Chapter 2: Sailor Gumdrop

Makoto was very relieved when the airplane landed safely, and she was one of the first Senshi to get off. She then heard a yelp of surprise from Stella, who had been sitting in a carrier on Serenity’s lap during the ride.

“I smell it! I smell a Senshi here!” she exclaimed, “Let me out!” Serenity paused, unsure if it was safe to let a rabbit go running around an airport, but Chibi-Usa opened the cage anyway and Stella hopped out. She sniffed the air again and then she darted off, dodging people’s feet, following her nose. Serenity dropped the cage with a clatter and she and Chibi-Usa took off, chasing the excited bunny rabbit. When they found Infinity, she was dancing around the legs of a young woman who was wearing her pink hair up in a bun. She gasped in surprise when she saw the Queen of Japan coming her way, and she bowed deeply.

“Your Highness! What may I do for you? Did you lose your pet rabbit?” she asked nervously, speaking with an Australian accent.

“You can be a Sailor Senshi! You smell like gumdrops!” Stella giggled excitedly. The pink-haired woman stared at the rabbit in surprise, wondering what being a Sailor Senshi had to do with gumdrops. She didn’t remember eating any recently, although she did have a few mints on the airplane.

“That’s rude, Stella! Humans don’t usually like to be sniffed and told what they smell like! You didn’t even introduce your name!” Chibi-Usa scolded. “I am Princess Chibi-Usa Small Lady, heir to the Moon Kingdom.”

“And I am Neo-Queen Serenity. This is our new rabbit, Stella, and she’s looking for a new group of Senshi. I think she said these Senshi are named after desserts,” Serenity explained.

“I am Winter Glimmer, and I just arrived here from Australia,” Winter said, still confused about the “Senshi named after desserts” part. She knew a lot about the history of the Sailor Senshi, but from what she remembered, they were all named after things in outer space, like planets or the Moon. Not normal Earth things like food.

“Then we can all be new together. I apologize for springing this on you so suddenly, I was startled and confused too when Luna gave me my first brooch,” Serenity reassured her.

“If you don’t believe me, then I’ll show you!” Stella declared, and she began to glow a bright blue color. She hopped in the air and a blue wand appeared and clattered on the floor. Winter picked it up instinctively, sensing that it was for her.

“If new Sailor Senshi need to be awakened, does that mean there’s going to be a fight?” she asked, even more nervous though she held up a calm facade. Part of her was still frightened by this new revelation that she was a Senshi, but at the same time, if this was her new duty, then she didn’t want to disappoint the Queen. She wanted to do what she was supposed to, sternly and properly.

“Yes, there is. The Silver Crystal got broken a week ago. These strange women came into the Palace and blew it up, but I’m not sure if they meant to do that,” Chibi-Usa answered. She then waved as Winter was joined by a blue-haired woman and a pink-haired man, people she guessed were Winter’s parents or at least people who were related to her somehow.

Meanwhile, Hotaru went off to the bathroom by herself, carrying her small backpack with her. As she entered the room, someone bumped into her from behind, and she stumbled. Thinking that it was just someone being clumsy, she shrugged it off and went into one of the stalls. When she emerged, having done her “business,” she noticed a green-haired woman was holding her water bottle.

“I noticed you dropped it,” the woman said gently. Hotaru thanked her and took a drink. The woman then hid in one of the stalls as Hotaru suddenly collapsed, gasping for air.

“Hotaru? I’m coming in too,” said Chibi-Usa, who had decided to follow her friend while the other Senshi talked to Winter. She then screamed when she saw Hotaru’s lifeless body laying on the bathroom floor. Chibi-Usa looked frantically around, and when she didn’t see anyone, she raced back out to where the others were.

“Ami! Come quickly! Something’s wrong with Hotaru!” she yelled. Ami hurried back to the bathroom, along with Setsuna, who had always been close to the small Soldier of Destruciton. What they found was worse than when Chibi-Usa had left, now Hotaru’s body was burning, somehow set on fire in the wet room.

“How did this happen...WHY?! Why target Hotaru?!” Chibi-Usa wailed, wanting to hug her friend but afraid of being burned.

“Simple. She possesses abilities that the rest of us don’t. Remember the new enemy?” Setsuna reminded her calmly as she sprayed water out of one of the faucets and put out the flames.

“You are very smart, Guardian of Time. It has everything to do with me and my friends,” said a quiet voice. The green-haired girl who had given Hotaru her water was sitting on the top of one of the stalls. The strange thing was, her outfit looked a lot like the one Eudial used to wear. She leapt down and shoved the three Senshi aside before charging out of the door.

Back in the main terminal, Serenity was getting rather worried about her daughter and Hotaru. She looked in the direction of the bathroom and saw the strange green-haired woman run out, flames dancing on her fingertips.

“You need to do it now! Join us and fight!” Haruka ordered, and Winter nodded obediently. She watched Haruka transform into Sailor Uranus, and then she grabbed her own wand.

“Gumdrop Sugar Power, Make Up!” she called. When she was finished transforming, she was dressed in an outfit that was similar to the one Sailor Moon first wore, only her shoes were blue and a lot smaller. Realizing the danger she was in, the green-haired woman shot an energy beam at a random suitcase and then she disappeared.

“How am I going to be able to fight if the enemies run away so quickly?” Sailor Gumdrop asked, now even more confused.

“Because that woman wasn’t your only enemy. She just created a monster!” Sailor Uranus scolded, pointing to the suitcase, which had grown much larger and had also sprouted large pointed teeth.

“Mars Flame Sniper!” Sailor Gumdrop yelped in surprise as an arrow of fire flew past her and hit the suitcase monster. It roared in pain and then began to spin around quickly, sucking the flames into its mouth. It then spewed the flames out of it’s mouth at the Senshi. Sailor Mars leaped to the side, and Sailor Uranus shoved Sailor Gumdrop out of the way, as the latter was staring at the monster in shock.

“I won’t be able to do my duties,” she moaned to herself, “It’s going to eat our powers and throw them back at us.”

“It’s okay, I have an idea.” Sailor Gumdrop looked up and noticed Sailor Mercury whispering to her, “If your powers are what I think they might be, don’t attack the monster. Instead, throw it somewhere else. Don’t worry, you won’t hurt anyone.” Sailor Gumdrop nodded and stood back up, hoping it would work.

“Gumdrop Adorable Rain!” she called, aiming for a spot over near the bathroom. A blue cloud swirled on the ceiling, and then dozens of multicolored gumdrops rained down on the floor. The suitcase monster roared excitedly and slid quickly across the floor, eager to eat the gumdrops.

“Let’s do it! World Shaking!”

“Deep Submerge!”

“Venus Love and Beauty Shock!” Sailor Uranus, Venus and Neptune all threw their attacks at the suitcase monster, and it exploded just as the bathroom door opened. Chibi-Usa came out and jumped backwards, startled by the explosion, and she crashed into Setsuna, who was carrying Hotaru’s burned, dead body.

“Small Lady, what’s going on? Are the other Senshi still fighting that green-haired fire woman?” Setsuna asked from underneath Chibi-Usa.

“I think we just blew up someone’s suitcase,” said Sailor Venus embarrassedly.

“Um, they blew up a suitcase. I don’t know either,” Chibi-Usa repeated, now even more confused.

“Who blew up a suitcase? Was it the enemy?” Setsuna asked, although given the guilty looks on the faces of the three who had caused the explosion, she could guess that wasn’t the answer.

“No, the enemy came out here and turned a suitcase into a monster and we blew it up,” Sailor Uranus said, “I hope whoever it belonged to won’t mind that we sacrificed it, it was going to attack people otherwise.”

“It’s okay, guys, I can buy that person a new...Hotaru! What happened?” Serenity exclaimed, horrified.

“That green-haired woman killed her!” sobbed Chibi-Usa.