Chapter 154
It was still snowing though lightly enough to keep school in session. Serena slugged into school ten minutes later slowly brushing the snow off her shoulders.
"Late again Miss Tsukino?" Principal Oksua muttered watching her go in.
"Yeah..guess so.." Serena muttered and slowly moved up the stairs.
"Hmm..strange...usually she'd be in a massive hurry.must be the weather,"Oksua said and walked back into the school office.
"Principal Oksua..the superintendent's on the line..." his secretary said.
"Uh..why?" Oksua asked hesitantly.
"Says it has to do with all the damage that keeps being done to the school," the secretary said.
"Oh.." Oksua said.
He walked into his office and picked up the phone.
"I'm here Mister Superintendent."
"Don't call me that you imbecile..you make it sound like I'm sort of godlike being or something..I'm just a sixty two year old man from Okinawa..." the Superintendent barked. "And I'm stuck in a bad job at that..you want it?"
"Uh..well.."
"Trust me you don't.."
"Okay.."
"Anyway...you haven't had any more damage at Juuban have you?"
"Fortunately not lately.."
"Good..I'm curious though..how do you explain that the assorted evil forces of the universe always see fit to attack your school every once and a while."
"I have no idea sir."
"Oh..what was it with the last attack? Sixty seven people injured."
"Actually sir that wasn't a negaverse attack that was just D.V. Patterson."
"Who?"
"Oh..never mind..it's not important."
"I see."
"Serena aren't you even going to apologize for being late today?" Miss Haruna asked.
"I really don't feel like it Miss H," Serena said and slumped in her chair.
Haruna paused.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," She said and sighed staring at the grey sky and the falling snow.
"We all do.." the class seemed to reply in unison.
"Well then it's unanimous," Haruna said. The door swung open. Mina slid in the door with a smile on her face.
"Hello everyone," She said. "Sorry I'm late Miss H..I..just got caught up in the snowfall and I had to watch it some more...I'll be glad to accept detention...:"
"Mina..are you telling me you actually like this weather?" Haruna asked.
"Yep, when I'm not sick I like it," Mina said. "And I'm not sick so I like it."
"SIT DOWN!" Everyone else shouted.
"Ewww....something wrong?" Mina asked.
"Yes," the class snapped.
"Oh...well.don't mind me...I'll just uh be counting snowflakes," Mina said.
Everyone else growled at her.
Hmm...this is pretty odd. Mina thought.
What interesting reactions they all have. Michiru noticed sitting at the front of the room observing. She and Haruka had not been participating in the classes moans, but she sensed why they could feel that way. She didn't mind the snow..but the grey skies..the cold..it could get to someone if they let it. She knew Haruka wasn't her best because of it either.
"All right class..ehh.." Miss Haruna said. "You know I'm just not into this....let's figure out something else to do just to keep from losing our minds.."
The class all nodded.
The leader of the evil forces was not at all pleased. Their operations were still failing to get anywhere...the Sailor Scouts seemed to be everywhere..no matter what he did. But there was hope. He had a chance....he had to wait for the right opportunity and to grasp it when it came along. He knew the history. He knew how some previous enemies had been arrogant enough to leave things up to chance, to not press their advantage when they could. He would not make that mistake...he was sure of that.
Then it occurred to him.
"Where is Trid?" he asked.
"Right here sir..." a creature said floating out of the diminishing crowd.
"Excellent..you're just who I need.." the leader said.
"Yes sir...what is it that you want me to do?"
"Listen carefully..." the leader said.
At lunch that day...the scouts all sat around their table with varying degrees of weather depression with the exception of Mina who was still trying to understand the sudden change in her friends' demeanor.
Well..I guess it's the weather. She thought..but they were fine a few days
ago...maybe it's just that the sun has hardly come out in what now..a week? But
hey..I don't mind...I'll figure something out to help them..that's what I do.
They'll thank me for it later. She then set about making her own plans.
"It surprises me Haruka.." Michiru said as they sat at their own table.
"What does?" Haruka asked.
"Well..just how everyone seems to have become so depressed...especially with our friends..if you call them that.." Michiru said.
"Allies.." Haruka said.
"Fair enough..but they're the most optimistic people we know. They can find a silver lining to anything...and here they are all very low in the world," Michiru said.
"I know what you're saying," Haruka said. "This weather is annoying..not that it's depressing..I have enough to be concerned about..the weather is not an issue."
"Yeah I guessed that. I can't help...well..." Michiru stopped and paused.
"What?" Haruka asked.
"Oh it's just I wish I could do something to help them.." Michiru said.
"Really?":
"Yeah..I know you've been more about being on your own and all, but I wish that we could be better friends with them. They really are wonderful people."
"I don't doubt it.." Haruka said. "I just have trouble with the idea. Getting to close to them..we could lose our edge."
"I know..they're has to be someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to defend the planet...and that's us..but..Haruka...could it hurt all that much to just talk to them some more."
"You have been doing that haven't you..what do you think?" Haruka asked.
"I don't know.." Michiru said.
"You see why it's just easier to remain solitary," Haruka said. "Then you don't have this conflict."
"Yes, that's the trade off," Michiru said.
"Can I ask you two something?" Came a voice. The two looked in surprise to see Mina standing at the other end of the table.
"How did..you.." Haruka said..
"Was it your goal to sneak up on us?" Michiru asked with a slight grin.
"No..I just kinda did.sorry..." Mina said. "Me and my friends are good at that."
"We noticed.." the two replied.
"Yeah..uh..well..." Mina began.
"Please.sit down.." Michiru said.
"Yes..now that you're here..." Haruka said.
"Oh..uh thanks," Mina said and sat down.
"Uh you see..I've noticed you two are one of the few people not completely out of it over the weather...and I was just wondering if you had some secret or something.." Mina said.
"Secret?" The two asked.
"Well..we have plenty of secrets," Michiru said.
"But none that apply to your observation," Haruka said.
"Oh...I was just wondering," Mina said.
"Well you're not affected by the weather either...perhaps you have a secret..." Michiru said.
"Me?" Mina asked. "I guess that would make some logical sense, but there's nothing..I mean I like the snow..I mean I like the sun too..but it's not like I absolutely need to see it."
"That's ironic," Haruka said.
"Why?" Mina asked.
"Well..you're favorite color is orange right?" Haruka asked.
"Yeah, but it probably has nothing to do with the sun..." Mina said.
"I see.." Haruka said.
"Yeah...I mean..it's something about the weather..sure I get sick some of the time..and that's annoying..but..usually it goes by...I mean..it took me twice as long to get sick even though I was nursing my friends...last year..well..sort of nursing..actually..don't ask about that...please..." Mina said.
"We didn't.." the two said.
"Oh..well..sure I like winter...is there something wrong with that?" Mina asked.
The two shook their heads.
"I mean the way the snow falls, the trees, the sun, when it's out glittering off the fallen snow, the way your ears get cold to the touch....it's you know..romantic.." Mina said. "I don't see why everyone else doesn't see it that way..I mean..I thought some of them did, but you look over there..and I see practically despair...and almost overnight too."
"The weather can do that to people," Michiru said.
"The exposure to it for so long can get people down," Haruka said. "The cabin fever too."
"Yeah.that's what it is... cabin fever..heck..come to think of it I got a fever in a cabin, but I got over it," Mina said.
"What?" the other two asked.
"No..no..that's bad..but you're right..they spend all this time inside..heck..most of us go home and that's it..it must be hard...hey..even not talking to me could be adding to their suffering."
"Or not..." Haruka said.
"Hmm...but I think you're onto something..so..how do I..uh..combat this cabin fever?" Mina asked.
The two shrugged.
"That's hard to say," Haruka said.
"I assure you the same thing probably won't work for everyone," Michiru said.
"I have to try. I hate seeing my friends like this..thanks you guys," Mina said and hurried back to her table.
"A little too much enthusiasm I think," Haruka said.
"To solve one problem another may show up to replace it."
"That's what I'm thinking," Michiru said.
"Do we have any leads?" Ozaki muttered.
"Not really.." Nagumo muttered.
"All our collective resources..jeez...you'd think we'd find something out."
"There are two people we might get information from," Nagumo said.
"We can't ask our daughters, they'd tell Coral that we were snooping," Ozaki said.
"We may have to if nothing comes up."
"I guess you have a point there."
Colonel Patterson poked his head in the door to Nagumo's office.
"Sorry to just pop in like this..but I had a thought..." he said.
"Please Colonel..what is it?" Nagumo asked.
"Well...just hear me out.." Patterson said cautiously.
The two nodded.
He explained it to them.
"WHAT!" the two shouted minutes later.
"I told you to hear me out!" Patterson replied. "Uh..sir.." he added.
"Well..that would be just great wouldn't it?" Nagumo muttered.
"That would be all we needed..." Ozaki said.
"It was just a thought," Patterson said.
"Are you holding the ladder Chad?" Raye shouted down from the top of a wooden ladder she was standing at the top of brushing snow off of her roof with a broom.
"Yes Raye..I've got it," Chad said. "I wouldn't let you fall."
"I know that," Raye said. "Stupid snow...it's going to ruin that roof patching job we did, I just know it. And to keep that from happening I have to climb up here and scrape snow."
"I'd do it. You know I would."
"Yeah, but you need to be down there to catch me if I fell...I don't think things would work in reverse."
"Yeah..well be careful."
"I'm trying."
"Ooo...that looks interesting," Mina said walking up.
"Uh..it's not," Chad said.
"Definitely not!" Raye shouted straining to reach some snow at the far end.
"Want some help," Mina said.
"No Mina..that's okay.." Raye said.
"What? Don't you trust me?" Mina asked.
"It's not that..I'm almost done..and I'd prefer to do it myself.." Raye said. "Furthermore..I can only guess that letting you help would probably end up with the three of us lying in a heap on the snow."
"Oh..." Mina said. "What makes you think that?"
"Ehh..Mina..just go..okay?" Raye asked.
"Fine.fine.." Mina said. "Just trying to help."
She headed back down the temple steps.
"Maybe we should have let her help Raye," Chad said watching her go.
"Trust me Chad, I have my reasons," Raye said. "There..done.." she said and tossed the broom to the ground and slowly stepped down to the lower step. The step had frozen in the short time she was up there and seconds later she was falling right on top of Chad. The two crashed the snow.
"Ehh...guess we were able to fall down without Mina's help," Chad muttered.
"Yeah..well she has some sort of aura about her.."
"I thought Serena did."
"They both do!" Raye shouted.
"This is a problem.." Greg said.
"I've never had to go against a teacher before..how am I supposed to do it?" Amy asked. "Principal Oksua is right..it's our word against hers."
"If anyone could trip her up it should be us though," Greg said.
"There's a distinction I would prefer not to have had to earn," Amy said.
"We haven't earned it yet," Greg said.
"So true," Amy said.
There was a knock at the door. Amy answered it. Mina stood there.
"Oh..hello Mina," Amy said.
"Hey...can I come in?" Mina asked.
"Of course.." Amy said. "But we are quite busy."
"Anything I can help with?" Mina asked.
"I don't know..it's probably best that you don't get involved," Amy said.
"Oh..that whole evil teacher thing."
"Yes."
"At least you two have a reason to be depressed that's a good sign," Mina said.
"Whatever do you mean?" Amy asked.
"Oh..sorry..well..never mind..so do you have a plan yet?" Mina asked.
"No.." Amy said.
"We just know we need to do something," Greg said.
"Hmm....well..you'd think they'd notice something wrong if you two were doing badly.." Mina said. "I mean..if I did badly..sure..but..you two..no way..."
"Unfortunately that doesn't seem to help," Amy said.
"Not one bit," Greg said.
"Do you want me to run her over for ya?" Mina asked.
"Run her over?" Amy asked. "Mina please be serious."
"And even if you did what would you run her over with?" Greg asked.
"Greg..don't encourage her," Amy said.
"Encourage me? It was just a little joke..but if you gave the word I'm there.."Mina said.
"I don't think that will be necessary Mina," Amy said.
"Oh..okay..if you say so.." Mina said. "Hmm...well maybe I'd better let you two just figure things out..uh..bye.."
She hurried out. It's okay..there wasn't anything I could do anyway...she
thought. I have to keep going.
"So how was the football game?" Lita's father asked.
"Well the game itself was fine," Lita said.
"After you of course fought off the evil."
"Uh..well yeah.." Lita said.
"It seems to me though you really aren't needed as much..if you know what I mean."
"Dad I can't give up being a Sailor Scout.."
"Well when are you going to? Jeez...how many evil forces are there..and do they need you that much."
"Yes they do," Lita said.
"Tell me why."
"That's unfair I shouldn't have to write a thesis on the subject."
"Just tell me."
"Woah..time out..I'm getting some very negative vibes here.." Mina said popping up.
"How did you get in here?" The two Nelsons asked.
Mina shrugged.
"And more importantly..just what do you want?" Mister Nelson said.
"Well..you see..I couldn't help overhearing..." Mina began.
"You broke into our house.." Lita said.
"Nothing broke..." Mina said. "Uh..that I can't pay for..but...uh listen..see the reason you need Lita around is to uh..keep people like me under control..because some people would have you believe that I can be a handful..."
"Where'd they every get that idea?" Mister Nelson said.
"Don't know," Mina said. "But trust me...Lita is the glue that holds our very unregimented and relaxed organization together...uh..hmm..I tried not to lie..but that doesn't help anything does it?"
The two shook their heads.
"Well..nice talking with ya.." Mina said and dashed back out the door.
"She does have a point though.." Lita said.
"Yeah...I think she does.." Mister Nelson said.
Meanwhile. Mike, Steve, and Rick were all sitting on a park bench staring out into space.
"Stinking ducks..." Mike said.
"Yeah..migrating's too good for them.." Steve said.
"Pompous..." Rick began. The other two glanced at him.
"Uh..Pompous Ducks," Rick said. "And why should I care whether I curse or not?"
The other two shrugged.
"The girls hate it when we curse.." Mike said.
"Yeah...they hate that," Steve said.
"Well they aren't here," Rick said.
"No they aren't," the other two said.
A duck walked up to them and stared. The three stared back.
"He's mine!" The three all shouted in unison and dived at the duck which jumped out of the way letting the three fall right into snow.
"Are you three all right?" came Mina's voice. They all turned.
"Hey look, it's Mina.." Mike said.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Steve asked.
"Considering the circumstances of course.." Rick added.
"Hmm...well..that can be argued both ways," Mike said.
"You three aren't depressed, just pathetic!" Mina snapped and walked off.
"So are we supposed to receive a bout of enlightenment now or something?" Steve asked.
"No," the other two muttered.
"Hey Serena..." Mina said walking into her friend's room and hoping she wouldn't fail in her mission.
"Hold still Mina.." Serena commanded.
"Why?" Mina asked.
An orange bounced off Mina's head and flew several feet before landing on the ground.
"Aw..good..it does have good ricochet off a skull," Serena said and picked the orange up. "I'm glad you came along."
"Serena?" Mina said letting a nervous grin form on her face. "Why did you just hit me with an orange."
"It's nothing personal," Serena said. "I was just really curious and I couldn't hit myself with an orange the trajectory would be all wrong."
"Serena! You're not supposed to know what trajectory means!"
"Neither are you," Serena snapped.
"Granted...but this is strange even for you," Mina said.
"You forget Mina, I'm a math genius..a math genius who was figuring out the real life implications of a math problem I'm doing," Serena said.
"You're kidding, one of the math problems has to do with bouncing an orange off of someone's head?"
"No..but I always change the language to make the problem more fun to do...the original example was just a tennis ball and a wall..but I thought..what about an orange and a head..and then I wondered..just how close is the ricochet of an orange to the ricochet of a tennis ball and it's not a wall anymore...so..naturally.." Serena said.
"Never mind..." Mina said. "Are you happy?"
"Well..actually after that...I am.." Serena said. " And it was pretty funny..boink!"
She began to laugh.
"Don't worry it's all in the cause of science," Serena said.
Mina shrugged and started laughing too. It was pretty insane the more she thought about it.
Luna poked her head in the door.
"When those two are laughing hysterically I worry," Luna said. "The world could be at stake...though I couldn't figure out how..but..it just seems possible..."
"I know what you mean," Artemas said poking his head in too.
"Didn't you take over being the boys' guardian."
"Sure..but I try to limit my contact with them..they are crazy you know."
"Oh...like this is any less crazy."
"At least I'm used to it," Artemas said and sighed.
Trid skidded along the sewer water and into the headquarters of the evil forces.
"You were successful?" the leader asked.
"Yes, quite successful," Trid said. "I have acquired a large amount of energy..and by the time anyone figured out it happened..well...I'm here aren't I? Now I can deliver you the energy."
"That you are...and I'm going to send you out again..until they find out our methods. It's amazing how efficient these sewers actually are...and they go everywhere in the city," the leader said.
"Say..boss?" Trid asked.
"Yes."
"Well..I'm just curious..once we get this energy..just what will we do with it?"
"Hmm..fortunately I have a way to get close to the scouts..to destroy them before they realize what's happening..then..the sky's the limit."
"But boss..I don't mean to be all full of questions..but considering how the scouts usually seem to turn up no matter what we do..how can you be so sur?"
"I can't be sure..." the leader said stepping out of the shadows. "But then again..I have some experience in dealing with them," Nephlite said letting a grin form. Trid smiled back.
"Yeah..that you do," Trid said.
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CHAPTER 156 CHAPTER 157 CHAPTER 158 CHAPTER 159 CHAPTER 160