"Twen'y out a' eighteen?! S'pose it could work..."
Yes, I got another tidbit done, and I saw that it was the perfect size
for another little post. Oddly enough, it still demanded to be part of
Chapter 10, part 2. The reason for this is obvious: I have no clue what
I'm doing.
Well, I might have a clue, but that's all. Actually, when I finish what
is now considered part 10-2 and give it a nice spitshine, I am going
to further confuse the masses by renumbering all the chapters, chopping
them up and redesignating most sections "Books" and chapters as
subsections.
Actually, we're all mad here.
Find the rest of the madness and its companion spinoff series at:
http://rakhal.com/florestica/ben-oliver/index.html
And check out the new Sailor Stylin' image. It's very well-done!
So, until then, here we go again!
[Continued from Ch.10, P.2 (19/18), and that little section sent
in reply to some C&C]
---
In a lavish Dark Kingdom equivalent of an apartment, which
consisted mainly of hard black stone and jagged cavern walls with
a stalactite-jutting roof, one General debriefed the other on how
the seek-and-destroy mission had gone.
"The search-and-destroy mission went flawlessly. It just
turned out that _we_ weren't the hunters," Zoicite whispered weakly
in a rather lame attempt at humor. Her jacket was off and her chest
was thickly bandaged. She lay facing upwards on a rectangular stone
slab. The blonde took a breath, trying to reassure herself that she
was, in fact, still capable of doing so. "Am I going to live?"
Kunzite nodded reassuringly. "Of course. You'll be up and
around in no time," he said as he read through her last will and
testament, which he had cunningly forged, to be certain that there
were no problems or loopholes to prevent him from getting everything.
The only task remaining was to get her to sign it...
Soon afterward, pair of servant youma zipped up the body bag
and tossed it into the flow-through sewer system, where it
disappeared, never to be seen again.
Zoicite awoke once more, sitting up with a gasp. She hadn't
_really_ been thrown out, but her current disorientation made her
feel like she might as well have been. "Unnnnhh, it still hurts..."
"What do you expect?" Kunzite whispered, gently rubbing the
other's hand. "He put his sword through your heart. Had you been
any slower in returning and had I taken any longer in getting to
you, then you would have been very, _very_ dead."
SPOILSPORT, Death sighed, and disappeared through the wall.
"Did you just say something?" Zoicite asked, peering into
the poorly-lit chamber.
"I was just saying that you are very lucky that you're still
with us," Kunzite murmured. "And you must be quite delirious,
Zoicite. Because earlier, I thought you said that you discovered
that the Starlight Knight was really Admiral Knight--or, StarKnight--
whatever."
"He is," the female general insisted.
"That's impossible. He died back before we destroyed the Moon
Kingdom!"
"I know, but he came, and he killed EVERYONE!"
Kunzite shook his head. "I saw him die, Zoicite! Twice." He
paused and considered his last statement. "Oh, I see your point,"
he deadpanned.
"What're we gonna do?" the blonde moaned, drawing Kunzite
closer. "What are we going to do?!"
"Well," Kunzite hesitated, "did you say that the rest of
the Sailor Scouts were incapacitated?"
"They were rather worn down, if that's what you're asking."
"And the Starlight Knight--Admiral Tim--will likely have
departed by now?"
"I don't know, this is the first time I've fought him! For
all I know, he's gone back and set up defenses!"
The Fourth General glanced sideways at the woman and shook
his head. "I know you are in pain, and have just been fiercely
startled, but there's no need to go around second-guessing
ourselves and overestimating our enemy. After all, the Scouts
and the Admiral were all defeated, eventually."
"But they keep coming back!"
Kunzite frowned. "Yes, I can see how that would be a
problem." Suddenly, he stood. "But that's no reason to give up
the fight. If they keep coming back to haunt us, then we'll keep
coming back to haunt them!"
*Vrrrr...*
"What do you mean?" Zoicite blinked in the faint light and
noticed a faint hum building up in the background. "You mean,
we'll never give up until we've dominated Earth?"
"That too," Kunzite replied, his voice taking on a slight
reverb as he spread his arms wide. Lightning started crackling
around him. "But no, what I REALLY mean is that we will resurrect
our fallen legions and give them power beyond their comprehension!
Then, with hateful souls filled with the Spirit of Revenge, they
will seek out the pitiful little Sailor Scouts and that idiotic
Knight... and maybe even that wimpy tux-guy, too. And that cat...
And all their little friends, and, and, and, and, and-"
*WHACK!* Zoicite smacked her boyfriend.
"Thank you. Ahem, now, where was I?" The silver-haired man
scratched his head in an attempt to put his scratched phonograph
record of thought back on track.
"The resurrected monsters will seek them out-"
"Yes! They will seek them out and DESTROY them ONCE and
for ALL! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
"You've finally gone mad," Zoicite noted, not without the
slightest bit of satisfaction. "We just might be able to win..."
"Yes, sweet cherry blossom--we will win!" Kunzite clenched
a fist at the other general. "Join with me now. Together, we can
CRUSH these Sailor Scouts and brink CHAOS to the Terran Empire!"
"Err, I think most parts are democracies, not empires--"
"No matter! We will CRUSH them anyway." With an increasingly
dramatic flair in his voice, Kunzite spun around, clicked his heels,
and spoke into the wind, "ANCIENT SPIRITS OF REVENGE! TRANSFORM THIS
DECAYED--ER!! REVIVE MY FALLEN MONSTERS AND GIVE THEM POWER BEYOND
BELIEF; POWER TO DESTROY THE SAILOR SCOUTS FOREVER! BY THIS NAME, I
CALL YOU, I CALL YOU-"
A large, black Ninja Mushroom popped out of the stonework in
the floor. It squeaked, looking around with the marble tile on its
head, then screeched and clamped down on Kunzite's heel with its
huge, pointy teeth.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Kunzite screamed in pain.
"Scream?" Zoicite wondered in her doped-up state. Apparently,
Nephrite's former youma doctor hadn't spared any expense in treating
her condition.
In the next instant, the big, black 'shroom dove back down the
hole, the stone tile clattering back into place behind it.
---
By the time Molly and Nephrite had hobbled off into the
distance, Sailors Mars, Mercury, and Serena spent a minute or two
composing themselves before heading off together. Behind them, a
shape stood, emerging from the ashes of the battlefield.
"So, Nephrite's really Molly's dad," Serena mused while hefting
Mars's weight on one shoulder and Mercury's on the other.
"We probably shouldn't leave her alone with him," Mars muttered
softly. "Since he _was_ working for the enemy a short while ago."
Serena stopped, the sudden jerking motion nearly toppling
Mercury in the process. "Oh!" she said, realization slowly filling her
eyes in much the same way that maple syrup fills a plate of pancakes.
"So, maybe we should go back and keep an eye on them, for a while, at
least..."
"Unnnh," Mercury groaned. "No, I think they'll be fine."
Mars started to slip from her friends' arm-over-neck hold.
"I second that. Sailor Moon, keep walking!"
Serena's eyes were still wide as her slow-clocked brain went
through the possibilities. "But what if he tries to drain her energy
again? Shouldn't we be, like, you know, cautious?"
Mercury breathed in a long, slow sigh. "Look, Serena," she
said, throwing secret identities and disguise powers to the wind for
the moment, "I was in the hospital yesterday and nearly all of today.
I went through a major operation, and some WEIRD MUSHROOM left its
shoe in a major blood vessel! Plus, did you see everything I fired
off at the monsters?!"
"Yeah," Serena managed a soft whisper. "So...?"
Mars cleared her throat. "We're tired, we're burnt out, and
right now, we don't want caution. We want sleep!"
"Oh..."
The two weakened Scouts were mostly moving under their own
strength, but still needed a little help in order to get home. The
plan, Mercury had said, was to help Mars limp back to her shrine.
Once that had been accomplished, Mercury would feel quite honored to
be carried in Serena's arms to her apartment.
"You were kidding about me carrying you, right?" Serena
hazarded.
"Most certainly not," Mercury replied succinctly.
"Mmmm, okay."
The trio had barely managed a few more steps when a terrible
yell split the air behind them.
"WAAAAAAAAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! I YAM ALLIVE!!!"
Both Mars and Mercury shut their eyes. "Oh no, not again," they
whispered together."
Serena craned her neck, looking over her shoulder to see
something hanging back behind the shadows. "Ummm, what do we do?"
"Brace yourself, everyone," Mercury said, "because this is
_really_ going to hurt." She wedged her eyes shut, and Mars did
likewise.
*SKKKKKUUURRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMUUUU!!!!*
A tremendously powerful sonic wave ripped through them,
blasting the three girls loudly and painfully against a brick wall.
They spasmed wildly as they fell to the ground, slamming into the
concrete with a dull thud. A white smoke wafted off of them.
"Waaaaaaah, that huuuuuurt!" Serena whined, not any particular
mood to get back.
Mars grimaced and rolled over. "Ack..."
"I told you," Mercury noted, flat on her back. Wincing from
the inhumanity of it all, she sat up and pulled out her computer,
clicking her earring to activate her visor. She started typing things
in.
Serena, feeling rather like a sack of potatoes that had just
gone through a french fry factory, looked up to see their attacker
emerge into the light.
It definitely looked like one of the youma from earlier--the
one that kept on screaming and blasting them with those sound waves.
Except this time, it had grown half a meter taller and had bits of
metallic red armor all over it, complete with a set of large spikes
on the shoulders and huge, jutting teeth. In short, Scream had come
back to life, more powerful and frightening than ever, as Scream II.
"ALL RIGHT, I'M GONNA GET'CHEW THREE DIS TIME!!!" Scream II
announced through her exceptionally enlarged mouth. She held up a
microphone and large speakers popped out from behind her back.
Mars scooted around, muttering something to herself.
"Uh, so, anybody got any ideas?" Serena whispered urgently.
"Ideas, yes," Mercury whispered back. "Power, no."
"HAH-HAH!" Scream II laughed. "YOU'RE OUTTA POW-ERRR! NYAH-
NI-NYAH-NI-NYAH-NYAH!" She pulled down her small eyelid and blew
a long and slobber-filled raspberry at them.
"Source of all power," Mars whispered loud enough so that
the big-mouthed youma could hear.
"WHA?" Scream II peered at them strangely. "WHAT'CHEW TRYIN'?"
"Yaaay!" Serena exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Mars still
has some power!"
"Light which burns beyond crimson flame," the Fire Scout
continued, holding up a hand at Scream II's face. A loud hum like
the charging of a giant capacitor permeated the area. "Let thy
power gather in my hand..."
The youma's face went into a rather large frown.
Serena dragged herself to her feet and pointed a finger at the
enhanced youma. "Now you're gonna get it!"
Scream II peered dumbly at Mars's gloved hand.
"LIGHTNING!!!" Mars cried, her hair turning white again.
From the monster's perspective, the world suddenly burst into
an impossibly bright whiteness. "GWAAAAAH! MY EYES!!!" she screamed,
recoiling backwards and clutching at the upper part of her face.
With a mechanical sense of purpose, Mercury jumped to her feet
and ran with such speed that it would have taken a slow-motion camera
and lots of sound effects to get the full impact. Dragging her
companions behind her, she launched herself into a distant alleyway,
where she and her friends collapsed.
"Good work, Mercury! Wow, you sure can run fast," Serena
congratulated. "And what was that, Mars?"
"A light spell," Mars explained, the color slowly returning to
her hair. She took several deep, gasping breaths and added, "I don't
think I can do any more anytime soon..."
"Me either," Mercury admitted, red in the face from the effort.
"You're absolutely _certain_ that you can't transform?"
Serena nodded. "Yeah, watch." She unclasped the brooch from the
front of her outfit and held it up. "Moon Prism Power!"
*Bzzzrt* The magical object sparked and spluttered a bit before
all signs of power faded away.
"Can you fix it, Mercury?" the blonde pleaded.
The blue-haired girl shook her head. "Give me a few days and
a fully-stocked lab and I might have been able to come up with
something, but not like this."
"How about that crystal you were using earlier?" Mars asked.
"What? This?" Mercury took out the Totally Cosmic Power Crystal.
It had regained a little of its former luster, but it was still quite
dark.
Serena clicked open the Moon Transformation Brooch. It was
normally bolted shut, but its recent damage had broken several of
the rivets. Inside were what looked like the magical equivalent of
electronics, and at the center, was a clear gem, broken into a
dozen tiny fragments.
Mercury handed over the Crystal. "Here, try it."
Serena dumped the broken bits of diamond into one hand and
tried to put Mercury's in its place. It didn't quite fit. "Umm,
I can't get it in." She replaced the broken bits and returned the
darkened crystal to its owner.
"Then I'm out of ideas," Mercury said.
Serena would have been biting her nails if it weren't for
the gloves she had on. "What do we do???"
As if in reply, Sailor Mars's magical cellphone started to
ring. Her eyes widened, as did everyone else's. She clicked the
talk button and held it to her ear. "Hello?" She raised an eyebrow
and looked at Serena. "Yeah, she's here." She handed the phone over
to the blonde. "It's for you."
Serena blinked. "Really?" She put the communications device
up to her ear. "Hello? What?" She frowned and yanked off her boot,
staring into it. "Six and a half. Why--?" She tilted her head and
put her footwear back on. "No, I DON'T want to save eight cents off
of every long distance call!" She clicked the talk button, cutting
the connection. "Oooh, why do they have to follow me everywhere?!"
The other two Sailor Scouts groaned in discomfort and
disbelief. Then the Mars Cellphone rang again.
Serena turned it on again and asked, "What is it now?!!?!"
It would be more or less at this point where a split-screen
phone conversation would be appropriate. The cheerfully happy face
of Kasumi Incognito appeared on one side and Serena's countenance
remained on the other.
The woman held a hand to her cheek. "Oh my, did I catch you at
a bad time? I can call back later, if you'd like."
"We're kind of in the middle of something," Serena admitted,
"but it's great to hear a friendly voice..." She gasped as something
important occurred to her. "Is Terra there?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Kasumi replied, her voice fluently
apologetic, "Terra can't come to the phone right now. Her grandmother
would be very disappointed if she had to leave right now. Actually,
that's why I called. She said she felt something bad might be
happening, and wanted me to check up on you." She brightened. "How
are you doing, by the way?"
Serena considered her response, remembering that Mrs. Incognito
already knew all of their secret identities and there would be little
point in hiding anything from her. "Well, we're not doing all that
great. We stopped a small army of youma with the Starlight Knight's
help," she blushed and giggled slightly at the memory, "but after
that, we got all tired and started to head home-"
"Cut to the chase," Mars ordered.
"I-I mean," Serena stuttered while nodding at her friend, "one
of the monsters came back to life and we're sort of pinned down in an
alleyway and my prism's broken and Mars and Mercury are all tired out
and, and, and... Could you please, please, PLEASE let Terra come and
help out? I know she got hurt last time, but we really, really need
her right now!"
Concern filled Kasumi's face. "Oh my, that's terrible. I would
let her go, but she still isn't felling very well. She probably
wouldn't be of much help anyway." She shook her head. "Her condition
is very delicate. I'm sorry, I just can't let her go right now."
Serena nodded grimly. "Okay, so what _can_ we do, then?"
The ponytailed woman put a hand to her chin in thought. "Hmm,
have you tried out all of your most powerful attacks yet?"
"Oh yeah, a WHOLE bunch!" Serena frowned. "But we kinda ran
out..."
"Oh, that's right. Did you get any special powerups recently?"
"Sailor Mercury got these crystals and was Super Sailor Mercury
for a while, but she's now run out of power and so have they."
"Hmm, anything else?"
"Uhhh. Sailor Mars has these spells she's been trying out..."
"Did she try out all the ones she knows?"
"Uh huh. But her hair turned white and she collapsed."
Mars looked over at the blonde. "Hey, I'm getting better!"
"Oh my," Kasumi added, rubbing her neck. "Do you have your
Destined, True-Love Prince with you?"
"Destined, True-Love Prince?" Serena asked with a raised
eyebrow. On a whim, she glanced around. Nobody there but Mars,
Mercury, and the rats. "Not exactly... The Starlight Knight left
already."
"Oh dear, that certainly cuts our options down. Have you had
any dreams about a Pegasus?"
Serena started scratching her head, idly wondering from where
Terra's mother was coming up with this stuff. "Uh, no. Not since I
was six, anyway..."
Kasumi rested her cheek on her hand. "Hmm, this isn't a simple
problem, is it?"
"Nope."
"Do you have any wands or anything you haven't used yet?"
"No," Serena quickly replied, then remembered that she did.
She pulled out the Crescent Moon Wand. "Weeeeeell, just this crescent
moon stick-thingy here."
Kasumi's smile suddenly grew so large that she had to close her
eyes in order to maintain it. "Oh! That's very nice. You should try
it out."
Serena laughed nervously. "Er, I don't know how. Nobody ever
told me how to use it."
"Does it have a crystal on it?" Kasumi asked.
The girl checked. "Uhhh, yeah, a red one, on the handle."
Mrs. Incognito's expression fell slightly. "Just that one? Hmm.
That's not good." She shrugged. "But it's okay! Try saying 'Muun
Hiringuu Escarayshuun.' That usually works."
Serena's jaw dropped. "...Say WHAT?"
"Well, just," Kasumi breathed haltingly, trying to come up with
the proper way to explain the ideas she had, "swing it around until
you think of something to say. That should work."
Serena started swinging around the Wand. Nothing came to mind.
"Watch it," Mars warned, after the standing fourteen-year-old
beaned her on the head.
"Oh! Sorry," the unpowered Moon Scout apoligized, then spoke
into the phone. "Nothing's happening."
"That's not right," Kasumi said softly. "Oh, wait, did you say
your prism was broken?"
Serena nodded. "Yeah, that's what I've been trying to say..."
Kasumi looked off to the side. "Oh!" She turned her attention
back to her phone conversation. "Terra wants to know if you have
anything that can inject high energy photons into the crystalline
matrix."
Serena looked down at Mercury. "Umm, do we have anything that
can interject high-synergy futons into, umm...?"
"I heard what she said," Mercury replied, and patted her
outer thighs. "And I'm afraid we're fresh out." She irritably tilted
her gaze upwards. "Look, is she just making wild guesses, or how does
she know all of this?"
"We'll have to do it the old fashioned way, then," Kasumi said.
"We will use all of your combined love to give you your powers back!"
"Yeah!" Serena exclaimed. "That sounds more like it."
Kasumi nodded. "Yes. Here's how you do it. Think of someone
you love--one of your friends, maybe. Who do you love the most?"
Serena rubbed her neck. "Umm..."
"Well, better yet, think of everyone you love."
"Okay..." The blonde started concentrating as hard as she
could. If anyone could have seen the thought bubble hanging over her
head, they would have seen the following: First, her mother and her
father appeared, then came her younger brother Sammy. His image
flickered in complete indecision for a moment before solidifying.
Next came her friends. Molly came into focus, then Amy and Terra.
Raye's image had trouble appearing, but it managed. Next came the
handsome guy at the arcade, and a few other of her acquaintances.
Darien's image wavered deep into the background, and some more
friends.
"That's it," Kasumi said, "you can do it. Try just a _little_
harder. It takes a powerful love to bring your powers back."
Serena nodded, and then her heart skipped a beat when, at the
forefront appeared an image that outshadowed them all. The Starlight
Knight came into focus in the tall, dark, and handsome way that she
remembered him. Her mind went through the dozens of occasions that
he'd rescued her and then passed by the memory of how he defeated the
remainder of the attacking youma army.
A surge of emotions rushed through the girl's body when she
examined once more the memory of how he proclaimed his love for her,
then the moment went through her mind when he took her into his
large, powerful arms and kissed her.
Mars and Mercury watched the grand smile appear on Serena's
face grow larger. Her eyes closed and tears of joy flowed down her
cheeks.
"He loves me!" Serena breathed. One after another, her tears
cascaded down upon the golden brooch. It flashed in reply as each
touched it, growing brighter with each small splash. When the last
fell, the broken disc shifted form, wavering into a heart-shaped
locket, slightly larger than the disc had been. It was red in the
center and had gold lining, topped with three small gems.
"Wow," Mars whispered.
"It worked," Mercury noted.
"Good!" Kasumi beamed. "It worked, I can hear it. When you're
ready, hold up the prism and say whatever seems most appropriate to
you."
Still in a state of complete bliss, Serena nodded and held up
the glowing gold brooch.
"AHAH! I HAVE YOU NOW! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOW!!"
The sudden blast of vibrating air molecules not only ended the
split-screen phone conversation, it also knocked all three girls back
against the brick wall on the opposite end of the alley. They fell to
the ground and groaned.
Scream II stalked forward through the alleyway, her face full
of menace. And, given the tremendous size of that face, an
exceptional amount of this particular brand of menace was being
displayed.
"Do it now!" Kasumi called through the phone, which had fallen
behind a dumpster.
"Right!" Serena said, grimacing. She fumbled around for the new
locket, and found it after a moment. She stood, then held it up and
shouted, "MOON-STARLIGHT HONEY-LOVIN'-SQUISHIN' POWER, MAKE-UP OR
BREAK-UP!!!"
"HUH?!" Scream II asked, cocking a large eyebrow at the girl.
"Whoa," noted Sailor Mercury, shielding her eyes with one arm.
The entire section of the city lit up brightly, shafts of
light shooting out the alley, scorching bricks and searing concrete.
Mars and Mercury hid behind a pair of garbage cans, whose contents
promptly burst into flames.
Some transformation music would have been appropriate more
or less at this moment, whether it was high-pitched celestial
chimes or some down and dirty heavy metal. Either would have been
quite appropriate.
Serena's glistening body twirled around midair in an oval of
brightness, her extremely long ponytails flowing around her. She
thrust a finger into the air and a big bunch of pink bows encased her
body, forming her white, suimsuit-like, sailor-style leotard. Red
ribbons winked into place at the center of her chest, bound by the
heart-shaped brooch. She crossed her arms in front, allowing her
elbow-length, red-rimmed white gloves to form. Her white-rimmed
red boots with the crescent-moon motif appeared next, then her
blue pleated skirt. A glowing heart appeared on her forehead, from
which sprouted a golden tiara with a red, heart-shaped gem at the
center. At the same time, crescent-shaped earrings formed and red,
circular gems appeared on the buns of her hair.
When Sailor Moon finally struck her patented wide-stance
pose-salute with the big, glowing crescent moon behind her, the
entire transformation sequence was complete.
Badly scorched, Scream II had to wait for her eyes to
regenerate before she could tell what was going on. She picked her
huge cranium off the pavement and listened to one of the girls
speak.
"Kicking people while they're down is foul play! Trying to
kill helpless girls on their way home after such a rough day is
unforgiveable!"
"WHADDA-HUH!?!" Scream II gibbered when the girl's image
wavered into view.
"For LOVE and meting out JUSTICE, I am the BEAUTIFUL,
sailor-suited soldier," the blonde exclaimed while going through
a whole bunch of flashy and obviously unnecessary poses, "SAILOR
MOON! Just here to let you know that I right wrongs and I DO
triumph over evil--which means you--and in the name of the Moon,
and my friends, and my family, AND my favorite knight in shining
armor, the Starlight Knight," she took a deep breath, "I WILL
punish you!!!"
The word "yipe," hadn't entered into the youma's vocabulary.
Then again, it wasn't a very smart monster to begin with. Actually,
that went a long way toward explaining why the beast laughed
confidently, put her hands on her hips and cried, "OH YEAH?!!
WELL, I'M GONNA GETCHA!"
With an iron gaze, Sailor Moon stared down Scream II and
challenged her, pounding a fist to her chest and saying, "Take
your best shot, punk."
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Scream II
sent a huge burst of sonic waves directly at the girl.
Sailor Moon whipped out the Crescent Moon Wand, twirled it
between her fingers for a second, spun around a few times, and
thrust it into the air.
*WRING-WRING-WRING!!!* A sphere of light focused itself
between the tips of the Wand, growing larger and more concentrated
before Sailor Moon braced herself and held her weapon forward,
shouting, "Moon Cutey Heart-Thobbing-Reflex Missile!!!"
The energy pulsated for a second, like a fast-beating heart,
then shot itself directly at Scream II. The blast dissipated
the youma's attack as if it were a light breeze, then impacted
directly on her chest.
*KERBLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!*
Scream II wailed in pain as the shot tore her apart, the
energy burning her with its pure light. The buildings for miles
around rattled as if by a minor earthquake. "@#%@$^&@$&@#$&@$&@!!!"
was all the monster could think to say as it went through the
utter vaporization process.
When it ended, a small mushroom cloud and a strong gust of
wind was all that remained of the attacking creature.
Sailor Moon did a quick pirouette, twirled her wand around
some more, then put it away and struck a victory pose.
"Show off," Sailor Mars muttered, climbing out from behind
the garbage can.
"Good work," Sailor Mercury said, using the wall to help
her efforts to stand back up. She looked her blonde friend over
from head to toe. "It would appear that you have your powers back."
"And then some," Mars added, trying to avoid letting anyone
know that she was seriously impressed.
The Mars Cellphone rang again. The black-haired girl stumbled
over and picked it up. "Hello?" She frowned and held it over to
Sailor Moon. "It's for you again."
Sailor Moon rubbed her hands together for joy, breathing
quickly and bouncing up and down like a happy-boinky rodent on _way_
too much sugar. "All right!" She took the phone. "Hiya there!"
The aforementioned split-screen conversation resumed.
"Hello, Sailor Moon," Kasumi greeted sweetly. "How did it go?"
"It went GREAT!" Sailor Moon replied with great, big, sparkling
eyes. "THANK you for calling!"
Kasumi nodded. "That's very nice. We normally reserve this sort
of thing for when we need a _really_ big upgrade to fend off some
huge interstellar threat," she mentioned, almost offhandedly. "It
would have been better with a proper crystal, though. But I think
it'll be okay for a while with what you've got right now."
Sailor Moon took a deep breath to revel in her newly regained
power for a moment. "Oh yeah, I love it! I'd like to see those Nega-
Creeps try something right now!" She tried a few fast experimental
punches, which made sharp whooshing noises in the air. Then she
stopped, frowned, and started fidgeting when the paradox hit her
right square in the noggin. "Er, Mrs. Incognito? How did you know
about all this stuff?"
Kasumi blushed. "Well, you, um, sort of have to know these
things when you're a mother." She laughed a pleasantly nervous
laugh. "I hope you had fun dusting the monster! B'bye!"
*Click!* And thus ended the Split-Screen Phone Conversation.
Sailor Moon stared at the phone for a second before shrugging
cluelessly and handing it back to Sailor Mars.
"All right," Mars said. "Let's go home." She looked down the
long street and recalled just how long of a walk it was to the
shrine. "Oh, forget it." She opened up the Mars Cellphone and started
dialing. "I'm calling us a taxi."
---
To be continued...
Some people might have wanted a bit more, so I sent this part in.
Others may still be stuck at the first couple of sections, waiting
for the thing to be completed.
Yet others may not have cared at all. ^_^
"Awl part a' th' job, Oye s'pose. Roight. G'day, then!"
Oh! And I'd like to know what everyone would like to see in the
upcoming part where Terra talks with Grandma. Any preferences?
-------------------------------
Benjamin A. Oliver
boredcollective@aol.com
"We are the Bored. Lower your shields and surrender your fics.
We will add your standup and slapstick comedy to our own.
Your humor will adapt to entertain us.
Resistance is and always has been: Futile."
Collective works available at:
http://rakhal.com/florestica/ben-oliver/index.html
"Got'cher four major food groups roight here:
Pork, Beans, Bacon, and Lard!"
-An ill-tempered Red ArbyFish chef
Don't complain about the food. Just... don't complain about the food!
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