Just a quick note, _please_ forward any comments to "Tuxedo" Will at
wwolfshohl@logicon.com. It'll save me some work because he will provide all
responses to comments for this story. Any comments I recieve will be simply
forwarded to him.
Doug
----
Adventures of the Chibi-Scouts II
By "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl and Doug "Candle Light Author" Helm
Authors' Foreword by "Tuxedo" Will (January 2000)
Greetings fellow Moonies. In 1997, "Adventures of the Chibi-Scouts" was
released. Doug and I have said for some time that we would write a
sequel. Certainly, many of you have demanded one. So here at long last
is the sequel to ACS - "Adventures of the Chibi-Scouts II". It picks up
about a year after ACS ended. While reading ACS will be advantageous to
your enjoyment of ACS II, I believe you can get a lot out of it
stand-alone.
One point we received comment on I will address. Yes, we are using the
DiC dub universe. It is intentional for a number of reasons. Therefore,
ACS II is set in that wonderful little bit of North America in Tokyo. :)
Serena is not Usagi. There are differences. However, when there are
areas covered in our story which are not referenced by DiC, we will (as
in ACS) use the original names. I know some purists may not read this
because it dub based but give it a chance. Even worst case, you can use
your favorite text editor and do global name/term replacements.
ACS II is a shoujo fanfic. If you want epic battles or graphic violence,
then it's not for you. If you read fanfics for the relationships and
character development, IMHO you won't be disappointed. As in ACS, ACS II
will have a fair amount of sugar. I recommend that you brush your teeth
after reading this story. :) That said, ACS II is slightly darker than
its predecessor but I won't spoil you as to why. It barely rates a "PG".
Those characters that are original and the story "Adventures of the
Chibi-Scouts II" are copyrighted (c) 2000 by Will Wolfshohl & Douglas
Helm.
This story and our other Sailor Moon stories reside at
http://rivendell.fortunecity.com/traveller/861/
Send comments to: "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl (wwolfshohl@logicon.com) or
Douglas "Candle Light Author" Helm (dhelm@log.on.ca)
Part 1 "Not as Expected"
Wednesday was warm. The late spring air didn't carry the chill
that the early part of the season did. Serena Tsukino sat at her desk in
her bedroom and stared gloomily down at her ninth grade math homework.
It was almost done but she didn't have the heart to finish it. Sighing,
the fifteen year old dropped her pencil and cupped her chin in her
hands. She didn't even react when something black and furry leapt up in
front of her.
"Serena," Luna questioned, "What are you still doing up? It's
late."
"Waiting for you, Luna," Serena mumbled out and looked
expectantly towards the black cat.
"What's the problem?" Luna asked, "Did another Lemure attack?"
She and Artemis had been nosing around the strange circus tent that had
suddenly appeared in downtown Tokyo.
"No, I was waiting to see if you wanted to yell at me too." Luna
blinked in confusion. "Yeah, I know I don't have my homework done but
maybe, you can think up something else to yell about."
Luna frowned, as much as a cat could frown, before asking, "Why
would I want to yell at you?" Serena hadn't been herself lately so it
was a bit of a relief to see her charge hadn't completed her homework.
"Today is my day for being yelled at." Luna looked at Serena
expectantly. "Okay, first Mom yells at me for being lazy and not getting
up. Then Dad throws a fit 'cause he finds out that Darien and I were
going to the park for a boat ride on the lake." Serena sighed then and
pushed herself up. "So then, I go meet Darien and..."
"Did Reenie go with you?" Luna interrupted.
"I asked her," Serena said moodily, "She said she didn't want to
hang around with a klutzoid like me." Serena sat down on the bed and
continued, "And that gave Mom a chance to rag on me for picking on
Reenie. I was actually trying to be nice to the pink... um... her!"
Luna hopped from the desk and made her way to sit beside Serena
on the bed. "Did you have a nice time with Darien?"
Serena nodded while getting a dreamy look in her eyes. "We rowed
around the lake for a little while..." She sighed then, "I want to get
along with Reenie but I was kinda glad she didn't come along."
"So, what happened next?"
"Oh... yeah, well anyway, like I said, we rowed around the lake
for awhile... It was so romantic and we find a quiet place near the
shore, Darien starts kissing me..." Serena trailed off for a moment,
trying to capture that special feeling she always got when she was with
her boyfriend. "Then that little sp... my daughter comes along and
scares me half to death." Luna moaned and covered her eyes with her paw.
"Yep, me and Darien wind up in the drink. I nearly swallowed half of
it... Darien had to me drag out." The sight of Serena sputtering and
half-choked with water had nearly caused Reenie to kill herself with
laughter.
"So, you yelled at Reenie?" Serena nodded. "And she yelled
back?"
"Nope," Serena replied while flopping back onto her bed and
pouting, "Darien yelled at me for yelling at Reenie." He loved Reenie.
They both did. After all, the little girl was their future daughter, but
at times, Serena wondered if Reenie treated Neo-Queen Serenity as badly
as she treated her. "So, to finish up the day, Mom gets mad for me being
such a klutz, Raye gets mad because I was late for the Scout meeting..."
<Although nothing unusual about that,> she added silently and continued,
"Then the capper was when I went up to read Reenie a story, she throws a
hissy fit and hits me in the head with Mr. Floppy!"
"So you think I'm going to yell at you too?"
"Yep!"
"WELL, YOU'RE WRONG!" Luna yelled.
"Thanks, now I can go to sleep," Serena replied. After turning
off the lights, she lifted the covers and snuggled underneath. Closing
her eyes, Serena gave out a little sigh. She felt Luna padding around
the bed for a moment before settling down near her feet.
"Serena?"
"Yeah Luna?" Serena questioned as she started to yawn.
"What's really bothering you?"
Serena didn't answer. There was no way she could explain the
lonely feeling she was experiencing. She missed both the daughter who
was in the other room as well as another Reenie, the one that truly
cared about her. Rolling over to her side, Serena pulled Mr. Floppy
close to her. Things had gone well after their return from the other
universe, the one in which she and the other Sailor Scouts had been
small children.
Even after learning that Reenie was really her daughter, things
had been okay. But since her daughter's return from the future for
training as the next Sailor Moon, things had deteriorated. All the
effort that had gone into building up something of a sisterly
relationship had been wiped away. Then after the recent solar eclipse,
Reenie seemed even more distant. Serena could understand that Reenie
wanted to be with friends her own age but now, the little girl didn't
even come to her for comfort.
Sniffling a little, Serena hugged the stuffed rabbit and drifted
off to sleep.
Raye Hino slapped her alarm clock and yawned expansively before
stretching. Sitting up, she slid from her comfortable bed and walked to
the window. "Looks like today's going to be nice," Raye observed to
herself as she noticed the rapidly bluing sky as the sun started to
rise.
Stretching again, she pulled on her robe before slipping down
the hall to the bathroom. Much to her annoyance, she found the door
closed. Even more to her annoyance, she heard someone humming.
Knocking on the door, she complained, "Come on, don't take all
day." <He's so inconsiderate.>
"I'll be out in a minute, Raye," came the muffled voice of Chad.
Crossing her arms, Raye scowled at the door while tapping her
foot impatiently. After a few seconds, she heard the door being
unlocked; when it finally opened, she blinked at the sight that greeted
her. "You shaved?!" she questioned. Chad did not shave; it was a simple
fact.
Chad grinned at her. "Well, Raye, you had me cut my hair... so I
figured I'd better start shaving."
Raye smiled up at him. <He looks like...> It had taken a month
or so to get Chad to have a little bit of a haircut. He had stopped
looking so scruffy. Now with that adorable face shaven too and his hair
neatly combed, he didn't look scruffy at all. In fact...
"You look really..." Raye cooed dreamily before entering the
bathroom and pushing Chad out into the hall and closing the door. "I
mean next time have some consideration." But she didn't say it with much
force.
A few moments later, Raye re-entered her bedroom and started to
dress in her uniform for school. <The girls are never going to believe
this,> Raye thought, <I wonder if he did it for me?> She remembered
making some offhanded comment about Chad's whiskers not long ago but
couldn't exactly remember what she had said. <Nah... but...> There was
something appealing about Chad. Raye still had a hard time admitting it
but ever since her trip to the other universe, she had started seeing
her grandfather and Chad in a new light.
She still chased Chad with her broom and yelled at him about his
singing but she had started thinking about his feelings as well.
Smiling to herself, she decided that she'd give Chad a kiss before going
to school, just to goad her grandfather, not because she felt anything
special for the young acolyte. <I like to startle Chad with the
unexpected too,> she giggled to herself.
"Mina!" Artemis scolded, "That's the worst thing you could have
done!" He was riding on Mina's shoulder as she slowly walked to school.
"And would you please hurry up?"
"Jeez, I'm already late, Artemis," Mina stated, "And I still
don't see what the harm in bringing Carrie to one of our Scout meetings.
She already knows I know Sailor Venus and Sailor Moon."
Artemis sighed, "And Luna calls Serena irresponsible." Mina
grumbled something so he added, "Look, if you do this, then Serena will
want to tell Molly. If anybody has a right to know, it's Molly." <Reenie
would want to tell Melissa too.>
"Look, Carrie's my friend." Mina had reestablished her
friendship with the little girl shortly after her return. "She really
admires the Sailor Scouts. Okay, so maybe I can't bring her to a Scout
meeting, but... we could have the other Scouts meet her." <She'd be so
happy.>
Artemis sighed again and stopped arguing. <Mina should never
have been little again.> He supposed the worst thing about the
experience was that Mina had started baby-sitting. <Of course, with her
blowing things up, she's losing more money than she's making.> Why
couldn't Mina just stick with something she knew how to do, like
knitting? That reminded him of something. "Hey, did you ever finish that
thing... I mean sweater you were knitting for Carrie?"
"No, since some fleabag managed to turn my yarn into knots!"
"Hey, it's not my fault you left it sitting out. Diana's just a
kitten after all." He felt a little guilty for blaming his daughter but
Artemis wasn't about to admit that he had been responsible. "Do you plan
on getting to school anytime soon?"
"All right, all right... sheesh!" Mina complained and started to
run towards her school.
"Lita!" Amy called out, "Lita, wait up!" Thankfully, the taller
girl paused and turned around. Amy smiled when Lita waved a greeting.
"Why didn't you wait for me?" Amy asked as they started to walk down the
sidewalk.
"Sorry, Ames," Lita replied, "Just had some things on my mind."
"So what are you doing for supper tonight?" Amy asked.
"Amy," Lita began, "You know I come over to your house on Friday
nights." She smiled though, trying to take some of the sting out of her
next words. "I'm not going to impose on your mom. She already dragged me
over to your place last Monday." Not that Lita minded but Dr. Anderson
was a busy person so she didn't want to co-opt all of Amy's time with
her mom.
Amy smiled and said, "I know, silly. I was going to impose upon
you... if you don't have any plans." Lita grinned. "Mom left for a
medical conference today. I just..." she trailed off and looked away.
"No prob, Ames," Lita answered with a grin, "Wanna stay at my
place tonight?" Amy looked up, a slightly relieved look on her face. "I
need help with my homework anyway."
"Who says I'm gonna help you with YOUR homework?" Amy replied in
an indignant tone.
"What? You wouldn't help me, SIS?"
Amy smiled and then said, "That depends, SIS. What are WE having
for supper?" Lita chuckled and threw an arm around Amy and gave her a
hug. "This is my night off so I'm ordering pizza."
Amy looked dejected. "Then I'm not helping with your homework."
"Oh what will it take then?"
"What if I cook?" Amy offered.
"Man, I just got through with school. I'm tired of reading
books. I certainly don't want to eat them."
"Lita!" the teen huffed with some exasperation, "I know how to
cook. I've watched you and Mom enough that I think I can pass muster."
She couldn't help but smile as her friend chuckled.
"Okay, okay..." Lita replied as she saw Amy's menacing look, "I
give."
"So what do you need help with, Lita?" Amy asked.
"Well... geography. I couldn't understand what the lesson was
about."
"That's because you spent most of your time drooling over that
guy sitting in front of you," Amy retorted good-naturedly. She giggled
as Lita wholeheartedly agreed.
"Reenie!" Mrs. Ellen Tsukino called as she arrived on the second
floor of her house, "Young lady, where are you?!"
"In my room, Aunt Ellen!" came the reply. Striding down the
hall, Ellen mounted the steps that led into her "niece's" bedroom with
determination. She came into the room and noted that Reenie was sitting
on the bed looking expectant. "Did you want somethin', Aunt Ellen?"
Ellen waited for a few moments, trying to calm herself.
"Yesterday, did you tell Serena that you didn't want to go to the park?"
"No, Aunt Ellen," Reenie replied innocently. <I told her I
didn't want to be with a klutzoid like her.> Ellen scowled. Seeing this,
Reenie added, "Well, Aunt Ellen, I said I didn't wanna go with her."
"Yes, so you went by yourself then," Ellen concluded. "Who gave
you permission to go to the park alone?" Reenie looked away from her
aunt's unwavering gaze. "And then, you scared the living daylights out
of Serena and Darien."
"I was just havin' a little fun," Reenie sulked. <Serena's
always tattling on me.> "Nothin' happened."
"You call Serena swallowing nearly half the lake `nothing'?!?"
Reenie winced at the sharp tone. She hadn't wanted that part to happen.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself, Reenie?" The little girl
crossed her arms and looked away. "Well, I have something to say. You
can just forget about that sleepover with Melissa."
"That's not fair!" Reenie protested while springing to her feet,
"Just because I was havin' a little fun, you..."
"Someone could have gotten hurt!" Ellen thundered, "And I know
that neither your uncle nor I gave you permission to go to the park.
And that wasn't the first time you snuck out of the house either."
"But Aunt Ellen..."
"No buts, Reenie," Ellen indicated firmly, "No sleepover
Friday."
"Serena..."
"Reenie, no more argument or you'll be going to bed early." With
that, Ellen turned and left the room. <Now to try and apologize to
Serena. If Darien hadn't called wondering if Serena was still speaking
to him, I would have kept thinking she was blowing the whole thing out
of proportion.> Ellen gave a little sigh. Reenie did goad Serena but
Serena tended to goad Reenie as well. <Poor Reenie, Serena is extra nice
one minute and then starts yelling at her the next.>
"Are you done, Small Lady?" Diana queried from her hiding place
under the desk. It was shortly after Ellen had left. "Princesses
shouldn't throw temper tantrums." She mewed in surprise and scurried out
of the way, as Reenie threw a storybook in her direction.
Reenie, seeming to realize what she had done, flopped back onto
the bed and sighed. "I'm sorry, Diana," she said. After a few moments,
she heard the tinkling of the kitten's bell and then felt something
light jump onto the bed. Turning, she smiled at her feline friend.
"You're right. Mommy never liked it when I did that."
"You know that Mrs. Tsukino is right," Diana lectured, "You did
sneak out of the house. She's only worried about you, Small Lady."
"Yeah," Reenie agreed and reaching over started to scratch Diana
behind the ears. "I'm sorry."
"Why do you and Her Majesty argue?"
Reenie stopped her scratching, much to the annoyance of the
kitten, and folded her hands behind her head. The little girl stared up
at the ceiling deep in thought. "I miss Mommy so much." She liked
Pegasus but it had hurt when her mother had told her that her Scout
training wasn't yet complete. "I worked really hard to be with Mommy but
she made me come back for more training."
"Your mother is here, Small Lady."
"But she doesn't want me," Reenie replied moodily, "Serena just
wants the other Reenie, the PERFECT one." <I just wanna tease Serena a
little and she always compares me to the other one.> She liked Serena
being nice to her but Serena had this screwy idea about being a sister
too. <Why can't I be with Mommy?> Serena seemed to want to be nice but
that just reminded Reenie of what she was missing even more.
"Their Majesties would not be happy if you scared them the way
you did yesterday," Diana commented. She was annoyed that she wasn't
getting any proper treatment.
"At least Mommy doesn't tattle to Aunt Ellen," Reenie retorted
tersely. She couldn't figure out why Serena hadn't punished her.
Certainly she was capable of it; her aunt never stopped it. But for
Serena to tattle to Ellen seemed like a betrayal to the little girl.
<I tried telling Pegasus but I can't explain it.> She felt very
mixed up. <And I can't tell Serena everything.> She had to think about
the future and Pluto's rules. Closing her eyes, she gave a long sigh and
drifted off to sleep. <Melissa's gonna be mad at me,> she sleepily
thought, <She already thinks I spend too much time with Serena.>
Although she wished she could tell Melissa she was a Sailor Scout.
Serena lay in bed wondering what had woken her up. Glancing over
at the clock, she noticed it was a little past midnight. Looking down at
the foot of her bed, she noticed that Luna was still curled up fast
asleep. She felt uneasy. She lay there listening but she didn't hear
anything unusual.
Slipping from her bed, she crossed the darkened room and opened
her door. Except for the distant ticking of a clock, she didn't hear
anything. <What's wrong? Is the Trio acting up?> Serena wondered.
Closing her door softly, she walked over and got her communicator from
where it was lying next to her broach. <Everything seems okay.> Luna
would have awakened her if she had missed a call on her communicator.
Setting it down, she lifted her transformation broach up and
opened it. She let out a little sigh of relief when she saw the Silver
Imperium Crystal sparkling in the dim light. She was going to put it
down but something within her made her hang onto it.
<I'm being silly. Everything's okay.> But to make sure, she
walked back over to her door and slipped out into the hallway. Quietly
she padded down the hall and to the steps that led up to her daughter's
attic bedroom. <That must be it. I'm feeling guilty.> She and Reenie had
argued earlier that evening. Putting her broach in one pocket of her
pajamas, Serena softly crept up the stairs and peaked into the room. The
little girl appeared to be sound asleep. Softly coming up the rest of
the stairs, she entered the bedroom and walked over to look down at her
daughter. <Why didn't you come and let me read you a story?>
Reaching down, she gently removed the storybook from the child's
limp hand. Placing it aside, she drew the covers up around the eight
year old before bending down and giving her a kiss.
"I love you," Serena whispered.
"Get lost, Dumpling Head," Reenie mumbled out.
Stifling the tears that wanted to rise within her, Serena left
the room. <At least she's okay.> Something had been bothering Reenie and
it was taking her farther away from Serena than normal. <Even when
Rubeus was after her, she'd come to me for comfort.> She would keep
trying but sometimes Serena wondered if it was really worth it. Could
she ever be the big sister to Reenie she had promised the other Reenie?
As she made her way back to the stairs, Serena felt a pang of
longing. <I wish that other Reenie was here.> She hated to see either
child distressed but the Reenie in the other universe had seemed very
distressed at her leaving. <This one wouldn't really care if I left.>
Telling herself that she was being silly, she left Reenie's room
and headed back to her own. Serena entered her room and moved across to
her bed. "Serena?" Luna's voice said softly. Serena gave a guilty start
and looked at her feline advisor, "What are you doing up? You have
school in the morning."
"I... nothing." Slipping under the covers, Serena stared up at
the ceiling for a long moment before retrieving her broach. <Maybe I
shouldn't have eaten all that ice cream.> It had tasted a little off.
<Luna's right. I have to go to sleep.> But despite her best efforts at
relaxing, sleep never came.
When Lita and Amy arrived at Crossroads Junior High School on
Friday morning, they found Serena already waiting for them. Not even
giving them a chance to question Serena's early arrival, the blonde came
over and demanded, "Amy, do a scan."
"What?" Amy asked.
"I said do a scan. Any negaenergy around?"
"Serena," Lita hissed, "Not so loud."
"I think Luna or Artemis would have informed us about any new
Negaverse activity," Amy remarked. Seeing Serena's pleading look, one
that came from eyes that spoke of a sleepless night, Amy drew out her
minicomputer and started a scan. After a few moments, she shook her head
and announced, "I'm sorry, Serena, there doesn't appear to be anything
out of the ordinary."
"I'm going insane," Serena muttered as she rubbed her broach
unconsciously. "I keep thinking something is majorly wrong."
"You did study for that math test?" Amy wondered.
"What do you think I did all night?" Serena grumbled, "Math
usually puts me to sleep but not this time." She sighed, "I'm sorry...
it's just..." She blinked and then asked, "You two don't usually show up
at the same time. What gives?"
"Ames spent the night at my place."
"Oh a sleepover... Why didn't you invite me?" Serena complained.
"Just my sis was lonely," Lita replied. Amy raised an eyebrow
but didn't say anything. Lita continued, "Besides, didn't you have to
baby-sit last night?"
"Don't remind me, Lita," Serena muttered out, "If I was Reenie's
mother..."
"But you are, Serena."
"Yeah, right, but sometimes, Reenie sure makes me think
different." She rubbed her broach again. <Something's wrong. I think
Reenie's in trouble.> But that didn't make any sense. The little girl
was perfectly fine.
Raye heaved a sigh and sat down on the steps of the main Cherry
Hill Temple building. "Just like Serena to call a Scout meeting and then
not show up on time."
"Chill, Raye, I told you she went to get Reenie," Lita said,
"She's worried about the kid; which is kinda strange considering her
mood this morning." Amy nodded.
"She didn't tell you what it was about?" Mina asked.
"No," Amy admitted, "She had me do a scan this morning but I
didn't detect anything."
"She was up last night," Luna remarked, "Something was bothering
her."
"Mama, I think it could just be Small Lady," Diana interjected.
The gray kitten was sitting by her parents. "Small Lady has not been
very nice lately." <Her Majesty wouldn't like it either.>
"I think I'd be more worried if those two weren't fighting,"
Artemis observed gloomily.
"Speaking of fighting, I think I hear them now," Raye remarked.
Sure enough, the group could hear two familiar voices arguing. They
watched as Serena and Reenie came up the steps of the temple grounds and
crossed through the courtyard.
"Girls!" Luna bellowed when Serena and Reenie continued to argue
even after they had arrived where the group was gathered. Serena and
Reenie stopped yelling and looked towards Luna. "What were you two
fighting about this time?"
"Dumpling Head," Reenie began and pointed at Serena, "Showed up
at my school, made a complete idiot of herself, and then carried me off
as if I was a sack of potatoes or somethin'!" Melissa would be teasing
her for days about it, not to mention the rest of her third grade class.
"You little spore!" Serena yelled, "I was worried about you. I
told you we had a Scout meeting and you wouldn't come."
Before Reenie could retort, Raye inquired, "Serena, what's this
all about?"
"I think something's wrong with Reenie."
"Nothin''s wrong with me!" Reenie stated indignantly. "I can't
get it through your dumpling..."
"She's got a point, Serena," Mina added cutting off Reenie's
tirade.
"Not this little fungus, the good Reenie, my big sister. The
other one that actually respects me." Reenie stuck her tongue out at
Serena but was disappointed when the older girl didn't respond.
"What makes you think something is wrong with the other Reenie?"
Lita asked.
"I don't know, I just have this feeling," Serena explained, "At
first, I thought it was like some bad ice cream. But I couldn't go to
sleep and it's just gotten stronger all day."
"Amy, are you picking anything up?" Artemis asked.
Amy produced her computer and started scanning. After a moment
or so, she shook her head. "I ran a broad spectrum scan of the entire
area and didn't detect anything significant."
"Come on, guys, you gotta believe me. I know I'm a ditz
sometimes but I'm telling you something's wrong." Her big sister needed
her. That was the only explanation.
"What do you want to do, Princess?" Mina questioned.
"I want to make a trip over to the other universe."
The temple grounds' tranquillity was shattered by Raye's shouts
of protest. The last thing she wanted to do was be five years old again.
Lita at first thought that Serena was going to wail as Raye
yelled but much to her surprise, Serena simply waited until the brunette
had vented all of her annoyance.
"I know you wouldn't like going back there, Raye, but I think
it's important," Serena attempted to explain, "What can it hurt? We left
on a Sunday and got back on a Saturday. The worst we can do is have to
repeat today all over again."
"Well I ain't going," Reenie quipped, "I think you brainwashed
that other Reenie." No way that Serena's description of her counterpart
was accurate.
Before Serena could explode, Lita piped up, "Well, I'm in."
"Me too," Amy added, "My mom's away so there won't be any fuss."
"Thanks guys," Serena said with a smile for her friends.
"I could use a vacation," Lita replied. <Serena's just lonely.>
"This isn't a vacation," Serena protested.
"Come on, girlfriend," Mina commented, "After all this time, I
can see you wanting a vacation." Serena glared at the blonde. "I did
promise Carrie I'd take her to the zoo tomorrow though."
"Well, I'm not going," Raye stated again, "You knew I didn't
like it and if I have a choice, I'm certainly not going back there."
"That's a good idea, Raye," Serena decided, "Somebody should
stay here with Reenie so that her bacon doesn't get cooked."
"Hey!" Reenie squawked in protest, "I'm not the
meatballs-for-brains bimbo. And I'm not coming either."
"Good, I wouldn't want you replacing the better Reenie anyway,"
Serena remarked. She turned towards Mina so didn't notice the hurt look
that came across Reenie's face. "Mina, didn't you like playing with
Carrie?" Mina nodded a little. "And you had a fun time, right?
Especially playing THOSE games?"
Mina blushed a bit. "Yeah, you're right," Mina finally agreed,
"But what could be wrong?"
"I don't know," Serena admitted, "I know we didn't have the best
time over there before but I think it's important."
"You don't know exactly what is wrong?" Amy questioned. Serena
nodded. "Then we need to be careful not to damage the timeline."
"But if Reenie..."
"If Reenie is in real trouble, then you can help but, Serena,
you wouldn't want someone to drop in on you and mess around in your
future, right?"
"It's already happened," Serena muttered out while throwing a
look towards her future daughter. Sighing a little, she conceded,
"You're right, Ames..."
"Then promise me that all you'll do is watch."
"But..."
"Serena, Amy is right," Mina chimed in, "Look at the problems
our arrival caused for Reenie. You wouldn't want to jeopardize either
her or the other Raye, or Darien either."
"Something's really wrong!" Serena wailed while looking
pleadingly towards Mina and the Lunar Cats. After a moment though, she
realized that it was a futile effort so she agreed, "O-kay, I promise
just to watch and not let on that I'm the older Serena." She looked
intently at her friends and added, "But if Reenie IS in trouble..."
"You won't be the only one to help, girlfriend," Mina countered,
"Well, Artemis, Luna, what d'ya say?"
"I hated being a kitten. Twice in one lifetime is enough!"
Artemis replied, "I'm staying."
"Well, I guess that means I have to go. Someone has to look out
for Serena," Luna remarked, "Are you coming, Mina?"
Mina sat for a long moment looking at Serena and then slowly
nodded. "Yeah, okay. But I don't want to be there too long." <At least,
I'll be back in time to take Carrie to the zoo tomorrow.>
"I promise," Serena replied, "I just want to see what's going
on." She turned to Lita and Amy and asked, "What about you two?"
"We're in," Lita replied, "Right Sis?"
"Right Sis!" Amy declared with a grin and a wink. Lita was
right. She needed a vacation too. Besides, a couple of days as true
sisters would be fun now that she knew what to expect.
"Oh yeah," Serena giggled, "You already said that."
"So how are we gonna get there?" Mina asked.
"I deduce we need Reenie's Time Key then," Amy replied and
looked towards the youngest member of their group.
"Hey! Who said I'd let you use it?"
"Listen, spore," Serena declared in a menacing tone, "You were
tellin' me a few minutes ago that you wished I went away. Well, you're
getting your wish now. Hand over the Key!" Muttering darkly to herself,
Reenie slipped the Key from around her neck and held it out to Serena
who snatched it up gleefully. "Here, Mina, you hold it."
"Why me?" Mina complained, "I was the target last time!".
"Exactly." This answer caused Mina to scowl. "No reason to take
chances by messing up how we did it," Serena replied matter-of-factly
and lifted her broach into the air. "Let's transform! MOON CRYSTAL
POWER!"
Tuxedo Mask arrived moments later. He stood for a moment,
looking curiously in the distance at the four Sailor Scouts. <I wonder
why the others haven't transformed?> The four Scouts and Luna stood a
short distance away from the others. He scanned the area for Lemures to
look for a perch ready to join the upcoming battle.
"Be careful, Sailor Moon!" Raye called out, "And you'd better be
nice to the other me!"
<The other her?!> Tuxedo Mask frowned, <She can't mean...>
"Count on it," Sailor Moon replied, "And don't let Reenie give
you any trouble."
<My God, she does mean...> "Sailor Moon!" he yelled but she
didn't appear to hear him. He began to run towards them.
"Don't screw up!" Reenie shouted out.
Sailor Moon ignored the little girl. Turning to look at the
others, she asked, "Okay, we've done this before. Everybody ready?"
When everyone nodded, Sailor Jupiter started building power. At
the right moment, Mercury shouted out, "NOW!"
<Don't go!> Tuxedo Mask thought desperately as he started to
move towards the circle.
"JUPITER THUNDERCRASH ZAP!" There was a tremendous rumble as
Jupiter released her power and suddenly all four Sailor Scouts, along
with Luna, were swallowed by a pink sphere of energy.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Tuxedo Mask howled, "Serena!"
When the light subsided, Reenie went over and was relieved to
see her Time Key lying on the ground. She felt something cold form in
her stomach as she noticed that Sailor Moon's transformation broach was
lying on the ground nearby, the Silver Imperium Crystal winking in the
fading sunlight.
"Serena..." Tuxedo Mask whispered, "Come back."
End of Part 1
Coming next in Part 2 "Sisters Apart, Sisters Together"
Ja ne,
"Tuxedo" Will
http://www.fortunecity.com/rivendell/angels/591/index.html (My Stories)
http://rivendell.fortunecity.com/traveller/861/ (Fanart for my stories)
http://members.xoom.com/questails/gateway.htm (The Archives)
Keeper of "Tuxedo" Will's SM Fanfics/Scripts Archives
Author of "Tales of Younger Jupiter", "Chibi-Usa Times Two",
"Adventures of the Chibi-Scouts I & II", "Tales of Younger Venus",
"A Gem", "Tales of Younger Earth", "The World Turned Upside Down", and
"You Don't Remember How I Feel"
Moonie Code [1.12.05] SM:6-m+ F:sCh++Mo++Ve+:vBl+Pp:aNa+Ch+Ik:pSSR2 D:sUr-St
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