Welcome to Gaia! ::

The cackling was most certainly not all in Serpentarius' mind. Indeed, it was a Youma, black as pitch with eyes like fire. It was reared up on several hind legs, speeding alone much faster than its bulky form may have lent on. It resembled a centipede, but had humanlike arms for its legs. Its cries were like a cackle, a laugh in the night, and it bared its teeth and appeared to charge in the serpent senshi's direction. However, before reaching her, it swerved and dove off the side of the building to land on a rooftop below. It shrieked, rearing up again like it was taunting someone else up on the roof.

Soon after, a senshi in red came barreling towards where the Youma leaped off the roof, stopping just before the edge. Catching her breath, Kallichore leaned over and looked to Serpentarius. She saw a glimpse of another senshi on her phone's radar, but the phone did not identify who the other senshi was. Either way, she needed more help to take out this Youma before it went on to hurt more people.

"You!" Kallichore barked, wheezing a bit from all of her running. "I need... I need some help. We need to take that thing out and fast, but kicks and punches don't work very well."

Before she had time to explain anything further, the Youma started to trot away, spying some small business still open at this time of night. Kallichore couldn't stand for that, and took a running leap. She couldn't let it get away!

The senshi landed with a dull thud on the other roof, looking back up to the senshi in green. She couldn't help? And why not? Wasn't everyone on the same team here? If they weren't, then they should be. Maybe then the senshi could actually get something done instead of mill around like so many unguided citizens. "I can't slow it down - the skin is too thick. My attacks just bounce off and Youma don't have much of a mind!" she explained, darting around the corner to eye where the youma had disappeared to. It was slowly descending the building to attack a convenience store on the corner of the street.

Twisting her head to look up at the green senshi, Kallichore frowned. "Are you going to help, or are you going to let these people suffer? I just can't take it down on my own!"

It was a plea, yes, and Kallichore had no problem with that. If she couldn't take down a Youma with her bare hands, it was difficult to take it down at all. Without minds to really corrupt, sometimes her attack wasn't effective at all, which meant she would have to improvise. That was exactly what she was doing at that moment - looking for ways to stop it without having to rely on an attack that may not do any damage at all. Before Serpentarius could answer, the Youma began to cross the street and Kallichore couldn't wait any longer. Leaping down off the building, Kallichore chased after the thing.

So she did decide to join up. Good.

Kallichore smiled when she found out this senshi had the ability to do something useful, which was more than she could say for herself, magically-speaking. She was pleasantly surprised when Serpentarius ran in front of her and chose to make a difference - that was the attitude she expected in her fellow senshi. A snake formed from thin air and darted towards the youma. It heard the hissing and stopped just before it could pry open the sliding door on the storefront. It turned, its great shoulders heaving as red eyes landed on the tiny snake. The youma itself was about as big as a minivan, but the small snake did its job well - it burrowed its fangs into a small space between the youma's hardened plates and it shrieked in pain, backing up from the store to face the two senshi. It was visibly slowed.

The senshi in red was impressed. "Thanks. I think you did some real damage there. Maybe now we can take it out..."

Another shriek and the youma tried to charge them, but was incredibly slow on its feet. Kallichore had an idea from all of this. She pointed to the recently broken car window, its glass scattered all over the pavement. "Maybe we can puncture it with that now that we've got it slowed down..." Darting for the glass, Kallichore snatched up a piece, thankful her gloves kept her mostly safe from the razor edge. She ran up behind the youma, found a soft spot and dug in the shard before running back to stand next to Serpentarius. The youma writhed around and attempted to grab the shard with its many legs while Kallichore looked on.

"I'm Sailor Kallichore, by the way. And who are you?"

The senshi in red didn't expect such a bold move on Serpentarius' part, but commended her for it regardless. This girl had guts! And she knew how to get the job done. The youma tried to buck underneath the senshi, but its movement was slowed so that anything it tried was much too gentle to prove useful. All the while it was screaming as more and more glass was stuffed into its soft inner skin. Kallichore tossed another few shards up at Serpentarius, careful to make sure none punctured her ally. That would be the last thing she'd want for another senshi.

Diving for its side, the red senshi dug another set of glass daggers into the youma. It was bleeding heavily on the ground around them, thick as tar. The red senshi found it was slightly acidic and it slowly ate at the pavement before it dried up and blew away like ash. The youma was definitely dying. The more glass was pushed into it, the more it bled, and the slower it moved. Soon enough, it leaned over and curled up, dying after emitting one last slow cackle. As the body dried up, Kallichore stepped back from it and went to the convenience store window the check on the people inside. They were terrified, but none seemed hurt. She nodded to them, indicating the coast was clear. Turning back to Serpentarius, Kallichore smiled.

"You did a great job, and thank you for helping me." Brows furrowed together into a look of concern. "Did... did you get hurt?"

The other senshi couldn't just stand by and allow another to take an injury and walk away, especially after all Serpentarius had done to help save the civilians inside the store. They were filing out of the glass front doors then, thanking the senshi with nervous smiles. The small children that were with their parents shouted in glee, mimicking the movements the senshi used to take down the youma. Maybe they were improving the senshi image, one fight at a time? "You'll need to have that looked at. Who knows what was on the ground when the glass hit it? Might need stitches or a shot or something... let me come with you."

Placing a friendly hand on Serpentarius' shoulder, Kallichore gave a tired smile. "They probably won't treat you if you're dressed like a senshi so..." Maybe it was a good idea? Maybe not. Kallichore couldn't help but feel that Serpentarius was familiar in some way, but she couldn't place the feeling in the slightest. She motioned to a nearby alleyway and walked towards it. Once Serpentarius was within earshot, she continued.

"Mutual power down, maybe?"

Once they were clear of the civilians, powering down was much more safe. Kallichore knew it was an odd request, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she needed to accompany Serpentarius to the nearest medical center for treatment. It was the least she could do since the senshi leaped into action when called upon. It was only fair. Kallichore watched as Serpentarius powered down. It was a lovely sight, really, and she'd never seen it before. Emerald ribbons and beautiful light engulfed the other senshi and soon she stood before Kallichore as a civilian.

When the transformation was complete, Kallichore's eyes went wide in shock and she took a step back, backing up to the wall behind her. A hand covered her mouth and she simply stared for a few moments before asking in a shaken tone,

"Melinda?"

Placing her own hands over her brooch, Kallichore was engulfed in crimson light, her fuku disappearing to be replaced by her normal civilian clothing. Her gray hair was messy as it always was, but the glamor of being a senshi was gone. She stood in front of Melinda as her natural self, Christabelle Calloway.

Melinda's cousin.

"Mel... oh my god... I had no idea..." Christa started, moving to hug her cousin.

Christa knew nothing she said then would make a difference. Really, all it would do was make Melinda angrier. The last thing Christa expected to see that night was Melinda powering down from being a senshi. Hell, Christa could only think of the good this would do - it would bring them closer together. They were in this war on the same side, thank the stars above. One of them could have ended up a Negaverse officer, or worse: a corrupted senshi. Christa gently wrapped her arms around her cousin and held her close.

"I have to be doing this just like you do, Mel." she whispered, trying to calm her cousin down. Usually it was the other way around - Christa would be the angry one and Mel would be the one with the level head. "We didn't ask for this but... we've got power other people don't, and we can protect people from harm with this power." Loosening her grip, Christa backed up from Melinda.

"We can protect people like Bradley would have wanted. We can do that... together." Christa felt the tears well up in her eyes too, but she let them fall freely. Her breathing was calm though her eyes were starting to turn red from the crying. But it was okay.