[FFML] [FanFic][SM][NETTG] Terra in Tokyo Ch. 10 (of 27) "Then it Jibbers a Bit."

[Benjamin A. Oliver]

Heya!  Good to see some familiar faces or names still posting from
time to time.  Who could forget Brian Randall and Abdiel and the
others?  (~waves~ ^_~)

Chapter 9, the plot thickened.
Chapter 10, and now it jibbers a bit.

Minor rewrites in this part.  The big changes are a few chapters away
still.  I have listened to SO much Macross 7 music to do some of these
edits.

Anyway, onwards!

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.

And in this one, we get some "Arby meets the rest of the group"
interaction that was mentioned by a public commenter a while back!


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

---Chapter 10:  Then it Jibbers a Bit.

	"And the stench spread for MILES," Sailor Chibimoon explained.  "The
Prince of Wales was not amused in the slightest.  But my mom spoke to
the judge and got it worked out.  I was only nine at the time, so they
didn't think it was appropriate to apply full adult sentencing to my
case."

	"I see," replied Tuxedo Kamen as he leapt from building to building.
He still carried her on the way to the Hikawa Shrine.  "Are you trying
to tell me that your whole life's been nothing but a series of huge
screw-ups?"

	"Well, I wouldn't say HUGE screw-ups," Terra said slowly.  "I mean,
everybody has trouble growing up and learning about blending into
society, right?"

	"Eh, I guess so."  The man's tone indicated that while he thought the
logic was generally valid when applied to most people, the girl's
experiences had been somewhat more distressing than average.

	"But," Terra added when her mind seemed to be urging her to stop
talking, "maybe I shouldn't have told you about that one just yet.  I
hadn't thought about that little mishap for years.  Come to think of
it, it really wasn't such a little mishap.  I think the cleanup cost
millions and millions of pounds."  Her eyes widened as the full
implications of her clumsy childhood settled in.  "Oh my.  Maybe there
were more reasons for leaving the country than I supposed...."

	"Looks like we're here," Tuxedo Kamen rapidly changed the subject.
He placed Terra on her feet.

	The girl nodded.  "Right, let's go in."  She took a deep breath.  "I
really have messed things up most of my life, but I think that's about
to change."

---

	Since Terra was taking so long to get there, Luna had elected to
start giving the full background of the situation and planned on
letting the others fill in the details for their missing member when
she arrived.  The cat began by giving Usagi a wand named the Crescent
Moon Stick, an ancient artifact used during the final battle of the
Silver Millennium Kingdom.  She followed up by explaining that the
realm's ruler died while sealing away the great evil that came from
the dark kingdom.  In addition to the wand, the ruler and someone else
(whose identity escaped Luna at the moment) used a special crystal
against the most powerful youma that remained.

	"And then it shattered, fusing the fragments of the Magical
Ginzuishou Crystal into the Seven Great Youma, destroying them
forever," Luna explained.  "Or so we thought."

	"The crystals or the youma?" Makoto asked.

	"Yes," Luna replied instantly, then rubbed her forehead.  "Well, it
was one or both of them.  But now that I've seen them for myself in
this era, it's obvious that the Dark Kingdom wants them all."

	"What will happen when they've gathered them all?" Ami inquired.

	"They'll have a complete Pokédex?" said Usagi.

	"Erm.  No--the entire logistics of the situation escape me," the cat
replied.  "However, rest assured that it will not be good if they get
their hands on the most powerful magical artifact on the planet."

	Rei pursed her lips as the gravity of the situation set in.  "Are we
talking about the end of the world?"

	"That would be a fair guess, yes."  Luna sighed.  "The generals
really are dangerous and they're acting quickly.  I'm just glad that
we've managed to keep your identities a secret so far.  We would be in
real trouble if that information got out."

	Right about that time, Sailor Chibimoon walked in.  "Hi, everyone,"
she greeted enthusiastically.  "Did I miss anything?  Look who I
brought!"

	Tuxedo Kamen followed the redhead into the meeting room, to
everyone's collective gasps.  Rei, Usagi, Makoto, and Ami all looked
like they wanted to hide.  It wasn't too different from the effect a
boy might have gotten by striding into the girls' locker room while
they were changing, except without the screaming.

	Terra frowned.  "What?  Is something wrong?"

	Rei slapped her forehead.  "Sailor Chibimoon, don't the words 'secret
identities' MEAN anything to you?!"

	"Oh, darn it!"  Terra snapped her fingers, looking rather distressed.
 "I KNEW I was forgetting something!"

	The other girls groaned loudly.

---

	Crouching atop a tree branch a short distance away, the Star Light
Knight watched the group through a pair of binoculars.  He tapped his
ear when someone in that room stepped on the listening device he had
planted deftly under the table.

	"They broke the transmitter!" he whispered harshly to himself.

	"Yeah?!  Well, whose idea was it to mount it on the back of a cockroach?"

	"I think it was yours," he shot back.

	S.L.K. smacked his head while the tree branch creaked under his
substantial weight.  "Quiet you!"

	"Anyway, it looks like they've got crystal problems now."  He put
away his binoculars.  "And youma problems, for that matter."

	"We know what that means, don't we?"

	"Are you pondering what I'm pondering?"

	S.L.K. shrugged.  "Considering we're the same person, I would imagine so."

	"Don't get smart with me!"

	"How about if I got stupid with you?  How about that?  Huh huh!  Huh huh!"

	"Oh, don't start THAT again!"

	The tree branch he stood on finally snapped, sending him cartwheeling
face-first into the ground.  The impact knocked his head clean off,
while his body flopped around on the ground like a knight in shining
armor with his cranial unit disconnected.  Lights blinked on the
connector sections on his neck while he flailed around in search of
the missing body part.

	Finally, S.L.K. recovered his head and clicked it back on.

	"Yeesh," he whispered, "this body's getting fragile.  How long's it
been since I last did maintenance on it?"

	"About three centuries."

	"Yikes.  No wonder I'm practically falling apart!"

	"Hopefully, we won't need it much longer."

	"Yeah, hopefully."  He looked up at the sky.  "Hey, how about we make
like Tux-boy and go help out those gals directly?  Nothing like a
little teamwork to get people back in sync, y'know?"

	"OH, GIVE ME A BREAK!  That has to be the STUPIDEST idea I've EVER heard!"

	"Stupider than using a positronic brain to store a type one KISA
energy matrix?"

	"Hey, that was a good idea!  It's better than dying."

	"Besides, we got a great deal; the body came fully functional,
programmed in multiple techniques--"

	S.L.K. took out a grenade and started beating his head with it,
shouting, "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP!!!"

	His head fell off from the impact.  He had to scramble around to pick
it up again.  "Dang it!"

---

	The individuals meeting in the shrine looked around when they heard
the shout, but then shrugged when nothing else happened.  Terra, still
in Chibimoon garb, sat down and began to advocate having Tuxedo Kamen
present during Sailor Soldier meetings.

	"He's been a big help to us," Sailor Chibimoon explained, and put a
hand to her chest, "and to me in particular.  If it wasn't for him,
I'd never have gotten past the first battle.  And after that, he's
helped us bunches of times, helping us to believe in ourselves, and
helping us whack the Negamafoozles."

	"But the Star Light Knight actually whacks 'em with us!" Usagi added,
hearts in her eyes as her mind was obviously not on the subject at
hand.

	"Don't bring HIM up again," Rei sighed.  "It's great the knight guy
helps and all, but think of all the damage he does in the process!"

	"Hey," Makoto protested, "I can respect a guy who's not afraid to get
his hands dirty and go right at it.  He blows 'em up so fast, too."

	"I would prefer," Ami said, "if we could accomplish our tasks without
doing something that might bring the authorities down on us.
Vandalism and destruction of property are not looked upon favorably
here."

	"What, and draining energy is?" Usagi retorted.

	Terra chewed her lip and wondered how to bring the subject back to
Tuxedo Kamen, who stood at the edge of the room with his arms folded,
cautiously silent as he awaited the resolution of their discussion.
Her mind currently drawing a blank, she turned to the talking cat for
answers.  "Luna, do you have any objections to Tuxedo Kamen officially
joining our group, at least on a temporary basis?"

	Luna looked between the man and the girls, appeared to think it over,
then shook her head.  "I don't see any reason why not."

	Terra clapped her hands together once, loudly, and smiled.  "Good,
then it's settled."  Turning on her sweetest voice, she waved at the
man to come closer.  "Tuxedo Kamen?  Come on over and we'll pool the
information we've got and maybe we'll be able to stop the
Negamafoozles together."

	"That's all right," Tuxedo Kamen replied guardedly.  "I can hear you
from here, and I'll speak up if I feel the need to add anything."

	Chibimoon frowned a little.  She actually kind of wanted him to sit
by her so she could hold his hand, lay her head on his shoulder,
snuggle, or anything else socially appropriate--or, let's face it,
inappropriate--for this context.  "All right."

	Rei glanced between Terra, Luna, and Tuxedo Kamen.  "Just like that
he's officially with us, huh?"

	"Well," Terra said, "it's not like this is a miniskirts-only club or
anything like that, is it?"

	"That's a colorful way of putting it," muttered Luna.

	"Okay, fine, whatever," said Makoto.  "Untransform and let's get talking."

	"I'd rather not deactivate the sailor suit right now, if it's all the
same to you," replied Chibimoon quickly.

	"Why not?" wondered Ami.

	"There was a mishap on my way home and my street clothes have
temporarily been misplaced.  Again."  To Terra's dismay, she thought
she could hear Tuxedo Kamen stifle a laugh.  She turned around to him,
pouting, and said, "Hey!"

	"I'm sorry," the man replied, "but the way you said it; the way you
talk... I can't decide whether you sound like a genius girl, a robot,
or an absent-minded professor.  Don't worry, it's cute.  I just
couldn't help myself."

	Chibimoon decided to accept the answer, and looked back at her
friends.  "It was the ArbyFish again, is all."

	Luna shuddered at the species name.  "Oh, HIM.  Well, whatever you
do, keep him very far away from here."

	"G'day!" Arby said, hopping up next to the cat.  He looked over,
smiled broadly, and gave her an endearing pat on the head.

	"GYAAAH!"  Her fur standing on end, Luna bolted away and hid under
some pillows in the corner.

	Oh lovely, thought Terra.  She had hoped the creature's visits would
be limited to one per day or less, but he had the nasty habit of
appearing when she least desired it.

	"An Official Function, is it?  Roight!"  Arby fluttered around the
room before landing on the table and nodding at each person in turn
while saying, "'Ello says Oye to you to him to Moon to Mars to Mercury
to Jupiter to Chibimoon, to Chibimoon to Jupiter to Mercury to Mars to
Moon to him to you to Oye."  He looked around at everyone.  "Is we
havin' a party?"  He blew a mushroom shaped like a kazoo.  "Happy
Forty Thousandth Anniversary!"  He hopped up on Usagi's shoulder.  "Is
that a Neutronium Jubilee you's holding roight there or is you just
unhappy to see me?"

	"Um, no," the blonde replied uneasily, pulling the artifact closer.
"It's the Crescent Moon Stick."

	"Didja get it on sale?" inquired Arby.  "Looks loike it's made of
plastic, it is!  Here, lookit this--"  He stopped when Terra grabbed
him.

	"Arby, I've let you torment ME," Chibimoon said sternly, "but I won't
let you bother my FRIENDS!"

	Arby grinned at her.  "Well, ya's half roight."

	"Arby!" Terra attempted to chastise him for the smart remark.

	"Here, let's put some mould on it," the ArbyFish rubbed a flipper on
Terra's wrist, burning a hole through her glove and stinging her
pretty badly.  "It's Acidic!"

	"OWW!" cried Terra, the sudden jolt of pain forcing her to release
the creature.

	Arby fluttered over to the table and sat down.  "Roight!  Now let's
call this meetin' to disorder.  We shall trounce the noice nickel
Negamafoozles whoile the green grass grows all around all around
whoile they face the frazzled fuzzle, tracing the troied troial of...
indubitibleness--"

	Chibimoon took off her right boot and threw it at him.

	Arby caught it.  "Thank yew!"

	"Arby...?!"  Terra shook her head.  "Wait, give me back my boot!"

	"Nope!" replied Arby.  "It's MOINE now."  He took out a sack and
stuffed it in.  Terra saw the collar of one of her school uniforms
stuffed into it.  He fluttered out the window, hauling the sack behind
him.

	"AAAARRRBYYYYY!"  Terra shouted after him, leaping through the window.

	"No, the sewer line's still broken!" shouted Rei.

	Makoto and Rei grabbed the Irish girl by the legs and dragged her back in.

	"But... he took all my clothes!!"

	"You can buy more later," advised Tuxedo Kamen, who had managed to
keep his cool despite the creature's presence.  "Count yourself lucky
if that's all he did.  ArbyFish are the scourge of the known--"  He
broke off when his train of thought seemed to hit a gaping canyon and
crashed.  "They're... difficult buggers.  I think."

	"That fishy thing really knows how to push your buttons," commented
Makoto as she sat the relatively smaller Chibimoon down at the table.
"Didn't you see it?  It was getting all kinds of kicks and giggles at
your expense.  Don't let him provoke you.  Calm down!"

	"Lita's right," Ami said.  "We have more important things to worry
about.  You brought Tuxedo Kamen here, it's true, but that's all
right.  We'll need all the help we can get."

	Terra took several deep breaths to reduce her agitation.  "You're
right, you're right.  I'm sorry.  Arby just makes me lose my
concentration so bad!  He makes me so upset!  If it weren't for him,
I'd be so much more together than I am."

	"This isn't about you," Ami replied brusquely.  "The Dark Kingdom has
begun kidnapping people and turning them into youma.  I don't know
about you, but this disturbs me greatly.  Suppose one of your friends
or a parent is the next one taken?  I'd appreciate it if you took this
a little more seriously."

	Chibimoon looked down.  "I'm... sorry, Ami."

	"You yourself said this is a war."

	"I know."

	Tuxedo Kamen cleared his throat.  "I know who you all are now," he
said.  "But since it seems I'm going to be working with you, it's only
fair you know who I am."  He took off his mask.

	By their expressions, it was clear that most of the girls still
didn't recognize him.

	"Chiba Mamoru?!" Usagi cried.  "YOU'RE Tuxedo Kamen?"  She blanched.
"EEWW, YUCK!  And to think, I actually kind of thought you were cute."

	Tuxedo Kamen held his head.  "Mamoru?  Is that my name...?"  He
seemed to be dealing with some sort of internal memory block.  "It...
hurts."

	Terra watched the man struggle with his own mind.  In a way, it
reminded her of herself and the battle she'd had to make sense of her
life.  It was the same, yet not.  She thought back to the technique
that had been used on her to help unlock her mind's strange potential.
 "Mamoru?  Tuxedo Kamen?  I'd really like to help you.  But--"

	"DYNAMIC ENTRY!!"

	At that moment, the Star Light Knight somersaulted through the
window, his boots smoking as he screeched to a halt and struck a harsh
discord by slamming a gas-powered guitar into Tuxedo Kamen's forehead.

	"KABONG!" obnoxiously proclaimed the knight.

	While Mamoru feel to the floor, bleeding profusely from a gash in his
head, the Star Light Knight paced around the room, sizing the girls
up.  He wasn't leering or examining them like cuts of meat; it was
more like how a drill sergeant paces back and forth and shakes his
head when confronted by the latest motley batch of new recruits.

	"Star Light Knight!" exclaimed Usagi, jumping with glee.

	"All right Sailor Soldiers, listen up," the knight said, then stopped
when he saw Makoto.  "What's this, huh?"  He poked her in the sternum.
 "Out of uniform when we've got Negamafoozles to whack?  And you call
yourself a warrior.  DROP AND GIVE ME FIFTY, SOLDIER!"

	The suddenness of the command must have totally bypassed Makoto's
normally violent and powerful instincts, because she immediately
snapped to attention.  As far as Terra knew, the tall girl had never
been in the military, but Makoto seemed to take to the paradigm rather
easily.  "SIR YES SIR!!!"  She dropped down to the floor and started
doing pushups.

	Terra crawled over to Tuxedo Kamen.  "Oh my goodness!" she cried,
cradling Mamoru's head in her lap.  "You killed Tuxedo Kamen!"  She
checked his pulse and couldn't feel anything.  He wasn't breathing,
either.  On the other hand, her heart had started pounding like crazy.

	"Did I?" inquired S.L.K., looking quite perplexed.  He nudged the man
in the ribs.  "Eh?  So I did.  Oh well, no big loss."

	"No.  Big.  Loss?!" Terra asked incredulously.  She looked
frantically at her friends.  "Somebody, help!"

	But no one could hear her because S.L.K. had started wailing a deep
bass solo on his guitar and singing--or screaming, rather--a loopy
j-pop rendition of "We Will Rock You" while the other girls cried out
and covered their ears.  Luna in particular seemed quite pained.

	With no one able to hear her, Chibimoon only had herself to turn to.
However, she could barely even hear herself think.  "Mind, please help
me save Tuxedo Kamen!"

	Like a jolt of lightning, the instructions for CPR refreshed
themselves in her memory.  Long ago, she'd heard of the technique, but
never had the opportunity to use it.  Actually, before she'd come to
Japan, she probably had thought that CPR was some kind of new
hairstyling craze, so Terra really didn't know where the knowledge was
coming from.

	She placed Tuxedo Kamen flat on his back, crouched over him, and
tilted his head and chin back.  Terra took a deep breath, glanced at
his lips, and considered the implications of what she was about to do.
 Her mind kicked her to get on with it, so she did.

	Chibimoon gave the man two full breaths, placed her hands over his
sternum, squirmed around until she got into a position that felt
right, and did fifteen quick compressions.  Then went two more
breaths, and just as she was about to pump his chest again, he coughed
loudly, spat out a mouthful of blood, and sat up.

	"Tuxedo Kamen!" Terra exclaimed over the guitar solo.  "You're not dead!"

	"No matter how much I might wish otherwise," the man replied with a
pained expression.  "AAARRGGHH!!"  He writhed around, clutching his
temples.  He looked, Terra noted to herself, a lot like she felt when
she'd gotten her own mind unlocked, only he wasn't dealing with it so
well.

	S.L.K. finished his jam session by smashing the guitar through the
table and floor in the center of the room, shouting, "WOOOOOOO!!!!"

	Luna twitched when the so-called music ended.  "That... was random."

	Her hair all tousled from the sonic disruption, Rei didn't know quite
what to say.  "Hummina hummina hummina...?"  She fell over.

	Makoto flashed a peace sign, seeming quite pleased with the
performance.  "Rock on!"

	"All right, Star Light Knight!" squealed Usagi.  "I'm SOOO glad you're here!"

	Ami looked up from her laptop and took small headphones out of her
ears.  "Oh, I'm sorry.  I was thinking about a math problem.  What was
going on again?"

	Terra sighed.  Clearly, this meeting was going nowhere unless someone
really did take command.  She glared at S.L.K.  That jerk!  He nearly
killed the man she wanted to be her boyfriend!

	"So, where were we?" S.L.K. inquired.

	Before Luna could reply, Makoto said, "Uh, the Dark Kingdom's been
kidnapping people, turning them into youma, and gathering the pieces
of the Magical Ginzuishou Crystal?"

	S.L.K. clapped his hands twice.  "Ah, yes, that's right."  He looked
around at the gathered individuals.  "But first, how about everybody
gets their miniskirts on?"

	"You mean, transform into the regalia of the Sailor Soldiers so they
can have their powers quickly available?" corrected Luna.

	"Uh, yeah, what the cat said," S.L.K. muttered.  "Ya know, make it...
official-like or something.  Just like old times.  And hey, somebody
get Tux-boy here a tissue!  He's, like, bleeding all over the place!"

	Terra gasped and instantly sprang up to help.

...

	Three dots, three paper towels, three bottles of antiseptic, and
three minutes later, Terra had managed to get the hemorrhage to stop.
She had to find the medicine cabinet to get the proper materials.  The
nasty gash in Tuxedo Kamen's head was just above his hairline, so it
probably wouldn't leave a noticeable scar, but it was the sort of
thing that could easily require stitches.  Whatever magic he had
probably protected him from the worst of his injury.

	"Can I come back in yet?" S.L.K. asked.  He was leaning against the
wall just outside the meeting room with the door closed.

	"Not yet!" replied Sailor Mars sharply.

	"C'mon!  There's no way your transformation sequences can last THAT
long.  Even if you're using the old stuff, it can't take any longer
than thirty seconds!"

	Chibimoon gave Tuxedo Kamen an icepack and led him back to the
meeting room, and let S.L.K. enter as well.

	"Can we call this... extended meeting to order now?" inquired Luna
sheepishly.  "The Dark Kingdom must be so far ahead of us by now!"

	"Sure," S.L.K. replied with a shrug.

	Luna explained once again what was going on, including the two
individuals that she knew had been taken.

	"Plus one more," S.L.K. said.

	Luna blinked.  "Excuse me?"

	"Zoi picked up one more youma just before I got here.  It was some
guy that came out of an arcade."

	"Why didn't you stop Zoicite?" Mars demanded.  "Aren't you on our
side?  Are you working with them?"

	"Why didn't you stop 'em from taking your gramps, 'sweetheart?'"
S.L.K. countered brusquely.  "Didn't you care about him?  Or are you
glad you get all his stuff now that he's gone?"

	"Th-they came too fast!" Rei stuttered.

	"Now that he's one of them," the armored man continued, "we're
probably going to have to kill the poor guy too."

	Mars looked horrified.  "Stop it!"

	"As the 'bereaved,' how about we give you the honors?  Get the old
priest conveniently turned into a monster, and you as a fighter
against 'evil' conveniently get to blow him away.  It's TOO perfect.
You set him up, didn't you?!  Not a jury in the world would fail to
convict you, murderer!"

	"What?!  I did no such thing!"

	Laughing nervously, Sailor Moon stepped between them.  "Ah-heh...
Sailor Mars, Star Light?  Maybe we should call a time out?"

	The Star Light Knight bowed slightly and took a step back.  "Of
course."  Under his breath, he whispered to his verbal combatant,
"Never mess with a pro."

	Trembling with rage and confusion at the accusations, Sailor Mars
looked like she didn't know whether to cry or fight.  At Usagi's
pleading expression, she backed off and sat down.  Then Sailor Moon
turned toward the armored man and said, "You know, that was pretty
mean.  Her grandpa just got kidnapped.  Could you please try to be a
little nicer towards her?"

	"Oh, fine.  Was just playing, Heels.  We'll figure out a way to help Gramps."

	Sailor Moon looked insistently at him.

	The Star Light Knight put away a grenade he held.  "Okay, a way that
doesn't involve me blowing him to bits."

	The blonde stared at him.

	S.L.K. sheathed his sword.  "Or chopping off his head."  He sighed.
"Fine, fine.  We'll take him alive."

	Usagi nodded, pleased at what she had accomplished.

	"If I can help it!"

	"Oh dear," Luna breathed.  She still appeared to be considering the
implications of the whole situation.  "With the ones we know that have
been taken, that means the Dark Kingdom has at least three crystal
fragments already."

	"We've got some catching up to do," said Tuxedo Kamen.

	The cat nodded.  "Quite right."  She cleared her throat and spoke
loudly enough for everyone to hear her clearly.  "Everyone, there are
seven fragments total, and provided the Dark Kingdom haven't taken
them all already, we've got four left.  So, we shall divide up into
four groups to begin searching for them immediately."

	Sailor Mercury, who had kept her silence and observed for the
majority of the meeting, blended seamlessly into the conversation.
"We only have five Sailor Soldiers, three of which have enough power
to effectively take on a youma.  Four, if Chibimoon can figure out
more of those lucky tricks of hers.  Those are not the best of odds,
and we would still need tracking devices to locate the crystal
fragments."

	"I'm getting to that," replied Luna.  "Tuxedo Kamen and Star Light
Knight, I'm asking you to join one of the groups.  Will you?"

	S.L.K. shrugged.  "Sure, as long as I'm paired up with Sailor Moon.
She's the one I really care about here."

	Sailor Moon blushed.  "That's nice of you to say."

	Chibimoon raised a hand.  "Dibs on Tuxedo Kamen!"

	"Fine with me," said the masked man.

	"I'll go with Mercury," Jupiter said.  "She's really smart, but
definitely needs some backup in a fight."

	"Luna, could you come with me?" Mars asked.

	The talking cat shook her head.  "No, it won't work like that.  Like
Mercury mentioned, you're forgetting tracking devices."  She grabbed a
pen in her mouth and started to map things out on a sheet of paper."

	In another minute, she finished the assignments and spat out the pen.
 "Sailor Mercury, with the proper calibration you can use your
computer to look for the crystals.  Go with Mars.  She can use her
special skills to extract the crystal while suppressing the youma
inside the person."

	Mars nodded.  "Yeah, that's better than the other idea."

	"Sailor Moon, I believe I explained how the Crescent Moon Stick can
find the fragments when I gave it to you.  Since our friend 'Star
Light' here looks like he'll run off if I put him with anyone else, he
might as well go with you."

	"Darn right," muttered S.L.K.

	Sailor Moon swooned.  "Whee!"

	"Sailor Chibimoon, I'm going to take a gamble and ask you to use that
strange luck of yours to find one of the crystals.  Just look for it,
and I'm sure you'll find it."

	"That's a strange request," Terra said.  "What makes you think I can do that?"

	"You've kept your sanity after hanging around... HIM for a long
time."  Luna shuddered.  "If you can do THAT, you can do anything."

	Chibimoon wasn't convinced, but it was all she had to go with.  "Can
I at least go with Tuxedo Kamen?"

	"No, I'm going to ask Sailor Jupiter to go with you.  If something
goes terribly wrong, I trust that she's powerful enough to get you out
of it."

	"I don't get to go with Tuxedo Kamen?!"

	"Please, it's for the best."

	Terra felt pretty downtrodden.  Her best chance to spend a lot of
time with the man of her dreams had just been crushed.  Whining about
it probably wouldn't be the best idea.  "Oh, all right."

	"And I'll go with Tuxedo Kamen," Luna said.  "I believe I can find
one of the crystals with my magic, and it will give me a good chance
to assess this man's trustworthiness."

	"That makes sense," Chibimoon muttered, "I guess."

	"For now, we've wasted enough time planning," the cat added.
"Everyone, move out!"

	"Okay, kid," S.L.K. whispered to Sailor Moon as he dragged her out of
the room.  "I'll show you some new tricks along the way."

	Mars and Mercury left without further comment.  Luna hopped up on
Tuxedo Kamen's shoulder and they flew out the window.

	Her arms folded, Sailor Jupiter looked at the grumbling Chibimoon.
"Okay, Red.  You're the good luck charm.  Where to?"

	"I wanna crawl under a rock and die," wept the Irish redhead.

	Jupiter chuckled and lightly bonked her on the head.  "Wrong channel!
 Let's try this again, bootless."

	Terra looked down and confirmed that she was still missing one
article of footwear.  Her mind quickly supplied her with a solution.
"I'll get rid of this other boot and borrow a pair of Rei's shoes.
She's got the same size as I do.  Think she'll mind?"

	The brunette grinned.  "Even if she does, you shouldn't be running
around Tokyo barefoot.  Anyways, maybe we'll go a lot faster if you
get a pair of sneakers on?"

	Chibimoon nodded.  "Right, I'll get those on, and then we can go
looking for that crystal.  Who says the Negamafoozles are going to
attack again tonight, anyway?"

---

	Queen Beryl paced about her throne room impatiently.  "Where are
they?!  We have to strike again tonight if we're going to be ready
before that caped white freak comes back!"

	Zoicite appeared in a shower of flower pedals, along with a red and
white robotic monstrosity.  "I have returned," the general said, "with
the red Rainbow Crystal, as well as Geeseen, the Great Youma who
carried it!"

	Next came Nephrite and Kunzite, each of whom was flanked by a youma.

	"You are successful?" Beryl asked, and was answered in the
affirmative.  The generals also handed her the three crystals they had
acquired.  "Ah, good.  Excellent."  She pointed at her generals.  "You
three, return to Earth and gather the rest."

	"Yes, my queen," the three replied, and teleported away.

	"You," Beryl continued, pointing at the three Great Youma, "must
recover your strength.  You will spend the next several days basking
in the presence of your creator, Metallia!  When you are all together
and at full strength, then we will arise and conquer the Earth!  What
say you?"

	The three Great Youma responded with a cacophony of evil shrieks and laughter.

	The Queen of the Dark Kingdom smiled.  After so many setbacks,
success had indeed begun to taste very sweet.

---

	Tuxedo Kamen leapt from rooftop to rooftop, looking for any sign of
people that might have crystal fragments imbedded in them.  Luna dug
her claws tightly into his jacket's shoulder.  She guided him with her
psychic abilities.

	"Make a left here.  No, the other left!  Ah, yes.  Straight ahead
about five more blocks."

	"Back shoulder driver," grumbled Tuxedo Kamen.

	"You obviously want the crystals just as badly as we do," Luna said.

	"Yes, but... you could at least speak less sharply."

	"Oh, I'm sorry.  Am I getting on your nerves?"

	"Just a little bit.  Plus, I don't know you and you're already trying
to order me around."

	Luna nodded, and considered a way to lighten the heaviness of the
situation a bit.  "Ah, I see.  Then to break the ice, and since we'll
be working together, let's have some proper introductions," the cat
said to Tuxedo Kamen.  "I'm Luna, the First Advisor to the Queen of
the Silver Millennium.  Delightful to meet you."

	"Uh, yeah.  Not to be rude or anything," Tuxedo Kamen said, "but it
really looks like I've gotten stuck with the leftovers for this trip."

	"We cats have an under-the-table saying after human meals."  Luna
smiled.  "Leftovers are good."  She looked down at the street.
"There, in that building!  I'm sure of it.  Get me to the person and I
can extract the crystal."

	The masked man nodded, and leapt down to street level.  From the
shadows, dozens of pairs of glowing eyes glared at him.  A loud
chittering rumbled all about him, and then all the creatures struck at
once.

---End of Chapter 10

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

(Scene of Arby gleefully hopping around the Hikawa Shrine)

Sailor Nuke:  Today, we learned that explosives solve ALL your problems!

Sailor Kawaii:  Er, no we didn't.  Nothing even blew up this time!

Sailor Nuke(scratches her head):  Eh, what did we learn, then?

(The Star Light Knight bashes Tuxedo Kamen in the face with a guitar)

Sailor Kawaii:  We learned that if you look good, you can get away
with ANYTHING!

Sailor Nuke(looks back at the screen):  The knight-guy?!  YUCK!

Sailor Kawaii(glares):  What?!  I think he's cute!

(Star Light Knight's head falls off)

Sailor Nuke:  CUTE?!  He's a freakin' ROBOT!  He hasn't even blown up
much of anything in this series yet.

Sailor Kawaii:  Anyway, the lesson is, the Star Light Knight is CUTE!
Sailor Kawaii says.  Tee-hee!

Sailor Nuke:  Meh.  If anything, today, we learned that a good story
needs more explosions than this chapter did.  Sailor Nuke sez.
BWAHAHAHHAHAAA!



Thanks for reading!

-- 
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