[FFML] [FanFic][SM][NETTG] Terra in Tokyo Ch. 5 (of 27) "And Then They All Died."

[Benjamin A. Oliver]

Disclaimer:
This story is based loosely on Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon by Naoko
Takeuchi. This is a non-profit fan work created as a tribute, and no
infringement is intended. All rights to the characters, settings, and
situations of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon belong to Naoko Takeuchi,
Koudansha, TV Asahi, and Toei Douga, and DIC. ArbyFish belong to
Daniel Oliver and are used with permission.  Gotta have ArbyFish.
Wouldn't be proper if we didn't.

Gotta have disclaimers.  What'd the copyright folks do if we didn't?


Anyway, chapter five.  Gotta kill everyone off now.  Wouldn't be
proper if we didn't.  Enjoy!  ^_~


Nuke 'Em 'Till They Glow!!
Terra in Tokyo
Final Mix

---Chapter 5:  And Then They All Died.

	In the window of a shop, there was a book, which had a title that
reminded Terra about her feelings about the up and coming event that
evening.  It was a self-help volume entitled, "Who Moved My Cheese?
An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life."

	The girl's shoulders slumped as she shook her head and continued on
towards the meeting location.  Actually, that book didn't remind her
at all about her situation, but still, it would have been nice to have
something substantial to think about in order to mitigate the
surrealism of the current circumstances of her life.

	Oh yes, she thought to herself, I may look like a normal, run of the
mill Japanese middle schoolgirl from Ireland, but when evil from
another dimension strikes, I... put on a pink miniskirt and run around
in it like a complete idiot while other people fight the invaders.
And sometimes, this flying, talking cat-seal named Arby comes and
taunts me about it.

	In fact, if her mom hadn't been so calm and casual about it when
Terra had explained what was going on, the teen probably would have
decided that she had gone absolutely bonkers.  She still wasn't
totally sure.  She'd tried to be sensible about the whole thing, using
the big bang theory, planetary formation physics, evolution, and
societal dynamics to explain how an ArbyFish could exist or what in
the heck kind of magic uses abbreviated sailor suits, but she found
those theories decidedly lacking when it came to explaining those
sorts of things.

	The more she thought about it, the more painful it got.  Either she
was wrong, or thousands of years of scientific experimentation was all
for nothing.  There were lots of people trying to figure these things
out, right?  They couldn't be all wrong, could they?  No, wait, of
course they could.  Science was founded on proving that what the last
guy said was totally wrong.

	All of Terra's answers fell back to her own situation:  tonight, a
really powerful person from the land of the Negamafoozles was going to
attack, and she was going to have to fight.

	She blinked as a new idea occurred to her.  "Or will I really have
to?" she asked herself.  "We've got three more Sailor Soldiers.  Maybe
they really won't need me this time.  I don't make any difference
anyway."

	Terra felt something wet slide down her back.  She recoiled and cried
out, turning around to see the ArbyFish with a brush and a large can
of yellow paint.

	"Oh, is yew Curry Chicken, then?" Arby inquired in his usual calm,
cheerfully diplomatic manner.

	The girl pulled up her collar and checked the back of her blouse.
Some of the paint got on her hand.  "Arby!  You ruined my outfit!
Why?!"

	Arby saluted.  "All part o' the service!  G'day."  Then he fluttered off.

	"Wait!  You--"  Terra was about to go after him, but decided against
it.  She was already late for the meeting, despite everyone
collectively scheduling the event for the afternoon so Usagi could
sleep in.  "No, I need to get to that meeting."

	It was really odd, though.  Just thinking of seeing the fellow
members of her Sailor army was starting to fill her with terrible
amounts of dread.

---

	The battle with Jadeite was going to be on a Saturday, and for this
particular group of adolescent females, that meant there was only a
half-day of school beforehand.  They had decided on the Hikawa Shrine
for a meeting place because of its relative quiet and it was pretty
much the same distance from all of the others' homes.  However, it
would have been nicer if they had, say, a top-secret room hidden in
the arcade with all sorts of nifty gadgets and toys to use.

	"Luna?" Usagi asked.  "Can we build some top secret room in the
arcade with all sorts of nifty gadgets and toys?"

	"Yeah!" agreed Makoto.  "We'll call it... the Sailor Cave!  And we
can drive around in a limo called the Sailor Mobile, throw
crescent-shaped boomerangs, only we'd call them sailorangs--"

	"FOR THE LAST TIME, NO!" Luna shouted back.  "I'm not some sort of
magical wish-granting goddess that can sometimes build you a secret
base with a restaurant on top!"

	"That's an odd way of phrasing it," noted Ami.

	"She's just a magic talking cat with a very important mission to
complete," Rei said.

	"Er, yes," said Luna.

	"Right," Rei continued.  "I think we've waited long enough for Terra.
 Shouldn't we get started?"

	"No, no, she'll be here!" protested Usagi.

	At that moment, the door slid open, the redhead in question shuffled
in, took a seat, and slumped down onto the table.

	"What took you so long?" asked Rei.

	Terra didn't look at her.  "I don't want to talk about it."

	"Why do you have yellow paint down your back?" wondered Makoto.

	"It's sort of a strange story, and I don't think you'd believe me."

	"You're talking to a flock of magical girls and a cat whose most
notable features are her surprisingly good manners and diction," Ami
insisted.  "There's not really much left that we won't believe."

	Terra chewed on that thought for a while and finally said, "All
right.  Arby the ArbyFish jumped up behind me with a bucket of
paint--"

	"Arby the ArbyFish lives!?" nearly screamed Luna.  "I... I don't
believe you!  I CAN'T believe you!"

	"See?" Terra deadpanned.

	Luna ran off into the corner, hid under a pillow, and shivered.
Occasionally, she'd mutter something like, "mutant menace," or
"hesdeadhesdeadhehastobe!!!"

	"What's gotten into your cat?" Rei asked Usagi.

	"I don't know," replied the blonde.  "She's usually so calm."

	"Should we call the vet?" Makoto suggested.  "I know this one foreign
guy that has his shop down the street."

	"Doctor Murray Kalypso?" asked Ami incredulously.  "He keeps getting
his license revoked!  I don't think it would be such a great idea to
ask him."

	"What's an ArbyFish?" Rei wanted to know.

	"Like I said, I don't want to talk about it."  Terra glanced back at
the quivering cat with an expression of complete empathy and
understanding.  "Okay, let's get this meeting over with," she said in
a soft voice.

	"I agree," said Ami.  "We ought not to be late to the airport.  It
will give the enemy less time to get set up."

	"Of course, they've already had longer than a day to get ready to
fight us over there," said Makoto.

	"Let's not jump to conclusions," Ami cautioned.  "Second-guessing
ourselves won't help.  The best strategy is to stay calm and take the
situation as it comes."

	Makoto raised her hand.  "Did anybody besides me practice how to use
your powers?"

	"I did," said Ami.  "For an hour last night and a few hours this morning."

	"YOU skipped class?" Makoto asked.

	"No," Ami replied.  "I don't want to get expelled!  I practiced early
this morning."

	Rei nodded.  "As did I."  She turned toward the two non-talkative
girls in the group.  "Terra-chan?  Usagi-chan?"

	Terra shrugged sadly.  "I... don't have any powers to practice."

	Makoto frowned.  "You don't?"

	Then Usagi's snoring caught their attention.  They hadn't noticed her
nod off right about where they had begun discussing strategy.

	"Usagi-chan!" Rei whispered stiffly.  "Wake up!"

	"Huh?" Usagi moaned and lifted her head.

	"And you even slept in, too!"

	"Hey, I didn't sleep so well!" the blonde whined.

	"Hah," Rei laughed.  "Staying up late playing video games is more like it."

	"But we just got our new Playstation!" Usagi complained.  "I couldn't
let it go to waste!"

	"We're fighting a WAR, odango-for-brains!"

	"Aw, Rei-chan!  Don't be mean!"

	"I'm mean?!  The youma are going to be a lot meaner!"

	The two squabbled back and forth like true naturals--as if they'd
known each other since they were little, and not only since the day
before.  Makoto got a chuckle out of their antics, while Ami looked on
and shook her head in disapproval.

	Terra, on the other hand, seemed to be in her own dark little world,
suffering a deep secret pain of the heart that no human should have to
go through.  "Um, ladies?" she began meekly.  "Fellow soldiers?  Do
you mind if I sit this one out?"

	Rei froze.  "Excuse me?!"

	Usagi looked shocked as well.  "Huh?!"

	"I don't want to go tonight."

	"What brought this on?" Ami asked.  "The other day, you seemed so set
on going into battle with us."

	"It's just that," Terra said, "I think you'd all be better off if you
didn't have me to drag you down."

	"But you've been fighting alongside Sailor Moon for weeks," Rei said.
 "She didn't seem to think you were a burden."  She looked at Usagi.
"Did you?"

	Before Usagi could respond, Makoto chimed in, saying, "Are you scared
or something?"

	"Yes, I'm scared," Terra replied quickly with a worried look on her
face.  "Terrified.  Before, we were just fighting youma--relatively
weak monsters--and each time, I couldn't do anything and almost didn't
make it."  She fidgeted.  "And now, we're facing one of their leaders.
 We're going up against a GENERAL!  I don't know what could happen.
But I'm scared.  Really scared."  She looked at Usagi, pleading tears
in her eyes.  "Please don't make me fight Jadeite.  Please!  I don't
want to die."

	Usagi didn't know what to say.  "Terra, I--"

	Sobbing, the Irish girl placed her head on Usagi's shoulder, clinging
to her for some sense of comfort.  "Please, no more."

	Usagi sat in stunned silence for a while.  She finally said, "It's...
okay.  You don't have to fight Jadeite if you don't want to.  The rest
of us can do it by ourselves."  She looked at the others.  "Can't we?"

	Makoto nodded, though she wore a lopsided frown.  "Oh, sure, no problem."

	"But I thought we were in this together?" whispered Ami.

	Rei slapped her hand on the table.  "What in the world is this!?" she
yelled at Terra.  "First, you sign us up to fight the Dark Kingdom,
and next, you're chickening out on us!"

	"I'm... sorry!" Terra sniffled, getting up.  She took the brooch off
the front of her blouse and placed it on the table.  "Here, keep this.
 Maybe somebody else will have better luck with it.  I'm not strong,
like all of you are.  I should go."

	Still crying somewhat, Terra walked out of the room.  From the speed
of her steps, they could tell she started to run.

	"Terra!"  Usagi took the brooch also started to get up, but Makoto
held her back.

	"No," said the brunette, "let her go.  She's scared and doesn't know
how to deal with it.  She needs time to walk it off and sort it out."

	"But maybe if I talked to her," Usagi protested, "I can help her feel better."

	"I also think she probably needs time to sort it out," Ami said.  "I
admit, I'm a little worried as well."

	"We're all worried," said Rei.  "But either the rest of us are going
to face the enemy, or we're not.  Which is it?"

	Usagi bit her lip.  From the way she kept glancing at the door, she
was still deeply concerned about Terra, but she sighed, shook her
head, and said, "We have to stop Jadeite.  If we don't, he'll destroy
the city!"

	"Agreed," Ami said.

	"You're right," added Makoto.

	Rei nodded.  "Then it's settled."

	Usagi looked around.  "Now where did Luna get to?"  She looked and
saw that her pet advisor was still quivering in the corner.  "Aw,
Luna!  Get out here, you scaredy-cat!"

	"I'm better now!" the feline insisted as she climbed out from
underneath the pillow.  "Just some bad memories, is all.  What were we
talking about again?"

---

	Terra lost track of how far she had run before her legs ran out of
strength.  Her mind had been a bucket of grief ever since the meeting
with her friends.  While on the surface she knew she had acted like
such a bozo of a retarded child, that didn't change her mind about how
she felt.

	Frightened, sad, alone, and unwilling to face her fear, she said to
herself, "I really don't deserve to be a superheroine, do I?"

	No, she told herself.  Not with an attitude like that, she didn't.

	And she finally understood.  "THIS is why I suck so bad."

	Terra clenched her teeth and forced herself to take several slow,
deep breaths to calm herself down.  Why was she acting like this?
Sure, she'd felt scared before, but that was all part of the job when
dealing with monsters on a regular basis.  She'd even run screaming
from the battlefield on a few occasions, but nothing like this.

	"No, no, no!  This isn't like me!  I have to control myself.  I can't
run forever!"  She slipped to her knees and covered her weeping face.
She sniffed and wiped her tears with her sleeve.  "This is awful.  It
doesn't get any worse than this, does it?"

	Just about then, Arby the ArbyFish popped up, wearing his typical
pleased-as-punch grin and saluted.  "'Ello, Madam!"

	Terra looked up at him with her eyes reddened from crying and said,
"Arby, I feel horrible.  I just abandoned my friends and ran away
crying like a toddler!"

	"Well o' course!" Arby shot back in a pleasant businessman-like
manner.  "Only natural, it is."

	The sad girl frowned even more deeply.  "Why do you say that?"

	"Part o' the plan, y'see."

	"...plan?"

	Arby whipped out his can of yellow paint from earlier in the day.
"It's me Mystical Magical Yellow Depression Mushroom Paint.  Makes ya
Emotionally Unstable!"  He said the last couple of words as if they
were useful, trademarked, and patented processes that people ought to
be paying lots and lots of money for.  In any case, he seemed rather
pleased with the results.

	Terra's distraught expression gradually faded into a glare.  She
slowly clenched her hand into a fist and said, "Arby... you dumped
that stuff on my back... to make me... emotionally unstable?!"

	"O' course! It got absorbed through your clothes and into your skin.
A whole bucket o' the stuff'd throw ya into a Suicidal Rage!"  Again,
it was one of those expensive trademarked phrases.  He backed up and
tilted the bucket, preparing to throw it.  "'Ere, look at this!"

	"Arby, NO!!!"

	But Terra's cry went unheeded.  Arby chucked the paint at her.  She
shuffled frantically backwards to avoid getting hit in the face, but
her blouse and skirt got totally covered.  The chemical also dripped
onto her shoes and socks and made nasty slurping noises as it
penetrated the materials.

	"AAAH!" Terra screamed in terror of what would happen to her if the
paint reached her skin.  Just a small swipe down the back of her fuku
had made her such an unstoppably depressed bozo.  She feared to think
what might happen to her if this much got through.

	Acting quickly, Terra whipped off her skirt and threw off her blouse.
 The wind blew them over the edge of the bridge she was on, and they
fell into the river below.  She looked down and saw her shoes and
socks similarly getting affected.  She kicked off her shoes and ripped
off her socks.

	Then she noticed, to her horror, that the paint had penetrated down
to her slip.  The tight weave was stopping the absorption somewhat,
but it wouldn't last.  Her mind screaming at her to hurry, she tore it
off and discarded it as well.

	Nearly hyperventilating in shock, Terra checked what was left.  Her
skin didn't have any yellow paint on it, nor did any of her underwear,
so that was a relief.  Her quick actions saved her, it seemed.

	"Not this time, Mister Fish," Terra retorted, looking back at the
creature.  "You'll not best ME today."

	Arby chuckled, which was kind of like a mocking hissing noise, like
what one might expect from a laughing cat or rodent.  He also had his
Mush-Camera out, ready, focused, and with the cap off.  "Smoile!"  The
flash from the halogen mushroom atop the device flashed and
temporarily blinded Terra.

	The ArbyFish fluttered around her, taking several more photographs
from various angles.  He shoved her hard in the spine, forcing her to
arch her back for a couple of shots.  Then he stopped, hovering in
front of Terra like some sort of deranged hummingbird who'd had too
much nectar to drink.

	"Arby!  What are you--"

	Terra's sanity finally caught up with her confusion, sucker punched
it, and laid it out cold.  She quickly realized several very important
details.

	First of all, she was naked with nothing but her white underwear.
Second, Arby had just taken dozens of pictures of her, from all over.
Third, she was several miles from home, having run in her depression
to a part of town she really wasn't familiar with.  Fourth, Arby was
fluttering off, saying, "Alroight!  These'll sell GREAT on the open
market!"

	That shocked her back to reality.

	"ARBY!" Terra shrieked in total explosive indubitability.  Trying to
cover herself in vain, she tried to run after him, but couldn't move
quickly barefoot on the sidewalk or asphalt, and lost sight of him.
She stopped to catch her breath.  "Ow!" she panted with each step.
"Ow!"  She wasn't that great of a runner, especially without shoes.

	It took her a few more moments of quiet thought for her to realize
the gravity of her situation.  She'd had dreams, when she was in
elementary school, of accidentally going to class in her underwear.
It was one of those primal fears that struck terror into even the most
composed of human beings.  Being in the same situation while in the
middle of the street in an unfamiliar part of town tripled the
anxiety.

	Terra shivered, and it wasn't because it was cold.  She was alone
right now, affording her a sort of momentary privacy, but she heard
people not too far off.  The noises of cars and other city sounds came
all the more loudly to her ears.  Every place she looked was a
potential source of fear.

	Maybe, if she could transform, she could create an outfit she could
at least wear home.

	Then she kicked herself.  Maybe that could have worked, she retorted,
but NOOO, she just HAD to leave her brooch at Rei's place in that
stupid paint-induced 'fraidey-cat tantrum, didn't she?!

	She couldn't think about what she'd do when she got home and saw
Arby.  No, that was too far into the future.  What she needed now was
a way to get there first.

	"Alright, mind," she whispered, pounding on her head, "do your stuff
and figure out a way to get me out of this mess!"

	Fine.  All right, then.

	The nearly naked teenager looked around.  There were some crowds in
the distance, blocking the streets she would have to travel to retrace
her steps.  Busy Tokyo Saturday traffic, as it were.  The river below
her rushed out to sea, and her home probably wasn't in that direction
anyway.  There was also a bus stop.  She knew some of the routes that
passed close to her house, but she didn't know which ones came near
this particular street.

	She could knock on a door and try to hide in someone's house, but no,
that wouldn't work.  This was more of a park area with ornamental
bridges, but somehow had a distinctive lack of bushes she could hide
behind.  But besides, even if there were houses, she still didn't know
anyone around here.  She might get a stranger willing to help her out,
but the odds were slim.  Several scenarios ran through her mind, few
of them good.

	There were a couple of shops in the distance, but they were more like
festive corner street shops.  Probably some food stands and some
goldfish-scooping locations.  Not good to hide in and not exactly
purveyors of articles of clothing.  On the other hand, she could
attempt to find some other random discarded objects with which to help
cover herself.  At the very least, a few stray newspapers would
suffice.  Yeah, she could even make a full paper dress if she found
enough!  That's the ticket!

	That idea, however, was squelched when she realized that all the
Japanese she knew were immaculately clean, and would not likely leave
papers flying about.  Once over at the Tsukino household, she caught a
glimpse of Usagi's mother folding even her dirty clothes!  The
likelihood of finding stray objects seemed all the more unlikely.
Plus, she saw no newspaper stands nearby, nor garbage cans to dig
through.

	The weather was fairly warm, and that meant people wouldn't be
wearing coats or anything they could easily lend out.  While it meant
Terra wouldn't get a cold or die of exposure, it also complicated
things.  She wanted to get home as soon as possible and get out of
sight.

	Therefore, her options seemed to be pressing through the crowd to
walk a rather long distance home, or take the bus, which if she got a
good route might stop half a block from her house.  She thankfully was
in a silly enough mood to have brought her bookbag along to the
meeting at the Hikawa shrine, and kept some money in it.  The
container lay just a few feet from her poisoned shoes.  She would have
enough cash for bus fare, but she probably couldn't pay for a taxi
with the pocket change she carried.  Of course, if she got home, she
could get probably her mom to pay for the ride.

	"Dang it," she whispered as she checked her bag for loose change, "I
forgot my cellphone too!"

	But there were no taxis around, and a bus was just pulling up.  Lots
of seats were empty so she wouldn't be seen by all that many people.
It was a route she knew, as well.  All in all, taking the public
transit system seemed to be the least embarrassing option.  Better
than wandering through the streets in an unfamiliar part of town.  On
average, she would see fewer people and it would take much less time.
She waved to the bus, which stopped.  Actually, the driver was male,
so it screeched to a halt.

	A few people gave her odd looks as she boarded and tried to pay her
fee.  The driver declined it, telling her not to worry about the fee.
Terra didn't like his icky, goofy grin, but she went back and quietly
took a seat so as to not cause any more of a scene than necessary.

	Act natural, Terra coached herself.  If she didn't act like anything
was wrong, then many people may simply ignore her.  This was a big
city, after all.  Weird things happened in big cities every day.  They
probably had laws against indecent exposure, though.  They did in
Ireland.  They sometimes even enforced them.  It was best to play it
cool from here on out.

	The girl took a seat and held her bookbag on her lap to better cover
herself, and forced herself to breathe deeply and calmly.  Everything
was fine, she repeated in her mind.  I'm not really running around in
my underwear, I'm just part of a new trend.  You haven't heard of it?
Your loss.  It's all the rage in Britain.

	Still, she hoped and prayed fervently that nobody she knew would see her.

	Sitting beside her was a bespectacled boy Terra faintly recognized
from Juuban Junior High.  He was one of those nerdy know-it-all types
that had hardly dared approach her, but he did talk frequently with
Usagi.  What was his name...?

	The boy turned towards her and did a double take.  "Wow!  Incognita
Terra-san!  I'm so pleased to meet you on such a nice day."

	Terra twitched, desperately hoping he wouldn't notice her lack of
attire.  But of course, she realized, the odds of a nerdy teenage male
not noticing a girl when she's nearly naked are about the same as a
that of a den of starving, wretched hyenas not noticing a plump, juicy
zebra when it dives in.  "Hello... Gurio?"

	"Yeah, that's me.  Umino Gurio.  But you can call me Gurio, if you
like."  Then he glanced down and his glasses started fogging up.  "Uh,
say, why are you naked?"

	"Everything's fine," Terra reassured him.  "I'm not really running
around in my underwear.  I'm just part of a new trend.  Oh, you
haven't heard of it?  Well, your loss.  It's all the rage in Britain."

	"Ooh," Umino oohed, snapping his fingers.  "Is it some kind of Irish
tradition?  I hear the Irish like to go around naked in a kilt.  It's
like doing it properly or something."

	No, that's a SCOTTISH tradition! Terra wanted to yell, but her mind
grappled with the urge and held her back.  She took a calm, natural,
slow breath and replied, "Er, yes.  Yes, this is an Irish thing.  We
regularly go out like this to see the sights in town."

	"Hah, I knew it!"  The nerdy young man looked out the window, not
that he could see anything through his steamed-up spectacles.  "Oh!
This is my stop.  Bye-bye, Incognita-san!"  He slid past Terra and
bumped into things on his way off the bus.

	The bus was indeed one that would eventually take Terra home, but it
looked like it was going the long way around.  In the eternity
separating Terra from her stop, she was feeling pretty self-conscious.
 Well, DUH!  Who in their right mind wouldn't be?!  A more typical
fourteen-year-old or younger might not have as much of a problem in
her situation.  They'd say, "Oh, what a poor girl, someone stripped
her down.  Why don't I give her my jacket to help her modesty?" or
something to that effect.

	But, no.  The fact of the matter was that Terra was a young teen of
well-above-average good looks, and in this context, it meant she had a
fair amount to gawk at.  Or rather, not just gawk at.

	All things considering, perhaps she should have felt insulted if
nobody attempted anything while she was in that state of distress...
or dis-dress, rather.  But she wasn't at all pleased when she reached
her stop without other incident, and someone grabbed her on her way
out.

	Something terrible burned inside her; a blackness beyond blackness of
roiling anger spilled across her mind like an unholy fog.  Her hand
snapped around the wrist of the arm that grabbed her, and she
squeezed.  As she did so, something in that wrist broke in a very
satisfying manner.

	Terra gasped when the feeling departed.  The power had just built up
and left her.  A chaotic surge of intense feelings, and someone's
bones had cracked under the pressure she applied.  Was this what some
older women sometimes spoke of?  The righteous indignation of a girl
who had been wronged in such a manner?

	All she knew was she was even more embarrassed than ever when the
young man in question fell back, crying out in pain.  "G-gomen nasai!"
she cried out, her ability to comprehend Japanese flickering in and
out.  The girl dashed down the bus's steps and hurried along towards
her home.

	Terra flexed the muscles in her hand.  They were very sore, as if
working well beyond their breaking point for just an instant.

	"OW!  OW!  OWWWW!" the high school boy continued to yell.

	"Grabbing that poor girl like that?!" a woman's voice exclaimed.
"DARLING NO BAKA!!!"

	Her mind reeling, Terra didn't quite understand the last phrase, but
it was obviously something unflattering.  A second later, there was a
loud crack of electricity and a flash of light.  Terra glanced back,
but the bus was already leaving.  She shook her head and refocused on
her goal.  She saw her house coming up quick, only about a quarter of
a block away.

	There was a sudden splash when someone dropped a bucket of water on
her from above.  Then she heard someone ring a bicycle bell...

	...and then was bowled over by a purple-haired Chinese girl who was a
couple of years her senior.

	Terra didn't know what a glomp was.  If asked a month ago, she'd have
said it was some kind of really fat African hippo.  Nevertheless, a
glomp was what was happening to her.  Or rather, some reasonably
attractive young woman was holding onto her in an uncomfortable
manner.

	"Airen!!!" the Chinese girl squealed, snuggling close.

	"'Husband?'" Terra translated from Chinese.  She didn't know any
Chinese; she only knew what her mind told her, and apparently her
language comprehension skills had just snapped back with a vengeance.
"Er, um, I'm sorry, but I really don't swing that way, if you know
what I mean."  She sighed, exasperated.  "Who are you?!"

	The Chinese girl stiffened, then released her and moved away a
little, looking hurt.  "Airen forget Shampoo?"  But then she looked at
Terra a little closer and said, "Oh!  Naked middle school girl not
Airen.  I sorry.  Bai-bai!"  She got back on her bicycle and went off.

	Now fully mortified, undressed, dripping wet, and bruised from
getting run over, Terra fished her key out of her bookbag, unlocked
the door, and trudged into her house.

	"That," she called out, "was the single most horrible experience of
my entire life!"

	Terra found her mother in the kitchen, having tea with, of all the
things in the world, Arby the ArbyFish.  The woman looked shocked at
her daughter when she entered.  "Oh my!  Terra, what happened to you?"

	Terra looked at the clock.  It had taken her three hours to get home
from the Hikawa Shrine.  A very, very long time considering the
distance, but to her, it felt like longer.

	Three hours?! thought Terra, still trembling from her experience.  Is
that all it's been?!

	"What happened to me?" Terra slurred, now shaking with the built-up
rage.  "I'll tell you what happened to me!"  She twitched wildly and
pointed at Arby.  "THAT THING happened to me!  Because of YOU, Arby, I
have seen--"

	"Oh my," Kasumi interrupted, looking at the ArbyFish in and
accusatorial manner.  "Mister Fish, did you strip her down, get her
drenched, run her over with a bicycle, and make her walk home naked?"

	"Well o' course!  Had to contract out for a few bits, but it got the
job done.  Gotta strip her down, take naked pictures and make her walk
home under embarrassing circumstances.  How'd we expect her ta grow up
roight noice n' proper if we didn't?"

	"Arby, did you take embarrassing naked pictures of my daughter?"

	"In-deed!  Roight noice ones, too, if Oye says so m'self."

	"Then give them to me so I can dispose of them."

	"Oh, can't do that.  They's already been sold!"

	"Sold?  To who?"

	"To the highest bidder.  It's Economics!"

	"Then get them back."

	"Nope!  Wouldn't be proper.  All sales is final!"

	"Arby," Kasumi warned in a firm, motherly way.

	"Oh, all roight, here ya go."  Arby handed Kasumi a thick sheaf of
eight by twelve prints.  "Made a few copies."

	"Are these all of the copies?"

	"All that was left.  Sold loike 'shroomcakes, they did!"

	"That wasn't what I asked--ahh, very well.  If you're not taking them
out of circulation, then at least give Terra her cut of the proceeds."

	"But Mom!" Terra protested.

	"Modeling is a respectable career choice," Kasumi pacified her
daughter.  "Given the circumstances, we'll just call this incident a
case of unintentional 'modeling.'"

	Terra shook her head at her mother's spin on things.  Apparently,
Arby wasn't the only one that liked to play around with terminology to
suit his own purposes.

	"Commissions, is it?" Arby inquired, stroking his furry chin.
"Roight!"  He handed Terra a pair of twigs and thistles, as well as a
dead swallow.  "There ya go!  Don't eat it all in one place."

	"Ew!" cried Terra, dropping the rotten swallow.

	"Ey," Arby complained, "that's a waste of perfectly good mold, it is!"

	"Do it in local currency," Kasumi suggested.

	"Ey, these was local.  Picked 'em up in the back yard, Oye did!"

	"ARBY!" Terra yelled at the green creature.

	Arby smiled.  "It's true."

	The redhead gave into her rage and started chasing the ArbyFish
around the room.  While she did so, Kasumi got to examining the
photographs.  Her expression faded from concern to relief, and then to
her usual overly pleased smile.  "Oh my!  These are wonderful!"

	Terra froze, having just grabbed a hold of Arby's tail.  She turned
towards her mother and asked, "They are?!"

	"Oh, yes," Kasumi said.  "They aren't sleazy or anything.  And you'd
hardly guess you were just fourteen by looking at them."

	"But it's me in my underwear!" Terra protested.

	"No, no, look," Kasumi insisted, handing the girl her pictures.

	Terra checked them out.  While it was embarrassing to see herself in
that state of undress, she did have to admit that the lighting was
excellent, the angles were superb, and they were comparatively
tastefully done.  It helped a lot that she did have a reasonably good
figure and complexion.  The images somehow managed to capture her best
sides and expressions, from pouty to cutely uncertain to focused.

	Then her built-in reality check smacked her upside the head again.
"But... no!  This is me in my--"

	"You know," Kasumi added, "maybe you really do have a future in
modeling after all."

	"MOM!" Terra cried, flustered at the way Kasumi was dealing with the
pictures.  Obviously, she decided, her mother hadn't fully grasped the
gravity of her situation.

	The phone rang.  Terra's mother reached over and picked it up.
"Hello?"  She nodded while listening, and then frowned.  "What?"  She
took off her shoe, looked at it, and said, "Six and a half.  Hmm?  Oh,
you would?  She's kind of upset right now, but--"

	"Who's that?" Terra asked.

	Kasumi covered up the receiver and said, "Oh, it's just the CEO of a
major modeling company--you know, the one that does the high-grade
professional superstar idol singing that you've always dreamed of
being a part of since you were little?  She says she was very
impressed by your agent's presentation and thinks you're great, so she
wants to interview you personally for a job next Tuesday.  Are you
interested?"

	"Agent?"  Terra had no idea what was going on, but modeling was
something she had always thought she wanted to do.  "Um.  I... I....
Yeah.  Is after school on Tuesday okay?"

	"She'd love to," Kasumi spoke into the phone.  "Will four o'clock be
all right?  Great!"  She looked at Terra.  "She says that will be
perfect."

	The woman said some parting words to the CEO and hung up.

	"My agent?" Terra repeated to herself.  "Who?  Was it Arby?"  She
turned toward where she had been holding Arby and instead found she
was holding a mushroom, which was trying to bite her.  She dropped it
and it skittered under the couch.  "Where did he go?"  Looking around,
she discovered that Arby had vanished again.  "Curiouser and
curiouser...."

	"It looks like someone's been doing a little advertising for you,"
Kasumi noted.

	"Uh, yeah," said Terra, still somewhat dazed from the events of the
past few hours.  She was going to need a lot of time for it all to
soak in.  In fact, she was probably going to have nightmares about it
for weeks.  She might even need therapy, she considered as she rubbed
the sore mushroom-shaped mark on her neck.  "Mom, I'm going upstairs.
I'll take a shower--I mean, long soak in the bathtub, er, furo--and
then I'm going to relieve my stress by destroying a thousand worlds in
one blast--I mean, I'm going to my room to sleep."  She thought about
what she said.  It sounded weird, but she was too tired to care.  "Or
I'll at least lie in bed and stare at the ceiling all night.  I've had
a rough day."

	"All right, sweetie."

---

	The bedraggled girl enjoyed a good, long soak in the hot water.
Terra really had been getting too tense lately.  She rubbed some of
her coarse red hair between her fingers and wondered why it hadn't
counted against her when Arby had been showing off her pictures.

	Oh, certainly, it hurt to think what kind of people got a hold of
them, but in a way, it was kind of comforting--a confirmation that she
was growing up very well--that someone high up wanted her to become a
model because of how she looked.

	After she calmed down and felt like she'd had enough meditation for
the time being, she got out, dried off, put on her pajamas, and jumped
into bed.  She relished the not-naked feeling she never knew she would
miss so much.

	Terra looked out the window and saw some bright, multicolored flashes
in the distance, which looked like they occurred near or at the
airport.  Then she remembered about the battle with Jadeite that must
have started right about then.  She thought about what her friends
must be going through.  She herself had sort of been given leave to
not go to the fight... but that was while she was drugged.  Still, she
was tired from the events of the day, and really just wanted to lie
down and not do anything for a while.  Anyway, it wasn't like she
could be much help in a fist- or fire-fight.

	Part of her asked if she was going to help.  She replied aloud, "No,
I've fought my battle for today.  They'll be strong enough to win
without me."

	But then, Terra heard a soft chiming sound coming from her
bookbag--the mysterious "Sack of Confusion."  She pushed aside her
blanket, flipped the sack open, and fished her Sailor Communicator out
of one of its many pockets.  Pushing the "talk" button, she said,
"Hello?"

	Sailor Moon's face appeared on the small screen.  She was burned and
her hair was a mess.  Her expression looked desperate and frantic.
"CHIBIMOON, HIDE!  IT WAS A TRAP!  IT WAS A TRAP!  THEY'RE GOING TO--"

	A bright light flashed on the screen, followed by a loud crack, and
then the viewing area went to static.  Out the window, Terra saw a
tall cloud of dust and concrete fragments rise over the airport.

	Terra's eyes went wide.  "Oh my!"

	While she ran downstairs, her mind was asking her what she planned to
do about it.  "I have to save them!"  It's too late, she told herself,
and you have no powers.  "I don't care!"  It's useless.  You're weak!
"Shut up!"

	When Terra reached the door, Kasumi "ah-hemmed" to draw her
attention.  She turned around to face her mother.

	"And where do you think you're going, small lady?"

	Terra took a short panting breath and quickly explained, "Usagi and
my new friends... they're in a whole lot of trouble!"

	Kasumi shook her head.  "No, you're not going anywhere."

	Terra's eyes were genuinely desperate.  "But Mom!"

	Kasumi smiled.  "At least, not without this, you're not."  She
clipped a pink heart-shaped brooch to the front of Terra's pajamas.

	"Where did you get this?" Terra wondered.  She thought she had
abandoned it at the Hikawa Shrine.

	"Usagi brought it over when she came to visit you several hours ago,"
Kasumi explained.  "She was surprised you weren't home yet.  I was
too, for that matter."

	Terra nodded solemnly.  Usagi must have come over to try to help her
feel better.  She felt glad to have someone like her as a friend.  It
was rare to find selfless people nowadays.

	"It's a long way to the airport," Kasumi said.  "Transform and I'll
give you a ride."

	"How did you know it was at--"

	"Hurry up, dear.  There isn't time to waste!"

	"Yes, yes, you're right."  Terra raised her hand and said, "Moon
Prism Power, Make Up!"

	When Terra finished her transformation sequence, she dashed out to
the car and seat-belted herself in.  Kasumi came out, did the same,
and started the ignition.

	The powerful V8 engine revved to life, purring like a kitten--a giant
prehistoric sabertooth kitten just before it eats the frightened
primate its mother brought it.

	Kasumi smiled.  "I love this car."  With that, she popped it into
reverse, gunned the engine so the vehicle slid out rapidly into the
street.  She shifted gears and floored the gas pedal.

	During the turns, slowdowns, and speedups, Terra carefully went
through the breathing exercises Kasumi taught her long ago for staying
conscious during high-gee acceleration.  Whatever anyone may have said
about her mother, she excelled at making use of all the power
available to her.

	The streets were surprisingly empty, especially near the airport.
Kasumi was able to drive straight up to the terminal.  As Terra got
out, she kissed her daughter on the cheek and said, "Give 'em hell,
sweetie.  I'll pick you up afterwards.  Have fun fighting the Dark
Kingdom!"

	"Okay, Mom!" Chibimoon said, and dashed into the airport.  She didn't
stop, but something occurred to her.  "I never called it the Dark
Kingdom.  I called them Negamafoozles."

	There wasn't time, however, to embellish the thought.  She made it
through the empty terminals and vacant security checkpoints to the
runway, where there still seemed to be a battle going on.

	Farsighted, as she was, she saw the situation.  Sailor Moon was still
going, as were Mercury and Mars, but Jupiter was down.  None of them
looked like they were in good shape at all.  Energy burns all over,
Jupiter's fuku was a little torn, and Tuxedo Kamen was also there.
She saw him, high above the ground, dueling personally with Jadeite.

	"Tuxedo Kamen," Chibimoon breathed.  She hurried down the steps to
the runway, and only made it there in time to see General Jadeite
smack her wounded protector into the ocean.  He didn't come back up.
"NO!"

	The other girls and Jadeite heard her cry.

	"Chibimoon, no!  There are too many of them!" Sailor Moon cried.  "Run!"

	"What's this?" Jadeite asked with a smirk.  "So, the pink little
coward finally decides to show herself.  All right, everyone.  It's
time to finish them off."

	"Get out of here!" Mars shouted at Chibimoon.

	"There's still a chance for you if you leave now!" Mercury insisted.

	"No, I have to help!"  Then Terra saw what the big deal was, and why
it was such a desperate, losing struggle.  Not only had Jadeite come,
but he'd also brought friends.  There were three others, dressed
similarly to him.

	"Kunzite!  Nephrite!  Zoicite!" Chibimoon shouted without thinking
first.  She covered her mouth.  It had been another one of those cases
of ideas and names coming straight from her mind without asking her
for permission to think them.

	The tall one with silver hair--Kunzite--smiled evilly at her and
said, "You know our names.  Good!  Then we won't waste time with petty
introductions."

	"Our queen wants you all dead," the shorter effeminate one added.
"But since you're here, there's still time for a little fun.  Now
watch your friends die, you powerless little coward."

	Jadeite lifted his right hand, and a blue wispy energy glowed around
him.  Sailor Chibimoon looked around and saw her four friends
immobilized and lifted into the air.

	Terra's heart pounded frantically when she saw each of the generals
take a position in front of each of the trapped girls, hands raised
and gathering spheres of energy.  "NO!!!"

	In front of Sailor Moon, Zoicite cackled madly and threw his attack
at the defenseless girl.  The resulting explosion blew a hole through
Usagi's chest, leaving her quite effectively perished.

	Nephrite fired next, leaving Jupiter in much the same state.

	Kunzite and Jadeite didn't hesitate, killing the two remaining Sailor Soldiers.

	Stunned, Terra gasped and took a step back.  Just like that, without
fanfare, all her friends now lay dead, and she was powerless to stop
it.  She shivered, unable to believe her eyes.  "No!  That can't be!
It's not right!"

	The four generals now closed in on her.

	"Oh, don't cry," laughed Jadeite.  "Everyone has to die sometime."

	The Dark Kingdom Generals--Terra could no longer think of them in
such a playful way as "Negamafoozles"--grouped together for one final
attack.

	Terra knew she was the target.  She fell to her knees and bowed her
head.  Yes, she deserved to die for not being able to save her
friends.  She would accept this punishment, for it was just.

	The giant combined blast sped towards her, and she made no move to
get out of the way.  But, when it was just about to reach her, a giant
man in green camouflage armor--the Star Light Knight--jumped in front
of her.

	S.L.K. blocked the blast head-on.  It was like it was nothing for
him.  Then he picked scooped her up like a child and ran off, tossing
armloads of grenades behind him.

	In the resulting explosions, the four generals were unable to pursue.
 Terra didn't care what they were shouting in anger about.  She didn't
resist being held and carried off.  Nothing mattered anymore, with her
friends gone.  Nothing.

---End of Chapter 5

And now it's time for... MIND YOUR MANNERS!!! with Sailor Nuke.

(Scene of Terra looking rather embarrassed as she boarded the bus.)

Sailor Nuke:  Today, we learned that you shouldn't be cute.

Sailor Kawaii:  WHAT?!  No, don't listen to her!  She's wrong!

(Scene of Ataru Moroboshi grabbing at Terra.)

Sailor Nuke:  Oh hoh, but I'm SO right this time!  See, if she wasn't
cute, people wouldn't have gone after her like that.

(Scene of Kasumi on the telephone.)

Sailor Kawaii(flustered and frantically waving her arms):  You're
still wrong!  You're wrong, wrong, wrong!  If she hadn't been cute,
she wouldn't have gotten that interview!

(Terra grabs Ataru's arm and breaks it.)

Sailor Nuke:  But she was tough, so she also got back at the guy who
came after her.  So don't be cute.  Be tough!  Sailor Nuke sez.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAAA!

Sailor Kawaii:  And if you want to be happy and have a good job, be
cute!  Sailor Kawaii says.  Tee-hee!


-- 
Benjamin A Oliver
benjamin.a.oliver at gmail.com

Technical Writer / Translator
M3 Engineering & Technology

Master of Science in Management Information Systems
Eller College of Management
University of Arizona

Writings: Fan Fiction
http://boliver.florestica.com/

Webcomic: Nuke 'Em 'Till They Glow!! The Early Years
http://nettg.com