The Dark Side of the Moon
by Queen Serenity III
On a quiet early Friday
afternoon, the mighty sun sent his loving light rays to the planet Earth.
Observers scrutinized the sky in search of clouds, but they could find
none. The air was fresh and clean and the birds expressed their gratitude
by chirping sweetly.
Many people would
describe a day like this a beautiful day, but Lisa Wood found no joy in
it. Her seat was next to the window, so the hot sun shined directly
on her, and the noisy birds distracted her from her learning process.
Any peaceful qualities that the day displayed had an adverse reaction on
Lisa. Today she found out her score on the English exam, a 95.
Though it was an excellent grade, to her it meant nothing at all; some
one else has received a perfect score. It was her rival, the only
person other than Melvin who came close to her level of achievement, the
one whom she envied and admired at the same time.
The bell rang, signaling
the end of class, but Lisa didn’t move. Her next class was in the
same room and she already had her materials out. Instead, she looked
at her reflection in the window. Her shoulder length hair was neither
fine nor thick, but in of itself seemed uninteresting. Her brown
eyes were alluring, and if she had smiled she would have seen two rows
of perfect teeth. None of these attractive features were important to her,
though, because they were all dwarfed by her imperfection. Covering
the upper right of her face surrounding was a large blotch of darkened
skin. The birthmark had been there ever since she was born and was
a permanent part of her. No amount of makeup could cover it, nor
was there any surgery available to make it go away. Her thoughts
were broken by the sound of light, graceful footsteps approaching her.
Few of the students walked in such a manner unless they were trying to
sneak up on her. She tore herself away from her reflection to see
who it was.
Amy Anderson, her
rival, was coming toward her.
“Hello, Lisa,” she
greeted warmly.
Lisa reciprocated
the salutation. “Hi, Amy.” Her thoughts were of a different
nature. She’s probably coming over here to gloat about her test score.
“I have something
for you.” Amy handed Lisa a folded slip of colored paper and started
to walk away. There was an elaborate design on the front, piquing
Lisa’s curiosity. She opened the piece of paper and began to read
the fancy lettering.
You have been invited
to Amy Anderson’s birthday party. Why not come and join in on the
fun? Date: Monday, September 10. Time: 8:00 p.m.--11:00
p.m. Place: Mariner Drive. R.S.V.P...
Lisa stopped reading
in disbelief. The girl who she had seen as her academic adversary
invited her to a party. She had been invited to a party only once
before, when she was a young child, which had ended in a fight between
her and another child. Ever since, Lisa had viewed parties as a waste
of time, one of the many useless chores of being a social butterfly.
Now, though, she was re-evaluating that conception, and started to wonder
what her homework would be for Monday night so she could do it in advance.
She happened to look up from the invitation and Amy was at the doorway,
about to leave the room.
“Amy!” Amy stopped
and turned around. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
*
*
*
The cool twilight
air sent a breeze that brought relief to Lisa. She was hot with anxiety
and her only relief came from the passing of the air on the wet skin exposed
by her red dress. With her neatly wrapped gift in hand, she rang
the doorbell. A few seconds later, the door was opened by Amy.
“Welcome, Lisa,” Amy
greeted. “I’m so glad to see you. Come in.” Lisa stepped
inside, and was assaulted by loud, popular music. A sea of moving
bodies occupied the space that Lisa assumed was Amy’s living room, none
of them dressed as formally as she was. “Is there anything I can
get you? Snacks? Juice? Water?”
“No, thank you,” she
answered. Amy led her through the human forest to four girls who
were standing against a wall to her right. Lisa remembered two of
them as classmates. One was Serena White, a person as notorious for
being late as Amy was for her good grades. The other girl was Lita
Hightower, a tall, strong Amazon with a reputation for getting into fights.
But Lisa had never seen the other two before, though one was a dead ringer
for the fictional Sailor V.
Amy stated, “You already
know Serena, and Lita.”
“Hi,” Lisa said
as she extended her hand, but neither of the two put forth their hands
so she quickly put hers back at her side.
“I like the dress,”
Serena complimented. “It’s so...formal.”
“Thank you,” Lisa
replied with uncertainty.
Amy continued her
introduction. “And this is Mina and Raye.” She gestured to
the blonde and a raven-haired teenager.
“Nice to meet you.”
Both of them were dressed casually, but they were cosmetically correct,
the colors in their outfits perfectly coordinated. Lisa had forgotten
their names as soon as she heard them, though their faces were embedded
in her memory.
“Amy, this is for
you.” Lisa handed Amy her present.
“Thank you,”
Amy said. She walked to a nearby pile and put the box with the others.
“I think I’d better
go mingle,” Lisa announced, using any excuse she could
to remove herself from this group.
“You do that,” the
blonde said with a smile, seeming just as eager to put distance between
the two of them. Lisa walked away, hoping that she could indeed meet
some new people. With the exceptions of Amy, Serena, and Lita, she
didn’t know anyone there. But most of the people she approached were
either heavily engaged in conversation, or pretended to be occupied with
other affairs. She ended up standing against the far wall.
She tried to listen in on the other conversations, but there were too many
of them for her to focus on one. She then noticed Amy and her group
moving toward the back room. Lisa followed them and stood outside
the door which had remained open. She decided to listen to what they
were saying, having nothing else better to do. Serena was the one
who spoke first.
“So, Amy, are you
going with us tomorrow night?”
Amy replied, “I don’t
know. I’m only three chapters ahead in algebra.”
Serena’s eyes widened
in disbelief and Lisa’s ears perked. The latter had no idea Amy was
so far ahead. Lisa normally read a chapter ahead of the teacher’s
lesson plans, or two at the most. But three chapters was further
than Lisa had expected even Melvin to go.
Serena spoke what
was on the minds of the others. “Only? You’re going to shrivel up
if you don’t get out. Besides, this is the premiere of ‘Mentally
Impaired.’”
“Okay, I guess.”
Amy started to talk some more, but Lisa didn’t hear a word she said.
She looked to the floor, letting herself drown in her thoughts. I
can’t beat her in the academic circle, and I sure can’t beat her in the
social circle. I knew coming to this party was a waste of time.
“Hey!” a voice from
above shouted. Lisa looked up to see a well-dressed male standing
over her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m all right,” she
responded.
“Then why don’t you
get out there and dance.”
“I...” She searched
her mind for an excuse. “I don’t have a partner.”
“I’ll be your partner.”
Those words gave her delight until she recalled one tiny detail.
She didn’t know how to dance.
“Thank you, but I
really...” She started to retreat from the young man. Out of
the corner of her eye she observed a blond streak coming toward her.
Before she knew it, Serena was behind her, offering some words of encouragement.
“Come on,” she urged.
“Go out there! You can’t sit around all night.” With Serena
at her back, ensuring that she wouldn’t escape, Lisa found herself slowly
being forced onto the dance floor. Suddenly, she was in the midst
of a human swarm. She froze in awe of its power, until the words
of her partner reached her ear.
“Aren’t you going
to dance?”
Lisa knew she had
to do something, so she carefully watched the others move their body in
time with the music, their actions fluid and effortless. She tried
to mimic them, but instead of producing the fluent language of dance her
movements were jerky and off-beat, resulting in numerous stares directed
at her. Fortunately, the next song had a slower beat, so she wouldn’t
have to try as hard to stay in rhythm. But the young man she danced
with held her tightly and close to his body, and she started to feel
uncomfortable. She squirmed until he released her all too quickly,
making her lose her balance. She hit the ground in a thud, prompting
an eruption of laughter from everyone. Serena. Her partner.
Even Amy chuckled a little at the sight, before she straightened herself
up. As Lisa stood up, the back of her dress was covered with dirt,
which she promptly wiped off with her hand.
And the laughter was
all she heard the rest of the time she was there.
*
*
*
“So you had a good
time?”
“Yeah, I had a good
time.” Lisa had said that sentence for the second time tonight, first
to her father who had picked her up and now her mother at home. It
was too difficult to keep up the falsehood for much longer, and she could
hear her voice quiver when she spoke. “I’m feeling a little tired.
May I go to bed?”
“Why, of course!
You don’t have to ask. Good night, Lisa.”
“Good night, Mom”
She slowly climbed the stairs to her room, removing the happy expression
she had attached to her face for the sake of her parents. Once she
got inside her room she shut the door behind her quietly, not wanting to
raise her parents suspicions. It was rare for her to lie to her parents;
in fact she couldn’t remember having doing so before. Still, they
wouldn’t be able to understand what had happened tonight. No one
knew how despondent she felt at the moment. Her eyes felt watery,
as though they were poorly constructed dams ready to burst open.
She managed to take off her dress and makeup before the mist in her eyes
clouded her vision. After performing her nightly ritual of brushing
her teeth, washing her face, and setting her hair in rollers, she put on
her pajamas and laid on her bed face up, giving a futile effort to hold
back the tears.
Then the first tear
rolled out of her eye and down her face. She didn’t even try to wipe
it off as another one streamed down the other side of her face. Soon,
two rivulets of tears flowed from her eyes to the sides of her face, ending
near the edge of her jaw. She turned over and buried her face into
the pillow, trapping the drops of sadness and loneliness in the cloth.
Why? she asked herself. Why can’t I be like everybody else?
Why am I always laughed at? Why me? No one cares. No
one.
I
do, a silky alto voice replied.
“Huh,” Lisa said in
surprise. She thought she was alone. She lifted her head, looking
around for any signs of another person in the room. Upon finding
nothing, she put her head back on the pillow and let the darkness overwhelm
her. It was comforting, cool, not like the harsh light that exposed
everything. Darkness was welcome, for it made her feel less alone
and more at home.
You
don’t need them, the familiar voice said.
“Who are you?”
Lisa was now standing on thin air, surrounded by total darkness.
A
friend, Lisa. A true friend. The voice seemed to
come from all directions at once. I won’t
desert you, unlike them.
“How can I trust you?
Are you my conscience?”
All
you need is yourself, Lisa.
“I don’t understand.”
All
you need is yourself...and me. With those words a
low buzz filled the air, growing louder and louder, causing Lisa to disappear
from this area. She tried to fight the noise, but it was too strong
for her to resist and ripped her from the precious darkness. The
next thing she knew, she was back in bed and her alarm clock sounded off.
Shutting the alarm off, she looked at the time-- 6:31 a.m. The clock
must have been broken; she had only closed her eyes for a moment.
How had eight hours passed so quickly, so easily slipping by without notice?
She decided to get up and check the other clocks in the house, and they
all read nearly the same time. It took the pre dawn light to convince
her that she had fallen asleep and that it was time to get ready for school.
That was a weird
dream, Lisa thought as she entered the bathroom to prepare herself
for school.
*
* *
When Lisa arrived
home at fifteen minutes past three, she felt even worse than she had the
night before. Her appearance at the party was the talk of the day
at school, and much of what her fellow students had to say about her was
cruel at best. All she could hear were snickers whenever she walked
by a group of students, followed by riotous laughter after people thought
she was out of earshot. Worst of all, she had received a 96 on her
algebra test, only to see that Amy had gotten another perfect paper.
Amy. The cause
of all her problems. If Lisa had never heard the name Amy Anderson,
she would be so happy right now. But Amy’s name seemed to follow
her like an unwelcome shadow. Amy was always the perfect one, the
pretty one, the popular one. And what was Lisa? Number two.
The first loser. She was the quiet one, the strange one, the ugly
one. No matter how much she studied, how hard she tried, she always
ended being number two. Why couldn’t she be number one? She
poured her entire life into school, but what did it get her? It earned
her the honor of being the first person Amy could laugh at when she received
the CJHS Award for Academic Excellence, the middle school equivalent of
the title of valedictorian.
But the party had
been the last straw. At first, Lisa had accepted Amy’s invitation,
thinking her motives were genuinely cordial. When she arrived at
the party, she realized she would never fit in with Amy and her friends.
They were too superficial, concerned with their own appearances and evaluating
everyone else’s. The incident on the dance floor was the wake-up
call Lisa needed. Amy and her friends has set this entire plan up
to make her look like a fool. She couldn’t believe her classmate
would stoop so low.
Lisa looked around
for her parents, expecting them to ask her how her day went at school.
Of course, she would say everything was fine, whether the cafeteria blew
up or if the richest man in the world visited the school. She found
a note on the refrigerator held up by a heart-shaped magnet. Her
mother wrote that she and her husband had to get his car repaired and the
two wouldn’t be back for a while. Upon reading this, Lisa tried to
complete her algebra homework, but the problems were more complicated that
they had seemed at first glance and her parents returned home. After
a short conversation with them she went up to her room, closing the door
so she wouldn’t be distracted by the television downstairs.
She was working on
an algebra problem that required the use of the quadratic formula.
It was more time consuming than difficult, since she kept making so many
mistakes. Finally, in frustration, she slammed the textbook shut
and placed her paper beside it on her desk. She decided to stare
at the blue wall in front of her to clear her mind.
I’m
here Lisa. That seductive voice had returned.
At first, Lisa thought
she was dreaming and got up to get a drink of water. She stopped
in her tracks, thinking that if she were dreaming, she wouldn’t be thirsty.
She then remembered she was once hungry in a dream because she hadn’t eaten
dinner before retiring to bed. So she began to move again and in
the first step she took she bumped her toe against the edge of the desk.
“Ow!” she yelled uncontrollably, prompting her father to come to
the bottom of the staircase.
“Are you okay up there?”
he asked, his voice filled with concern.
“I’m all right,” she
replied after hobbling to the door. She watched him go back to the
family room, then returned to her seat, shutting the door behind her.
At least she wasn’t dreaming, and she hoped she wasn’t...
...insane?
Could this voice in
her head just be a figment of her imagination? Was it some secret
part of her that was trying to come out? If she found out she was
mentally ill, she would actually feel better. After all she didn’t
think she could handle it if the voice were real.
But what if it were?
Don’t
ignore me, Lisa. We have a lot to talk about.
Talk about what?
She had meant to say those words aloud, but somehow she knew that whoever
this voice was could read her mind, if not inside it.
Your
gifts.
Gifts?
Your
abilities. The ones you were born with.
This mental conversation
began to scare her. I don’t have any powers.
You
don’t? Let me see if I can help you tap into those resources.
Imagine, Lisa, a terrible monster. Focus
on every detail, every fang, every claw. Hold that image in your
mind.
Lisa obeyed the voice,
closing her eyes and imagining a monster. First an outline of the
creature appeared, looking a lot like a wire frame picture. Then
came the details. The being had a humanoid stance and physiology,
but the resemblance between this beast and man ended there. White
fur covered the entire body, from head to tail. The tail, as long
as one of the monster’s legs, swung freely, ready to whip anything at a
moment’s notice. It’s hands were not hands at all, but claws with
black talons at the end of each digit. Paws took the place of feet,
giving the creature a feline appearance. Strangely, the face was
strikingly human, a marked contrast to the creature’s body. Lastly
with all the features in place, Lisa clung to the image as though her life
depended on it.
Good,
the voice said with pride. It began to sound like a mentor and not
just a familiar stranger.
What do I do next?
she asked.
Now
think on how your fellow classmates picked on you. Think about Amy
and how she made you look like a fool. Pour all those emotions into
that image.
Lisa recalled the
events of the past few days-- the party, the stares, the mocking laughter,
and Amy’s face. Yes, the blue-haired girl seemed to be a ghostly
presence in every image. When she thought of Amy, a great wave of
anger and jealousy overcame her. Why her? The image
of the monster began to pulsate. Why is she always number one?
Unbeknownst to Lisa, a spot on her forehead glowed. It was yellow,
shaped like a crescent moon, and illuminated the entire room with golden
rays of light. I hate her. I hate her. I hate her...
Now
open your eyes, Lisa.
Lisa opened her eyes
and the creature she had envisioned in her mind stood directly behind her.
She turned around and nearly let out a scream before realizing the truth.
She, Lisa Wood, had produced this monster. She didn’t know how she
accomplished it or if she could even control this creature but one thing
was certain. The voice was right. She did have powers.
And now she was going
to use them for revenge. Revenge for the treatment she got from the
other students. Revenge for what had happened at the party.
Revenge for all of the outcasts in the world.
She didn’t need the
voice to tell her what to do next. It came automatically, as though
she had done this before.
Creature,
she commanded telepathically. I have a job for you. Find
Amy Anderson and throw her around a little. She’s at Oakdale Theater
watching “Mentally Impaired.” But don’t kill her. Just rough
her up a tad, okay?
The monster silently
acknowledged the mandate and disappeared, teleporting out of the room.
Then Lisa turned back around to face the algebra problem.
Suddenly, it appeared
to be a whole lot easier.
*
* *
Serena burst out in
fits of laughter for the fifth time in a row, prompting Amy to scold her.
“This is a movie theater.” Her voice was a loud whisper, respectful
yet admonishing. “If you can’t keep quiet they’ll throw you out.”
“I...can’t...help
it!” she shouted, giggles filling the pauses between her words.
The entire congregation of patrons that came to view this cinematic presentation
guffawed with her as the main character performed another foolish act.
“Come on, Amy,” Mina
reasoned. “It’s a comedy, you’re supposed to laugh.”
“Well, I don’t find
it so funny,” Amy replied. “It makes those of us who happen
to put more emphasis on study than others look like clowns. This
is obviously biased against people who happen to be ‘bookworms’.”
“No, it isn’t!”
“Then why is the central
character a stereotypical nerd? Why can’t there be a comedy with
a character that is both smart and handsome in the lead role?”
“Look at it this way.
We know you aren’t a nerd. You know you aren’t a nerd. Think
of this as a commentary on how people view geniuses like yourself and laugh
at their misconceptions.” Amy absorbed the thoughtful statement and
her expression changed from one of disapproval to a smile. Soon,
she let a slight giggle pass, for her the equivalent of a hearty laugh,
and enjoyed herself for the first time that night.
One of the doors underneath
the giant movie screen opened and the influx of light wreaked havoc on
the audience’s sight. After the door closed, most turned their attention
to the movie once more, but Mina and Amy watched what was going on.
They could see a tall figure enter the theater, but couldn’t identify it
for their eyes hadn’t yet adjusted to the darkness. They could hear
it walk up the aisle quickly. It slowed its pace before nearly passing
their row, then stopped itself directly beside Amy.
“Do I know you?” she
asked.
“No, but we’re about
to become acquainted.” A claw grabbed Amy by the neck and raised
her high in the air. The laughing crowd changed into a panicked mob
instantly and exited the area by any means possible. Mina and Serena
also ran with the crowd, making sure the monster didn’t attack anyone else
and to give them an alibi. The beast threw Amy on the sticky, filthy,
popcorn-littered floor. Each time she made a move to get up, it kicked
her before she could get on her hands and knees. The last of the
crowd left the dark chamber, and the movie stopped belatedly as the ceiling
lights turned on. Amy stopped holding back and swiftly pulled out
her transformation stick. Before she could change into Sailor Mercury,
the creature whipped her hand with its tail, causing her to drop it.
As she reached for it, the monster kicked the stick out of her reach.
It grabbed her by the collar and raised her into the air again. Just
as the beast was about to beat on Amy some more, it heard someone address
him.
“Okay, Negatrash.
I don’t know who or what you are, but I order you to let her go.”
“Who are you?” it
asked, turning around to see who had spoken to him. He saw two blond,
teenage girls dressed in strange attire. One was wearing a white
leotard with an orange collar and very short skirt of the same color.
Two bows accentuated the outfit, a navy blue one on her chest and another golden bow
on the small of her back. The other wore a similar outfit, except
the color blue replaced the orange and both her front and back bows were red.
“I am Sailor Moon,”
the one in the red bows began, “the champion of justice. I will right
wrong and triumph over evil, and that means you. On behalf of the
moon, I will punish you .”
“And I’m Sailor Venus,”
her companion added. “If you don’t drop her right now, you’ll be
sorry, buster.”
The creature replied,
“I’ll drop her, if that’s what you want,” and let Amy fall to the ground.
Immediately, it charged in the direction of the two Sailor Scouts.
Without flinching,
Venus shouted, “Venus Love Chain Encircle!” She shot a chain at the
creature, which wrapped itself around the monster’s body. Not only
was the being stopped in its tracks, the chain itself burned past the fur
and into the skin of the monster. Venus was surprised that her attack
was so effective. Usually she tied up the enemy and immobilized it,
but her chain didn’t have the damaging abilities of the other Scouts’ attacks.
Moon pulled out her
scepter, swinging it around at her weakened enemy as a taunt and shouted,
“Moon Scepter Elimination!” Energy traveled from the tip of the scepter
in a spiral to the creature, destroying it in a flash of light. No
dust, card, or crystal remained, however; it disappeared as though it had
never existed.
The two girls ran
toward Amy, who had just recovered both her bearings and her transformation
stick. “Are you okay?” Venus asked.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
She moved her head to look past the Scouts and saw that people started
to come back into the theater.
“Thank you, Sailor
Moon!” She raised her voice loud enough so that others in the theater
could hear. “Without you I would have been a goner.” Venus turned
around and saw what Amy was driving at. After giving a nudge to Moon,
the two Scouts shielded Amy from prying eyes as she placed her stick back
in her pocket.
“Now remember,” Venus
warned mockingly, “don’t try to take on the Negaverse by yourself.”
Sailor Moon joined
in. “If you see any danger, you won’t find us--we’ll find you, got
it?”
“Understood,” Amy
agreed. The Scouts ran out of the door under the movie screen.
Amy returned to the row she was sitting in before the incident took place.
A few minutes later, Serena and Mina came back with a large tub of popcorn.
“So Amy, what did
I miss?” asked Mina.
*
* *
Lisa absolutely hated
Sailor V novels. They were pointless, shallow, inconsistent, and
poorly written. Yet she was reading one at this moment, for her aunt
had bought the book for her and she didn’t want to insult her family by
not using a gift. Despite all of the things wrong with the paperback
there was one interesting aspect that caught her attention: the monsters.
Though each had an inherent defect that allowed the heroine to defeat it,
with a little editing Lisa believed she could create the ultimate monster.
Out of the blue, a
pain hit her in the back of the head. It wasn’t intense, but the
suddenness of it made her drop the book on the floor.
What was that?
she asked, searching for the voice.
No response.
You know what it
is, she thought.
But
you know too, the voice responded. You
know what has happened.
Lisa was puzzled at
first. I don’t underst--. Before she could finish that thought,
it became crystal clear to her what had just occurred. The creature
that she had made was destroyed. This confused her all the more because
she herself didn’t know how to destroy the monsters she summoned from the
depths of her imagination, let alone a regular girl like Amy. Then
again, Amy was no regular girl; she must have seen a weakness in the creature
unanticipated by its creator. Lisa was angered at the mere possibility
that Amy could have destroyed her creation and attempted to form another
one in the same manner as before. No matter how hard she tried, though,
she couldn’t bring the creature to life. Why isn’t it working?
she asked herself in frustration. She hadn’t expected a response
and gave up on trying to make another monster.
You
need to recharge, the voice told her.
How long?
Long
enough for a good night’s sleep. Lisa determined that
could be anywhere between seven and ten hours. You
can always try again tomorrow.
Yes, tomorrow,
she repeated. A new chance.
*
* *
“Where are they?”
Raye asked, pacing back and forth on the temple floor.
“Take it easy, Raye,”
Lita advised. She was sitting next to Amy and Luna, the former had
pulled out a textbook to study.
“They should have
been here by now!” At that moment, Serena burst in the room.
Her hand was on her chest as she leaned against the wall trying to catch
her breath. She needed five minutes to recuperate from the sprint
she had just taken, but Raye wouldn’t even give her five seconds.
“Why can’t you get here on time for once?!”
Serena gasped for
air before replying. “Jeez, trying to give someone a heart attack!”
Raye was about to
respond, but Lita stopped her, saying, “Don’t be so hard on her.
She told you yesterday that she had detention and she wouldn’t be able
to make it here by three-thirty.”
Raye retorted, “And
I also said that the meeting starts at three thirty, regardless of prior
engagements.” She emphasized the last two word while giving
Serena a glare of faked contempt.
“Then why were you
waiting for Serena to show up?”
“I wasn’t waiting
for Serena,” she lied. “I was waiting for Mina and Artemis to show
up. They’re as bad as she is when it comes to being anywhere on time.”
Those words had hardly left her mouth when Mina entered, carrying Artemis.
“Well, I’m sorry,
Miss Punctuality,” Mina replied, “but some of us have other things to do
than yell at people all day.”
“Like what?
Finding more excuses to be late?”
Before a full scale
war of the words could be launched, Artemis stepped in as the role of the
peacemaker. “Ladies, fight later. We have a meeting right now.”
Luna stepped forward
from her spot by Amy and cleared her throat. “Artemis is right,”
she said in a hoarse voice. Everyone had known that Luna had caught
a cold, but the sound of her voice still shocked all present in the room.
It sounded like a mixture of gravel, sandpaper, and broken glass all rolled
up unto one, and Luna’s throat felt that way as well, but she had to make
sure this meeting didn’t degenerate into a session of whining, arguing,
and fist fighting. “There is a new problem to address. The
Negaverse is at it again.”
Lita stood up and
balled her fist up and said, “If they want a fight, I’m ready.”
Amy closed her textbook, a signal that she was about to speak.
“Before we can even think about fighting, let’s make sure we know what’s
going on, first.”
“What do we need to
know?” Serena asked Amy. “A monster attacked you and we destroyed
it. End of story.”
Luna turned toward Serena and asked, “But don’t you think there’s
more to it than that? Someone sent that monster specifically after
Amy, not anyone else. This wasn’t your standard plan to collect energy.
This...was...” A coughing spell came over her and she couldn’t finish
the sentence.
“Personal?”
Mina offered tentatively. Luna nodded her head in gratitude.
Serena walked over to where Amy was sitting and whispered, “I
knew being smart would make people hate you, but not to this level.
What did you do? Put a virus in Melvin’s computer?” She laughed
at her own words, even though Amy didn’t find them so funny.
“Serena!” Raye shouted
in admonishment. “This is no laughing matter! How would you
like it if they were after you?”
“They might be,” Artemis
commented all too seriously.
“What!” exclaimed
Lita.
“What if someone knew
Amy was Sailor Mercury? What if they knew who all of you were?”
“I doubt that,” Mina
said. “In that case that monster would have tried to attack all of
us instead of focusing on Amy.”
“Maybe they just know
Amy’s identity,” Lita speculated. “I wonder how they found out.”
Amy decided to speak
up once more. “Perhaps we’re jumping to conclusions. There
might be another explanation.” This set off a chorus of opinions
running rampant, destroying any semblance of order in the meeting.
Luna, seeing that what she had tried to prevent came to pass anyway, whispered
in Amy’s ear. Amy stood up, picked up the massive textbook, and purposefully
dropped it on the floor. The sound of the book impacting with the
floor caused everyone to be quiet.
“Now that I’ve got
your attention,” Luna said, “let me say this. Regardless if Amy was
attacked because her identity is no longer as secret as we tried to keep
it, we have to get to the bottom of this. Someone sent that monster
and they aren’t going to let one failure stop them.” For a full minute
no one said a word. Finally, it was Raye who found the courage to
speak up.
“I’ll consult the
fire. It might be able to reveal something that we can use against
our mysterious opponent.”
“Just don’t take too
long,” Serena warned jokingly. “We might just have to go to the mall
without you.” Raye glared at Serena, before walking away silently.
She didn’t even have to turn around to know that Serena was sticking her
tongue out at her.
*
* *
Each step Lisa made
sent a shooting pain through her foot. She had worn her old shoes
today, not wanting to wear her new ones out so quickly. At first
they fit fine, but as the day wore on, they gradually became tighter, nearly
to the point that they would burst. To make it worse, Serena in one
of her many moments of clumsiness, stepped on her foot while trying to
make it to her next class on time. It didn’t help that she had to
stay after school for the science club she was in. It was the only
extracurricular activity she participated in and the sponsor for the club,
Mrs. Parker, was so busy that the club only met once every two months and
nothing ever got done. Most of the members of the club never showed
up to the meeting and were in it in name only. Strangely, Amy, one
of the few exceptions, wasn’t there and Lisa couldn’t have been happier.
She wouldn’t have to see the blue-haired girl until tomorrow. Now,
unfortunately, the relief of Amy’s absence had worn off, and her feet were
hurting from the walk home.
She faintly heard
someone call her name and looked around, hoping it wasn’t the voice again.
Instead, she saw Amy and the group of girls that were at her party.
Amy waved to her and Lisa waved back despite the urge to ignore her.
For a split-second, a feeling of deja-vu overwhelmed her, and she
knew these five as more than acquaintances. She asked herself where
she had seen them before, other than the party, but by the time she tried
to remember, the sensation had passed. Lisa continued on her way
home, while her aching feet gave her the incentive to walk home faster.
When she finally reached
her doorstep, she sighed in relief that her painful journey was over.
She stepped in the door and greeted her parents after which she immediately
went upstairs to her room to start on her homework. Her invisible
ally, though, had another purpose in mind.
How
was your day? inquired the voice.
Lisa was not surprised
to hear its question. Not very well.
What
happened?
My shoes were too
small for my feet.
Is
that all?
Lisa wanted to say
yes, but the memory of Serena stomping on her foot was too fresh.
No.
It
was that blonde, wasn’t it? The same one from the party.
The party.
She hadn’t forgotten the event, but when she remembered it this time, it
seemed different. Before she thought Amy was the cause of all her
troubles, but she realized as bad as Amy had been, it was Serena who was
the true ringleader of it all. Serena was the one who approached
her. Serena was the one who pushed he out on the dance floor.
Serena was the first person who laughed at her.
Serena was the reason
why her feet were hurting now. Serena’s clumsiness was worse than
her own, for at least Lisa didn’t hurt anyone with her lack of co-ordination.
Serena was responsible for all her pain, past, present, and future.
It was Serena, the true source of all her problems.
And Lisa was going
to make her pay severely.
So that bubbleheaded
bimbo thinks she can mess with me and get away with it. I’ll show
her.
The voice egged her
on. Think of Serena and how she always has
her clique of friends surrounding her. Remember what she did to you,
how she humiliated you.
Yes.
She obeyed the voice and concentrated solely on her hatred of Serena.
Already she was forming a monster in her mind, one designed especially
for her classmate. She closed her eyes and once again the crescent
shaped mark returned to her forehead, inundating the room with glow.
She opened her eyes and a stubby creature about four feet tall stood before
her. It had no eyes or nose, only two ears and a mouth full of razor
sharp teeth. Two wings jutted out of its back, more like a pterodactyl’s
than anything else. The rest of the body was shaped like a human’s
and was covered by scaly green skin, which sparked Lisa to create a name
for this monster.
Reptide.
She outwardly smiled at the name, then thought of a destination for this
creature. Now where would I be right now if I were a lazy, klutzy,
crybaby who is always late for class? Knowing Serena she’s probably
in the mall with her friends, having a good time. Reptide,
she ordered, go to Central Mall and make sure that idiot never bothers
me again. Is that understood?
It answered in a raspy
voice. “Yes, master.” A wicked smile crept on Lisa’s face as
Reptide climbed out of the window and took to the air.
*
* *
“So, did the fire
tell you anything?” Serena asked Raye as they made their way to the food
court of the mall.
“No. It was
almost as if that monster last night didn’t exist.”
“That’s impossible!”
Mina shouted before she remembered she was in a public setting. None
of the other shoppers noticed her outburst and she lowered her voice.
“I saw it with my own eyes.”
“Anything is possible
when the Negaverse is involved,” Raye countered.
But it wasn’t you
who was getting pummeled last night, Amy thought. She remained
silent, though, since it wasn’t in her nature to start an argument.
Without warning, a
winged reptile-like being crashed through the domed glass ceiling above
the center of the mall. In a panic, shoppers dropped their bags and
ran to the nearest exits. Reptide wasn’t interested in them, though,
and quickly spotted her target, Serena. It flew directly toward her,
but she and the others saw it coming and ducked. They beat a hasty
retreat to one of the deserted stores for cover, but Reptide saw them and crashed
through the display window. It made an attempt to grab Serena, but
the girls quickly dashed around it and out of the store. Seeing there was no one
in the vicinity, the five of them pulled out their transformation items
and lifted them into the air, shouting the words that would change them
into the Sailor Scouts.
“Venus Star Power!”
“Mars Star Power!”
“Mercury Star Power!”
“Jupiter Star Power!”
“Moon Crystal Power!”
No longer were five normal
young women standing there. In their places were the Sailors Venus,
Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Moon. Reptide stood on the balcony above
them, then took to the air.
My chain severely
weakened the last creature, Venus thought. It might work on this
one too. “Venus Love Chain Encircle!” She flung the chain at
the creature, expecting it to have the same results as in the previous
battle.
Reptide responded
by clasping its hands together, and forming a curved energy shield in front
of its hands. It then aimed the shield in the direction of the chain,
which bounced harmlessly off the energy shield and returned to Venus.
She froze for a second upon seeing what happened, only to jump out of the
way at the last moment.
Jupiter couldn’t believe
it either, but chose to attack anyway. “Jupiter Thunder Crash Zap!”
Once again, Reptide countered with the energy shield, but directed the
electricity at Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon leapt out of the way, but had landed
hard on her arm. Reptide dispelled the shield and swooped down at
her, but Mars knocked Moon down and covered her in the nick of time.
The other Scouts rushed over to Sailor Moon and surrounded her as Reptide
reached the peak of her swing.
“When she comes down
again,” Mars commanded, “let’s nail her.” They readied themselves
for Reptide’s descent. But this time, Reptide dove with its arms
clasped in front of it.
“She’s forming another
shield!” Venus shouted. They kneeled on the ground to protect
Sailor Moon, ducking each time the creature came back down.
“Mercury,” Mars suggested.
“Why don’t you see if this thing has a weakness?”
Mercury followed the
advice and let the visor appear over her eyes. Almost immediately
after doing so, she expressed her shock in a hushed voice. “I don’t
believe it.”
“What?” Mars
asked.
“The creature isn’t
showing up on my visor.”
“Your visor sure picked
a good time to mess up on us.”
“The visor is working
fine. It’s reading all of you.”
“So in other words,
that creature has some sort of stealth power which makes it undetectable
to your visor.”
“Either that...or
it’s just an illusion.”
“Shades of Emerald...”
Venus muttered, remembering the all too clearly the battle with the dragon
in Crystal Tokyo.
Mercury turned to
Venus. “What was that?”
“Never mind.
The only way we could attack this thing is to get it on the ground.”
Jupiter asked, “But
how are we going to do that?”
An answer to her question
arrived in the form of a rose that struck Reptide in its left wing.
Instantly, Reptide screamed in pain before hitting the floor with a thud.
It recovered quickly, though, and was on its feet before any of the Scouts
could move. However, the wing was clearly broken and the creature
was earthbound.
“My wing!” it cried.
None of the Scouts were paying attention to Reptide. Instead their
eyes were focused on Tuxedo Mask, who had leaped down from above.
“That troll shouldn’t
be much of a threat now,” he declared. “Why don’t you ladies take
it from here?”
“Right,” everyone
agreed simultaneously as they got to their feet. They wasted no time
in splitting up, surrounding Reptide. Sailor Moon gave a slight nod
of the head, a gesture that launched an onslaught on the creature.
“Jupiter Thunder Crash
Zap!”
“Mars Celestial Fire
Surround!”
“Mercury Ice Storm
Blast!”
Reptide couldn’t deflect
all the different energies at once and though it repelled the rings of
fire, both electricity and arctic cold struck its sides causing it to fall
to one knee.
“Venus Love Chain
Encircle!” Reptide clearly saw the chain coming toward it, but couldn’t
erect a shield in time to stop it. Though it did not burn into the
creature’s skin, it tightly wound itself around Reptide to immobilize the monster.
Sailor Moon produced
her scepter and pointed it at the being. “Moon Scepter Elimination!”
With both anger and fear she emphasized her words, staring directly into
the mouth of Reptide. A few seconds later, the bright light of destruction
signaled its end. Sailor Moon gave her fellow Scouts an uncertain
look, knowing that though they won the battle, the nightmare was not yet
over.
*
*
*
Upon the soft bed
Lisa slept soundly, peaceful and sweet images dancing in her head.
She had completely forgotten about the monster she created and why she
had made it in the first place.
Then the pain hit
her again, waking her up and refreshing her memory. She looked at
the clock, which read 11:15. Reptide had lasted quite a while, yet
in the end it had been destroyed like her previous creation. I
don’t understand. Who is destroying my creations? Why would
someone protect the very people I despise? How did those responsible
for this know when and where to be? And how did they get a hold on
this information? Somebody knows too much. She stopped
her rapidly pacing thoughts and called out to the voice. You!
What do you know? Tell me.
There was no response.
Answer me!
No reply came and
Lisa knew she wouldn’t get one. The voice had deserted her, leaving
her to figure out a way to learn the answers to these questions.
There had to be something she could do to find out what she wanted to know.
All of a sudden, a plan began to form in her mind, one that was certain
to provide all the answers to her questions. She let the call of
sleep tempt her once more, all the while thinking of what monster to create
next.
*
* *
Serena couldn’t concentrate
on Miss Haruna’s lesson today. This time it wasn’t lack of sleep
or initiative, though; fear seized both her body and her mind. Somebody
knew her secret identity and that person could attack her at any time he
or she wished. Nowhere was safe, not even the very school she attended.
All she was able to do was hope that a monster wouldn’t come running through
the classroom to attack her again.
People stood up from
their seats and exited the class before Serena realized the bell had rung.
Molly tapped her on the shoulder, trying to break her out of her daze.
Serena stood up and collected her belongings, exiting alongside her friend.
While they were walking down the hall, Molly asked her, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she answered.
“I’m fine.”
“I know what you’re
going through.”
Serena looked at Molly
with disbelief. “You do?”
Molly shook her head
in confirmation. “Uh-huh. You’re scared another monster’s going
to come and attack you.”
“How do you know that?”
Serena narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
“I get attacked by
monsters all the time, Serena. If anyone knows what fear feels like,
it’s me.”
Serena silently scolded
herself for being so paranoid as to suspect her best friend as the culprit.
“How do you deal with it?”
“At first I used to
be afraid all of the time, but after a while, I realized there was nothing
I could do about it. That’s not to say I don’t get sacred sometimes,
but I have to push fear away and continue on with my life.” Molly
paused and saw that even though Serena was listening, her words of comfort
were doing little good. “I’ll help you get through every day you
need me to. Whenever you get scared, just glance over in my direction
and I’ll look at you to make sure if you’re okay. Try to push past
the fear. It’ll always be there, but it’s easier to focus on your
schoolwork if it’s at the back of your mind.”
The advice calmed
Serena’s nerves slightly. “Thanks. I’ll try it.”
Molly looked at her
watch and saw that there was less than a minute left for the two of them
to get to class. “We’re going to be late!” They ran down to
the other end of the hall. They were slowed by a mass of screaming
people running in the opposite direction.
“We must not be the
only ones late,” Serena remarked just before a short girl ran into her,
knocking both of them over.
“Get out of the way!”
she yelled as she leapt to her feet and continued along with the crowd.
Molly helped Serena up and the two wondered what was going on. They
hadn’t heard any fire alarm and the teachers were still in their classrooms.
That changed quickly as Miss Haruna ran past them in terror. Before
they could move, the reason for the mass hysteria manifested itself.
An eight foot tall creature with four arms, a pair of insect wings, and
a tail ran in the direction of the crowd. Lisa was in its clutches,
her screams piercing the air like a knife.
Molly ran down the
nearest stairwell, but Serena remained still, stunned by what she had just
seen. She shook off her disbelief and grabbed her brooch. “Moon
Crystal--” she began, but before she could finish the phrase, she felt
someone pull her arm. She turned around and saw Molly, trying to
move her.
“Come on, Serena,”
she said. “Let’s get out of here.” The two of them left the
building, but Serena promised herself she would return in a minute.
*
* *
Five minutes had passed
since Lisa summoned this monster, and it was five minutes too long for
her. She didn’t like being grabbed by the waist and carried like
a toy and she was getting impatient. Besides, her voice was getting
hoarse from all of that yelling and she doubted she could keep it up much
longer. The school had been emptied out fairly quickly, except for
the stragglers who needed a little persuasion to run. She worried
what she would if no one would come to save her. She still hadn’t
figured out to cause her creation to vanish and she certainly didn’t know
how to destroy it.
Both beast and master
were on the second floor of the building, next to the window that was directly
above the courtyard where most of the people had gathered. Perhaps
she hadn’t gotten her savior’s attention and considered telling the monster
to break through the window and fly above the courtyard. Fortunately
for her, she didn’t have to do that yet as someone yelled, “Hold it right
there, Negatrash!” Lisa and her monster looked around but saw nothing.
“Help!” she yelled,
simultaneously commanding the creature. Tell me to shut up.
“Shut up!” it shouted.
“Let that girl go!”
a second voice yelled. It was lower than the previous unknown one.
Tell them to show
themselves, Lisa commanded.
“Show yourselves,”
the creature said.
Three girls dressed
in sailor suits entered the hallway, each from a different direction.
The first, a blue-haired girl with a skirt of the same of the same color
came out of a door to the monster’s left. The second, a tall brunette
with a green skirt, entered from the stairwell to its right . Finally,
the third appeared in the intersection of the hallways directly in front
of the creature, but some distance away from it. Lisa recognized
the last girl; she was Sailor Moon, a mysterious heroine who had saved
the world from evildoers several times before. There was something
else about her and the other two that was familiar, but she couldn’t put
her finger on what it was.
“Release that poor
schoolgirl!” Sailor Moon ordered.
Lisa wanted to tell
the creature to let her go and get this part of the plan over with, but
it would make little sense for it to free her from its clutches simply
because the three girls told it to. Also, she didn’t want to make
it too easy for the three to defeat this creature.
Fly out of the
window, she commanded. And make sure you have a tight grip
on me. She closed her eyes as the creature tightened its hold
on her, impairing her breathing. In one huge backward leap it jumped
out of the window, breaking the glass into a thousand pieces. This
time, Lisa screams were of true fear. She was afraid of heights and
wondered what possessed her to do such a thing. All she could think
of was falling, and opening her eyes didn’t help matters either, for she
saw how far above the ground she was. But she forced herself to remain
calm, remembering that a stray thought could be taken as a command and
send both her and creature plummeting to the ground.
Land in that parking
lot over there-- gently! Once again, the being obeyed its master
and landed smoothly in the parking lot in front of a supermarket.
She tried to exhale in relief, but the creature continued to crush her.
Loosen your grip on me a little. I need to breathe. The
being loosened its grip on her, allowing her to breathe freely. She
noticed that most of the shoppers hadn’t instantly turned in terror upon
their appearance. In fact, no one seemed to notice the two were there.
Lisa was about to change that with a command.
Scare the people,
but don’t hurt them unless they attack you first. In response,
the creature let out a loud, inhuman shout that echoed throughout the area,
sending a crowd of shoppers to their cars in fear. People cleared
out of the area more slowly than they had done at the school, but within
ten minutes, nearly all the shoppers were out of the area. Still, she wasn't going to sot in one spot forever. If Sailor
Moon and her sidekicks didn’t come soon, she’d have to find another area
in which to cause trouble.
“Stop right there!”
came a cry from behind. The creature turned around so both it and
Lisa could see Sailor Moon with her fellow heroines behind her.
Laugh at them derisively.
Then tell them you want an exchange.
The creature laughed
maniacally and said, “I want an exchange.”
No! Not like
that! I meant-- Before she gave the order, though, she
reminded herself that it did exactly what she commanded it to do and that
she had to be more explicit in her orders.
“No negotiations here!”
the girl in the green skirt shouted angrily.
Repeat this word
for word. Lisa gave the being the message and it repeated her
thoughts. “Oh really? And what if I were to break this girl’s
neck?” Bring your lower left hand toward my neck, but do it slowly.
The creature did as
she ordered, causing Sailor Moon to shout, “No!”
Stop and say this.
Instantly it stopped and repeated the following words. “We have a
deal, then?” For several tense seconds, the three girls glared at
the monster. Lisa studied each of them, knowing she had seen these
people before, but something prevented her from figuring it out.
Finally she rested her eyes on Sailor Moon’s brooch, and suddenly her vision
began to blur, as if she had set off a security system by looking at it.
She focused her eyes past the blur, past the false image being projected.
After a few seconds she recognized the brooch and was in such shock that
she didn’t hear the words of the wearer.
The brooch.
It’s Serena’s!
“The brooch,” the
creature began.
No! Stop!
Don’t say anything else. Instantly the creature became silent.
“You want my brooch?”
Sailor Moon asked. Lisa was only half-listening though. Her
mind raced with a panicked understanding. Of course, it all makes
sense now. That’s why my creatures were defeated. They didn’t
stand a chance, not with Serena around. I bet that clumsiness is
just an act to throw people off. She looked at Sailor Moon’s
face and now it was obvious she was Serena. The hair, the eyes, and
the voice were all sickeningly familiar and it amazed her that she couldn’t
see the resemblance before.
She decided to try
the same trick with the other heroines in the area. First she laid
her eyes on the girl with the green skirt and the pink bows. She
wasn’t wearing a brooch, so she stared at her face. At first, she
encountered the same the same haze, but it was easier to push through.
At the discovery of the girl’s identity, she was surprised, but not as
surprised as when she saw through Sailor Moon’s disguise.
Lita Hightower
is that person? With someone like her on the team, no wonder they
always come out on top. Now for the blue one. She pushed
past the barrier even easier this time and had to scream to keep from gasping.
Amy? Amy
Anderson is this heroine? Lisa’s blood began to boil. How
dare she! Can’t I just for once have something unique? Why
does she get to have powers too? Why does she have to one-up me at
everything I do?
Sailor Moon broke
Lisa’s train of thought when she yelled, “Stop hurting her!”
Ask her if we have
a deal.
The creature asked,
“Do we have a deal?”
“I’m sorry.
I can’t.” She looked down at the brooch she wore. It wasn’t
a matter whether Lisa’s life was more important than being Sailor Moon,
but she couldn’t part with the brooch even if she wanted to. It was
a part of her now, like an arm or a leg and she couldn’t give it up.
“Then the girl goes.”
Perfect. Now lift me in the air by the throat with your upper right arm.
It followed her directions to the letter. A little looser.
You don’t want to choke me for real. She looked at the three
girls once more, hoping one of them would aim an attack at the creature
now that she was away from its center.
“Mars Fire Ignite!”
a high voice shouted. A fireball came out of nowhere and struck the
monster in the arm it held Lisa with, severing it from the body.
She cried out, partially because the monster had been damaged so easily,
partially because the fireball nearly hit her, and partially because none
of the three she was facing had said anything.
Both Lisa and the
creature turned around to see who had “saved” her. It was another sailor-suited
heroine, except she was wearing a red skirt with matching high heels.
She looked at her face for two seconds and pushed past the blur and saw
that she was one of the girls she had seen with her classmates yesterday.
She had no time to react when a different attack came from another direction.
“Venus Love Chain
Encircle!” In a fraction of a second, the creature was tied up in
a golden chain. Lisa ran away from the being, knowing she had to
get out of the way for these fighters to destroy it. She glanced
behind her and noticed there was another heroine on the scene. She
deduced that it was the fifth girl of the group from the day before but
she looked at her face for confirmation and was correct once more.
Attack them, Lisa
commanded when she was a safe distance away from the monster. She
continued to run, though, until she reached the store and waited behind
the corner, peeking at the fight every few seconds. Being nearsighted,
she was glad she had cleaned her glasses before she brought this creature
forth and watched the battle with great interest. She didn’t know
which side to support. The creature had served its purpose, so it
wouldn’t matter if the Scouts destroyed it. But if it won, Amy, Serena,
and their friends would be out of her life forever. If it lost, then
this perfect opportunity to get rid of her enemies would be gone.
But is it what I really want? I know I wanted Serena dead last
night but was I thinking straight? I don’t want to kill anybody.
She wondered if she should at least try to make the creature disappear or end it right here, right now. Then she remembered her other reason for creating this being -- to see how the beasts from her imagination were eliminated. She at last made her decision and let the fight take place, with the better creature or heroines winning.
“Jupiter Thunder Crash
Zap!” The creature leapt into the air to avoid the attack and hovered
there, beating its wings so quickly that they couldn’t be seen. It
opened its palm and fired a beam of energy from its hand directly at Sailor
Moon. The target leapt out of the way, narrowly missing a certain
demise. The being then set its sights on Sailor Mars, but instead
of swooping toward her or firing an energy beam at her, it hovered in the
air for a few seconds.
“Mars Celestial Fire
Surround!” Rings of fire were shot at the creature, but it deflected
by creating three balls of energy from each remaining hand, which pushed
past the rings and orbited around Mars. They created a translucent,
hemispherical barrier around the Scout. Mars shot a fireball, but
it dissipated upon hitting the edge of the barrier. Next she tried
to ram the forcefield, but it was to no avail. The monster then opened
its palm again, firing another beam at Mars. With no room to move,
Mars curled into a ball, and the energy grazed her back, making a tear
on her uniform and exposing the skin there.
“Hang on, Mars!”
Jupiter was about to summon more thunder until Venus and Mercury grabbed
her arms.
“No!” Venus shouted.
“You’ll hit Mars.”
“Then how are we going
to free her?”
Mercury replied, “That
forcefield lets energy in, but not out. If we were somehow able to
trap the creature in its own barrier...”
“And how are we going
to be able to do that?” Moon asked.
Venus answered.
“Simple. Leave it up to me.” Before anyone could stop her,
she cried out to the creature. “Hey ugly! Why not pick on somebody
your own size?!”
The creature turned
to face the one that addressed it. Another beam of energy came from
its palm, but it was directed at the entire group. Once again, the
Scouts evaded the attack in their own individual ways. Venus separated
herself from the rest of the group and continued her verbal assault before
it had a chance to fire a blast at one of her teammates. “Over here,
dummy!” It threw the three orbs if energy at the Scout, but she performed
a barrel roll to the side and barely avoided it. The energy balls
formed a barrier similar to the one that encased Mars.
“Missed me!” she taunted,
sticking her tongue out for effect. In predictable fashion, the creature
fired more energy blasts. Venus dodged them all but stayed near the
barrier, making sure it was at her back. “Can’t you do better
than that? You’ll never get me at this rate.” The creature
ceased its energy blasts and hovered once again. Venus stood still,
hoping that the creature would chose to descend instead of firing more
energy at her. Her guess was correct, for the being had started to
swoop down on her. She leapt just as the creature was about to hit
her, and it collided with the barrier behind her. While in mid-air,
she turned around and initiated her attack.
“Venus Meteor Shower!”
The thin beams went through the barrier and assaulted the creature, which
cried out in pain. It was only the beginning of the end for the monster.
“Mercury Ice Storm
Blast!” An arctic wind emitted from Mercury’s hands and headed toward
the being, freezing it solid. Moon pulled out her Crescent Moon Wand
to finish it off.
“Moon Scepter Elimination!”
The rod emitted white, crescent shaped energy, pelting the enemy with blow
after painful blow before it finally faded away in a bright flash.
Instantly, the barrier around Mars vanished, as well as the damage from
the energy beam.
Behind the store,
Lisa was brought to her knees by the pain and struggled to keep herself
from falling over completely. Once the pain lessened, she ran toward
the five that defeated the monster and said, “Thank you.”
Now ask them who they
are, she told herself. “Do you guys have names?” she asked, instantly
regretting the words that came out of her mouth and smacked her forehead
with the heel of her hand.
The leader of the
Scouts decided to answer the ill-phrased question. “I’m Sailor Moon.
To my left are Sailor Mercury...” Amy smiled and nodded her head.
“...and Sailor Venus.” The blonde also smiled, but did not nod her
head. Sailor Moon then turned to her right. “These two are
Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter.” Lita smiled as well, but the one
with the violet eyes burned a hole through her with her gaze. Lisa
stared at the five one more, and another wave of deja-vu crashed
into her. Something else about these girls was familiar, but try
as she might, she couldn’t understand why this feeling was so strong.
“I thank you again,
Sailor Scouts. I guess I’d better get back to school now.”
Before she could move, Sailor Moon grabbed her by the arm, and Lisa feared
the worst.
“Are you sure you’re
feeling okay?” She released her grip on Lisa’s arm once she saw the
girl wasn’t going to run away.
“They probably closed
the school down for the day because of the incident,” Mercury added.
“I suggest you go home and try to recover from this attack. Your
house isn’t far from here, is it?”
You know full well
my house is only a couple blocks away, she thought. But those
words never made it to her mouth and instead she replied, “Okay. Maybe
you’re right. I think I’ll head home.” She turned and walked
away, musing about the deja-vu flash once more.
*
* *
Crossroads Junior
High hadn’t closed for the day, as Sailor Mercury had predicted,
but continued on its regular schedule. Lisa found out several hours
after she awoke from her long nap. For a minute, she wondered why
she fell asleep so easily, then remembered the excuse she gave her parents
for being home so early. She said she felt ill, and in an effort
to help her recover they administered several medications, most of which
would make her drowsy individually. The combined effect of the drugs
was similar to a powereful blow to the back of the head, and for the past four
hours, darkness was her only company.
When she woke up,
she went downstairs to get something to eat. Waiting for her was
her mother, who asked, “And I thought you were going to enjoy your nap?”
“I think I’ve slept
enough. Anything happen while I was out?”
“One of your classmates
dropped by. She said you had homework and left a note describing
the assignments.”
Homework, she
thought, then that means-- “Oh no!”
“What’s wrong?”
“I left my backpack
at school.”
“No, she brought it
over here for you.”
Lisa saw that it was
beside the couch and walked over to it. Who would do this for me?
I don’t have any friends.
“Who stopped by?”
she asked aloud.
“She said her name,
but I forgot. It’s on the note.”
Lisa picked up the
paper and read the handwriting, the anger inside her ready to explode once
she saw it. It was Amy, the one told her to go home, that now informed
her of the work that she missed. She crumpled the paper in her anger
filled fist and was about to throw it away when she realized she would
need it to do her work.
“What’s wrong?” her
mother asked.
“I’m fine,” she replied,
but her voice belied the anger inside. Seething she picked up her
backpack and went back to her room to catch up on her work. Her mind
could only focus on the treachery of the person who had tried to save her
life. How could she? How could she do this to me?
Maybe she didn’t want me at school because she didn’t want me to see her
and her friends come in late. No! That’s not it. Amy did this
on purpose, trying to get me to fall behind on my schoolwork, then rubbing
it in my face by trying to sound so innocent when she stopped at my house.
My house!
Your
anger is just, the voice said. But
you can’t let it cloud your thoughts.
Lisa didn’t appreciate
this entity disturbing her in the middle of her mental rant. What
now? I don’t have time for this.
You
have nothing but time. We need to talk.
About what?
I’m not about to create another monster.
The Sailor Scouts. Their names and appearances are so familiar.
I see Amy, Lita,
and Serena every day at school...
No,
it’s something else. Focus on them again, but don’t put any emotion
into it. Focus on their names.
Moon. Mercury.
Venus. Mars. Jupiter. Four of the five are planets in
the solar system, but a moon isn’t a planet. Maybe it has something
to do with Roman mythology. Merc--
Of course! the voice interrupted. Why
didn’t I think of it before?
Think of what?
Lisa,
I believe it’s time to remember your past. Your true past.
What?
Close your eyes and let me guide you. Lisa shut her eyes,
clearing her mind of any thoughts. Good.
Now let me show you your true past. Slowly an image began
to form in her mind. It was an image of a newborn baby. She
had a crescent moon shaped birthmark on her head, and a discolored, circular
birthmark on her face.
It can’t be!
Lisa exclaimed.
Yes,
that’s you. Back then your name was Mona. You were born on
the Moon, a Lunarian, and you had special abilities. The
baby’s parents picked her up. They were dressed in white garments
trimmed with gold. See, your parents loved
you dearly. Suddenly, the crescent moon on the baby’s
forehead began to glow, and in front of her, a large red ball appeared.
She grabbed the ball and laughed. You had
the gift of psychokinetic projection, meaning you could make a psychic
image of any object you wished and could make it appear and disappear at
will. The crescent moon glowed once more and the ball
vanished. The baby formed a moon-shaped baby bottle full of milk.
She tried to suck on the nipple of the bottle, but none of the liquid would
enter her mouth. The image disappeared and the baby started to cry.
Unfortunately, they were just images of limited
substance and weren’t real.
I did that?
You
did. And for the first two years of your life you were happy, but
that soon changed when you started to play with other children.
Lisa’s surroundings darkened again, then brightened to reveal a different
environment. Here, the toddler Mona was surrounded by more Lunarians
her age. They were pushing her around, hitting her and kicking her.
You became an outcast, a pariah.
Mona created a shield to protect herself with, but after a large number
of hits, it vanished. She wailed loudly, and some more Lunarians
came to rescue her from the mob of children. They began to play with
her, and she was happy once again, but soon the parents of her newfound
friends arrived. The adults snatched the children away, and Mona
cried again, this time out of loneliness. You
were separated from the others by force. They didn’t want their normal
children to play with a freak. They considered the mark on your face
a bad omen, but it turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
What do you mean?
Lisa asked.
The memory faded to
black once more, only to let a different one form. Mona was now Lisa’s
age and was looking at the Moon Palace from a balcony. Even
though your parents were of nobility, because of your differences the family
was excluded from many of the activities on the Moon. Feasts and
balls held in honor of Queen Serenity were forbidden for you.
A tear streamed down Mona’s cheek as she watched the fireworks in the sky.
All you wanted was to be included, but what did
they do? They shut you out.
Sounds like my
past on the Moon wasn’t very different from my life here on Earth.
But
we haven’t got to the best part. You see, this is where I come in.
In that instant, Lisa was no longer an onlooker in the series of events;
she started to experience them as if she were there. She wiped the
tear off her face and threw herself on the bed, hoping to bury her sorrows.
Mona,
a tantalizing voice called.
Lisa looked around,
not recognizing the voice.
Mona.
Don’t cry. You don’t need to be part of their society. They
are shallow and stupid.
“Shallow and stupid,”
she repeated.
You
don’t have to be an outcast, Mona. You can form your own society,
a society where you, your family, and all those shunned in the Moon Kingdom
can be on top.
“How?”
If
you destroy the existing order, then you can replace it with your own.
All you have to do is let me join with you. I can unlock the hidden
power in you. Just let me into your heart.
Lisa accepted and
felt the power flow through her as she merged with the voice. However,
she was once again returned to the darkness, and made an observer once
again.
What happened?
she asked. Why did you let me experience the memory only to pull
me out?
Soon
you’ll be able to remember without my help. But what I have to show
you unfolds in a span of months, and I want to get to the point.
The next image was of Mona leading and army against Serenity. With
my help, you were able to convince a group of men to aid us in a rebellion
against the Moon Kingdom Even though all of us fought bravely...
Serenity held up her Crescent Moon Wand and lifted it up, poisoning the
air with its harsh lunar luminescence. Serenity
easily and quickly defeated us. She banished our followers to Earth,
but we weren’t in for such a kind fate.
Lisa soon found herself
in a dimly lit room made of stone with a deceptively wide opening leading
to a corridor. She stood a few feet away from Mona, who sat cross-legged
on the stone floor staring at he opening. Footsteps echoed through
the air, and not long after a group of six-- five teenagers and a woman--
approached. She recognized, the tall, slender woman as Queen Serenity,
and the identities of the five did not escape her. Those are the
same five.
Yes, the voice
replied. But in this time, they were the
princesses of their respective realms-- Sailor Mercury was the princess
of Mercury, and so on.
“I didn’t know there
was anyone down here,” Mercury said, her eyes wide with astonishment.
“Yes, there are a
few people here, those who had committed great crimes and would be too
powerful to send to Earth. Behind these forcefields they are powerless;
any special abilities that they may have are suppressed.”
“Mother,” Princess
Serena asked, “is this not the one who tried to revolt a few months ago?”
“Yes, this is Mona,
the leader of the insurrection.”
Jupiter could not
help but comment. “Her? She couldn’t have been the leader of that
rebellion.” Mona simply stared straight ahead, blocking out all of
the comments that had been made and those that were to come.
Serena exclaimed,
“Why, she is the one I heard about three of the nobles talking about yesterday!”
“The mutant?” Mercury
asked.
“She’s not a mutant,”
Venus quickly added. “She’s a monster!”
“Either way she’s
still evil,” Mars said. “She was a cruel, manipulative menace that
had to be dealt with. But then again it’s that way with you Lunarians,
right Serena?”
The moon princess
chose not to return the teasing remark and answered snobbishly, “She cannot
be a true moon child, not with that face anyway.”
“Serena,” Serenity
warned harshly. She refused to launch into a full harangue of rebuke,
though, to spare her daughter embarrassment in front of her friends.
Serena turned to her
mother. “But she is a prisoner, a captured enemy.”
“She has more in common
with you than you think. She is only slightly younger than you, and
she too shares the crescent moon insignia on her forehead. She is
a real Lunarian, someone who feels and thinks as you do. Under the
wrong circumstances, any of you young ladies could be in her position.”
All of the girls were
stunned and speechless until Venus spoke up. “This place gives me
the chills. Let’s get out of here.”
Lisa could read the
disappointment on Serenity’s face. The queen had hoped that they
would learn that even their enemies were people as well, but the five didn’t
seem to learn their lesson. Wordlessly, the five girls walked out
of the passageway, followed by the queen. After they were gone Serenity
she stopped and looked back at the captive as one of her many regrets,
then left the corridor. Slowly, the little light in this area faded
away, placing Lisa in the darkness of her heart.
The voice continued
its narration of her story. Finally, the
Negaverse attacked the Moon Kingdom, killing everyone, including crushing
us under the rubble of the palace. Yet Serenity restored the souls
of all those who were on the Moon at that time, giving everyone a clean
slate by erasing their memories. I still clung to your mind, so she
trapped me in your subconscious, and I was unable to do anything but watch
you live your life until now.
Lisa was overwhelmed.
All the images the voice had showed her started to jog her memory.
The teasing, the loneliness, the love of her parents, her abilities, and
everything else became crystal clear. She remembered it all as if
it were yesterday. For the first time in her life, she grasped who
she really was. She wasn’t Lisa Wood, a mere outcast; she was Mona,
the girl no one wanted to play with because she was too ugly. She
was Mona, the only person under Serenity’s rule with enough fortitude to
defy the queen’s authority. She was Mona, and she wasn’t going to
let the Sailor Scouts forget it.
The Sailor Scouts
and the five princesses were one in the same. She understood why
she hated them so. They were the ones who mocked her on the Moon
Kingdom. And ever since, they had never stopped making her life miserable.
Now that she knew the truth, they were no longer safe. The only thing
that could satisfy her now was their destruction.
But how can I destroy
them? she asked herself. Every monster I’ve created, they’ve
eliminated.
You
can’t destroy them, not by yourself at least.
What do you mean?
Join
with me, the way you did before when you were on the Moon Kingdom.
Remember the power we shared together.
Together...
Together
we can devise a plan to annihilate those brats once and for all.
We can do it?
Lisa asked with hope.
Yes. All you have to do is join with me.
Join with you.
Their thoughts were beginning to merge.
Let
me into your heart. Let our hatred of the five consume each other,
as the suns in a binary star system feed off of each other.
Yes.
She opened up her mind completely to the voice. A wave of dark energy
passed over her as she felt her thought mingle with the voice. She
let the voice take control and sweep over her, all the while feeling the
burning sensation of power filling her fingertip to toe. We
will destroy the Scouts. We will destroy the princesses, for they
are many and we are one. The good of the one outweighs the good of
the many.
Lisa opened her eyes,
yet it was two beings that stared out of them. Two beings that had
merged perfectly, completely inseparable by any force known to mankind.
Her eyes showed this by glowing white intensely for a second, but she quickly
put curtains up to the windows to her soul, returning them to their normal
color. When the time is right, she
thought, I will strike, and I never miss my targets.
*
* *
A few clouds marred
the starry evening, but it was still good weather for the grand closing
of Magicland. Despite being the last day that the amusement park
was open for the year, people showed up in full force for the event.
Roller coasters, packed with riders, quickly traversed the escalating and
dipping tracks, a perfect parallel to the curved, lengthy lines of people
who waited to be on the ride. The tempting scents of popcorn and
cotton candy tickled the nostrils of those who walked by the concession
stands.
Serena, Amy, and Raye
stood to the side as Lita and Mina competed at one of the a contest booths.
The contest was to throw baseballs into a set of targets, and the prizes
ranged from trinkets to giant stuffed animals. Lita had missed her
last target, giving Mina an opportunity to beat her. She wound up
to throw the ball, but in her preparation she leaned back too far and fell.
Mina was the first to laugh at her own foolishness and the others joined
in. Raye was the only one neither smiling nor laughing, which brought
her the attention of the others.
“Raye,” Amy remarked.
“You seem preoccupied.”
“Yeah,” Serena agreed.
“You’re not your normal mean self. What’s the matter?”
Raye gave her response
quietly. “Yesterday, right after we defeated that monster, I got
these weird vibes from Lisa. Didn’t she seem a little different than
when we were at the party?”
Lita replied, “I didn’t
notice anything. Why do you ask?”
“Something about Lisa
bothers me. I could sense she was hiding something. She felt
evil, different than when we met her a few days ago.”
Serena put her own
two cents in. “Relax. She was probably mad that she didn’t
get to go to science class. I can’t believe you’re still thinking
about it.”
A horned being with
purple leathery skin crashed into the booth in front of them, scattering
the crowd in a thousand different directions. The five girls ran
away as well, but instead of madly heading for the exit, they ducked behind
a wall.
“Shouldn’t we transform?” Lita asked.
At that moment, three children ran past them.
“Too many people,” Mina answered.
“Even if they don’t see us transform they could end up in the way. Besides, it doesn’t
look as if the monster is attacking anyone. It's just scaring them
away and destroying stuff.” For a minute, they remained where they
were, watching for the last few stragglers to clear out of the area.
Eventually, the sound of collapsing metal and concrete drove them to action.
“That’s it!” Serena
declared. “No one trashes my amusement park and gets away
with it. Let’s go.” They looked around to make sure that the corridor
was clear, then initiated their transformations.
“Mercury Star Power!”
“Venus Star Power!”
“Mars Star Power!”
“Jupiter Star Power!”
“Moon Crystal Power!”
Once transformed they stepped from between the booths. The park had
been completely vacated of patrons.
“I am Sailor Moon,
the champion of justice. I don’t know who or what you are, but in
the name of Magicland, I’ll punish you. Prepare to be dusted!”
The creature responded
by charging at the group, but all of the five leapt out of the way to avoid
it. Instead of goring the group, the creature now found itself surrounded
by the Scouts.
Mars decided she would
lead off the attack. “Mars Celestial Fire Surround!” The rings
of fire incinerated the creature, which like the previous three disappeared
in a flash of light.
Moon yelled, “Hey!
I’m the one who’s supposed to defeat the monster!”
“Something’s not right,”
Venus suspected. “That creature went down too quickly.” No
sooner than had those words escaped her lips strange laughter filled the
air. The sound echoed supernaturally all through out the area, sending
chills up Sailor Moon’s spine. From behind one of the few remaining
booths that were standing came the source of the laughter. Lisa,
in her school uniform, stepped out of hiding and stood akimbo several yards
away, cackling proudly.
“Lisa!” Sailor Moon
shouted. She was about to walk toward the girl before Mars stopped
her by placing her arm in front of Moon.
“Wait!” she cautioned.
“This isn’t the same Lisa you know. She’s radiating a lot of evil
energy, way more than yesterday. Something’s controlling her.”
Lisa smiled wickedly
and taunted in a loud voice, “Come on, come on. What are you waiting
for? Oh! I know what it is.” She took off her glasses
and threw them to the side. The quintet could see the bright, evil
glow of her eyes clearly now, even from the distance. “You didn’t
want to hit me with my glasses on. How civilized! Unfortunately,
it won’t help you now.”
“Lisa,” Mercury pleaded.
“Stop this! There’s no reason why we have to be enemies.”
“Oh isn’t there, Amy?”
Mercury gasped in realization of the truth-- Lisa had known their identities.
“Or should I call you Princess Mercury?”
Jupiter yelled, “How
do you know that?” Even the enemies who learned their identities
never found out that they were princesses of the Moon Kingdom and
ordinary junior high school girls.
“It’s quite simple,
actually. Let me show you.” She raised her right arm, then
encased herself in an energy dome. Mere seconds later, the hemisphere
disappeared, but Lisa was no longer standing there. She was replaced
by a young woman with a yellow crescent moon shaped mark upon her forehead.
Other than that, her face was that of Lisa, but her attire had changed
drastically. She now wore a silver leotard with a skirtlike attachment
in the back. She stood in Lisa’s place and the Scouts knew who she
was.
“Mona!” The
five shouted simultaneously
“You thought you could
treat me like an outcast, mock me, then just hope I wouldn’t remember?
Think again.”
Sailor Moon stepped
out in front of the group and pleaded, “Mona, Lisa, please listen to me.
I know we wronged you in the past and we haven’t been kind to you in the
present. We’re sorry for all we’ve done to you. Give us a second
chance the same way my mother gave you a second chance. Just let
all that resentment go. Tomorrow we can start clean and fresh as
if this never happened.”
Mona stared coldly
at Sailor Moon. “If I had simply been Lisa, or even Mona, I might
have fallen for your trick and accepted your pathetic apology. But
I’m not simply Lisa or Mona anymore. I’m...” Dark clouds formed
around her body, swirling up into the heavens. When the dissipated,
before the Scouts stood a new creature. She wore black, high boots
with three inch heels over a pair of gray tights. A black, sleeveless,
bodysuit covered her abdomen and torso, cutting off at her neck.
Her face was still that of Mona’s, except the crescent-shaped mark was
gone from her forehead and her eyes glowed even more intensely. This
was someone the Scouts had never encountered before, a new threat they
never could have imagined. This being was...
“Evelyn,” she finished
after the transformation.
“I’ve never felt such
strong vibes from any enemy I’ve encountered before,” Mars whispered.
“I don’t think we’re going to last long in a long drawn out fight.
We have to get her now.” Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Mercury Ice Storm
Blast!” The power and the fury of a powerful blizzard was unleashed
upon Evelyn, but the being stood firm, not choosing to run or attack.
She didn’t even blink as the wind and ice reached her and fizzled into
nothing. Mercury gasped, put her finger to her earring to activate
her visor, and pulled out her mini computer to analyze the situation.
Jupiter wasn’t going
to wait for Mercury to study her opponent before attacking. “Jupiter
Thunder Crash Zap!” Electricity was shot at the lady clad in black,
but as it reached where she stood it simply vanished.
Maybe a combination
of attacks will have an effect, Mars thought as she looked at Venus,
both having the same idea.
“Mars Celestial Fire...”
“Venus Love Chain...”
“Surround!”
“Encircle!”
They aimed their attacks
at the same spot, and the chain became red hot with the power of fire.
It circled around Evelyn, trapping her in a ring of fire. However,
she wasn’t trapped for long as she grabbed the chain in her hands, causing
it to fade away.
“No way!” Jupiter
exclaimed.
Sailor Moon thought
about pulling out her scepter, but wasn’t sure if that was going to make
the situation even worse. She glanced at Mercury, who had just turned
her visor off. “Did you find anything?” the leader asked the genius.
“Bad news, I’m afraid.”
“Our powers are totally
worthless in this fight, even combined, right?” Venus said in a tone
of voice that was in between inquisitive and declarative. “We’ve
figured that much already.”
“It’s even worse--”
But before she could finish, Sailor Moon cried out in surprise.
“It’s Tuxedo Mask!”
She announced as the black-caped man appeared on the scene. He stood
on top of the Ferris wheel, diverting Evelyn’s attention away from the
Scouts. She stared at him with a perplexed look, for he was an element
she hadn’t anticipated. Yet she wasn’t disturbed by his presence
but was only curious as to what he would do.
This gave Mars an
idea. “Mars Fire Ignite!” She shot a fireball to the right
of Evelyn, causing her to break her attention away from Tuxedo Mask.
He took advantage of the distraction by throwing a rose directly at Evelyn’s
chest. She was ready for it, though, and caught the rose without
even looking. It wilted in her fingertips and vanished into thin
air. All except Mercury were frozen in disbelief, who had started
to speak again.
“I was trying to tell
you that she doesn’t just nullify our powers; she absorbs them and turns
it into energy she can use. Now that she’s absorbed the energy from
that rose, she has enough power to utterly destroy us.”
“She’s right,” Evelyn
confirmed. “And thanks to you I can commence my attack.” She
extended her arms in front of her and waved them in a horizontal arc.
Just underneath her arms a black bow appeared, floating in mid-air.
Three arrows--two red, one blue-- appeared along with it, parallel to each
other and floating underneath the bow. She grabbed the bow with one
hand and one of the red arrows in the other. When she looked for
the Scouts they had remained still, hoping to draw her fire only to dodge
at the last second. She knew from their previous battles how the
Scouts tended to dodge projectiles. Sailor Moon would be the easiest
to hit, because of all the Scouts she was the most constant in the pattern
of avoidance. She aimed the arrow where she knew Moon was going to be at
and fired it.
As soon as the arrow
was launched into the air, each Scout went her own separate way, for they
were too far away to know which one she had set her sights on. Sailor
Moon reacted exactly as Evelyn had predicted, leaping to the right a couple
of yards. The arrow and Moon’s head were on a collision course, a
sight that would not be pretty. Sailor Moon would never know what
hit her.
Only because nothing
did. In an instant darkness fell over her eyes and she thought she
had been hit with the arrow. Then she looked up and saw the brim
of a top hat. Instantly she got to her feet and saw that she stood
over Tuxedo Mask, who was doubled over in pain. The cause of the
injury was apparent-- a red arrow had embedded itself into his stomach
and the surrounding area on his white shirt was stained with blood.
Evelyn didn’t give
the Scouts any recovery time, for immediately she fired the blue arrow
into the air. After reaching a certain height it exploded and blue
dust fell onto the ground of the vicinity. Mercury and Venus were
covered in the powder and fainted under its influence. Mars and Jupiter
found momentary cover, but a faint wind carried the powder to both of them,
and they fell unconscious as well. Tuxedo Mask fell to the ground
once the dust hit him, and Moon was left unprotected from the falling powder.
It took all of her strength to keep herself awake. Evelyn’s expression
didn’t change at this apparent success, but she gloated with her words
instead of her face.
“That dust will sap
your energy until there isn’t any left. Of course when that happens,
you’ll be nothing more than dust yourselves.” She set her sights
on Sailor Moon, who had dropped to all fours fighting the effects of the
powder. “You! Why can’t you be a good little moon princess
and die like your friends? Or do I have to finish you off myself?”
She picked up the arrow and put it in the bow. Drawing the bow taut,
she aimed at Moon’s chest, above the brooch. She released the arrow,
and a grin of satisfaction appeared on her face.
Sailor Moon’s response
was out of pure survival instinct. She knew she couldn’t use her
weapons on Evelyn and she couldn’t move in time to dodge the arrow.
“Moon Tiara Magic!” she shouted as quickly as possible and threw
her tiara at the arrow. Less than a second later, a flash of light
between Moon and Evelyn lit up the area. When it cleared, Sailor
Moon’s tiara laid on the ground and the arrow was nowhere to be found.
Evelyn seemed surprised, but only for a few seconds before laughing maniacally.
“You have merely delayed your fate, for the dust is still sapping your
energy. What can you do? Attack me?”
Sailor Moon looked
down at her brooch, the glint of the Imperium Silver Crystal catching her
eye. An idea hit her, and she silently asked herself why she didn’t
think of it before. “Absorb this,” she said as she took off her brooch
and lifted it into the air. “Moon Crystal Healing Activation!”
The pink light engulfed the area, completely surrounding Evelyn.
“I can absorb any
attack!” she proudly gloated as she took in the energy from the crystal.
At first, she welcomed the warm light into her body, hoping to make another
arrow or two out of it. But something was amiss, for the energy,
instead of strengthening her, weakened her. Worse yet it was splitting
her in two internally-- Lisa and Evelyn-- and undoing the fusion process
of before. She looked at Sailor Moon with confusion, knowing the
heroine had the answer. “What...is going on? What is happening to
me...us...you...”
Sailor Moon refused
to answer the question. Evelyn tried to walk toward Sailor Moon,
but the power of the Crystal prevented her from getting very far.
She dropped to the ground in a useless attempt at stopping the healing
process. In agony, Evelyn screamed as the body she had worked so
hard for reverted to Lisa’s original form, uniform and all. Evelyn
could feel herself slipping away from Lisa’s mind and clung to the girl
with all her might. Despite this, the Crystal’s energy was too much
for Evelyn to bear, and in a flash the healing energy pushed Evelyn out
of Lisa’s body. Lisa collapsed onto the pavement with a thud, moaning
softly.
At the same time,
Tuxedo Mask got to his feet completely recovered. The arrow stuck
in Tuxedo Mask’s abdomen disappeared along with the wound. The other
Scouts regained consciousness while Sailor Moon regained the strength she
had lost. Finally they made their way over to Moon came together
in one huddle.
“You beat her!”
Jupiter exclaimed with joy and wrapped her arms tightly around Sailor Moon.
“Jupiter...you’re....cutting
off...my air.”
“Oops.” She
released her hold on the blue faced girl.
“What should we do
about her?” Mercury asked, pointing to the fallen form of Lisa.
“She’ll come to,”
Mars answered. “We’ll just leave her here like we do when we restore
someone.”
“But shouldn’t we
be here when she wakes up? It’s going to be very disorienting for
her is she opens her eyes and finds herself alone in the middle of a deserted
amusement park. Besides, someone should help her home.”
“In that case, why
don’t you do it?” Venus asked.
“Yeah,” Moon agreed.
“Of course you’re going to have to make up a lie, but with your brains
that should be a piece of cake.” Mercury’s stomach turned at the
thought of lying, but when compared Lisa’s well being, her pride didn’t
seem to matter as much.
“Do you think she’ll
remember any of this?” she asked to cover her uneasiness.
Sailor Moon waved
her hand. “Nah! I’d bet she is going to wake up thinking this
entire situation was nothing but a bad dream.” Lisa started to stir,
startling the Scouts.
“Let’s get out of
here before she wakes up,” Mars advised.
“Are you coming with
us, Tuxedo--?” Before Moon could even finish the question he was
long gone. I guess he found his own way home, she mused.
Without missing a beat Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus walked away and disappeared
in the night air.
*
* *
When Lisa first opened
her eyes, her first instinct was to close them again. Before she
could do that, she saw a familiar figure over her. It didn’t take
her long to recognize the girl. It was Amy, dressed in a light blue
blouse and dark red pants. The urge to go back to sleep was fading
while the urge to speak grew stronger. “Amy?” she asked.
Amy nodded in affirmation.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Lisa
stood up on her own power. “I was in the amusement park...”
Amy handed her the pair of glasses she had previously cast off. “Thank
you.” Lisa put on her glasses and took a look at her surroundings.
“I’m not sure how I got here myself. How did you find me?”
Amy paused and squirmed
before answering. “I was here with my friends when a monster attacked
and scared everyone away. Outside the park I looked through the crowd,
but I couldn’t find you, so after Sailor Moon and her friends took care
of the monster, I went back inside to find you.” On response to the
story Lisa burst out laughing-- not a cackle, but a good natured laugh--
and puzzled Amy. “What’s so funny?”
Lisa stopped laughing
long enough to respond. “That whopper of a tale you just told me!
If you thought I was going to believe that...” She started laughing
once more, though she didn’t take long to stop. “I remember everything,
Amy, so you don’t have to make up any stories about what happened.”
Amy gasped in shock. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to attack
you or reveal your identities to the world. In fact, I want to apologize
to you and the others. I put all of you through a great deal of trouble
and I’m sorry for doing that.”
“If anything, I’m
the one who should apologize. I’m sorry for excluding you from my
activities. And I’m sorry for laughing at you when you fell on the
dance floor. I shouldn’t have been so inconsiderate and I promise
never to do it again.”
“The same here.
So do we accept each other’s apologies?”
For a minute both
paused, waiting for the other to speak first. Finally they both said,
“Apology accepted,” simultaneously.
It was the beginning
of a beautiful friendship that would last for years to come.