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Did Jada want to die? Hell no!

She could sort out this sickening nightmare after she had somehow survived it. "I'll hold you to that promise, cat." The words likely, nay certainly, came out snappish; frankly, however, Jada had no clue if it did or not. If her hair weren't already curled, the stress would be curling it for her. "How am I supposed to stop one of these 'Negaverse' people, this 'Serandite'? I don't know if the magic pen told you or not, but I'm no warrior." Or did kung fu lessons come with the miniskirt and makeover experience? She'd never had a self-defense lesson in her life.

She tried to ignore the feeling of longing that poured over her when the cat spoke of a Serenity that she had never met. Her eyes tightened lightly before she glanced back in the direction they had come from. "Tell me what you need me to do, how to do it if you know, and I'll try." No promise in the words, for Jada Chamberlyn was no hero. But Sailor Scylla was feeling the tug of duty, and for that reason, she would do what was needed. "I have Mace in my purse, if that will help?"

“It would, but I don't want you that close to her.” Ophelia made a note to

In fact, Ophelia would prefer it if Scylla turned tail and ran right that instant. Keeping her alive was far more important to Ophelia than the life of one teenage girl. However unfortunate Vivian's death might be, Scylla's would have been far more detrimental. Unfortunately, Ophelia could not so easily follow her mind over her heart, and the latter screamed loudly for them to turn back and rescue Vivian.

And so, she lead they way, taking off in the direction of Vivian's scream.

Ophelia spoke as they ran: “When you get near her, you will need to say “Scylla's Sorrow!” It sounds ridiculous right now, but you will know what to do when the time comes. It is part of who you are.” Again, those Magical Cat Powers told her what Scylla's attack was, and she knew that it would be enough to hold Serandite long enough to get away with Vivian's life intact. “What you see may frighten you, Scylla, but I will explain it in due time. For now, just follow my directions and try not to freeze up.”

As they neared the place where Serandite had captured Vivian, the scene would indeed be frightening for one unfamiliar with the wild world of Senshi vs Negaverse. Ophelia wasted no time, throwing her tiny body at the stuffed rabbit. With the kind of tenacity only a cat could have, she began clawing her way determinedly up the thing.

“Now, Scylla!” she shouted, raking her claws over the fabric of the stuffed animal. She needed only to distract it long enough to make it drop the girl.

Serandite laughed at Ophelia aimed for the puppeteered rabbit, although her amusement didnt last for long. She didn't like Ophelia scratching up her weapon, the fabric and stuffing spilling out under Ophelia's sharped claws. She did drop the girl on the cold pavement, the girl's head taking a nasty fall, trying to peel off the clawing cat..

You know what? A rabbit was freaky but tentacles was just plain slimy and disgusting. Serandite screamed aggravatingly, her bunny immediately falling down to it's smaller size, now that she was too distracted to hold it.

That was when she decided, this senshi was one that she did not get affiliated with. At all. Serandite could really develop a trauma from these damned tentacles-- ONE WAS AROUND HER LEG. She wanted to cry at the touch of slimy tentacle. Eeeeeegghhhh. She leaped out of the radius, away from all three of them, ducking behind a tree.

"Are you the senshi of octopuses or something--?! Gosh, that's disgusting--!" She said, hiding behind a tree, not wishing to get near those tentacles. This was the first time she had such a reaction to a senshi but who could blame her? None of the senshi she had met before had abilities remotely related to this.

Scylla managed not to stare at the tentacles. In her ears... were they wailing? Serandite was right about one thing, the octopus-like appendages were slimy and gross. Seriously, they were thicker than her arms, with suckers the size of her fist. Worst of all, they did not want to let Serandite escape so easily. The senshi couldn't figure out how to make them disappear. Instead, they slowly seemed to be extending, desperately reaching for the enemy. And in her ears she could swear she heard the sound of howling, crying, shrieking. Why so sad? Why so angry?

What tore at Scylla's heart?

They wouldn't be content, not yet. The tentacles reached again, straining, still creeping for the pink-haired girl. "Ophelia," Jada hissed from the corner of her mouth, "How do I turn them off?!" really, they were getting almost creepy. How did other... magical (people?) turn off their attacks? She could feel the drain on her, but she didn't know how to control her own abilities. And that would be- could be- was!- dangerous to her.

She didn't remove her gaze from the tree where Serandite was except for a moment. A moment may be all the Negaverser needed to make an attempt to attack them again, but the cat was a warning. And somehow Jada was paranoid enough to want to watch her back. Their backs. She looked at Vivi, catching a glimpse of what looked like blood starting to pool under her head. She was breathing, but she was hurt. This situation needed to end soon, one way or another.

“You think them off,” Ophelia half-whispered, half-hissed in return. “Just will them away, and they will go away.” The hissing wasn't intentional, it was just something talking cats did when they whispered. Her pale blue eyes never left Serandite's. The girl had once been a glimmer of hope, a sign that perhaps there was a place between good and evil from which she could save Charonite's enslaved children.

No more.

“If I see you again, Serandite,” the feline said to the retreating Lieutenant, voice thick with loathing, “I will make sure it is the last time.”

By the time everything was said and done, there was a great amount of explaining to be done. With both Vivian and Lisa down on the ground, theyeasily passed as just another set of helpless victims. Even in her senshi form, the drained look in Sailor Scylla's eyes was enough to pass her off as a flamboyantly dressed teenager on her way home. Victims of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Just another name for Astraea's board.

In the end, Ophelia stood with Scylla as the cop car dropped them off in front of her house. Vivian and Lisa both had been carried off by ambulance; the latter would never awake. It was with sad, tired eyes that Ophelia stared up at the newest senshi, her small mouth folded into a frown.

“I am sorry, Scylla,” she said, and the tone of her voice was enough to tell that she meant it, “But what you do as a senshi will help protect people like your friend. I will explain everything to you, but not tonight. We both need rest."

Judging by the way Ophelia's small body sagged against the concrete, truer words had never been spoken.