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Super Sailor Taranis had never had a special affinity for people. This already low proficiency sunk to deeper depths when it came to children. He had never babysat. In restaurants, he asked to be moved if his table was too close to a child. On planes, he would turn and tell parents to shush their crying kids. On the subject of his own parentage, Taranis was torn. He thought the world was too ******** up to rationally bring a child into it. Yet Darwin told him that the key to his immortality was in his progeny.

That night, however, Taranis was not on Darwin's side.

It was barely 9:00PM, but already, the police radio (a device he and Elzo had finagled courtesy of his tech skills) was buzzing with the biggest crisis of the night: children in peril. Apparently, the local elementary school had put on a Harvest Pageant for October, and something had gone amok. It didn't take long for Parker to piece together "mysterious creature" and "police overwhelmed" and "unnatural circumstances" to see that this was a youma situation.

There were bound to be a handful of senshi on the scene before the night was over, but Parker had the distinct misfortune of being really, really close to the school and being one of the only senshi he knew that used a police radio to scan the city. He might be morose and apathetic at times -- but a monster? No. Parker wouldn't just sit idly by while a bunch of kids were terrorized. His fingers raced over his phone to tell Dani what he was about to do. It was a deal they had: always telling the other person before they rushed into danger.

So, with concern in his head and fatigue in his legs, Parker transformed into Taranis and headed toward the school. It was swarmed by police when he arrived. At first, Taranis thought he might not be able to cross the line. Then he noted the buildings that butted up to the school and the heavy cover of trees. It took some doing, but he was able to make his way onto the roof. The door was stuck so Taranis smashed a skylight, landing in a pile of foam costumes behind the stage in the school's cafetorium.

It was eerily quiet inside. Taranis had heard on the radio that most of the audience had made it out before the "assailant" sealed off the doors. The police believed that ten of the elementary students and six parents were still trapped. Taranis would have to assess that situation for himself when he got a better vantage point.

Pushing up from the pile of costumes behind the stage, he made his way to the cafetorium, immediately spotting the problem keeping the police out. Ooze -- it coated the walls, the ceilings, the windows, and the doors. From where he stood, the senshi of sand could see several parents glued to the walls. They seemed okay -- too scared to be starseed-less. That was the only plus.

In the center of the room, a giant purple blob of ooze lifted a young boy by one ankle and craned its massive neck back, bellowing. No time to wait. Sailor Taranis burst into the room, hands at the ready, and shouted, "Taranis Sand Blast!" The ball of sand rocketed from his fingertips and sailed straight for the youma. It hit the creature squarely, sending a ripple through its oozing, jello-like folds.

Then the sand slowly absorbed into its hide. The youma dropped the boy abruptly and began a slow charge toward the attacking senshi.

With an ooze youma pursuing him, Sailor Taranis did not expect help to be one of his problems. And yet, here she was. The kid looked way too young to be a senshi, but the vibes of power coming off of her seemed to suggest otherwise. Maybe she was just small for her age? ...really, really small?

Behind them, the youma fired a ball of purple ooze like a baseball from its gaping mouth. Taranis turned just in time to see it, throwing himself to the ground and taking the girl with him. "Hug-bell? SAILOR Hug-bell?" He kept an arm wrapped around the girl, peered over his shoulder to see the ooze youma still making slow progress.

Under his breath, he muttered, "You have to be ******** kidding me..." There seemed to be an opportunity to run so Taranis took it, scrambling to his feet and keeping Hug-bell's hand clenched in his. He really didn't need to worry about some kid trying to get involved in this. Didn't she see he had it under control?

"Look, kid, that's a cute costume and all, but you need to go hide -- now. I can handle thi--"

SPLAT!

When Taranis opened his eyes, he was several feet away from where he had just been standing. Hug-bell was still there cradling her bear toward the center of the cafetorium. He, on the other hand, had one hand glued to the wall by a chunk of purple ooze. Perfect. The youma moved toward the pair of senshi, and all the while, Taranis flailed frantically trying to break free.

Chibi senshi? Those existed? If their side wasn't ******** enough, then this was sure as s**t going to tip the scales to the side of insanity. They had teenagers dying for their cause -- now they wanted to add kids to that list? Taranis didn't believe that children were born innocent little angels, but he wasn't going to pick a fight with a six-year-old either. A more terrifying thought suddenly struck him: did the Negaverse have kids this young on their side? Would he have to one day... kill a kid?

The situation at hand was almost a welcome distraction from those pressing thoughts. The youma let out a wet gurgle, vibrating on its haunches as it began to summon up another ooze ball. "Get out of here, I'm not kidding! That thing will kill you." Or him. Also him.

Still, the child persisted. With both of their tugging, the hardened ooze began to crack. Across the room, the youma gurgled again and then launched an ooze ball at the two struggling senshi. Taranis watched it sailing toward them and felt powerless to stop it.

At the last second, the ooze cracked, and both senshi went toppling forward, narrowly avoiding the blow. Across the room, a child let out a wailing scream. Right, no more games. Taranis staggered to his feet. He picked up a plastic chair from the cafetorium and let it fly toward the ooze youma. It batted it away. He threw another. It batted it away. On the third try, the chair managed to lodge into the youma. It slowly sank into its skin, swallowed just as his mud had been.

Perhaps...? Well, it was an idea! "You say you're a senshi, well fine. Then keep behind me and try to throw as much crap as possible into that thing--" he pointed "--without getting hit. I'm not kidding. Don't get hit." Taranis lifted another chair and threw it. It stuck too. The youma let out a whine. It was already moving slower.

Someone's purse had been left behind. It was tipped over beside the leg of a chair, the contents half spilled out on the slick cafetorium floor. Sailor Taranis picked it up and threw it at the youma. The purse was lodged in the youma's forehead like a strange horn for a moment before it slid into the mass. The creature growled. It leaned forward and began to vomit out a stream of ooze that smelled so strongly of rotten eggs that it nearly made Taranis bend over and join it in its puking.

He pulled his red sash from his waist and tied it over his mouth and nose. "Dinos?" he muttered, squinting his eyes against the rancid bite in the air.

There was little time to linger on the question. The girl had a question for him, and it was one he was willing to oblige. If anything, he was impressed that the kid was so happy to part with her stuffed toy for the sake of their lives. Not too shabby, kid. "Sure," he said, taking the bear from her. Even with his height advantage, Taranis had to get a running start to launch the bear at the youma. It cartwheeled through the air toward the purple blob.

At the last second, the youma turned its head, mouth open, and swallowed the bear in one bite. It sunk deep into the purple flesh, but remained visible to the two senshi, smashed on either side by the chairs already populating the creature's massive gut. The youma burped and them spit another ooze ball at them. Sailor Taranis had to hit the deck to avoid it.

Holy s**t. Wow. Just... wow.

Sailor Taranis stared in surprise as the little girl's toy began to rapidly expand in the ooze monster's stomach. He just thought she was being silly, not that this was actually some plan of attack. The youma seemed equally as confused, but about 1000 times more upset. The swelling bear had the ooze youma spinning in all directions.

Thick, purple ooze streamed from the youma's eyes, nostrils, and mouth as the bear grew larger. The ooze creature let out a wail, and Taranis instinctively put a hand out, pushing Hug-bell behind him. She was still a kid, for crying out loud, even if she was proving to be exponentially more useful than he had ever expected.

The youma was so distressed by the growing tumor inside itself that it began to thrash wildly, draping the room in streams of ooze. Taranis took a step back. "I don't want to hit your bear," he said, immediately feeling stupid. What kind of battle cry was that?

In the center of the room, the youma continued to thrash. It's gelatinous eyes were streaming pools. At the last moment, it turned to face the two senshi. The scream it let out was so loud that the window behind them cracked. Taranis clamped down on his ears. When his eyes peeked open, he saw the youma charging at them -- and it was moving much faster than before.

One of the chairs pierced the outer layer of the creature's skin. Another chair did the same. All over the creature, gashes formed and widened. "s**t," Taranis cursed. "No time." He lifted Hug-bell by her armpits and gave her a little throw to start her sliding over the slick, oozy ground. If she wouldn't run, he would force her out of the line of danger.

There wasn't much time. His hands curled into their stance, lips forming the words for his attack, and then the ball was there spinning and spinning and turning dark with moisture. The youma was a few feet away when the ball launched. Taranis threw his arms in front of his face to shield himself.

A great roar broke through the room, then a rush of wind, and then the tingle of fine grains of dust across his skin. Sailor Taranis opened his eyes. He was coated in youma dust. The purse, the chairs, and the now-smaller teddy bear were lying in a pile at his feet. After a few moments, every trace of ooze disappeared into dust before finally evaporating.

Those who had been trapped were released and slumped to the ground, too weak to stand. Sailor Taranis could only stare wide-eyed at the little girl and wonder what the ******** was wrong with the senshi to get toddlers involved?

Something warm and soft collided into his side, forcing his left leg to buckle at the knee. Sailor Taranis glanced down to see the purple curls that framed the face of the little sailor soldier. My god -- child soldiers. The words flashed across his brain in a searing flash. The senshi were no better than those regimes that enlisted children to do their dirty work. Was that what they had become?

Taranis closed his eyes. For a moment, he thought that this might all be a dream, but when he opened them, Hug-bell was still there, clinging to his leg. He seemed more uncomfortable with her hugging him than he did when the youma had dusted all over him. One hand raised and awkwardly patted her on the head, probably a little too rough. "Um, yeah. You did well," he said, trying to slip out of her grasp in the easiest way.

Luckily, the little sailor soldier released him to grab her bear. No sooner did she pick up the bear and the doors flew open. A swarm of police officers flooded the building. One pointed to Taranis. "Unhand that child!" he shouted, gun raised.

Oh, just perfect.

Without waiting for her permission, Taranis scooped Hug-bell up and sprinted for the backstage area. Police shouted after him. He could hear a few give chase. Bursting into the back room, he stared helplessly up at the skylight above them. No way could he go back out that way.

The police were right behind them, and neither one could be caught. It could only end badly. Taranis set the little girl down and asked sharply, "How did you get in here? We need to get out." He looked back to the door. "Now."

The air vent? Jesus.

Taranis was certainly not chubby, but he was still lanky. Just because the little chibi sailor could fit, it didn't necessarily mean that he could do it too. When she wriggled up there, Taranis grabbed a hold of her ankles and helped force her up into the vent. He could hear the police at the door rattling the handle. They'd be kicking it down any minute now. He didn't want to hurt the kid, but he really didn't want to go to jail either.

With Hug-bell tucked inside, Taranis braced his hands on either side of the art vent and attempted to do the most uncomfortable pull-up ever. It failed the first two times, but on the third, he managed to get his waist over the lip of the vent. His wriggled into the vent as much as he could, took the cover from Hug-bell, and slipped it into place just as the door came flying open.

Taranis made eye contact with Hug-bell and held a finger to his lips. They needed to be very quiet. Below them, the police officers were searching the room.

The two stayed there in the silence for a long time. The police canvassed the exits. They saw the broken skylight and speculated for some time on whether or not senshi were capable of flight. One of the officers pointed out that the direction of the glass shards suggested that something had fallen in, not out, but it caused such an argument that the group split. Half went up to the roof, and the other half went to check the other side of the stage.

Only when Taranis was certain they were safe did he speak. "We need to move quickly, Hug-bell. We need to get out of this building, and we need the police not to see or hear us when we do it." Without waiting, Taranis urged her forward, weaving in and out of the vents. They made a few wrong turns, but after about twenty minutes (which was a long time to be in a metal vent), they made it out onto an opening above a fire escape. Taranis made his way out first and then helped Hug-bell down.

Together, they raced away from the building, making a break for the thick of the park up ahead. Only when they were far away did Taranis stop to talk to her. "Okay, we should be fine." He looked over his shoulder. "Do I need to take you somewhere... or something? You're just a kid. It's late, and this is a shady park." That was the adult thing to do, right?

The two settled on him taking her to her bus stop. It was weird to leave a kid alone like that, but then again, she wasn't just a kid. Sailor Taranis waved goodbye, and then secretly hid out in a tree until he was sure she was well into the suburbs. The entire walk home he felt terribly troubled.

Hug-bell was just a kid. A kid. What was this war becoming? Under the full moon, for the first time in a long time, Taranis felt like the tide was turning -- and he didn't like where it was headed.