This is a continuation on a snippet I posted in the SM Ideas topic. No idea how long I might run with this, but I think it'll be at least a few more scenes.
First scene is new, a second scene might be posted tomorrow, the third scene would basically be the snippet I posted in the Ideas topic.
---
Committing to a roll, the tall man managed to dodge the spinning buzzsaw, once a simple forehead ornament, that had been aimed at his chest. Grunting as he sprung out of his roll onto his feet, he quickly sent out a burst of compressed magical energy to negate the blast of sizzling blue fire coming for him. It wasnÆt a perfect block as the hot temperature of the vanished fire roiled on his face for several seconds. He grimaced, blocked out the pain, and brought his arms up in a guard as he turned around to block a kick from above, the impact causing him to stumble back on one foot to retain his balance as his ears rang from the screeching sound of metal boot against metal guard.
Sensing the boomerang-like return of a projectile behind him, he quickly leaped into the air, soaring through the sky in a backflip, long brown hair flying behind him, before he landed, sending a tremor through the ground where he impacted.
Then fog set in, and he audibly growled. He had not yet known their full complement of abilities when the Sailor Senshi had ambushed him, and had not expecting them to be wearing goggles of all things. His past life before his Queen had reawakened his memories of an age buried in the passage of countless years told him what they were, and he had to admit it was ingenious of them.
Breathing in deeply, he shivered slightly as near-freezing air chilled his lungs, but quickly breathed out. The dispersal of the fog was worth the temporary discomfort. However, his opponents seemed not to mind every time he rid the area of fog, and with little wonder: they were fighting a battle of attrition, with he the one intended to tire out.
Scoundrels, that was what they were. The three Soldiers that had fought him must have hoped they could topple him quickly, but he had managed to outmanoeuvre them at first, neatly taking out the Soldier of Mercury with a hard snap-kick that had sent her sprawling down a wall, the satisfying crunch of bone resonating as she made impact. MercuryÆs two allies, Mars and a Senshi of the moon of all things, had managed to parry him for several minutes following that, none of the three wanting to commit too much attention to using a magic attack.
It was when a lull in the battle opened up that he cast aside his shadow, willing it to sneak up on Sailor Mars. That damnable man in the tuxedo û Jadeite had made no mention of him, curse him û had shown up and fended off his phantom doppelganger as it had taken form, preventing it from literally backstabbing Mars. While a small pool of blood coated the cement ground red, the masked man had taken out his shadow in exchange for being disabled.
ôDamn you,ö Nephrite finally spoke, inaudible grunts and groans far more common than the spoken word in the battle thus far, as he kept his eyes carefully on both Sailor Moon and Mars. That bitch Mercury had regained consciousness sometime during his faceoff with her allies, and had retreated, tugging the dark-cloaked man with her. Nephrite had thought it would be the last he would see of her, believing he had dealt enough damage to keep her out of the fight. That much was true in a literal sense, as she had instead started using her fog attack from afar, chilling him each time the porous mist seeped into his body.
The few seconds it took him to get rid of the fog had opened him up to attack, and he was feeling the many sore spots from where Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars had landed successful physical attacks on him. And he just knew that Mercury was getting ready to cast her fog again. The only upside was that he knew that much like him, left eye half shut by a trail of blood from right above his eyebrow, the blonde and the black-haired Senshi appeared to be in poor condition as well.
Nephrite circled around, his two opponents at an impasse with him as they too moved around in the circle, neither side willing to expose their backs or get too close. He took the precious few seconds afforded to him to weigh his options. He could conceivably win this fight still and kill the Sailor Senshi for once and for all, but it could all too easily end in disaster. He may have been the last of four, but he still had many underlings that he could bring to the next fight to distract the Senshi as he took them down one by one. Being the one to ambush instead of being ambushed would be even better.
His mind made up, Nephrite brought up his hands. Mars and Moon tensed, ready to jump away at a momentÆs notice once he started casting his attack. Jump they did as he threw out several balls of crackling electricity at them, causing miniature explosions as they impacted against cement and brick. With his two opponents distancing themselves, Nephlite brought his right hand up again, and made to open a portal to Point D, home base of the Dark Kingdom.
It was only the sound of air being split being faster the actual air himself and a moment of insane reflexes that saved NephriteÆs life. He didnÆt come out of it unharmed.
ôG-g-guh?ö Was all the brown-haired general of the Dark Kingdom could manage, his face paling as he looked down at the stump where his right hand had been, blood spurting out the severed veins and arteries. He found himself surprised as he forced his way through the sheer shock of losing an appendage to turn his head in the direction of where he had dodged from.
If it was possible, his eyes widened even more. His opponent, wielding a curved sword sporting a silver sheen, was now turning around. The long white hair he could see from his opponentÆs back was enough to arouse his fear, but his heart sank as he saw the swordsmanÆs bright green eyes, and then the crescent moon set in his forehead.
Shivering, Nephrite nearly jumped as he sensed a presence beside him. Turning his head around, and then down, he saw the stuff of nightmares.
ôY-y-you...ö He trailed off as blue eyes peered through a red-rimmed eyemask at his own, the tiny form of the long-haired blonde hiding unparalleled ruthlessness as she had her hand at his side, angled up. He hated those blue eyes. They had watched on as two of his comrades had died. The emotion he was beginning to feel was enough for him to break out of his shock and finish his sentence. ôYOU MURDERER!ö
The girl seemed almost disinterested in his proclamation as she spoke, ôCrescent Beam.ö
Only his wails marked the passage of NephriteÆs death, his form fading away into dust, as a beam of energy shot through his body, piercing him from his back before exiting out just above his chest.
---
As if daring to believe that the man they had fought against for over fifteen minutes stretched over a lifetime was finally dead, Usagi let out her breath. The pumping of adrenaline into her arteries began to dull, but the loud pounding of blood blocked out nearly all external sound. Vaguely, she could feel her hands shaking in nervous relief, as she brought her hands up to remove the night goggles Ami had suggested the three of them wear for the fight, and used her hand to wipe a brow of sweat off her forehead, the cool evening air already chilling her slimy skin.
Still in quiet astonishment, she watched as the girl she identified as the famous Sailor V bent over, picking up a green rock. Her logical mind still dulled as it was from the heat of battle, Usagi didnÆt even question it. Instead, she observed the blondeÆs clothing, so much like her own outfit, and yet so different.
A red ribbon kept VÆs hair in place, owl-like mask perched on her nose, similar to the one Usagi herself sometimes used. A thin white choker with the symbol of the moon was around her neck. Her upper shirt had layers of blue and white with spots of red and a red knotted tie between her breasts, and she wore a short skirt, blue with red trimmings. The outfit was topped off with two long gloves.
But even all of that wasnÆt as important as the symbol of the Moon on her forehead.
The sound of crunching gravel brought Usagi out of her spiel, as she idly noted Ami, still in her transformation, walking towards the group, Tuxedo Mask beside her, using the blue-haired girl as a crutch to stay upright (perhaps today he would reveal his true identity, given a need for better coordination). A second later, she swung her head back to NephriteÆs killer, and watched wide-eyed as the white-haired man from earlier seemed to shift out of existence and then back in, kneeling to the Sailor V.
ôMy lady,ö he spoke softly, yet the wind carried his words such that everyone could hear them. A fleeting thought passed through UsagiÆs mind, that the white-haired man was not only handsome, donning similarly-white long pants and a full-sized shirt, but also had a handsome voice, a deep baritone, before it was banished as she honed in exactly on what he had said.
ôAh, excuse me,ö She nervously spoke up, attracting the attention of all but for the white-haired man, who kept his face facing forward, ôAre you the Moon Princess weÆve been searching for?ö
Usagi could have expected many things û a simple yes, a simple no, a non-answer, many things û but what she didnÆt expect for the new Senshi to grimace in disgust as if she had tasted vinegar, before answering. ôPathetic. All of you are pathetic.ö
---
1666 words. Maybe I could use that for a Nanowrimo project
Probably the hardest part of this snippet was trying to write the present-tense fighting. When Nephrite didnÆt have a single real attack and most of the girls only had two techniques or so each throughout the course of the manga, and not every one of them offensive in nature, I had to improvise. I made magic a bit flexible in its use as Nephrite can create a sort of shield to stop a fireball and blow away the mist. But overall it was more general fighting with some occasional magic.
As far as Moon-Mercury-Mars are concerned, things have gone through the regular timeline as usual, killing Jadeite before Nephrite starts to fight them. They have the occasional monster-of-the-week to fight to keep their skills up between fights with Jadeite and Nephrite, but theyÆre more battle-hardened since Nephrite has stronger youma at his command than canon (there's a reason why, not outright mentioned in this scene, but a bit of thinking can clue you in as to why). However, thereÆs a long lull in between Dark Kingdom plots, so the girls use the time to think and plot. On the other hand, Jupiter hasnÆt awakened, mostly because the three girls ambushed Nephrite before he had a chance to do his whole possessed bridal gown plot.
If anything seems off to you feel free to point it out. I don't want this to morph into a holy terror of character rape ala bitch!Usagi and manipulator!Pluto.
And I need a title.
First scene is new, a second scene might be posted tomorrow, the third scene would basically be the snippet I posted in the Ideas topic.
---
Committing to a roll, the tall man managed to dodge the spinning buzzsaw, once a simple forehead ornament, that had been aimed at his chest. Grunting as he sprung out of his roll onto his feet, he quickly sent out a burst of compressed magical energy to negate the blast of sizzling blue fire coming for him. It wasnÆt a perfect block as the hot temperature of the vanished fire roiled on his face for several seconds. He grimaced, blocked out the pain, and brought his arms up in a guard as he turned around to block a kick from above, the impact causing him to stumble back on one foot to retain his balance as his ears rang from the screeching sound of metal boot against metal guard.
Sensing the boomerang-like return of a projectile behind him, he quickly leaped into the air, soaring through the sky in a backflip, long brown hair flying behind him, before he landed, sending a tremor through the ground where he impacted.
Then fog set in, and he audibly growled. He had not yet known their full complement of abilities when the Sailor Senshi had ambushed him, and had not expecting them to be wearing goggles of all things. His past life before his Queen had reawakened his memories of an age buried in the passage of countless years told him what they were, and he had to admit it was ingenious of them.
Breathing in deeply, he shivered slightly as near-freezing air chilled his lungs, but quickly breathed out. The dispersal of the fog was worth the temporary discomfort. However, his opponents seemed not to mind every time he rid the area of fog, and with little wonder: they were fighting a battle of attrition, with he the one intended to tire out.
Scoundrels, that was what they were. The three Soldiers that had fought him must have hoped they could topple him quickly, but he had managed to outmanoeuvre them at first, neatly taking out the Soldier of Mercury with a hard snap-kick that had sent her sprawling down a wall, the satisfying crunch of bone resonating as she made impact. MercuryÆs two allies, Mars and a Senshi of the moon of all things, had managed to parry him for several minutes following that, none of the three wanting to commit too much attention to using a magic attack.
It was when a lull in the battle opened up that he cast aside his shadow, willing it to sneak up on Sailor Mars. That damnable man in the tuxedo û Jadeite had made no mention of him, curse him û had shown up and fended off his phantom doppelganger as it had taken form, preventing it from literally backstabbing Mars. While a small pool of blood coated the cement ground red, the masked man had taken out his shadow in exchange for being disabled.
ôDamn you,ö Nephrite finally spoke, inaudible grunts and groans far more common than the spoken word in the battle thus far, as he kept his eyes carefully on both Sailor Moon and Mars. That bitch Mercury had regained consciousness sometime during his faceoff with her allies, and had retreated, tugging the dark-cloaked man with her. Nephrite had thought it would be the last he would see of her, believing he had dealt enough damage to keep her out of the fight. That much was true in a literal sense, as she had instead started using her fog attack from afar, chilling him each time the porous mist seeped into his body.
The few seconds it took him to get rid of the fog had opened him up to attack, and he was feeling the many sore spots from where Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars had landed successful physical attacks on him. And he just knew that Mercury was getting ready to cast her fog again. The only upside was that he knew that much like him, left eye half shut by a trail of blood from right above his eyebrow, the blonde and the black-haired Senshi appeared to be in poor condition as well.
Nephrite circled around, his two opponents at an impasse with him as they too moved around in the circle, neither side willing to expose their backs or get too close. He took the precious few seconds afforded to him to weigh his options. He could conceivably win this fight still and kill the Sailor Senshi for once and for all, but it could all too easily end in disaster. He may have been the last of four, but he still had many underlings that he could bring to the next fight to distract the Senshi as he took them down one by one. Being the one to ambush instead of being ambushed would be even better.
His mind made up, Nephrite brought up his hands. Mars and Moon tensed, ready to jump away at a momentÆs notice once he started casting his attack. Jump they did as he threw out several balls of crackling electricity at them, causing miniature explosions as they impacted against cement and brick. With his two opponents distancing themselves, Nephlite brought his right hand up again, and made to open a portal to Point D, home base of the Dark Kingdom.
It was only the sound of air being split being faster the actual air himself and a moment of insane reflexes that saved NephriteÆs life. He didnÆt come out of it unharmed.
ôG-g-guh?ö Was all the brown-haired general of the Dark Kingdom could manage, his face paling as he looked down at the stump where his right hand had been, blood spurting out the severed veins and arteries. He found himself surprised as he forced his way through the sheer shock of losing an appendage to turn his head in the direction of where he had dodged from.
If it was possible, his eyes widened even more. His opponent, wielding a curved sword sporting a silver sheen, was now turning around. The long white hair he could see from his opponentÆs back was enough to arouse his fear, but his heart sank as he saw the swordsmanÆs bright green eyes, and then the crescent moon set in his forehead.
Shivering, Nephrite nearly jumped as he sensed a presence beside him. Turning his head around, and then down, he saw the stuff of nightmares.
ôY-y-you...ö He trailed off as blue eyes peered through a red-rimmed eyemask at his own, the tiny form of the long-haired blonde hiding unparalleled ruthlessness as she had her hand at his side, angled up. He hated those blue eyes. They had watched on as two of his comrades had died. The emotion he was beginning to feel was enough for him to break out of his shock and finish his sentence. ôYOU MURDERER!ö
The girl seemed almost disinterested in his proclamation as she spoke, ôCrescent Beam.ö
Only his wails marked the passage of NephriteÆs death, his form fading away into dust, as a beam of energy shot through his body, piercing him from his back before exiting out just above his chest.
---
As if daring to believe that the man they had fought against for over fifteen minutes stretched over a lifetime was finally dead, Usagi let out her breath. The pumping of adrenaline into her arteries began to dull, but the loud pounding of blood blocked out nearly all external sound. Vaguely, she could feel her hands shaking in nervous relief, as she brought her hands up to remove the night goggles Ami had suggested the three of them wear for the fight, and used her hand to wipe a brow of sweat off her forehead, the cool evening air already chilling her slimy skin.
Still in quiet astonishment, she watched as the girl she identified as the famous Sailor V bent over, picking up a green rock. Her logical mind still dulled as it was from the heat of battle, Usagi didnÆt even question it. Instead, she observed the blondeÆs clothing, so much like her own outfit, and yet so different.
A red ribbon kept VÆs hair in place, owl-like mask perched on her nose, similar to the one Usagi herself sometimes used. A thin white choker with the symbol of the moon was around her neck. Her upper shirt had layers of blue and white with spots of red and a red knotted tie between her breasts, and she wore a short skirt, blue with red trimmings. The outfit was topped off with two long gloves.
But even all of that wasnÆt as important as the symbol of the Moon on her forehead.
The sound of crunching gravel brought Usagi out of her spiel, as she idly noted Ami, still in her transformation, walking towards the group, Tuxedo Mask beside her, using the blue-haired girl as a crutch to stay upright (perhaps today he would reveal his true identity, given a need for better coordination). A second later, she swung her head back to NephriteÆs killer, and watched wide-eyed as the white-haired man from earlier seemed to shift out of existence and then back in, kneeling to the Sailor V.
ôMy lady,ö he spoke softly, yet the wind carried his words such that everyone could hear them. A fleeting thought passed through UsagiÆs mind, that the white-haired man was not only handsome, donning similarly-white long pants and a full-sized shirt, but also had a handsome voice, a deep baritone, before it was banished as she honed in exactly on what he had said.
ôAh, excuse me,ö She nervously spoke up, attracting the attention of all but for the white-haired man, who kept his face facing forward, ôAre you the Moon Princess weÆve been searching for?ö
Usagi could have expected many things û a simple yes, a simple no, a non-answer, many things û but what she didnÆt expect for the new Senshi to grimace in disgust as if she had tasted vinegar, before answering. ôPathetic. All of you are pathetic.ö
---
1666 words. Maybe I could use that for a Nanowrimo project
Probably the hardest part of this snippet was trying to write the present-tense fighting. When Nephrite didnÆt have a single real attack and most of the girls only had two techniques or so each throughout the course of the manga, and not every one of them offensive in nature, I had to improvise. I made magic a bit flexible in its use as Nephrite can create a sort of shield to stop a fireball and blow away the mist. But overall it was more general fighting with some occasional magic.
As far as Moon-Mercury-Mars are concerned, things have gone through the regular timeline as usual, killing Jadeite before Nephrite starts to fight them. They have the occasional monster-of-the-week to fight to keep their skills up between fights with Jadeite and Nephrite, but theyÆre more battle-hardened since Nephrite has stronger youma at his command than canon (there's a reason why, not outright mentioned in this scene, but a bit of thinking can clue you in as to why). However, thereÆs a long lull in between Dark Kingdom plots, so the girls use the time to think and plot. On the other hand, Jupiter hasnÆt awakened, mostly because the three girls ambushed Nephrite before he had a chance to do his whole possessed bridal gown plot.
If anything seems off to you feel free to point it out. I don't want this to morph into a holy terror of character rape ala bitch!Usagi and manipulator!Pluto.
And I need a title.