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The cold had crept up on Addy, seeping through her thick, wool peacoat and deep into her bones, nestling ruthlessly at the core of her soul. Nothing had helped chase the chill away. Not more layers, not the shot of Fireball she had found in her pocket, not even a short attempt at running down the street had done any good.

What a wonderful time for her car to be in the shop. A minor repair, thankfully, but inconvenient nonetheless. The bus had dropped her off not too far from her own home but she still had a short walk that she had vastly underestimated. It was supposed to be cold, but this felt like something entirely different. This felt intentional. Hungry. Eternally hungry.

A shiver ran down her spine as she pulled her jacket closer, wrapping her arms around her torso to try to generate more heat. Short puffs of breath escaped her lips as she sped down the street, her breath forming short-lived clouds that didn't survive long in the bitter wind rushing by.

An uncharacteristic melancholy had settled into her heart. Her recent encounter with Lovas and that...youma-man had left her more shaken than any other encounter with the evil that spread pervasively through Destiny City. To find out the world was in danger, that whole planets had been lost, and how incredibly out of her league she was a blow to her ego unlike any she had experienced in her life. It stung more than flunking out of college. What good was she if she couldn't truly aid in the fight? Her heart railed against that notion. It felt wrong in her very core. She just had to regroup. Rethink her approach. Maybe...Heaven forbid...Pick her battles more carefully.

Addy scoffed a bitter scoff and scowled at the wind. The notion that she had limits was one she was not fond of and rarely deigned to consider.

Thankfully, it wasn't one she had to consider for much longer. As she rounded the corner, a spittle choked snarl caught her attention. A dog caught in the storm?

Oh. No. That was definitely not a dog. The closer she got, the more she felt like she would freeze in place, statuesque in the frigid cold. After her last encounter with something monstrous, there was a moment of hesitation. The thought of simply turning around and leaving the thing to its devices flickered through her mind before she shoved it away, angry such cowardice would even try to take root...Wait, was that a cat?

There was absolutely no way she was leaving a poor cat stuck in a tree with this thing slavering at the base. The poor thing could be torn to shreds and she would never forgive herself if she let that happen. Still, perhaps she should let someone know what was going on and where she was just in case...Nope. No just in case. This would be fine...but she still fired off a voice message with her location.

"I guess I'm here to protect the world...and cats stuck in trees," she muttered incredulously before glancing around for something, anything, to help fend off the thing. A thick, fallen branch lay conveniently near her feet just off the sidewalk and she stooped to snatch it up. Addy tested the weight with a quick practice swing. It was close enough to her bat. Alright. ******** it. We ball.

With a running start, Addy charged at the thing, branch raised high, ready to slam down on the distracted creature.

With a furious battle cry, she swung the branch down on the creature's back. This close to it, she felt as if her body would freeze over. The frozen wind bit at her exposed nose and eyes. It was like she had been transported to the frozen north and she was woefully underdressed, but there was no going back now. This fight had been started and one way or another, it was going to end. Probably with a new wound to match the one that youman had clawed into her shoulder if not in her becoming another person lost to the unknown dangers of Destiny's streets.

Chunks of ice chipped off and turned to some clear liquid that slushified on the ground as the creature reared on its attacker, fangs like stalactites gleaming. This close, it looked more like a wolf. What was that Norse ice dog? Fen...something. It didn't matter, whatever it was, it launched itself without hesitation at the woman.

With a yelp. she held the branch out like a shield. Thankfully, the creature's teeth caught on the branch and they gnashed as it growled and snarled, eyes laser focused on its next meal. It was strong, stronger than she anticipated, and she braced herself to try and hold it back long enough to aim a kick at its jaw.

....Wait....Who said that? ********. Collateral damage. All she saw was the cat, but clearly someone was watching. What was the point in her drawing this things attention if someone else was going to peel it off of her?

"GET OUT OF HERE!" she bellowed out in the air at whoever was watching, "This thing is dangerous. Go. Now!"

A swift hit with her boot sent the ice critter skittering back a little, and she swung again before it could lunge back. Tiny, frozen crystals sprinkled the ground where she had connected. They'd be beautiful if they weren't about to be red.

The voice came again, but louder this time. With a start, she realized the only things in her line of sight were this...thing...That she REALLY should have texted for help about...And...The cat?

Wait.

The cat's mouth was moving.

Confused eyes darted around, but the only other sounds were the whispering winds of the storm around them. No one in sight. Just this damn dog and a cat and one very overenthusiastic Addy with a stick that didn't seem like it would stand up to much more abuse as the thing began to circle around her, reassessing in that slow, calculated way only a predator could.

Cats talked now?

"Aliens. Monsters. Talking cats. ******** a** City," she grunted as she turned slowly in place, tracking the creature in front of her, "Sure, Strange Tree Cat, but unless you have an excess of fast-acting Gear, I'm not sure how I'll get strong enough to not get mauled."

The thing charged at her again and she dipped out of the way at the last moment, swinging her makeshift weapon at it with all the force she could muster as she dodged to the side.

IT HIT!

It cracked.

The stick split into two the moment it connected with the ice wolf. While it seemed to leave a dent, it mostly just left her unarmed as it clattered to the ground at her feet.

"...Welp."

Increasingly desperate eyes flitted between the cat and her opponent as the wolf came full circle, unblinking eyes laser focused on her throat. The cat that she had...offended? Somehow?

Of course cats have culture. Why not? It's Destiny City. And the scrubjays have tea on Wednesdays.

"Clearwater. Apologies. I'm a little occupied so-" her words stopped dead in her throat as the pen flew towards her. Nevermind that the cat threw it without anything resembling a hand, but she didn't have time to contemplate that too hard.

This was...Wait. Bacchus and Tempesti had these. A henshin pen. For senshi. The senshi's henshin pen. The henshin pen specifically made for senshi. Did that mean that she was a senshi?

No ******** way.

Bacchus was gonna flip his s**t.

Addy's hand snapped out to snatch the pen out of the air and a ripple of energy rolled through her body, echoing down her spine and reverberating in her skull.

"Medusa," echoed a quiet voice in her mind.

It felt right. Like it was a name her soul had known for one thousand lifetimes.

Holding the pen aloft as she has seen her friends do, she took a deep breath. No going back now.

"Medusa Power Make Up!"

A surge of energy rolled around her as pale golden rays of light that swirled and twisted like serpents roiled around her, snaking their way up her legs, around her arms, weaving through her hair, leave brilliant gold in their wake. Then as quickly as it started, it ended. Where Addy was once hunched over, ready to dodge the creature in front of her, Sailor Medusa, Senshi of Petrification stood tall.

A new power radiated through her. Strength she had never known now pushed her forward with a purpose. She was a Senshi. A soldier. She had a planet. She had power. She could help fight.

The wolf creature, seemingly unmoved by her life-altering transformation, lunged forward with snapping jaws and Medusa moved faster than Addy ever had. Shock jolted through her and she dipped again to dodge a second snap of its maw. Startled laughter choked its way out of her throat.

No wonder Bacchus didn't have a lot of fear for...much of anything, really, other than responsibility.

"YOU BEAUTIFUL, STUNNING, PURRFECT CAT!" She called out with glee as she and the wolf wove around each other. All the martial arts she had spent a decade dedicating herself to paid off. The monster was different than any opponent she'd ever had, of course, but with her new speed? New strength? She could keep up.

"I am going to make this SO MANY NEGAS PROBLEMS!" she declared with a loud whoop.

The victory was short lived, as sharp, frigid fangs pierced her forearm. <********!" she shrieked as she kicked the beast back and briefly inspected the wound. Hot blood dripped down her arm and she grimaced, remembering for the first time in a moment, that this was actually a fight.

"So then, Clearwater, how do I kill this ******** class="quote">