"You will learn your place senshi."

It was a message Nickeline didn't need to understand the words of to understand the message of. The Rift was a terrible place for senshi, making Nickeline's skin crawl before she even set foot in it. She would have never thought to go in there but she had no choice in the matter as she was being dragged through the Hall of Shadows. Not control over direction, her eyes took over for it. A sharp grey stared into the walls of the Hall of Shadows, bewildered and horrified at the shadows that stared at her. They did not want her here, she could sense it. She didn't blame them: she didn't want to be here either.

Fortunately, she didn't have to remain in the hall. Unfortunately, there was a pit in the Rift waiting for her.

She didn't understand what it meant at first, her grey eyes looking around to get a good idea of her surroundings. It wasn't until youma began to race into the pit on Sassolite's command that the dots began to connect to a revelation. Her body moved to try and escape the pit but the walls were too high and the youma were coming in fast. It was just a few youma at first, just lower level ferals. They all looked like cats but she knew they were just demons! Her school would be so proud of her slaying them in the name of... justice!

She couldn't get out and that left her but one choice: To fight. She fought every day but this was different. These were bitter high school kids looking to take their anger out on the first person to walk by, these were basically demons seeking one purpose: To ease their hunger. She knew that she couldn't look at this like a normal fight, and her actions began to dive into survival mode as she began to assess the situation. She couldn't take them all on, even if they were told not to kill her.

"Breathless," she murmured, distracting one of the youma momentarily while she took on the one closest to her.

There was no time to think too much on her tactics or moves, her life blurring into a reality of blood and carnage. It was like dogs fighting, and there was no clear winner. Hit for hit, blow for blow, Nickeline wasn't fairing that much better than them as a whole because even though she would take one out of commission, another would spring up to come at her right away.

Time passed on like this for what felt like hours, her body tired from a mild blood loss and deep energy exhaustion. She wouldn't just give up, she wouldn't die here as a show for Sassolite. She kept fighting because that's the only options he had.


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She had left her for a while, how long that while was would probably differ in the senshi's mind. It had been 30 minutes and Sass had been sitting close by twiddling her thumbs and taking joy in the sounds that came out from the pit. She figured that half an hour would be an appropriate time to spend with feline looking youma. Of course she was more then happy to leave her down there for longer if need be.

"So you learnt your lesson yet?" She called down from the top of the pit. She was tempted to send the senshi to one of the general queens but currently she really couldn't be bothered to deal with them. If this senshi thought she would talk to cats and make friends with them and more to the point carried on doing so then something would have to be done.

This means the senshi needed to be trailed.

"Just wondering if you want to come out yet...I can always get more youma if not." People had to be kept in line one way or another.


Just thirty minutes? It had definitely felt like hours. Sassolite's voice was like a ray of sunshine at first, until Nickeline's head made the connection of just whose voice it was. Immediately the bliss soured and she got a rather unpleasant expression over her face. Sassolite was the reason for all of this, and there was no way in hell she was submitting to her just like that. However, her body grew weary of this battle, this never-ending battle.

Conflict. Inner turmoil.

Did she give in to Sassolite and get the ******** out of here? Or did she bite the hand that tried to feed her? There was the more acceptable compromise of playing dead and then attacking her later when she least expected it but would Sassolite buy it? She was suspicious of her already, and unlikely had any benefit of the doubt to rely on here to deceive her way through it.

What was the lesson here again? Don't be part of the Negaverse because they try and kill you for talking to a magical talking cat that eats like a pig? Or perhaps that the term ally was a lie, and that you couldn't actually trust the people you were suppose to? Maybe the real lesson was: You ******** up. You never should have taken an offer for power from a shady group of people you dumb piece of s**t. Nickeline simply sighed, standing in silence. She had no reply she deemed acceptable.


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The lack of a response irritated Sassolite. There was nothing just silence. Find, if she wanted to play it that way.

"You must enjoy it, most people are more then welcoming when one comes to get them out. Might as well give you double the time then. Enjoy!" She waved her hand behind her as she turned to leave, nodding to some youma to enter the pit.

This was a bluff as Sassolie didn't want to leave the senshi down their much longer and she didn't want her to die either as that wouldn't look good however the senshi had to learn!

She walked away from the pit and waited, hoping that she would be hear something soon. Stubbornness didn't last long in the negaverse, there wasn't space for it.


Nickeline wasn't looking at Sassolite, not even when she began talking again. She could hear her speaking but because her intention was focused on something else she wasn't comprehending the words at all. It was just an annoying voice in the background and she was more than used to blocking that out anyways. What had her full attention was the pit itself. She'd tried it before and now she was trying once again to climb out of the pit. She had been doing a pretty good job of it until more youma were sent in, causing her to find herself back where she ********," she yelled out, definitely loud enough for Sassolite to hear and attract the youma.

She was still stubborn though, and if Sassolite wanted to play that way then GAME ON. She'd regret it. She knew she would, later when her body ached and swelled, but she would never regret how she felt. The youma were just another enemy to her but her body was already worn, her efforts could only get her so far as she threw her body at them. It would only be ten minutes before the time stacking finally got to her. She definitely went down fighting, refusing to be a used puppet for Sassolite's amusement.

"Out," she murmured, her breath fast and hoarse.


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When she finally heard what she had been waiting for she walked back to the pit and looked down at the senshi. She was rather impressed that the girl had picked up on some language, though the usual conversations would have been a better start for her.

"About time."

She jumped in, grabbed the senshi and teleported out the pit so they were both standing near the edge of it instead. Sass wasn't stupid enough to help her out of the Rift, not until she was sure that letting Nickeline out would be worth the risk.

"Anything you want to say? Think carefully girl or you will be back in there and I will get one of the general queens or king." That meant trouble and if Nickeline didn't realise that yet then well it was her own fault. Sassolite was giving her a way out, but she had to play game, or actually mean it and realise that the white moon senshi and cats were evil and needed to die!


It was probably one of the bigger reliefs in Nickeline's life to be removed from the pit, and also one of her biggest regrets. She didn't this, not at all. She had an obvious scowl on her face but over that was a mask of exhaustion. The youma were not knights, senshi or Negaverse soldiers. They didn't fight the same, they were more like animals. It was different, and it had taken a lot out of the corrupt senshi.

She had long since removed her heels—so she could move easier in the pit but also to use a weapon against the youma—but even so her body's weight slumped down on itself and caused the senshi to settle on the ground below her. Adrenaline had kept her going as long as she had and now she simply stared at the pit from above for a moment. She didn't want to go back in there but at the same time she really ******** hated Sassolite right now. If she could bite her like a dog, she would. She wasn't that forgone yet though, so instead her eyes focused on the pit below.

"Nickeline..." she thought, trying to think of the right words to finish her sentence. It didn't take words though: It took one. One word she'd heard time and time again in school since she'd arrived in America. "Wrong."

She'd messed up.


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That was a lot more then she had expected. Sass was shocked at the words but maybe she had at last learnt her lesson.

"Time for you to rest then. After you are rested we will talk about that cat." Her hatred was obvious when she mentioned *********. After all not many cats went around kissing the negaverse! It was something Sassolite was never going to forget nor forgive and Nickeline would help her get revenge.

"Come on." She took the senshi's arm, rather tightly and led her back out the Rift, letting her go only once they were back on the streets of the city.

"Go and rest. I will come for you." There was a slight threat in there. The girl needed rest though and Sassolite needing something else to do then put up with a lame senshi.


What more was their to talk about? Nickeline knew what Sassolite wanted from her, it was a pretty clear message after her time down in that pit. She had been so happy to be pulled away from it, and even though she hated the hall of shadows if going through that meant she had very little chance of ending up in the pit again then so be it. It was creepy though, and she couldn't shake the feeling of their eyes on her even when they'd made it back to street level. Either way, never in her life was she so happy to be on the streets.

She might have finally felt the pain from her arm with how tight Sassolite was gripping it if she couldn't feel the pain that covered most of her body. She was simply lucky those youma hadn't actually broken anything. Like the feeling Sassolite left on her arm, Nickeline didn't even hear her. She did what her body demanded of her and rested her legs first of all right there on the ground. Body satisfied with the ground, nothing mattered anymore except the sweet taste of air.