~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, in the dark kingdom known as the Negaverse, Malachite
entered Queen Beryl’s throne room. “You summoned me, my queen?” said the
General as he bowed.
“I’ve noticed that you’ve been quite the busy bee of late, Malachite,”
began Beryl as she peered into her crystal ball. “Just what have you
been up to?”
“Nothing more than finding a way to retrieve the Silver Imperium
Crystal from those wretched Sailor Scouts. And I believe I have found a
way.”
At this, Beryl arched an eyebrow. “Explain,” she demanded.
Malachite made a broad flourish with his left arm and an image of Gen13
and Lynch appeared in midair. “Majesty, two days ago the Dark Crystal
detected an anomalous energy reading at Tokyo’s airport. Suspecting it
could be the crystal, I investigated.”
“Since I do not have the crystal in my hands at this very moment, I
will assume it was not the prize we seek,” snorted Beryl.
“You assume correctly, my queen. The readings from the Dark Crystal
seemed to indicate that the energy was coming from the group of humans
you see before you.”
“How could humans produce the energy you speak of?”
“I was curious to that as well, majesty. However, I needed to be much
closer to them for the crystal to provide sufficient analysis. Since
these beings were unknowns, I thought it prudent to observe them for a
time before taking action.
I found my opportunity the following night while they were dining with
another human. Apparently a friend of this one,” said Malachite as he
pointed to Lynch. “The older one seems to be the guardian and mentor of
the younger ones. Judging by his scars and bearing, I determined him to
be a warrior of some sort. His companions called him ‘Lynch.’
While they were dining I slipped a small amount of poison into Lynch’s
food. He soon collapsed and was taken to the hospital. I then disguised
myself as doctor, got rid of the children, and took a thorough reading
of his power,” finished the General.
“And what did you find?” asked Beryl.
“This man is a seething cauldron of psionic energy. A foe to be
reckoned with, even by our standards.”
“And the younger ones?”
“I was only able to get cursory readings from them,” admitted
Malachite. “But my initial findings indicate that they may be even more
powerful.”
“Just what are these beings? And what is the nature of their power?”
questioned Beryl.
“They are what the earth people call superhumans. Humans given vast
power through some strange means.
The ones we’re dealing with seem to channel some unusual form of extra
dimensional energy to use their abilities. It’s startlingly similar to
the energy used by the Sailor Scouts.”
“Quite fascinating, Malachite,” sneered Beryl. “But I fail to see how
your little science project will gain me the Silver Imperium Crystal.”
“My plan is simple, majesty,” said the General. “My investigations have
taught me that superhumans tend to, as the Earth saying goes, ‘shoot
first and ask questions later.’ We simply need to get these young ones
and the Sailor Scouts in one place at the same time. Then, all it will
take is a small push and they’ll attack each other.”
“Go on,” nodded the queen.
“My analysis has indicated that these superhumans are just as powerful,
if not more so, than the Scouts,” grinned Malachite. “With a bit of
luck, they might destroy our enemies for us. Or, at the very least,
cause them enough injury and confusion for me to step in and simply take
the crystal.”
Queen Beryl paused to consider her General’s plan. “You’re leaving a
lot to chance, Malachite.”
“My plan will succeed, majesty,” he assured.
“Very well then. Proceed!” commanded Beryl. “And do not to fail!”
“Your will be done, my queen,” pledged Malachite as he bowed. And then
he was gone.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Come on, Rox!" ordered Grunge. "Get that rear in gear!"
"Honestly Grunge, what's the hurry?" sighed Freefall. "We've got the
whole day to shop."
"If you wanted to waste time looking at boring stuff you could have
gone with Cat to that electronics store. Or with Bobby to the music
store."
"I bet he's picking up some killer imports right now," sighed the girl
as she ran a hand though the pink streaks in her hair.
"Or you could he helping Sarah pick out…whatever the hell it is she's
looking for.”
"She said she wanted to pick up a kimono. "
"Whatever. All boring junk."
"Maybe so, but it sounds better than having you drag me all over
looking for whatever it is you're looking for."
"Well the lookin' is over, Rox!" proclaimed Grunge as he pointed to the
Crown Game Center.
"This is what you were so on about?!" glared Roxy. "A stupid arcade!
There are plenty of those back home!"
"Whoa! They have the new Sailor V game!" grinned Grunge as he stared
at the poster in the arcade's window. "That's not going to be out in the
States until next year!"
Realizing the pointlessness of yelling at him, Roxy decided to give
conversation another try. "Sailor V? Isn't that one of those anime
things you're always watching?"
"Yeah. You've watched a few of them with me, remember?”
Only because you made me, thought Roxy. "Wait, isn't Sailor V the one
with the girl in the funny skirt and weird goggles?"
"That's the one," confirmed Grunge. "And it's called a fuku, not a
skirt.
"Whatever. That one wasn't too bad,” admitted Freefall. "Way better
than the one about the martial arts guy with the spiky hair and orange
jumpsuit."
"I'll explain the finer points of Dragon Ball Z to you later," muttered
Grunge as he grabbed his teammate's hand. "Right now I wanna blow some
tokens!"
Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Roxy followed Grunge inside and
waited while he secured some tokens. “Why do I put up with this
Neanderthal?” she sighed to herself.
“Come on, Rox! The game is over here! This is gonna rock!”
“Jeez, Grunge, it’s only a video game. There’s no need to get so wor--”
“Ah, dammit!” cursed Grunge. “Someone’s already playing it!”
Roxy looked and saw a girl dressed in what Mr. Lynch had described as a
typical Japanese school uniform. The girl had blonde hair tied into two
spheres and then pulled back into two very long ponytails.
“Ha! Yes! Got you! Close call! I’ll teach you to invade my universe!”
cheered the girl as she worked the game’s joystick.
“Looks like you’ll have to wait your turn, Grunge,” poked Freefall.
Just then the girl called out, “Oh no! Where’d that thing come from?!
I’m toast!”
Grinning like a piranha, Grunge walked over to the girl’s machine and
looked at the game screen. “You only got a score of 3,000? Man, do you
suck!”
“Hey, this is my first time playing it!” flared the girl. “I’d like to
see you do better!”
“I could do better in my sleep, little girl” proclaimed Grunge.
“The name is Serena and you’re on!” said the blonde. “I’m going to kick
your butt, surfer boy!”
“Promises, promises,” mocked Grunge as he sat down and fed a coin into
the machine and called up the player versus player mode.
Roxy casually leaned against a game machine and watched the two
compete.
“Ha! You missed”
“Take that!”
“Almost got it!”
“Missed!”
“Yes!”
“Taste laser death!”
Things continued on like this for several minutes until, at last, the
inevitable happened.
“No!” shouted Grunge. “Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!”
“Oh yes!” grinned Serena as she stood and did a little victory dance.
“I’m good, I’m bad, and I’m totally rad!”
This seemed to only incite Grunge. “Beginner’s luck!” he snapped.
“You’re just being a sore loser,” accused the blonde.
“Yeah, well, I may be a loser but that’s better than being a stupid,
uh, a stupid…MEATBALLHEAD!!”
Those words made Serena freeze. After a moment her eyes began to water
and she suddenly burst out crying. “Why does everyone call me a
meatballhead?!? WWAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
Freefall stalked up behind Grunge and roughly smacked him on the back
of the head. “What the hell is wrong with you, Grunge?! I know you can
be a major jerk sometimes, but making little girls cry is low! Even for
you!”
“Honest, Rox, I didn’t mean to--” began the male Gen-active.
“Hey, what’s going on here?” interrupted a young man with blonde hair.
He wore the apron of an arcade employee over his clothes and an annoyed
expression on his face.
“Who are you?” asked Grunge.
“I’m Andrew Furuhata,” said the newcomer. “Serena here is a friend of
mine. Now what did you do to make her cry?”
Serena leapt at Andrew and buried her tear-filled eyes in his chest.
“Oh, Andrew, it was horrible! I beat him at Sailor V and he got all mad
and called he a meatballhead!”
“I hope you’re proud of yourself, Grunge,” said Freefall as she gave
her sometimes paramour a withering look.
“Listen, buddy, I don’t know what your problem is, but I don’t like it
when people hurt my friend’s feelings,” proclaimed Andrew as he tried to
comfort Serena. “Now you’d better get out of here before I decide to
call security!”
“But--” started Grunge.
“Save it!” ordered Freefall as she grabbed her teammate by the collar.
“We’re getting out of here before you make things worse. God, I don’t
know what we’re going to do with your stupid ass sometimes!”
With that, Roxy unceremoniously dragged Grunge out of the arcade.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As he stood on the roof the Jubaan mall, Malachite studied the image of
Freefall dragging away Grunge. “If all superhumans are as stupid as that
one, this will be ridiculously easy,” he assessed.
Malachite then closed his eyes and began to concentrate. He cupped his
hands and after several moments energy began to crackle between them.
Seconds later a ball of angry purple energy sat on his palm.
Smiling at his handiwork, Malachite walked over to a nearby skylight
and let the ball fall from his hand. It began to fall much more slowly
than gravity should have permitted. The ball fell though the skylight
without disrupting the glass, through the upper levels of the mall, and
landed in a small fountain. All completely unnoticed.
That energy ball should create a delightful explosion, thought
Malachite. Large enough to attract the Sailor Scouts, but small enough
as to not risk injuring the superhumans. Now all that remains is to wait
for the right moment to detonate it.
The General then turned back to the floating image of Freefall and
Grunge and began to wait.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, in the mall’s foodcourt, the leader of the Sailor Scouts was
engaged in one of her favorite activities.
“Oh, this is so yummy!” gushed Serena as she dug into her ice cream
cone. “Thanks for buying it for me, Andrew.”
“It was nothing,” assured the young man. “I just thought that you
might need a little something to cheer you up after what happened with
that jerk back there.”
“Well, it’s sure hitting the spot!”
“Good to hear it,” said Andrew. “Listen, I hate to run, but I really
need to get back to work before my boss notices I’m gone.”
“Bye, Andrew!” called Serena as he headed back to the arcade. She then
returned her attention to her ice cream. “Hhhmmm, chocolate, my
favorite!”
Several minutes later, Serena was just finishing off the cone when
someone called to her, “There you are, meatballhead. Stuffing yourself
as usual, I see.”
“How many times do I have to say this, Raye?!!” growled the blonde girl
as her friend approached. “Don’t. Call. Me. MEATBALLHEAD!!”
A few feet away, the other girls watched as the two got into yet
another bickering match. “Well, if there was ever any doubt that Raye
wasn’t over those dreams, it’s gone now,” commented Amy.
“No kidding. It’s just like old times,” smiled Lita.
“Yeah, it’s good to see Raye feeling better,” said Mina. “But we’ve got
more important things to do. Namely, shopping!”
“Good point,” agreed Lita. “Come on, let’s go pry those two apart.”
“Easier said than done,” sighed Amy.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“It’s a crime against music, that’s is what it is!” proclaimed Bobby.
“What’s a crime against music?” asked Fairchild as she walked up to the
bench where Bobby and Sarah were sitting.
“Oh, you are SO going to regret asking that,” sighed Sarah.
“It’s the price of CDs in this country!” declared Bobby. “They’re about
$28 apiece!”
“Well, Mr. Lynch did say that things were very expens--” began Cat.
“But $28?! That’s too much! It’s a crime against music lovers
everywhere!”
“So is Billy Joel,” said Sarah. “But we can’t do anything about him or
the price of tea in China. Or CDs in Japan, as the case may be.”
It was then that the final two members of the team showed up. It was
evident from the expression on Roxy’s face than things had not gone
well.
“So what did Grunge do this time?” quizzed Bobby.
“Hey!” shouted the dark-haired boy. “Way to stick up for a bro, man!”
“You would not believe what this primitive did!” started Roxy. “We were
in an arcade and he challenged some young girl -- she couldn’t have been
more than 14 -- to a game. Well, she stomped his sorry butt, damaging
his fragile male ego. So to make himself feel big again, Mr. Sensitive
here calls her names until she breaks down in tears!”
“I didn’t mean to!”
“Just when I thought my opinion of you couldn’t get any lower…” sighed
Sarah.
“I’m really disappointed in you, Grunge,” said Caitlin.
“Are you sure being the biggest jerk on the planet isn’t your power?”
asked Bobby.
“Come on!” pleaded Grunge. “I said I was sorry!”
“Tell that to the girl!” hissed Roxy.
“I think we should just keep going. There’s still a lot to see here,”
suggested Cat. With that, the four walked off.
Grunge stood, dumbstruck for a moment, before he realized he was being
left behind. “Hey, wait up!” he called, as he dashed after his friends.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Perfect! thought Malachite as he studied the image of Gen13. They’re
all together again. Now is the time to strike!
The General then squeezed his hands into fists and watched as they
began to glow with a purple radiance.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
KRA-BOOM!!!
“What the heck was that?!” shouted Raye.
“Earthquake!” screamed Mina.
“No, it sounded more like a bom--” began Amy.
The rest of her sentence was cut off as the people in the store began
to scream and flee. The girls were all forced to take shelter behind a
display to avoid being trampled.
“So much for a peaceful day at the mall,” sighed Serena.
“Forget that!” said Lita. “There are people out there who might be
hurt! We have to help them!”
“Lita’s right,” agreed Amy. “The store is empty now. It’s safe to
transform.”
The other girls nodded.
“MOON PRISM POWER!”
“MERCURY POWER!”
“MARS POWER!”
“JUPITER POWER!”
“VENUS POWER!”
Waves of magic energy swirled around the girls, enveloping them in a
bright
flash of light. Seconds later, the group of Juuban schoolgirls were
gone. But a band of young warriors had taken their places. The Sailor
Scouts have arrived.
“Okay Scouts, time to book it!” said Sailor Moon.
“Right!” echoed the others as they dashed from the store.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“What the hell was that?!” cursed Grunge as he pulled himself to his
feet.
“It sounded like a bomb!” assessed Sarah as she too struggled to stand.
“Do you think it’s some villain we pissed off out for revenge?!” asked
Roxy.
“No point in jumping to conclusions,” said Caitlin. “Right now we have
to help anyone who might be hurt.”
“And see if whoever did this is still around!” added Bobby.
“Right,” agreed Cat. “Does everyone have their flashsuits?” The others
nodded in affirmation. “Okay, activate flashsuits on my mark! Three,
two, one, mark!”
Gen13’s flashsuits were yet another technological miracle John Lynch
had secured for his team. These wondrous devices are disguised as
watches for the boys and bracelets for the girls. With the push of a
hidden button, the very molecules of their street clothes are
disassembled, and exchanged for field costumes hidden within the
flashband.
In a burst of light, the five ordinary looking American teenagers
disappeared. When the light faded, Gen13 stood in their place.
“All right, team, let’s go!” ordered Fairchild. The others immediately
feel in behind their leader.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Not far away, the Sailor Scouts were racing to the center of the
disturbance. However, their progress was being slowed by the throng of
fleeing shoppers.
“Do you guys think the Negaverse has anything to do with this?” asked
Venus as she ducked out of the path of a panicked couple.
“It wouldn’t surprise me a bit,” growled Sailor Moon. “It would be just
like those Negadweebs to trash a mall just for fun!”
“We’ll know for sure soon,” said Jupiter.
The girls had just made it past the last of the fearful civilians when
someone called to them, “Hey, Sailor Scouts, stop!”
Mars cast a quick look to see if someone needed help. The person yelling
at them was a young man in a denim jacket. It’s the guy from my dream!
she realized. “Scouts, I think we need to talk to that guy,” the
red-clad Scout said.
“You can sign autographs later!” scolded Sailor Moon.
“No, I’m getting one of my hunches again. Please trust me!” implored
Mars.
Before the others could respond the young man came running up to them.
“Sailor Scouts, thank God you’re here! You wouldn’t believe what just
trashed this place!”
“A big scary looking monster?” asked Venus, expectantly.
“No!” exclaimed the young man. “It was five gaijin teenagers in weird
outfits! They came out of nowhere and just started wrecking the place!”
“That doesn’t sound like anyone from the Negaverse,” commented Mercury.
“Not anyone we know,” noted Jupiter. “Anyway, that doesn’t matter!
Whoever they are, they messed with the wrong mall!”
“Thanks for your help,” said Sailor Moon to the stranger. “Now you’d
better get out of here. It isn’t safe.” With that, she and the other
girls resumed their mission.
But as they left, Mars couldn’t help but turn and give the young man one
last glance. If she’d looked a few seconds longer, she would have
noticed that his eyes had begun to glow with a purple light.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~