Chapter 211
It was very dark in Lita's room. She sat quietly as motionless as possible. Incense trickled through the room.
On her wall a clock ticked off the seconds repetitively.
A minute passed.
Two minutes.
Lita kept up her concentration.
Three minutes.
A car screeched around a corner. She kept herself under control, silent focused.
Four minutes.
A couple of birds started chirping to each other.
Peace. Lita thought. Birds are fine.
Five minutes.
The clock continued to tick.
Repetitive, but constant and unchanging. Lita thought. Let it blend in with the sounds.
The voices of a couple of kids passing by and shouting came through, but Lita didn't hear them. She was focused. She was on a different level.
Six Minutes.
Seven..
"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!" Came a shout and then explosion.
"VENUS! You just trashed a Mercedes!" came Sailor Moon's voice.
"Sorry..she's fast!"
"I'll get her!" came a shout from Guardian Neptune.
"Neptune..look out!" Venus shouted.
"Ah!" Neptune shouted.
There was a thud against the wall.
Lita's eyes snapped open and she hurried to the window. Guardian Neptune was lying in her yard slowly moving.
"Ehh..that hurt.." he said.
Lita looked out. In the street behind her house there was a battle proceeding. A Mercedes had been totaled and was now on fire. Sailor Moon, and Sailor Venus were launching attacks at a goddess who was practically dancing across the street returning fire.
A barrage of colored blasts flew over Lita's head. She looked up at the roof. Guardian Pluto, Uranus, and Guardian Saturn were up on there firing.
"Hey...what's going on?" She shouted.
"Oh..uh..hey Lita..our latest goddess attack," Guardian Pluto said.
"Why didn't you guys call me?" Lita asked.
"We didn't want to interrupt your meditations," Pluto said.
"Guess that didn't work," Uranus added.
"MARS FIRE IGNITE!" Came a shout. Fire flashed across the street. The goddess ducked under it and launched an attack catching Venus in mid jump.
"Why is this one so hard?" Sailor Moon whined.
"All right..round two!" Guardian Neptune said standing up.
"Neptune don't bother," Guardian Uranus said.
"Hey, I've been on a hot streak," Neptune said.
"Look out!" Guardian Saturn shouted. The goddess leapt at Neptune unleashing an attack. Neptune dodged it. The attack flew into the house.
"That's it!" Lita said. "Jupiter Planet Power!" She shouted.
"Get her!" Guardian Pluto said. The other three Guardian scouts leapt to the ground and tried to tackle the goddess. She danced around the and fired off some attacks hitting Uranus and Saturn. Pluto rushed forward and swung his sword. It missed.
"Jeez..I stink with this thing!" he shouted. The goddess aimed at him, but she was tackled by Sailor Jupiter leaping out of her room.
"You jerk!" she said and threw the goddess into her wall. She then picked her back up.
"Heave ho!" she shouted using her super strength. The goddess was thrown into the air.
A multicolored blast slammed into her as she flew. The goddess hit the ground.
"Mars Fire Soul!"
"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"
"Moon Spiral Hearts Attack!"
The three attacks hit and vaporized the goddess as well as several feet of pavement behind her.
"Oops," The three girls said. "Overkill!"
Jupiter sighed and walked back towards the her front door.
"Lita didn't seem to happy did she?" Guardian Saturn observed.
"What do you think Pluto?" Uranus asked.
"He's already gone after her," Neptune said.
"Is that what ex-boyfriends are supposed to do?" Uranus asked.
"If he wants to be her friend," Saturn said.
"Hey..wait up Jupiter," Pluto said.
"What?"
"Well..is it wise to be seen walking into your own house like that?"
"If someone saw me jump out they could reach the same conclusions."
"Yes...but this a bit more obvious..listen..why don't we go into the city, I'll buy you lunch or something."
"I really have to get back to my meditating."
"Please.."
"What? What's it to you?"
"You look troubled I want to help," Pluto said.
Jupiter looked at him and sighed.
"Well you're right about me walking in my front door at least," Jupiter said. "Let's find someplace to change back at least."
Pluto nodded and the two were soon leaping down the street to find someplace
covert to transform back to human form.
"I was this close..." Lita said. "I had gone seven minutes. I was at peace. You now it took me six days alone just to block out my stupid clock..and then..."
"Sorry..we did our best, it was a tough one," Steve said.
"It's not your fault," Lita said. "I just meant that life went and messed with me."
"It happens. I'm sorry it had to. So you think this meditation will work."
"So far it hasn't, I keep getting called into action. It's very hard to make progress, I'm self teaching myself you know."
"Yeah..I guess it's tough. But we've been trying not to call you."
"That's the problem, I don't want to neglect my duties just because I'm learning a new skill," Lita said.
"Well..right now..it's okay, we haven't needed all the scouts to take care of anyone yet."
"Still...I don't want something to happen to someone because I didn't show up when I could," Lita said.
"Yeah..it's a good point," Steve said. "Still...we've been trying to accommodate everyone."
"It's all right. I'll just keep trying."
"I'm curious, why exactly are you doing this?"
"Well..when I was up at the Ozawa shrine we didn't deal with anything like this, he was teaching me the values and pitfalls of discipline, but when I was up there I learned a lot of self discipline, because Mister Nagumo says that the best way to keep from others discipline being imposed too far on you is to known enough self discipline to know what to do. From there I decided to use what I've learned productively."
"So you really find these ideas to be useful?" Steve asked.
"I take it you don't?"
"Well..I'm not convinced," Steve said. "It's not that I'm being critical, they may work for some people. So what's the goal of the meditation though."
"It will let me segment the parts of my being and study them individually. That's always good to be able to do," Lita said.
"Oh..of course," Steve said.
Lita grinned.
"One of these things it will allow me to do is control my anger."
"I thought you had learned to do that. Melvin's profile on you was that you got into a lot of fights, but once you met Serena and company that seemed to do the trick."
"That's true," Lita said. "But I was merely repressing my anger, not focusing it and using it to my advantage."
"Okay. I see the difference but."
"Okay..look at this way. In general it's been seen as bad to let emotion dictate things right. Anger can be trouble. It can make you do rash things right?"
"Sure..believe me I know."
"Right..but anger can also be a great motivator."
"You're right."
"Now what if all the anger you feel can be turned into motivation and strength without the irrational weakness? Wouldn't that be great?"
"Sounds good," Steve said. "Sorta what Patterson does. Uses all that burning fire inside to do more than any human could be expected to do."
"Correct. It's true, he's not in complete control of his anger, but he does use it quite effectively without sacrificing too much rationality. I want to beat even that," Lita said.
"Well it's a nice goal Lita. But look at it this way. Even if you don't pull it off, you're still in good shape."
"Thanks for saying that, but I haven't lost yet," Lita said.
"I uh wasn't implying that there was any problems..I just know with the distractions and all it was hard," Steve said.
"I know," Lita said. "But enough of my problems. What have you been up to?"
"Oh..I've just been heading around the city, you know."
"Doing what?" Lita asked.
"Uh...stuff."
"Steve...you wouldn't keep a secret from your good friend Lita would ya?" Lita asked.
"Uh..well..I've been drawing."
"That's great Steve, I was hoping you'd get back to that."
"Oh?"
"Sure..you're so good at it. Heck that was one of the reasons I wanted to date you. But then you stopped once we were dating, and that bothered me."
"Sorry..I.."
"Don't apologize..it's not like you did anything wrong. Still I'm glad you're getting back to it. I'll have to see some of your work soon."
"Well..it's all in the preliminary stages. Sketches and stuff."
"You don't have to be modest, from what I've seen you're very good."
"I try."
"You were nice to do this," Lita said.
"I can be nice..even if I can't be romantic," Steve said.
"That I know. And I needed a break. I have been going all out trying to master this stuff. I mean I only have a few weeks till school."
"School..ugh..what a downer," Steve said.
"Sorry to bring it up. But if I can just figure this stuff out by then. I should be able to do all right. Heck it will help me manage my time better."
"Yeah..I guess..still..Lita..are you sure self teaching is the right way to go?"
"Yes, because then I get to practice my self discipline. Sure..teachers are good in some cases, but this time, I'll pass."
"Whatever works. I hope it works," Steve said.
"Ahem..." came a squeaky voice. The two turned to see Melvin standing there.
"Whadya want Melvin?" Steve asked.
"I was just curious..you two broke up right?" he asked.
Lita and Steve glanced at each other.
"Oh..didn't you hear?" Lita asked.
"What?" Melvin asked.
"We got back together," Steve said.
"Not only that, we took it much farther," Lita said.
"We got married last night. Nice private ceremony," Steve said.
"Yep," Lita said.
"Wha...is that legal?" Melvin asked.
"Sure.." Lita said.
"Guess you're going to have put that in your next dating guide huh?" Steve asked.
"I don't..know..." Melvin said. "I can't get the sense you two are just joking with me."
"Oh yeah? Let's prove it," Lita said. She grabbed Steve and pulled her lips to his. They kissed for a good minute. Melvin's eyes widened. Lita let go of Steve, and he sank into the booth blushing.
"Uh...okay.." Melvin said. "Mister and Missus Carlin then."
"No..no..I kept my maiden name," Lita said.
"Oh..I'd better get that down," Melvin said and pulled out a note pad. "Melvnet must hear about this!"
He soon hurried out.
"What a fool," Lita said.
"Uh..Lita..about that kiss..." Steve said.
"Oh..was that maybe not worth it for the joke's purposes?"
"No, no it works, we're not dating, it's fine. As long as you were okay with it."
"Yeah..I initiated it didn't I?"
"Right..it just got me thinking.." Steve said.
"What?"
"If we had spent less time trying to be romantic and just kissed like that I think it could have worked," Steve said with a grin. "Well at least for me."
"Wanna try again?" Lita asked.
The two then started laughing.
Queen Nehelenia set on the throne they had constructed for her. She scowled.
"I have gone along with your operations up till now, but you have proven to be very incompetent," She said. "Do you even know who you are dealing with here?"
"We underestimated things, that is true. However, the scouts have also shown uncanny abilities to thwart us. Sailor Moon's discovery of the goddess of foods plan was disturbing."
"You were using a giant muffin you imbeciles!" Nehelenia barked.
"True..but..there is a silver lining."
"And that is?"
"Uh..our original idea was to conserve energy, by taking out one scout at a time, and doing it before they could call in assistance from others or even transform. However, despite our best efforts they managed to thwart us."
"You didn't bother to attack them while they were asleep did you?"
"Well..we figured they've already prepared for such eventualities."
"Still..you might have tried."
"Uh...well..keep in mind that we are not trained in stealth."
"You've shown yourselves to be capable of covert operations."
"Still to sneak into a scouts room undetected, I believe is beyond our abilities."
"Hmm..even with your multiple personalities?"
"Yes...we fear so."
"But as we were saying..." another voice said. "There is a silver lining. Much in the same way you believe we are unable to fight effectively. The scouts must believe that as well."
"And rightly so," Nehelenia said.
"Not true. We have been conserving our energy. Because we only have so much. Much of it was expended it freeing you."
"So?"
"So..we are capable of creating stronger goddesses. The goddess we created today was faster then previous ones, but not stronger. We can make a goddess capable of withstanding many more attacks. When the scouts respond thinking they will need only one of their major attacks to beat them, we will have the time we need to destroy that force. By the time the rest of the scouts respond, we'll have done enough damage to continue."
"Hmm...have you thought about attacking with more then one goddess at once?"
"We can't. Since we are all derived from one entity. Two of our composites can not exist at the same time outside here without an increased energy supply."
"Oh..that is an annoying weakness," Nehelenia said. "Tell.me..what attributes should our next goddess have?"
"That depends on the target," the goddess said.
"Sailor Jupiter caused some trouble for us today. She will be our target," Nehelenia said.
"Very well. Jupiter is the physically strongest of the scouts, therefore our creature will have to be physically strong as well. To prevent her from getting the upper hand."
"That is true," Nehelenia said. "But let me ask you something? What kind of attacks does Jupiter use?"
"Lightening attacks."
"No. She uses energy attacks that draw their power from lightening. The electricity however is the basis of the power. Now...listen..if you have a goddess capable of canceling out electricity, you will be able to minimize her power."
"They say the human component, rubber can do just that. If we stole some, we wouldn't need to use the energy to make a goddess resistant. That would allow us to devote a great deal of energy to offense."
"Hmm..good idea," Nehelenia said. "With her powers minimized, we will then have an opening."
"You are quite wise to say so. And we agree. It is time to step up operations. Furthermore, with our increased tactical knowledge, we will be able to proceed more effectively."
"You had better hope so," Nehelenia said.
"Don't forget, you owe us your freedom."
"I meant that you had better improve or the scouts will beat you, not me.."
"Very well."
"Uh..Steve this isn't necessary," Lita said.
"I know..but listen..I can hang around while you're meditating, and if trouble comes I can figure out whether it's worthwhile to disturb you or not," Steve said.
"But you might not know for sure."
"I'm asking you to trust me," Steve said.
"All right, uh..Steve...strictly as a friend..."
"Yes."
"Well..my father's at a police convention for the next few days, and maybe you could hang around."
"Uh..you sure you want me to?"
"Yes..it's lonely around the house, and because of my training it's not good for me to go out that much. At least for a little while. This is purely as a friend thing."
"Sure," Steve said. "No problem."
That night Lita was asleep. Steve was laying on the living room couch.
Hey..if this works out it'll prove we've become good friends even after all this. He thought.
Three hours later. The door lock as blasted off. The door was opened quietly, and the goddess of stone crept in. She was covered in a makeshift rubber suit. She advanced slowly and noticed Steve asleep on the couch.
I had better take care of him first. But how to do so without..
She didn't have time to think of anything else. Steve rolled off the couch, jumped forward and spun to face her.
"LITA! TROUBLE!" he shouted.
"Curse you!" the goddess shouted and fired a blast. Steve dived out of the way, a large chunk was blown out of the wall.
Lita's house is going to get trashed. Steve thought worriedly.
"So you're back!" Sailor Jupiter said and leapt off the nearby staircase. The goddess of stone stood and took the blow. Jupiter bounced off and let out a shout of pain.
"Pluto Power!" Steve yelled. The creature turned towards him.
Jupiter rushed forward again and grabbed one of the creature's legs, with her super strength she pulled and tried to throw her out the door, but the goddess resisted and ended up flying into a wall and making a large indentation.
Pluto fired his sword at the creature several times. It ducked it and raced forward. Jupiter ducked a punch.
Pluto fired again. The attack hit the creature and it made a small grunt before blasting apart the couch and leaping at Pluto.
Pluto ducked. The creature turned and fired. Pluto ducked. A book case was hit and it collapsed.
"Stop trashing my house!" Jupiter shouted.
"Jupiter..we gotta use some power here," Pluto said.
"I know," Jupiter said.
Energy blasts flew at them.
Pluto charged forward at the creature it turned and delivered an energy blast.
"Jupiter Thunder Crash!" Jupiter shouted. Her attack flew across the living room, destroyed another couch and then hit the creature and dissipated.
"That tingled," The creature.
Jupiter's eyes widened.
"I have a rubber suit, and I've made of stone. I'm practically impregnable!" the goddess said and launched a barrage at Jupiter while charging Pluto. Pluto tried to run, but ran out of room. The goddess connected and knocked him into a wall. Jupiter avoided the attack barely and charged forward calling on her super strength again. She went for the goddesses legs. She avoided the attack and grabbed Jupiter and tossed her across the room. She hit a wall and sank to the ground.
Pluto popped up covered with bruises and opened fire with his sword. The creature winced and turned back to him.
"I'll get you!" it shouted. Pluto tossed the sword across the room and then lunged at the goddess putting all his weight into it. He bounced off the creature and let out a grunt as he hit the ground.
The goddess built up her power.
I'll risk the time to destroy him.
A barrage of energy hit her in the back. Jupiter was holding Pluto's sword.
"There's a few holes in your rubber suit!" Jupiter shouted.
The goddess whirled. Jupiter fired again. The goddess moved to avoid her. Jupiter lunged forward and swung the sword straight across the front of the suit. It ripped.
"Pluto..Storm Fist...Punch!" Pluto said despite his weakener. The attack hit the creature in the back. It winced and still fired a blast at Jupiter. She was hit and pushed back, but she fired off her sword again, damaging the suit some more.
"So you can hurt me a little, you are being pushed to the limit," the creature said.
"PLUTO STORM FIST PUNCH!" Pluto shouted again. The attack hit the goddess again. She let out a yell and turned charging him. Pluto took the hit and was smashed into a wall.
Jupiter staggered up.
"Jupiter..Oak..Evolution..." She said. The creature whirled to face her. The attack hit it dead on. The goddess flew back and slammed into the wall Pluto had. It sank to the ground, but slowly stood up.
"Not enough.." Jupiter said weakly. She clutched Pluto's sword and tried to think of what to do next.
"Saturn Mist Wave!" Came a shout. In the door flew an attack. It slammed into the creature and knocked it backwards. Saturn jumped in the door and swung her scythe write across the creature's rubber exterior. The suit fell off of it.
"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!"
The attack flew from the doorway and vaporized the goddess.
"You know. I hoped I would have been able to stop that thing, but thanks anyway..cause I really didn't know," Jupiter said.
"Yeah..." Pluto said and gave a weak thumbs up.
"You got here quickly," Jupiter said.
"I used Maverick's computer to find keep an eye out for trouble. It said a large amount of tires were stolen," Mercury said.
"Good thinking Mercury," Jupiter said. "Thanks."
CHAPTER 201 CHAPTER 202 CHAPTER 203 CHAPTER 204 CHAPTER 205
CHAPTER 206 CHAPTER 207 CHAPTER 208 CHAPTER 209 CHAPTER 210
CHAPTER 211 CHAPTER 212 CHAPTER 213 CHAPTER 214 CHAPTER 215
CHAPTER 216 CHAPTER 217 CHAPTER 218 CHAPTER 219 CHAPTER 220
CHAPTER 221 CHAPTER 222 CHAPTER 223 CHAPTER 224 CHAPTER 225