thick wall of ice several meters high, effectively caging them.
“Stay put for a while, okay?” she said after cutting off her attack.
Dogma growled viciously as Sailor Moon proceeded to… congratulate Mercury on a job well done.
“You did it! You did it!” Sailor Moon exclaimed happily as she took hold of Mercury’s hands and jumped up and down excitedly. Mercury tried to take in the unusual praise as the other Scouts gave her a patient look. Mars looked annoyed, while Knight seemed to take it all in stoically.
Finally, Sailor Moon seemed to calm down. “Thanks, Mercury!” she said, relinquishing Mercury’s hands and patting her on the shoulder. “You saved us!”
“Hey, Sailor Moon, we still have a job to finish!” Mars chided.
“Piece of cake!” she replied confidently as she turned around to face the Droid.
Dogma took that opportunity to fling six glowing rings at the Sailor Scouts. “Look out!” Knight shouted as he stepped forward, drew his Star Sword, and raised it up with both hands, in order to block the oncoming attack. However, only one of the six rings actually headed toward him as the other five curved around him and attached itself to each of the other Scout’s necks. The one that headed for him attached itself around his wrists, binding them together.
“What is this?” Sailor Moon exclaimed as a chain suddenly appeared between each ring and Dogma’s hand.
With a sharp tug, Dogma yanked the chains hard, pulling all of the Scouts off of their feet and onto their faces. Knight’s Star Sword was knocked out of his hands and clattered to the ground in front of him.
“We let our guard down…,” Mars said as she raised her head up off of the ground.
“If we don’t do something, she’ll get us all,” Jupiter muttered as she started to push herself up off of the ground.
With all six Scouts in trouble, Artemis knew that he could no longer remain on the sidelines. With a shout of rage, he burst out of the bushes and charged Dogma once again.
“Artemis!” Luna shouted after him, but it was too late.
Artemis leapt up toward Dogma’s face and started clawing at it ferociously. With the animals trapped behind the wall of ice and Dogma’s hands holding the chains binding the Sailor Scouts, there was no way for the Droid to stop him this time.
As Artemis wildly slashed away at Dogma’s head, the Droid’s concentration was broken enough for Sailor Moon to stretch the collar that was put on her neck and remove it. Dogma finally swatted Artemis away, but the damage had been done and Sailor Moon was free.
“All right!” Sailor Moon shouted as she leapt to her feet and brought out her Moon Scepter. “Moon princess halation!” she shouted as she waved the scepter in front of her, firing a blast of white energy at Dogma. The attack stuck her shattering her skin to pieces, leaving only her figure in crystal, which disintegrated into a pile of powder. The jewel with the upside-down black crescent moon turned from a bright violet into a dull lifeless gray.
Inside the building, Emerald watched as the dark energy flowed out from the Dark Henge, causing it to shrink back to its original size. The crystalline figure then fell to the floor and shattered.
“Damn!” she growled angrily as she turned and left the room. After she exited, walked to the edge of the building and peeked around it, she spotted the Sailor Scouts crouched in a small group, their attention concentrated on something.
Emerald moved back away from the edge of the building, turned and laughed loudly to herself. “If you think that you have just won, then you’re making a big mistake!”
A warm sensation at her left foot caused her to look down and see that the same dog from before was doing the same thing as before to her foot. “You again?!?” she screeched. “I hate this! I’ve had enough!!!”
She abruptly vanished, causing the dog to scamper away.
“They’re adorable!” Sailor Moon exclaimed as she hugged three small kittens at the same time while Venus was petting the one closest to her.
“It’s hard to believe that they were attacking us earlier,” Venus mentioned.
Beside Sailor Moon and Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Mercury were petting one of the dogs that had sat down next to them. “You look like my cram school teacher,” Mercury said as she petted the dog.
“He sort of looks like Grandpa, too,” Mars observed.
“Looks kinda like my long lost senpai’s grandpa, too…,” Jupiter added wistfully as Mars looked at her incredulously and sweatdropped.
“Hey, Ryo-kun, doesn’t he kind of remind you of our cram school teacher?” Mercury asked as she turned to look behind her… and started to giggle at the sight she was witnessing.
“What’s so…?” Mars began, then started to laugh as well at what she was seeing. “Everyone, look!” she gasped between laughs and pointed.
The others turned around to see a bunch of dogs climbing all over Knight while licking him on his face. Knight was trying desperately to get the dogs to get off of him, but he was being overwhelmed.
“Hey! Get off! Quit laughing and help me!!!” he yelled as he struggled to free himself. “Ugh! Dog breath!!!”
As the Scouts laughingly went to Knight’s aid, Luna and Artemis sat underneath a gazebo, away from the others.
“You are such a klutz, Artemis,” she said as she turned from watching the Scouts. “But this time, I really have to hand it to you.”
“The enemy’s plans are like child’s play when they come under my attention,” he said proudly as he curled up in preparation to take a small cat nap.
Luna gave him a dubious look. “Wasn’t it by accident that you found out?”
Artemis decided not to reply to that.
Suddenly, Chibiusa rounded the corner and ran through the gates and inside of the compound while swinging her backpack around like a sling. “Why did you leave me behind?!?” she demanded angrily as she ran straight for the Scouts. However, as she ran, her backpack slipped out of her grasp and went hurtling through the air… heading straight for Artemis.
“Gaaaah!!!”
Bullseye.
“You’re such a klutz,” Luna said after she watched Artemis fall down to the ground and land on his face.
Why me? he wondered, feeling every bit the martyr. Today just wasn’t his day.