CHAPTER 63
"This is perfect!" Richter shouted.
"What is?" Axseon said.
"A cruise ship Axseon," Richter said.
"What about it?"
"Well...if we attack a cruise ship, the Sailor Scouts won't be there..."
"That makes sense."
"There's one coming into port tomorrow. We'll hit it before it gets close to the city. Then the scouts won't be able to reach it and we'll know they weren't on board it beforehand."
"An excellent plan, and we can have all the energy we want."
"Exactly," Richter said. "However, first, I want you to handle something else Axseon. I've become concerned that the Army is up to something, but I don't know what....so before we commence the mission, I want you to keep an eye on someone."
"Of course sir," Axseon said.
"Hmm..Grandpa, you said you'd go to the doctor just for a checkup," Raye said.
"I know, but I didn't mean it," her grandfather said as they sat in the waiting room.
"It won't hurt," Raye said.
"Well at least, you're bothering me so it shows your recovering," her grandfather said.
Raye frowned.
"Okay..okay..I'll go and see the doctor, don't see what the use is, I'm in perfect health....." her grandfather said. Raye's eyes wandered out the glass windows of the doctors' office at the street around it. People were going about their business walking back and forth and such, and then Raye noticed someone pass by the window, glance in, see her, and immediately turn his head away, picking up the pace of his already brisk walk.
Patterson? What's he doing out? Raye thought.
"And..so...as I was saying I could run ten miles against the wind in a snowstorm.." her grandfather was saying.
"I'm sure you could, Grandpa," Raye said not really thinking about it.
"Then what am I doing here?" he said and hopped down out of his chair.
"Oh, no you don't!" Raye said and grabbed him.
"Ehh...you're fast," he muttered.
"Hey Amy," Greg said as the girl emerged from her computer class.
"Hi Greg. You've come to greet me, that's a first," Amy said with a smile.
"Well...I'm getting more assertive," Greg said.
"Hmm...I guess I am too," Amy said.
"It's sort of funny that way. Both of us..by meeting each other...have managed to get rid of some of our nervousness about relationships," Greg said.
"Uh huh," Amy said and then noticed something. "Speaking of nervousness about relationships..."
"Wha.." Greg looked and turned. There was D.V. Patterson talking with a beat cop about something.
"Wonder what he's doing?" Greg asked.
"Don't know," Amy said.
The two looked at each other.
"He's up to something," they said in unison.
"Theoretically speaking of course...say...you're a whale..." Mike said.
"A what?" Mina asked.
"A whale."
"Why a whale?"
"Because we're just talking."
"Okay, I'm a whale," Mina said.
Resist the temptation to make a wisecrack. Mike thought.
"Ahem...right..would you like unsalted or salted pretzels?" Mike asked.
"Hmm...let me think about that," Mina said and then bonked Mike on the head. "What are you talking about!"
"Well...think about it. Say you're a whale. You've gained the ability to come up on land and eat pretzels...but you've been living in a saltwater all you're life..so..would you want more of what you're used to..or not?" Mike said.
"When you put it that way...it almost makes sense...except for the fact that it's stupid!" Mina said.
"I sense hostility Captain," Mike said and did the Vulcan salute.
"Mike...come back to reality for a minute. We're on a date all right....cut the act and start being romantic," Mina said.
"Uh...but Mina, it's not an act," Mike said.
"Mike, you were doing fine before, " Mina said.
"But I'm full of mood swings," Mike said.
"From where. Wacky to Zany."
"Very funny, that romantic stuff comes and goes I'm afraid."
"Nice of you to tell me that before I became so attracted to you," Mina said. Then they both blushed.
"Why don't we go to some place in the park and just sit a bit," Mike said.
"Now there's a suggestion," Mina said.
"What's he doing?" Mike said.
"Who?"
"Him," Mike said and pointed.
"Oh..." Mina said looking. "What is he doing?"
Down the street they saw none other than D.V. Patterson laying several orange cones in one lane of the street. Once they were laid he began spray painting a large X.. From where Mike and Mina stood they had no idea what he was spraying.
"Mina..let's just get out of here, before he does something else," Mike said.
"Right," Mina said.
"So..first we add eggs," Lita said.
"Eggs...okay," Steve said and handed her a couple.
"Then some flour."
Steve handed her a rose.
"Not that kind of flower," Lita muttered. "But I'll keep it anyway," she added with a smile.
"Next....baking soda."
Steve handed her a bottle marked "BAKING" and inside was a bubbly liquid.
"Okay...comedian......do you want to cook this or not?" Lita asked.
"Actually I'm having fun just messing around," Steve said.
"I'll mess around with you in a minute, namely messing your face around in the bowl," Lita said.
"Okay, okay."
"Where'd you get the ahem.. "baking soda" anyway."
"Leslie made it up for me. He's quite good at being annoying," Steve said.
"It would be too much of an understatement for me to say I've noticed," Lita said.
She then noticed movement outside the window. Then she saw D.V. Patterson walking down the street. A minute later, a marching band and then an immaculately dressed postman riding a horse passed by.
"What...the..." Lita and Steve said.
Meanwhile on a park bench.
"Darrien..have you and Ellie sorted everything out?" Serena asked.
"Yep I think we have...she's going to head back to America though. I guess the only reason she came here was to see me," Darrien said solemnly.
"Well why aren't you with her then?"
"Um..Serena, in case you forgot..."
"Of course I'm your girlfriend, but spend some time with her before she's goes back. I don't mind."
"Thanks Serena..." Darrien said. "Boy you've changed the way you feel about her."
"Yeah..I must be becoming mature," Serena said.
"It must be a sign of the end of the world," Darrien said and laughed.
"Hey...now go see Ellie you fool," Serena said. Darrien stood up.
"What...is that?" he said looking. A boat was being rowed into the middle of a pond, a man stood at the front of it looking forward, while the others rowed and across the bank stood D.V. Patterson.
"Oh..that...well..it's hard to explain," Serena said.
"You mean you know what this is all about?" Darrien said.
"Yeah...but that's not important right now," Serena said.
"Sir...you are not going to believe this..." Axseon said a bit nervously.
"What?" Richter asked.
"Well sir, you said that I should follow this D.V. Patterson person since nothing goes on in the military without him knowing it right? Well..when I first saw him he was just talking to a cat...but then..he moved on...he just walked around for a while..then..he started talking to police officers everywhere...then...after that..he picked up these cones and then...."
"What?"
"Well...sir...he sprayed an X in the middle of the street."
"Why would he do that?"
"I don't know sir. But that's not all. Later he started this parade of a marching band and a mailman on a horse."
"He did what?"
"Then...he told these guys to row across a pond in a boat, and the leader of the group looked like George Washington."
"Have you lost your mind?"
"No sir..I swear this all happened."
"What could Patterson have been doing?"
"You got me."
"Well that doesn't matter, prepare to attack the cruise ship," Richter said.
"Yes sir."
What could Patterson have been doing? He thought again.
What Richter didn't know was that only a minute after Patterson had appeared
in the sights of each Sailor Scout he head disappeared and that each scout had
received a visit from Artemas only seconds later.
The boat raced out into the sea, a large rubber raft with an onboard engine. Axseon, Dexseon, the Hyena, Serpetan, and Shadoe sat there, Infernon, hovered above it for good measure.
"There..up ahead," Axseon said. There was the cruise ship, still a good few hours out of port.
"Heh heh....looks like we're a modern day boarding party....ready the scimitars men!" The Hyena shouted.
"Shut up," the other five said.
Two passengers were standing on the deck.
"Hmm..nice evening isn't it?" the first asked.
"Yes," the second said.
A second later, the six negaverse soldiers jumped onto the deck.
"Ehh...." the two passengers muttered and jumped overboard.
"That was odd," Dexseon observed.
"Never mind that! Attack!"
The negaverse soldiers spread out, blasting every passenger they could find. Axseon headed for the bridge. Inside the captain was hectically shouting into a microphone.
"We're under attack by some sort of monsters!" He shouted.
"Ehh....try to see it from our point of view," Axseon muttered and blasted
the bridge crew.
"Argh! Hoist the mainsail!" The Hyena muttered jumping running down the deck blasting more people.
"I can at least enjoy my work," he said.
"WHAT?" Chief Ozaki shouted.
"Yes sir, we just received the call, the S.S. France is under attack."
"How ironic," Ozaki muttered. "All right let's go then..."
At the sound of the sirens, the five girls, all sitting together in front of Raye's temple immediately perked up.
"I'll check," Amy said and pulled out her computer. "It doesn't read anything."
"Hmm...those sound like a lot of sirens," Lita said.
Amy sensed her communicator going off. She pulled it out.
"Cruiseship S.S. France, several miles out from port," came the familiar voice of Patterson and then a connection was cut off.
"Well there's our answer," Mina said.
"Geez...that guy knows everything doesn't he?" Serena muttered.
"Hardly," Raye muttered and the five soon were hurrying down the steps.
"But how are we going to get to the ship?" Lita asked.
"It's not like we could jump that far," Mina said.
"Maybe we could teleport," Serena said.
"That could work," Amy said.
"I just hope we don't miss," Lita said.
"Have we ever missed?" Serena asked.
"No, but we don't exactly aim either," Raye said.
"Hmm..you're right," Amy said. "Every time we've teleported we've gone to such a large area that precision didn't matter, but...a cruise ship is smaller. I hope we will be able to land on it, but even if we do, who knows where we'd end up on the ship."
"We don't have any choice," Serena said.
"What?" the others said.
"People are in danger...if we keep debating this they could be hurt," Serena said.
"Serena's right!" Raye said. "Amazingly" she added.
"Looks like you're back to normal Raye," Serena muttered. The two stuck their tongues out at each other. They soon found a place to transform.
"Venus Star Power!"
"Mercury Star Power!"
"Jupiter Star Power!"
"Mars Star Power!"
"Moon Crystal Power!"
And the five became the Sailor Scouts once again. Soon they were standing in
a circle holding hands and ready to begin their teleportation. They thought
about the ship out in the sea and brought forth their powers. In a flash of
light, the five disappeared.
"Heh heh...we're going to kick their butt ehh!" Ozaki said standing at the front of the speedboat as it and several more raced towards the ship. Helicopters flew over head as well.
"Sir..where did we get all this equipment?" a subordinate said.
"Oh..that..you see...you take the Self Defense Force logo painted on the side of these things and cover it up with a flag for the Police Department..and you know what you get," Ozaki said and laughed.
"I thought you hated relying on the Self Defense Forces sir."
"I do..but my urge to kick butt overcame that," Ozaki said with a little grin.
"I see..sir.."
There was a flash of light and the five scouts appeared.
"Where are we?" Jupiter asked looking around.
"It looks like the hold," Mercury said.
"Smells like it too.." Mars muttered.
"Quit whining, we've got work to do," Sailor Moon said and hurried out the door.
"What is up with her?" Mars asked.
"It's news to us too," Jupiter said.
Heh heh..I like being the leader. Sailor Moon thought and grinned. Now I can really mess with Raye's mind.
The group dashed up a flight of metal stairs and onto another deck.
"Any idea where they are Mercury?" Venus asked. Mercury pulled out her computer.
"There's one....right behind us!" Mercury said. The five whirled around and ducked as a wave of fire flew over their heads.
"Dang it," Infernon said.
"Mercury Ice Storm Blast!" Mercury shouted.
"Uh oh," Infernon said and flew away down the hall. He was only afraid of the impact. "There are two of them on the deck above us. Two more above that, and one on the top deck....." Mercury reported. "I'll see what I can do about Infernon."
"We'll take the next deck," Venus and Jupiter said.
"I'll take the one above it," Mars said. "I don't care if I have to fight two of them."
"You sure Mars?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Yeah, I'll be okay," Mars said. "Besides, I get to let out more anger."
"Then I'll go for the top, that's probably where Axseon is," Sailor Moon said.
"All right, let's go," the five said and split up.
"HAH!" Ozaki shouted climbing onto the deck, followed by several police commandoes and even more dropping from helicopters.
"What the..." Axseon muttered looking from the bridge. "Where'd they come from?"
"Ehh...I'd better go take care of them," he muttered. Out of off the bridge he came. The police, lead by Ozaki charged towards him.
"Yeah...right," Axseon said and shot a blast at them. The police all ducked, though a few were hit.
"Hey..choppers, come in close, try and blow him off of there," Ozaki said. Several of the "Police" helicopters descended. The backwash from their rotors blew Axseon towards the edge of the gangway he stood on, he held onto a rail and tried to think of something to do.
This is surprising. He thought. He let go of the rail with one arm and moved to blast one of the helicopters. He was hit before he could do so. He let go of the rail and slammed to the front of the deck. The police all descended on him, he blasted them and stood up. A white beam of energy swung at him, he ducked.
"Sailor Moon..how did you get here..." He muttered.
"I'm just amazing," Sailor Moon said and swung her moon sword. Axseon swung up with his own blue energy sword. Sailor Moon ducked under him and kicked Axseon in the groin.
"You're supposed to be honorable," Axseon muttered.
"I could be..but why?" Sailor Moon said and using Jupiter's power punched him. He stumbled back, but brought his own energy attack up and hit the overconfident girl with a blast that knocked her back into the bulkhead. He lunged forward, going for her scepter which had fallen from her hand.
"No you don't," she said and kicked him in the head and went for her scepter.
As she grabbed it Axseon grabbed her and flung her towards the railing of the
ship. She barely avoided tumbling over. He shot a blast at her. She ducked out
of the way, the railing was blown apart.
Mars knew there were two of them..she didn't know where. Mercury was too busy with her own fight to feed her the data on where they could be. She hoped the hyena was one of them, he was more of a pushover...then everything around her went black.
"Ah.." She shouted and ducked instinctively. Two figures leapt over her. She also heard an impact. The blackness cleared and there both Cletus and Shadoe stood, both angrily glaring at each other.
"You idiot! She's the target," Shadoe shouted.
"Ehh...you should watch where you're going," the Hyena said. Mars kicked them both in the shins and hurried down the corridor turning and aiming.
"Mars Celestial Fireball Surround!" She shouted. The fire flew down the corridor, and flew by the two arguing enemies. Who both yelled in pain. It also managed to set fire to the hallway...
"Ooops," Mars said. The ship's sprinkler systems kicked in and began to douse the flames. Shadoe and Cletus turned towards her.
"That was dumb, I mean...even considering we're in battle an all," Shadoe said.
"Yeah..didn't they tell you not to play with fire," The Hyena said.
I can't attack again. I could burn the ship. Mars thought. Just have to keep them busy.
Mars turned and ran down the hallway. The two followed.
"Mercury Ice Storm blast!" Mercury shouted. An icy wave moved down the hallway and smashed into the end of the wall denting it.
"Geez...this is not going to work...I could blow a hole in the side of the ship and then what," Mercury muttered.
"Well that's the dilemma isn't it?" Infernon said floating in front of her. "After all, here I am, immune to water. And you could get me with pure force but you'd probably have to sink the ship to do it? Let me ask you something do you feel lucky?"
Mercury reached behind a pillar sticking out of a bulkhead and pulled out a familiar object.
"Remember what this is?" she said holding aloft another fire extinguisher.
"Not another one," Infernon muttered.
"They are quite common," Mercury said her eyes narrowing.
"This stinks," Infernon muttered and flew down the hall, Mercury chased after
him.
A deck above.
"I don't like snakes," Jupiter muttered and kicked at Serpetan who slithered out of the way and tried to come around her. She whirled around to face him.
"Ehh...to tell you the truth..I don't like annoying girls," Serpetan said and
lunged at her.
Meanwhile in the ballroom.
"Venus Love Chain Encircle!" Venus shouted, the golden chain flew at Dexseon, who waved his hand and blasted it with energy.
"Why do you villains always do that?" Venus shouted.
"What?" Dexseon muttered.
"Just use one hand! That's so arrogant!"
"Its works," Dexseon said and sent one blast of energy flying from his hand. Venus slid along the polished floor hoping to hit Dexseon who was twenty feet away.
"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" She shouted aiming for his knee. Dexseon arrogantly lifted his leg up to avoid the attack but she slid right into him, thus knocking him off balance to the ground.
"Clever," he muttered. Venus flipped backwards and readied her attack.
"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" She shouted again. Dexseon took the five seconds
he had to vanish before the attack connected.
"What are you doing back?" Richter asked as Dexseon reappeared.
"We encountered the Sailor Scouts sir," Dexseon said.
"On that ship?" Richter muttered in shock.
"Yes sir...I came back because I was about to be hit with a devastating attack and couldn't allow it. The others are still fighting."
Infernon appeared in the air.
"What the heck are you doing here?" Dexseon said.
"Mercury found another fire extinguisher sir," Infernon said.
"What a disaster!" Richter said and then used some of his own power to contact Axseon.
"Axseon, return, this mission has failed!" Richter said.
Are you sure? Axseon thought in reply as he stood face to face with Sailor Moon in the bow of the ship.
"Yes," Richter said.
Very well. Axseon said and vanished. The other warriors disappeared as well.
"Hah! We drove them out!" Ozaki shouted. The police officers sighed. Sailor Moon just caught her breath and leaned against a rail.
"I really hate fighting that guy," she muttered.
Chief Ozaki meanwhile was picking up his cell phone.
"Hey Nagumo, this is Ozaki. We won."
"How many of our helicopters did you blow up?"
"For your information, none."
"That's amazing," Nagumo said.
"Shut up Nagumo," Ozaki said.
CHAPTER 51 CHAPTER 52 CHAPTER 53 CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55 CHAPTER 56 CHAPTER 57 CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59 CHAPTER 60 CHAPTER 61 CHAPTER 62