Chapter Text
Chapter 83:
Usagi backpedaled on her feet, unable to believe the nightmare unfolding before her eyes in this scary castle. Morgana stood by her on his hind legs, defending with her with his sword as bizarre monsters descended upon them on all sides. He moved quick despite his bulbous head, hopping about to avoid an axe from a mounted soldier and a flaming blade swung by this cat-like beast with tiger stripes running along his white fur.
“YAH!” A slimy glob of ooze pulsated, sliding her way. An eerie face emerged in the liquid, contorting with malicious intent. Its gaping maw widened, eager to consume its victim. Usagi gagged from its rancid odor as it lunged. The ooze would have swallowed her whole if it wasn’t for the cat and that cloaked figure he summoned. Zorro’s rapier blew the slimeball back enough for her to scramble away. The dexterous cat leapt to her rescue, his sword gleaming. With a single, swift slash, the cat reduced the menacing glob to a quivering puddle of goo that ate through the castle floor.
“Stay behind me, Usagi! These shadows are no match for me!” Morgana turned to the frightened girl, his eyes filled with confidence. The fighting feline whipped out a slingshot, facing the floating blue orbs that had them surrounded. Usagi shrieked in terror as they got closer, covering her eyes to hide from grotesque heads popping out of the balls like warts. They moaned and drooled, inching closer to devour the pair, but Morgana fought on, pelting the countless shadows with his ammunition until running out. Then drew his sword, hacking and slashing at the stunned chronozons and any other creature that dared harm his friend.
Despite his best efforts to slow them down, shadows kept coming wave after wave. Usagi refused to let the cat fight alone. They’d soon get overrun at this rate. She grabbed her broach and prepared to transform. “MOON POWER MAKE UP!”
A blinding spectacle of bright colors filled the castle, stunning the shadows in place. A radiant light enveloped Usagi, engulfing her in a whirlwind of energy. Usagi levitated off the ground. Her clothes disappeared. A white leotard with a blue sailor collar covered her body, along with a billowing skirt. All of her accessories manifested next, from her red boots and matching gloves, to the bow pinned onto her chest with her broach. A golden tiara adorned with a crescent moon descended atop her head. She snatched the moon stick and landed on her feet, finding herself back in the gothic castle. The silver crystal illuminated the space, filling her with the confidence she needed to take on this army of monsters. With new found strength and determination, the warrior of love and justice raised her wand into the air, basking in its light, ready to unleash her powers upon the encroaching shadows.
“WHOA…” Morgana admired the beauty emerging before him, smitten by the blonde and her amazing transformation.
“MORGANA!” she warned her feline companion. A Sandman knocked the distracted cat into a brick wall with a sack. Morgana slumped to the webbed floor, dazed and too weak to even lift his sword. He didn’t have the energy to summon Zorro again, but he kept protecting Usagi, crawling over to her position. Usagi looked way different now. Her big bang burger disguise replaced with a cool sailor uniform ready for battle. Another blonde bombshell, rivaling that of his lady Ann! Had Usagi awoken her persona? Even so, a rookie phantom thief still needs his guidance!
A mounted figure cloaked in all black intervened before he reached her, galloping his pale horse to block the cat’s path. The imposing shadow made Morgana’s fur stand on end. This one possessed much more power than the others he had fought so far. The monster raised his scythe, a long wooden stick with a curved blade, ready to lop the cat’s head off.
“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!” She bashed a path through the shadows, reducing the sandman and other monsters to dust with her wand until catching the hooded persona’s attention with a high-pitched squeal. The black-clad entity of death reared his horse and turned his back to the downed cat to face the challenger. Light emanating from the silver crystal revealed a skull under the hood, with black eye sockets that locked onto her with malice. “I AM THE PRETTY GUARDIAN OF LOVE AND…”
The rider kicked his horse and started galloping toward her at full speed, not interested in hearing her introduction. He charged past the other shadows, abandoning Morgana to pursue his human victim.
“YAHH!” Sailor Moon ducked as the scythe swept towards her neck, slashing through a woman’s portrait framed on the wall. She scrambled away, sprinting along a web covered corridor. Morgana shouted from the distance, his voice suffocated amongst the pandemonium unfolding in the gothic castle. The remaining personas growled and hissed. Their snarls echoed off the stone walls, drowning out the cat’s warning. Beasts, mutants, specters and more joined in the hunt, led by the galloping horse and its skeletal rider. The sailor senshi screamed in panic, running for her life in this endless maze of twisting passageways of this strange castle. She huffed and puffed, dashing deeper into the darkness and into a chasm of hallways that forked off, only to end like a rat maze. Any wrong turn into a dead end meant her doom. The hoofbeats grew louder as they clopped along the red carpet. Death closed the gap, raising the wooden shaft of his weapon high into the air above his cloaked skull. Sailor Moon beheld the embodiment of death itself reaching toward her from the pale horse. She screamed in fright, alone and afraid, as the scythe descended upon her.