Gomen! Gomen! The last part of the story I sent out was listed as
part 8. It was really part 5.
“Who are you?! What do you want?!” demanded Raye.
“We’re lookin’ for the Sailor Scouts!” informed Grunge.
“Didn’t you guys hear what they just said?” quizzed Roxy. “It
sounded like they’re th--”
“I heard,” interrupted Bobby. “But no way could they be the Sailor
Scouts. They don’t look anything like them.”
“Uh, Sailor Scouts?” stammered Serena. “They’re not here. Never
heard of them. No, sir!”
“Really?” said Fairchild as she arched an eyebrow. Then, like
lightning, the redhead snatched at Lita’s shoulder.
“Hey, what are you doing?!” demanded Lita as she jumped away.
“If you aren’t the Sailor Scouts, then what’s this tracer I planted
on Sailor Jupiter during our fight doing on your clothes?” asked Caitlin
as she held up a metal disc about the size of a dime.
“Busted,” moaned Mina
“My god, they are the Scouts!” gasped Rainmaker. “I don’t know how
I could have missed it before! That girl is Sailor Jupiter!”
“And that one has to be Sailor Moon!” shouted Grunge. “No way could
two different people have the same stupid haircut!”
“My haircut isn’t stupid!” protested Serena. “Wait, you’re the jerk
from the arcade!”
“And you’re the meatballhead!” retorted Grunge.
“Don’t call me MEATBALLHEAD! My name is Serena!”
“I don’t care if your name is Astro Boy!” yelled Bobby. “I want to
know who you are, why you attacked us, and what this Negaverse thing
is!”
“We’re not going to tell any of Queen Beryl’s lackeys anything!”
declared Raye.
“Who the hell is Queen Beryl?” asked Sarah.
“Perhaps I can shed some light on that,” said Luna as she jumped
onto a nearby table.
“Did that cat just talk!?” boggled Fairchild.
“It’s one of those Pokémon things!” sputtered Grunge. “I knew they
were real!”
“This is so weird,” whispered Bobby.
“Don’t trust that critter, Cat,” warned Grunge. “It’s black and
that means it’s bad luck.”
“Would it help if I told the story?” questioned Artemis as he
hopped onto the table next to Luna.
“Another one. This is giving me a headache,” sighed Freefall.
Caitlin cast a quick look at her team, trying to judge what they
thought she should do. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt to hear them out,”
she said finally.
At that a look of surprise flashed across Raye’s face. She then
relaxed her guard just the tiniest bit.
“All right then, everyone get comfortable. This is going to take
awhile,” began Luna.
“Thousands of years ago, the universe was in a state of total
peace. This period of time, called the Silver Millennium, was a happy
and prosperous time for human kind.
“Our solar system was ruled by Queen Serenity, who lived on the
Moon. The Moon Kingdom led the entire system during the Silver
Millennium. However, a threat to this long-lasting peace existed in the
form of the Negaverse.
“The Negaverse was the direct opposite of the Moon Kingdom. It was
a place of fear, deceit, cruelty, torment, and hatred. An evil woman,
Queen Beryl, ruled the Negaverse itself. With the help of a power
called the Negaforce, Beryl planned to conquer the universe, starting
with the Moon.
“During a lunar eclipse, Queen Beryl led her minions to the moon and
quickly began their attack. It ended almost as quickly as it had
started. The warriors of the Moon Kingdom were no match for the
overwhelming, relentless forces of the Negaverse. The Moon Kingdom
tried to retaliate. Four young girls, the princesses of their
respective planets, attempted to fight off the tremendous Negaforce, but
their attempt proved to be futile.
“In the end, there were many casualties. Two of these deaths
included an Earth Prince named Darien, who fought bravely against the
Negaverse warriors. The other was Queen Serenity's only daughter,
Princess Serenity.
“After the decisive battle, the Negaverse claimed victory. Queen
Serenity knew that she could not let the Negaverse win and resorted to
one final act. Using the power of her Silver Imperium Crystal, Queen
Serenity purged the universe of its invaders. Queen Beryl, the
Negaforce, and the Beryl's army were all sent back to the Negaverse. The
spirits of her daughter, the princesses, and many of Serenity’s people
were sent into the future, to be reborn on present-day earth. Queen
Serenity gave her life, so that her people, and her universe, could live
in peace once more.”
“So this Princess Serenity would be you?” asked Caitlin as she
looked at Serena.
“Yep, that’s me, Serena, princess and future ruler of the moon,”
answered the young girl with a grin.
“And you four would be the other princesses?” quizzed Roxy.
“That’s right,” confirmed Amy.
“You guys aren’t really buying this, are you?” snorted Grunge. “It
sounds like the plot to some bad girl’s cartoon.”
“Grunge, we just heard that from a talking cat,” reminded Burnout.
“I don’t really know if I buy this Moon Kingdom stuff, but you have to
admit, we’re seen and heard weirder things.”
“I believe them,” said Sarah. This drew everyone’s attention. “That
story sounds a lot like an old tale of my people, the Apache. It’s so
old that most members of the tribe don’t even know of it. Those who do,
have discounted it from our beliefs.”
“How does the story go?” asked Raye, warily.
“It’s been years since I heard it from my uncle. As I recall, it’s
about a moon goddess whose home is attacked by a shadow demon. After a
great battle, the goddess drives the creature away, but she’s mortally
wounded. With her dying breath, the goddess sends the souls of her
children to be reborn on Earth.”
“What a beautiful story,” whispered Serena.
“And surprisingly accurate,” noted Artemis.
“Pretty stories or not, I’m still not convinced these guys aren’t
working for the Negaverse!” declared Raye.
“I am,” said Amy as she help up her Lunar Computer. “As I was saying
before, these people’s energy signatures are nothing like those used by
Negaverse beings. In fact, they're very similar to our energy patterns.”
“I agree with Amy. I’m not getting any Negavibes from these people,”
reported Luna.
Raye didn’t take those words well. She shot a hostile look at Gen13
before she closed her eyes and concentrated. Seconds later they opened,
and Mars had a look of great surprise on her face. “Amy and Luna are
right. I sense no evil in them.”
“Well, DUH!!” grumbled Grunge.
“I must have been so worked up that my anger clouded my powers,”
reasoned Raye.
“You know, I’m beginning to think that someone manipulated you kids
into that fight,” mused Artemis.
“I think Artemis is right,” said Raye. “It’d be in all our best
interests to find out who has been toying with us.”
“Truce?” asked Fairchild as she held out her hand.
“Truce,” echoed Raye as she shook it.
The cats breathed a large sigh of relief.
“Listen, now that you know about us, would you mind telling us where
you got your powers?” asked Lita.
“Get comfortable again,” sighed Fairchild, “This is also going to
take awhile.” She then outlined the story of Team 7, I/O, the events at
Project: Genesis that had made them all fugitives, and the happenings
that had lead them to the mall.
“Now that we’ve introduced ourselves, what do we do?” questioned
Sarah after Caitlin was finished.
“I suggest we pool our knowledge and find out who has been
manipulating us,” suggested Luna.
“I took some environmental scans at the mall,” reported Amy as she
held up her computer. “If we go over the data I gathered, and correlate
it with the scans I’ve been taking of the city for the last few days, we
should be able to determine if the Negaverse is involved or if it’s
someone else.”
“May I see that?” requested Fairchild politely. Amy nodded and
handed the computer over. The redhead spent several moments studying it,
her eyes growing wider the whole time. “My god! I’ve never seen anything
this advanced and small. This beats even the equipment we have at home,
and that’s saying something! Where on earth did you get this?”
“It’s Silver Millennium technology,” smiled Amy. “It was a gift
from Luna.”
“Uh, Cat?” called Freefall. “If you’re going to be doing your
brainiac thing, is it okay if I go and hang outside? It’s not like I’d
be very helpful.”
“She has a point,” said Lita. “Amy’s the genius girl around her.
We’d only get in the way.”
“Well, I suppose…” began Fairchild.
“It’s actually not a bad idea,” commented Luna. “We’ve all had a
very hard day. A bit of rest would do us all some good. And give all of
you a chance to get acquainted.”
“I think I’ll go take a fire reading,” informed Raye. “Maybe I’ll
pick up something useful.”
“You do fire readings?” asked a deeply surprised Rainmaker.
“That’ right. I’m a miko, a shrine maiden,” explained Raye as she
gestured to her red and white robe. “Sometimes the sacred
fire reveals things to me.”
“Could I join you?” requested Sarah. “We had a similar ceremony
back on my reservation, and I’d like to get back in touch with that part
of myself.”
“Sure,” agreed Raye. “Come on, I think we might be able to find a
kimono that will fit you.”
“Hey, Raye,” called Serena. “Since you’re going to be busy, can I
read some of your comic books?”
“Okay, just don’t bend the pages like you did last time,” sighed
Raye as she and Sarah left the room.
“Cool!” exclaimed the blonde girl. She then dashed over to Raye’s
bed and pulled several comics from underneath.
“Um, I’m into manga. Could, I, uh, read those with you?” asked
Grunge, lamely.
“I don’t know…” said Serena skeptically.
“Come on!” pleaded the Gen-Active. “I’ve been in Japan for three
days and I still haven’t had a chance to pick up any manga!”
“Okay, you can read them with me,” relented Serena. “But you have
to promise not to call me meatballhead anymore.”
“Deal!” shouted Grunge.
“It’s a nice day, lets go read these outside.” With that, the two
former adversaries left the room.
“I’m going to go have a look around,” said Bobby. “This shrine is
pretty cool.” The others also made their excuses and left.
“I guess we should get started on that data,” suggested Caitlin.
Luna, Artemis and Amy nodded in agreement.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Roxy was bored. She’d spent several minutes looking around the
shrine, but such things held little interest for her. It was then that
she spotted Mina sitting on the porch of one of the buildings looking up
at the sky. May as well try and make friends with the natives, thought
Roxy.
“Mind if I join you?” Freefall asked as she approached the Japanese
girl.
“Huh?!” said Mina, jumping slightly. “Oh, no, I don’t mind.”
“We didn’t get off to a very good start back there,” commented Roxy
as she sat down. “Maybe we should try again. Hi, I’m Roxy.”
“You can call me Mina,” said the blonde girl with a smile.
“You looked like you were into some deep thought when I came along.
Mind if I ask what you were thinking about?”
“Just trying to deal with everything that’s been going on lately,”
explained Mina. “It’s a long story. Let’s just say things have been
tough for the Scouts recently, and we haven’t had much time to catch our
breath.”
“Tell me about it,” sighed Roxy. “One day you’re just a regular
teenager, the only things you really worry about are what guy likes you
and not failing math. Then one day you find out you have these crazy
powers and suddenly people who want to kill you are popping up left and
right. You know you can’t get rid of your powers, and you do want to use
them to help people, but sometimes that isn’t enough. Sometimes you wish
the whole hero thing had never happened to you and that you could just
go back to being like everyone else.”
Roxy suddenly stopped and her face went a bit red. “Uh, sorry. I
guess I was venting.”
“No, no, it’s fine,” assured Mina. “Actually, it was nice to hear
someone say that. I’ve felt that way sometimes since I got into this
whole Sailor thing.”
“It does suck sometimes,” agreed Roxy. “But it’s not all bad. I’ve
made some really great friends since I got my powers.”
“That’s true,” nodded Mina.
The girls were then silent, thoughtful, for a few moments.
“Say, haven’t I seen you somewhere before?” asked Roxy, eventually.
“You did. Back at the mall.”
“No, I mean somewhere else,” clarified the Gen-Active. “Were you
ever on TV or something?”
Mina hopped up and drew her fingers across her face in Sailor V’s
trademark “V” style. “Ever heard of Sailor V?” she smiled.
“Whoa, so you were Sailor V?!”
“Uh, how did you guess?!” gulped Mina.
“Come on, how many blonde girls in Sailor fukus can there be
running around?” chuckled Roxy.
“I guess so,” conceded Mina as she sat down. “The thing is, you’re
one of the few people who figured that out. It’s kind of a secret.”
“It’s safe with me,” promised Roxy. “I’m good with secrets. They're
sort of a way of life for us.
“Man, I bet Grunge would just die if he knew you were Sailor V. He
has a ton of Sailor V stuff at home.”
“If he asks nicely, maybe I’ll give him an autographed picture,”
giggled Mina. “Heck, if he’s as big a fan as you say, I might give him
some stuff I have left over from my days as the Sailor V model.”
“Wait, I’m confused. You were Sailor V and the Sailor V
spokesmodel?” queried Roxy.
“Yeah, that’s what I was hinting at before,” said Mina. “The
modeling deal was fun, and it sure made the whole secret identity thing
easier.”
Roxy mulled over that for a moment. “That's pretty cool, Mina”
Mina grinned.
Nearby, in the shadow of the torii, the shrine’s gate, Grunge and
Serena sat with a large pile of comic books. As Grunge studied one, an
intensely sour look crossed his face. “Aw, this sucks!” he growled as he
tossed the book aside.
“What’s your malfunction?” asked Serena as she looked up from her
comic.
“It’s these mangas--they’re all in Japanese,” muttered Grunge.
“Well, this is Japan. Did you expect them to be in German or
something?” teased Serena. Grunge simply glowered. “Hey, something’s
bugging you and it isn’t the manga. What is it?”
Grunge was silent. “I guess I’m still pissed that someone played us
for chumps,” he admitted eventually.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Whadda you mean don’t worry about it?!”
“I mean don’t worry about it,” repeated Serena. “Amy, Luna and
Artemis are on the case. And they’ve got your friend Caitlin helping
them, and she seems smart. I’m sure they’ll figure out who it is in no
time. Then we’ll find where the bad guys are, and go and moondust ‘em!
“Afterwards we’ll have a big party to celebrate! We’ll all pig out
on pizza, ice cream, chips, chocolate, cookies and…” Serena trailed off
as she noticed that Grunge was staring at her. “Heh, heh,” she chuckled
in an embarrassed voice. “Sorry, I got a little carried away.”
“So you like to pig out after a big fight?”
“Totally!” gushed the girl. “Nothing like fighting Negamonsters to
work up an appetite.”
“You know, meatballhead, you’re okay,” chuckled Grunge.
“You promised not to call me MEATBALLHEAD!!”
“I didn’t say for how long,” snickered Grunge. “Anyway, what’s that
comic you’re reading?”
“It’s Sailor V Goes to Hollywood. It’s so cool!” declared Serena as
she held the book out.
“I haven’t read that one yet. It’s tough to get translations of the
Sailor V manga back home.”
“You’re a Sailor V fan?” asked a surprised Serena.
“Big time!” exclaimed Grunge. “Me and the others where in England a
few months ago, where she used to hang out. One night, I snuck out of
our hotel and spent a couple hours going all over London hoping I’d run
into her. I didn’t have any luck though.”
“What if I told you I could introduce you to the real Sailor V?”
quizzed Serena, a grin spreading across her face.
“No way! You know Sailor V?!” gasped Grunge.
Serena’s grin only got bigger.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lita was walking past one of the shrine’s wooded areas when the
sound of music reached her ears. That sounds really nice, she thought. I
wonder who’s playing it.
Lita followed the music and after a few seconds she found the
source. It was Bobby, sitting under a tree, guitar in hand, idly
strumming away. “Wow, that guy is such a hunkster!” the Scout blushed.
“He looks just like my old boyfriend, Freddie.”
It was then that Bobby noticed Lita’s presence. “Oh, uh, hey there.
I hope I wasn’t making to much noise.”
“Oh no, that sounded very good,” assured Lita. “Say, where did you
find that guitar?”
“I, uh, got lost looking for the bathroom,” admitted Bobby. “I
stumbled into a supply closet and found this in there. It’s a lot like
the one I have back home and…well, I couldn’t resist. Um, you wouldn’t
happen to know whom it belongs to, would you? I really wouldn’t want to
mess with someone else’s instrument without them saying it was okay.”
“It must be Chad’s. He’s a musician who helps out around here
sometimes,” explained Lita. “He’s visiting some friends down in Osaka
right now, so you can’t ask for permission. But Chad’s a cool guy, I’m
sure he won’t mind.”
“Awesome,” grinned Bobby as he fired off a quick riff.
It was then that an odd thought crossed Lita’s mind. “You know, now
that I think about it, your friend Grunge and Chad look an awful lot
alike. In fact, you could actually mistake them for brothers.”
“Just what the world needs, another person who acts just like
Grunge,” muttered Bobby. “I don’t think humanity could survive that.”
Lita was hardly listening. He is so cute, she thought. I wonder if he’d
let me fix him dinner.
“Listen, we all got off on a really bad foot back at the mall,” said
Burnout. “So to try and set things right, how about I play you a song?
Just to show that there’s no hard feelings. That is, if you can stand
listening to me play.”
He wants to play me a song? Does this mean he likes me, or is he just
being nice? wondered Lita.
“Uh, well, do you know anything by the Three Lights? I’m a big fans
of theirs,” she said after a moment.
“Do I know the Three Lights?” chuckled Bobby. “Roxy discovered them
about a month ago and hasn’t shut up about them since. They’re really
not my type of music, but I’ve heard Roxy play their stuff enough that I
can fake it.” With that, Bobby launched into a admirable rendition of
one of the Three Lights current hits.
Oh yeah, he likes me! Lita smiled to herself as she sat down to
listen. I bet he’ll ask me out after this is over.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Oh no, not another ‘indeterminate’ answer,” moaned Amy. “We must
have had an error in our calculations.”
“All these numbers are giving me a headache,” complained Artemis.
“You’re not the only one,” sighed Fairchild as she rubbed her
forehead.
“Maybe we should take a break,” suggested Luna. “I think I’ll go
outside, get some air, maybe take a short snooze…”
“Sounds good to me,” agreed Artemis. The two cats then left.
“These calculations are quite difficult,” admitted Amy. “I’m glad
you were willing to help me, Caitlin. It’s nice to be able to talk to--”
“Someone who doesn’t look at you as if you’re from another planet
when you use the word ‘algorithm’?” interrupted Fairchild.
“That’s not quite what I was going to say, but yes,” nodded the
blue-haired girl.
“Believe me, I know what that’s like. I got that a lot. Even when I
was in college at Princeton.”
“You’re pretty and smart,” complimented the younger girl. “You must
have been popular.” At that, Caitlin began to laugh. “Did I say
something funny?” asked Amy, puzzled.
“Sorry,” apologized Fairchild. “It’s just the idea of me being
popular in college is too funny. You see, Amy, when I told you guys
about what happened at Project: Genesis, I left a few embarrassing
details out.”
“Such as?”
“Such as, that I didn’t have this, as Grunge puts it, ‘Robo-Babe’
body until after my powers kicked in.”
“That must have been…startling,” fumbled Amy.
“It was. But I didn’t have much time to deal with it. A few seconds
later I was running for my life,” said the redhead.
“Anyway, before my powers kicked in, I was your average, Plain Jane,
nerd whose only concern was keeping up my 4.0 GPA. People avoided me
because I smart. No guy would give me a second look. The only thing I
could do was to try and hide from the pain by burying my nose in a
book.”
“I…think I can relate,” sighed Amy. “How did you get over it?”
“Well, I still feel that way from time to time,” Cat admitted. “But
not very often. Now I have friends who accept me for who I am, and are
there for me when I need them.”
“I can relate to that too,” smiled Amy, perking up a bit.
“Feel like giving these numbers another try?” queried Fairchild.
“Definitely.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In a nearby building, an ancient ceremony was under way. Raye and
Sarah, both wearing miko robes, sat cross-legged in front of a burning
fire. They concentrated, willing the fire to share its wisdom.
“Oh sacred fire,” prayed Raye, “we ask that you share with us your
knowledge. Show us the face of our enemy.”
The fire blazed as if a small amount of gasoline had been poured on
it. Within the flames a face appeared.
“Raye, do you see--” began Sarah.
“I see it,” confirmed the Scout. “I know that face. It’s the guy
from the mall. The one who lied to us and said that you and your friends
were responsible for the explosion.”
“But who is this guy?” questioned Rainmaker. “And what does he want
with us?”
Before the other girl could respond, the flames rose again. The
face of the man in the denim jacket faded and was replaced with a new
and familiar one.
“It’s Malachite!” gasped Raye. “I knew that there was something odd
about that guy!”
“Who is Malachite?” asked the Apache girl.
“One of Queen Beryl’s stormtroopers. I guess this cinches it. The
Negaverse is up to something big.”
Before Sarah could reply the flames twisted again, this time
revealing a face she knew. “Oh my god! That’s Dr. Nakagawa, the man
treating Mr. Lynch!”
As Raye opened her mouth to speak the flames shifted yet again,
once more revealing the face of the Negaverse General.
“Oh no, this Malachite guy disguised himself as Dr. Nakagawa?! Mr.
Lynch is in terrible danger!” exclaimed Rainmaker.
“We have to warn the others!” declared Raye.
With that, the two girls raced to find their teammates.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, in the Negaverse, Malachite was being brought before
Queen Beryl. It was not something he looked forward to.
“You summoned me, majesty?” asked the General as he bowed.
“Yet another of your plans has failed, Malachite!” blasted Beryl.
“My apologies, my queen. I did not expect the Sailor Scouts to flee
the battlefield. In all the times we’ve fought against them, they’ve
never retreated.”
“I don’t want excuses! I want the Silver Imperium Crystal!”
“And you shall have it, my queen,” assured Malachite. “While the
events at the shopping mall were…unexpected, the situation can still be
turned to our advantage.”
Beryl arched an eyebrow at her servant’s words. “You have a new
plan, Malachite? Let’s hear it. And it had better be good!”
“While the crystal is out of our hands at the moment, we do still
have one large advantage. The superhuman called Lynch,” began the
General. “I’ve had a chance to study his abilities more closely. If we
were to infuse him with a portion of the Negaforce and transform him in
a youma, one of our warriors, he would be almost unstoppable.”
“The Negaforce would amplify his already potent powers.
Interesting…” mused Beryl.
“Once the change is complete, we can send him out to capture his
young charges,” continued Malachite. “Once they are transformed into
youmas, their power could rival, perhaps ever surpass, that of our lost
comrades, the Seven Shadows. With such a mighty legion at your command
you could easily destroy the Sailor Scouts, get the Silver Imperium
Crystal, and conquer the universe.”
Beryl was silent for a long moment while she considered her
General’s words. “Very well, Malachite, proceed. But for your own sake,
you had better hope this works!”
“I will not fail you again, majesty,” promised the General. Then he
was gone.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Amy! Luna! You have to get everyone together now!” shouted Raye as
she slid open the door to her room. Much to her surprise, the other
members of the Scouts and Gen13 were already there.
“Good, you’re here,” said Caitlin. “We were just going to come and
get you. Amy and I finished our calculations. We’ve confirmed that--”
“It was the Negaverse!” yelled Sarah as she appeared behind Raye.
“Yes, that’s right,” confirmed Amy. “Our readings indicate that it
was Malachite at the mall.”
“That’s not the only place he was at!” declared Rainmaker. “He was
at the hospital too! Dr. Nakagawa was really Malachite in disguise!”
“What?!” gasped Bobby. “Are you sure?!?”
“Completely,” nodded Raye.
“Then all of you must get to the hospital immediately!” said Luna.
“If Malachite went though the trouble of disguising himself as your
leader’s doctor, he must have plans for him.”
“The hospital is a long way from here. If we want to save your
friend, we’ll have to hurry!” declared Lita.
With that, the two teams of heroes dashed into the night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tokyo Memorial Hospital
Silent as a ghost, Malachite appeared in Lynch’s room. Still
immobile from the poison, the Gen-active could do nothing.
The General spent several moments looking Lynch over, appraising
him. “You are like me,” said Malachite as he leaned over the paralyzed
man’s bed. “A warrior. You fought for you God, your country, your
beliefs. And now you fight for those children.
“But that ends now,” informed the General as he took the Dark
Crystal from his pocket. “From this moment forth, you shall fight for
the Negaverse!”
Malachite tossed the opaque crystal into the air. It came to a dead
stop over the bed where the crystal began to spin and glow with a blue
light. Ripples of energy radiated from it, washing over the former Team
7 member.
Lynch’s eyes shot open. The energy crackled though his body and he
began to convulse. Face contorted, John Lynch then let out a scream from
the very depths of his soul.