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At least she managed to hit him. Unfortunately, she didn't really have the opportunity to feel any form of smugness or pride in it, she didn't even fully realize he had given a pause of sorts. Certainly, her vision couldn't allow her to see the shade of his face turn such a delightful color.

Her head collided for a second time with the ground, darkness flickering through her vision and making the colored waves around her a jumbled tangle. She could still make out the glowing mass that was Abswurm, still feel his hand against her chest. In the back of her mind, she told herself to slap him for that - talk about rude and obscene! But another part of her, a terrified, petrified part of her, wondered as she felt her body go limp and her world black -

What was it like... to lose your starseed?

...what was it like to die?

He had it! Abswurm had a star seed, the star seed. The star seed of a senshi and his head swam with the power and feeling of taking so powerful so easily from the chest of his prey. A wide grin split his face in half like the Cheshire Cat and he felt so alive. So very very alive. This was the best moment of his otherwise dreary and dull life. His world of blacks and grays had, for this shining moment, become one of color and wonder. For the first time in Abswurm's whole existence he was wearing rose-tinted glasses. No, scratch that. Everything was sunshine, lollipops, and ... Rainbows?

He hadn't heard Iris talk as she fought his partner. He hadn't seen her fling her attack straight at him. All he could see now was the world fading back into black. Literally. His eyes were filled with the sky as he'd been flung backwards and off of Metis. He weakly clenched the hand that had held her heart. The source of her powers. It was empty.

The last thought Abswurmbachite ever had was one of dismay at how he'd lost his one shining success.

Unknown to him moments earlier, Metis had wondered what it was like to die- Now the very man that had caused her to question could provide the answer.

Too bad you can't speak when you lose your head.

Something had been watching the whole time. From the very first f*ck that had been cursed out when they arrived in this alleyway. Yet, that something had remained silent.

Until now.

"So, you feel like a bigshot now, Iris?"

Wait, that voice was familiar. Sailor Iris was mentally reeling in shock from all that had just happened. The Negaverse Lieutenant she had been fighting had slipped away after defeating her partner, and she honestly hadn't noticed.

And now, even though she had heard this voice before, and she knew who it belonged to, she began to look around, unable to pinpoint the exact location of this voice. She didn't say a word in response, which was a bit of a change from her usual stance when dealing with the cat.

"Did killing that boy solve your problem?" The questions kept coming out from someplace which the girl could not locate visually.

"Did ending his life somehow magically wake Metis up? Are you going to make a trophy out of his head?"

"H-hey! Wait a minute! I didn't think I was actually gonna kill him!" She usually threatened. She never usually actually succeeded in doing such. Until today.

There was this indescribable feeling of regret that she could feel now with all these questions that were being tossed at her by a cat in hiding. Such regret that the Senshi of Rainbows seemed to forget that the cat was the whole reason why Metis and Iris had gone on patrol in the first place. Her attacking hand loosened, and Iris began to tiredly make her way towards Metis. When she made it to the girl's side, she felt vaguely nauseous at the sight of the body that was on top of her teammate's. A dead body that lacked a head.

"...I'm sorry 'bout that, dude."

Trying her best to not lose her lunch, the tomboyish senshi pulled the dead body off of Metis, and lay it down next to her unconscious teammate's. Fortunately, the boy's head hadn't rolled too far off, so Iris was easily able to retrieve it. It didn't mean that she didn't feel like tossing her cookies. She tried to not think of it as what it actually was and tried to pretend it was a basketball or something of the same size. She knelt down next to the two bodies, and set the "basketball" down in the headless boy's hands. Iris wasn't the sort who prayed. She never had been. She was about to push herself up to her feet, when something landed next to her.

It almost seemed out of nowhere, but the cat had landed next to her. It wasn't hard to tell. That pesky bell about her neck always told the tale. Yet, the moment ********* touched the ground, she was no longer a simple cat, but instead a girl with silvery hair and a top hat. Though her face still had a smile upon it, there seemed to be a hint of seriousness lingering upon her features that normally wasn't there.

"Stand up, please." Even her voice seemed to be more serious.

Obediently, Sailor Iris did as told, turning to face the cat-earred girl. It felt strange, getting scolded by a girl who was still shorter than her, even when the girl was wearing a top hat. However, Iris' own mother was shorter than her as well. And her Mom did like to scold as well.

Pale green eyes locked onto the golden ones. "The thing that usually sets us apart from the Negaverse is the fact we do not resort to murder unless in a dire emergency..."

A cuffed hand reached out and placed itself on Iris' shoulder. With a firm squeeze, ********* seemed to allow her features to relax slightly so her smile was more relieved. "And though you might have gone overboard, your heart was in the right place. You saved Sailor Metis, Iris."

"Uh, sure... no problem... I guess..." The sudden shift of the conversational mood left Sailor Iris feeling a bit awkward. She lifted an arm and placed her hand behind her head, scratching at her hair slightly.

There was no warning, but rather suddenly, ********* free hand reached forward and dipped into the senshi's chest, passing through skin, muscle, and bone as if there was nothing there. Iris jolted slightly at this development, but the hand on her shoulder squeezed once more, and a smile upon the silver-haired girl's lips was all she needed for reassurance.

"I don't know if you are ready for this... maybe I am being too optimistic in thinking you are ready for this. You, Iris, still have so much to learn." She laughed as her fingers touched the edges of the starseed, her voice exclaiming "Ah, there you are!"

Iris let out a small laugh of her own, but it was unsteady and uncertain. The cat, no, wait, *********> had her hand inside of Iris' chest. The feeling was incredibly warm, almost comforting, like in a dream you never wanted to wake up from.

********* pale green eyes closed slowly. "However, I think it is time." Her fingers gingerly wrapped about the starseed, and as she stood there, hand inside of a senshi's chest, she began to concentrate.

For a moment, the warmth grew more intense, but nothing remotely uncomfortable. Yet, all of a sudden, it felt like everything had clicked into place. It was like her starseed was a lock, and ********* had the key to finally unlock it. For a moment, the Senshi of Rainbows felt as if she had lost all her breath, and after a few long seconds, remembered to start breathing again anew. Golden eyes closed finally, easing into this strange new sensation.

Leaving the starseed in its proper place, ********* fingers slipped out from her girl's chest.

"Call out Iris Eternal, Make-up." Her hand upon the senshi's shoulder released itself, and the bell adorned girl hopped back, jingling with each small hop. She stood there and waited.

Iris' eyes were still shut, but she nodded at the directions. Somewhere in her mind, she knew that whatever waited behind this new henshin phrase was going to be gay and girly. She acknowledged it, but she knew she couldn't avoid it. In a strong voice, she called out the requested phrase as if she had known it all of her life.

"Iris ETERNAL, Make-up!!"

Everything seemed to be the same. It was the same henshin dance that Iris knew, yet there was something different about it. She only realized the difference when she saw a stray pale glowing feather drift past. Feather...? her mind hazily observed.

When she settled back into place, her fuku was nothing like before. No longer did she have an overly large bow upon her rear, but something just as large had found its way in that spot. It was definitely a prime example of impractical, yet somehow, Sailor Iris had not noticed at all.



Normally, ********* would not have lingered in this human form longer than she needed to. Yet, there was one more thing she wanted to take care of. She approached Iris, absolutely not intimidated by her new form, her bells accenting her own movement.

Step.

Step.

And within one simple movement, the silver-haired girl had wrapped her arms about Iris, hugging onto the senshi. She was still the shorter of the conscious pair, and in a quiet voice, she mentioned "You don't need to worry about me so much, Iris. I'll still be visiting both you and Metis as often as I can, but there are some things that I need to do that just can't be done from the comfort of a home."

For being such a runt in comparison to the senshi, ********* definitely was a strong hugger. Iris wasn't one that got hugged very frequently, so for a brief moment, after the haze of henshining up had faded, she looked absolutely confused. Awkwardly, she set a hand upon the circus costumed girl's back, patting it questioningly.

"...then don't leave without sayin' goodbye..."

There was a pause.

"...********* style="color: gray">One final firm squeeze to the hug, the cat-earred girl accented it with a simple "Thank you." Her arms released their firm hold of her senshi, and with a few steps back, she returned to her usual form. Even now, she seemed to have a gentle smile upon her maw. Her pale green eyes fell upon Metis, who had long changed back to her usual form as Lilith.

"Take her to the E.R., but make sure you change back before you enter the building with her. Stay with her so she has someone to talk to when she wakes up again. She'll be confused and need someone familiar to explain everything to her."

Her eyes sadly fell upon the fallen Negaverse agent, who also had changed back to his usual form. The poor boy had lost his life for the Negaverse, and he most likely would not be remembered at all. It was a pity.

Obediently, after she was released, Iris ducked down and picked up Lil's body, doing her best to hold her bridal style, but making certain to craddle the neck on her limp body. Her golden eyes also fell upon the boy, then upon the cat looking over the boy.

"...I didn't mean to..."

Iris' voice was cut off. "Take care of your teammate... do not worry about this anymore, Iris."

"...sh-should I do something with his..."

"Take care of your teammate, Iris." The tone was growing more insistent. It seemed this subject was not up for discussion at the moment.

Iris did not say another word. She ran off, heading towards the Emergency Room, just as the cat had suggested. She showed up at the Emergency Room about ten minutes later as Ellie Spectre. She had to BS a story, which felt like it wasn't doing enough justice to the situation. And just as she had been told by the cat, she didn't leave the E.R.

She wouldn't leave until her teammate was awake again.

[FIN]