Chapter 87

Miss Haruna's classroom was very quiet that morning. Amy was a very respected person and the news that she was having a breakdown had somehow spread. So, almost in deference no one was saying much in the crowded classroom. Added to that was the absence of Amy herself , as well as Greg set to be released from the hospital, and Patterson, who no one had seen since this whole affair started. The scouts all sat in their chairs quietly waiting for class to begin. The only two people talking were Haruka and Michiru at the front of the room and they spoke in such a low voice, everyone knew that they were talking, but had no idea what they were saying.

"It's very quiet Haruka," Michiru said.

"Yes Michiru, they are obviously affected by the blue haired girl's absence," Haruka said.

"The quiet is somewhat peaceful regardless of the reason it exists."

"Yes, I agree. Too bad, it wasn't always this quiet."

Miss Haruna walked in followed by Principal Oksua.

"It's been like this for days," Haruna said. "No one saying anything."

"Hmm.." Principal Oksua said and walked to the front of the classroom.

"Miss Haruna tells me that everyone's been very quiet. I can only guess this is because of Amy Anderson's troubles. I'm here to stress the importance of us all moving on. She will recover in time and be back her sitting right there in her seat and...promoting the school..ahem..herself with her academic prowess...say where are the other two?"

"Sir?" Haruna asked.

"Amy's girlfriend, and Patterson," Oksua said.

"They've been absent since she's been gone."

"That's odd. Is there something I should know about?" Principal Oksua said implying something improper. He was immediately bombarded with the notebooks of every student in the class with the exception of Haruka and Michiru who actually found the comment amusing.

"Sorry I asked," Oksua said and walked out.

Amy hadn't left the house, in fact she hadn't left the second floor of her house since the trial of her parents. The front windows of her house had been repaired, though she didn't know it. Her uncle had looked to have it done and had found some volunteers from the army core of engineers to have it installed. So that was done. But Amy could care less about the windows. She was still dressed in the dark black dress-suit she had worn to the trial, that ironically fit her mood to a t. Despite the fact that the kitchen was down stairs, she had been living on a bunch of sandwiches stored up in a cooler in her room for use when she was studying. Even though it was the middle of the day time she was asleep on her bed..or at least trying to sleep.

She was walking along a street..she didn't know where. As she walked along a voice seemed to be reading off all of her accomplishments to her. She kept moving. The accomplishments stopped. She noticed a figure moving towards her. Serena.

"You know Amy..you study too much..." she said and moved along.

"Yeah Amy...it wouldn't hurt to live a little more," Raye said following her.

"After all, you're only young once," Lita said.

"There's plenty of time to be grown up," Mina added and the four girls walked away.

"Wait!" Amy said. "Where are you going?"

"To live of course," The four replied and vanished.

"But..." Amy said.

"It's no use...you're not close to them in any way," came another voice. She turned to see herself standing there.

"What..what do you mean?"

"What do I mean..hmm..you've spent your life working towards a goal, to be a doctor. You've strived to be the best at everything you do...worked long hours..whether it's snowing outside or bright sunlight...and now...now what?"

"But I've lived a good life so far. I've made friends, had lots of fun, even saved the world a few times," Amy said.

"Ah..yes..about that," the second Amy said. "Saving the world...isn't that a burden? Not only do you have to work hard, but you have to put your life on the line."

"I don't like to do it, but it's necessary."

"Isn't that the story of your life right there?"

"What?"

"I'm sure you'd rather not work as hard as you do. Yet you do it. Being Sailor Mercury...you'd throw it away in a minute if you could...but it doesn't work that way does it? No..you're trapped.. and now..you've got ten years where you'll be alone...no one there to help you. No one who could possibly provide for you what you need," the second Amy said.

"I'll manage," Amy said.

"Manage? But you won't be the best will you?"

"Huh?"

"Well...how can you keep up this rapid pace of work, being a Sailor Scout, having all these friends, and still handle the important things in life? You certainly won't be the best at anything anymore. After all..when you're studying..you're not the best friend are you? You can't balance two sides and each have them be the best there is. And now you have four sides..."

"I..." Amy said.

"Yes..you...congratulations Amy Anderson..you're life as you know it is over...you're friends..are no help...in fact..they'll just be a distraction."

"I guess...they will," Amy said.

"Yes...who's going to pay the bills..it must be you...and being a Sailor Scout? Well..you might need to do it, but it seems to me that you're much too busy to be much help anymore."

"I have to try!" Amy said.

"And risk failure. You can't afford to fail Amy. This is your life," the second Amy said.

Amy awoke sweating. She then began to sob.

"I have no hope," she said. "I wasn't ready for this."

Greg approached Amy's door cautiously. He was only hours out of the hospital, but had already been filled in to the downward spiral of events that had occurred.

I have to try. He thought. He knocked on the door. To his shock the door opened a minute later.

"Uh...Amy..I'm here for you," he said.

"Don't be," Amy said.

"What?"

"Greg..I don't need you."

"But..I just thought...."

"Think again. Leave me alone..and for that matter never come over here again. It's all over."

"What?"

"You're pretty smart...what don't you get? My parents are going to prison for ten years, you think I have the time to deal with you? I've got enough trouble!" Amy said.

"I only came down here to tell you to deliver a message to all of my friends...tell them not to try to see me anymore...and I'm no longer a Sailor Scout either...I have enough problems without having to deal with all of you! Now go!" she said and slammed the door.

"Uh oh," Greg said.

As Amy shut the door the red went out of her face and she began sobbing again.

"I just want them to leave me alone! They're just making it worse," She said and stood up. She grabbed a vase by the door and through it into a wall it shattered scattering roses everywhere.

Then she returned to her room and began sobbing some more.

In Steve's garage.

"Well it's good that Greg's back up on his feet again, but have you noticed fellows with this latest conflict, we not only haven't been able to go on any dates, we haven't even been able to talk to the girls since they've been trying to help Amy get out of her grief," Mike said.

"Yeah..well we have to give it time. I'm not about to tell Raye it's time to go out even if it has been two weeks," Rick said.

"My relationship with Lita is questionable enough for me to put my luck," Steve said.

"I wasn't suggesting that, I was just thinking out loud," Mike said. "Is this normal? To be in grief so long, and not from deaths, but from a ten year sentence. She'll get to see her parents again."

"It has been seven days," Steve said. "You'd expect some change."

"We don't know how she's taking it right now," Rick said. "She might feel better, but just not want to go to school."

"Or see her best friends?" Mike asked.

"Hey..I don't have the answers..and it's not our job to find them out, that's up to the girls and Greg right now," Mike said.

"Speaking of answers and finding things out..where's the one guy you'd expect to be on top of this situation for so many reasons?" Steve asked.

"Good question," Mike said.

"Yeah..where the heck is he?" Rick said with some anger building.

"Rick?" Steve asked.

"Well...I hate seeing all the girls suffering so much, and we're suffering too. If you've noticed our usual happy go luck personalities have been thrown out the window, and I'm getting sick of it, whether I have to deal with it or not. Frankly, if there's anyway to resolve all this I wish it would show itself," Rick said.

"I'm sure we all do," Mike said.

"Well..maybe we should stop brooding..there's nothing more that we can do right now," Steve said. "Let's try and enjoy ourselves."

"Like that would even be possible?" Mike said.

"Well..I do happen to know that that movie we all wanted to see is showing in about a half an hour," Steve said.

"You mean SUPER WAR WITH REALLY BIG WEAPONS AND LOTS OF EXPLOSIONS," Rick and Mike said in unison.

"Uh huh." Steve said.

"If there is anything that could do it. That would be it," Rick said.

"I agree," Mike said. "Let's try it."

"They say it has really big weapons and lots of explosions," Steve said as the three walked down the street.

"Really? Where'd you hear that?" Mike replied.

"I'm privy to a lot of inside information," Steve said.

"Oh..I'll bet," Mike said.

"Privy?" Rick asked. "That sounds like one of those stuffed up English words none of us should ever use."

"Well...there are exceptions to that rule," Steve said.

"Like when?" Rick said.

"Like on third Tuesday of each month one stuffed up English word can be used provided it is in a small enough group of people," Mike said.

"It's Wednesday," Rick said.

"That doesn't matter it is a leap year!" Mike said.

"It is?" Steve asked.

"Probably..they come around quite often," Mike said.

"I think our plan has already worked. In fact it's working too well," Rick said.

"Oh well..." Mike said.

At Raye's temple.

"You know you girls missed that battle," Darrien said.

"We were a little busy," Lita said with resenting.

"That unfortunately doesn't matter," Darrien said.

"What?" Raye said.

"You guys are going through a lot. But sitting outside Amy's house like you did, you were completely out of contact with what was going on. You scouts need to keep fighting," Darrien said.

"But Amy needs us," Serena said.

"So does the world," Darrien said. "Amy will recover in her own time. But you girls have to be ready for battle, or bad things may happen."

"You make it seem so easy," Mina said.

"It isn't, I know that girls. I'm just telling you the truth. How you go about listening to me is your own business. But you have to be ready," Darrien said.

"But Darrien, a friend of ours is in the middle of a crisis...right now..the forces of evil don't take priority. We need to be there for her," Serena said.

"Yeah," the other three said.

"Amy's problem is something that we have to help her with, not the Sailor Scouts, but just Me, Mina, Lita, and Serena," Raye said.

"Let the guys handle it," Mina said.

"You know full well that Greg's just out of the hospital, Patterson hasn't been seen, and the other three are hardly a fighting force," Lita said.

"Whose side are you on?" Serena asked.

"I should ask that of all of you," Darrien said. "Lately destiny hasn't brought me into these battles, I've been far away. But you girls are in the thick of it."

"I don't know...Darrien..put yourself in our places," Serena said.

"I've tried to...and I know it's tough, but unfortunately you girls will have to deal with it," Darrien said.

"Darrien...could you keep an eye on Amy for us...then..if we're going to be ready..and all.." Raye said.

"Yeah..we should probably rest a little, we've been up for hours upon hours," Mina said.

"That's a good idea," Darrien said. "But stay together, I have a feeling Dr.Tomoe's just about due to unleash another attack."

"We've felt the same way, but just haven't been able to care that much," Raye said.

"That was a good movie," Steve said.

"I thought the plot could have used more," Mike said.

"Yeah, me too," Rick said.

"Plot never mattered before, whatever an excuse was to blow stuff up was good enough before," Steve said.

"Well for one...considering what we do in our spare time, we need a little more effort to please our urges for excitement," Mike said.

"And all that stuff about the afterlife...what a bunch of bull," Rick said.

"Uh...well Rick you're the only person on the planet that really knows how wrong they are," Mike said.

"I can still hold my own opinion," Rick said.

"You should right them a letter telling them how wrong they are," Mike said. They stopped in front of his house. Mike popped open the mail box to see if any mail had arrived.

"Nothing.." he muttered before the box began to glow.

"That's just great...more glowing stuff," He muttered.

"Get out of the way!" Rick shouted. He and Steve dived behind a row of bushes. Mike followed, and landed on top of them.

"Idiot," Rick said.

"What kind of fearsome daimon have they got for us this time?" Steve said.

"Probably some ugly repulsive looking monster who I will not enjoy looking at in the least," Mike said.

The three watched as the daimon morphed into a human figure, an almost exact replica of someone they recognized immediately.

"He looks like you," Steve said and started laughing.

"Yeah..what a ugly repulsive monster!" Rick said and also started laughing.

"Hey, is this your idea of a joke?" Mike muttered.

"Sort of..." the daimon said and raised his arm, an energy blast flew out of . The three jumped out of the way as the blast hit the bush and set it on fire.

"Okay...so he can shoot lasers out of his hand..." Mike said for no apparent reason.

"Let's find somewhere to transform," Steve said.

"No..you two..go...I'll distract him," Mike said.

"What?" Rick said as they dodged another attack.

"Why risk you two...I'll keep him busy..he wants my heart an all," Mike said.

"Okay..okay..let's go," Rick said. He and Steve tore off down the street. As Mike expected the creature ignored them and focused on Mike.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," the Mike creature said.

"Well..let's see..the easy way would be me just standing here quietly while you take my heart right?" Mike said.

"Correct," the creature said.

"And the hard way would be?" Mike said.

"It's not that hard to figure out you mortal ingrate," the creature said.

"Hey..you've got my personality too..wow..is there nothing you evil people can't do?" Mike asked.

"Enough talk. Make your choice?" the creature said.

"Hmm...can I flip a coin?" Mike asked.

"I guess," the Mike creature said.

"Okay," Mike said. He flung the coin up in the air. The creature looked up at it. Mike spun around and raced away.

"Hah! You're not the man!" The Mike creature said and shot a blast at him, before racing down the road after him. Mike slid around a corner. The creature followed and let loose an energy attack. Mike looked back and side stepped, only to be hit by a rapidly fired second attack and knocked to the ground. He hit hard and started grimacing as he tried to stand up.

"You're evasion tactics may work for some with human instincts, but I am quite superior."

"You've still got my ugly face!" Mike shouted.

"Shut up!" The creature shouted and blasted him two more times. Mike collapsed unconscious.

"Now for the heart," he said.

"Ricola!" a voice shouted.

"Wha.." The creature said.

"Riiiicolla!" a voice shouted again.

The creature spun around and was barreled into by Guardian Pluto. Pluto kept at it, punching the Mike Creature in the face several times.

"This may be the only opportunity I can kick Mike's butt and not really do it!" he said and used an uppercut, sending the Mike creature backward. The Mike creature stumbled into a wall and slid to the ground. Guardian Uranus landed beside Pluto and the two aimed their swords at the creature.

"Now we can finish him off," Uranus said. The Mike creature leapt forward seemingly impossibly from it's sitting position and still in the sitting position hit the two, knocking it's feet into each of their chests. It fired an energy blast into both of them knocking them backward. The Mike creature then flipped backward and using it's legs this time lunged forward and with it's wrists filled with energy punched each scout in the head. He took their momentary daze to grab their swords and fling them into a nearby pool.

"Now it won't be so easy," he shouted and tried to punch them again. Uranus spun around kicked him in the chest. The Mike Creature stepped backward and then uncannily flew at the two knocking them both into the street. Fortunately it wasn't a busy street The two were still dazed and didn't know what to do next. The creature moved to Mike. The Mike Creature and pulled up his shirt revealing the star on his skin he began to draw out the heart and fired off another blast as Uranus and Pluto began to recover. They both fell to the ground as a truck and a car raced at them from different sides.

Uranus saw what was coming and pulled himself up quickly propelling himself upward with an awkward handspring, he flipped forward and smashed into the side of a house, sinking to the ground. Pluto tried to pull himself up but was lying right in the trucks path. He moved to jump only to be hit by another blast. The truck barreled towards him. He felt himself being pulled upward quickly and over to the other side of the street. Through his rapidly closing eyes he noticed Sailor Jupiter pushing on the truck desperately. With the mission accomplished she let go and jumped away quickly and the truck went tearing down the street. The Mike creature meanwhile had been hit with the aquamarine and yellow attacks of Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus who quickly leapt to the ground and picked up the heart.

"Hey! That's mine!" the Mike Creature said.

"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" Venus shouted. Her attack smashed the creature into the street where it was hit by a dump truck.

"It's not a talisman," Uranus said almost with annoyance and threw the heart back down to Mike.

"Be careful with that," Venus said catching it.

Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus jumped off. Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter were hovering around their very injured friends. Sailor Moon leapt up next to Venus who was at that moment putting the heart back into her boyfriend.

"Did I miss anything?" she said.

"Only the battle," Venus said.

The two heard some shouts. Two blasts smashed into Mars and Jupiter and had flung them into the wall.

"Looks like it isn't over," Sailor Moon said. The Mike creature flew at them. Sailor Moon awkwardly jumped to the side as the creature flew into Venus and smashed her into a wall.

"Enough is enough," Sailor Moon said. "Moon Tiara Magic!" She shouted and flung her tiara. It slid right into the Mike creature and began to burn. Still the Mike creature whirled and fired a laser blast. Sailor Moon ducked it and charged forward bringing on Jupiter's aura and her moon sword at the same time. She swung downward and cut right through the creature, which exploded all around her.

"Hah! Score on for the good guys!" Sailor Moon said feeling invigorated despite all the other troubles they had all faced. She looked around. The other Sailor Scouts were standing up, being only slightly injured. Uranus had been trying to stand up with the aid of a light post. Pluto had been doing the same. Mike was slow getting up.

"Mike? You okay?" Venus asked sweeping some of the chips of pavement out of her hair.

"Me? I'm, a tiger," Mike said.

Venus managed a small smile.

"Now we still have to deal with our other problem," Sailor Moon muttered.

CHAPTER 66 CHAPTER 67 CHAPTER 68 CHAPTER 69 CHAPTER 70  CHAPTER 71 

CHAPTER 72 CHAPTER 73 CHAPTER 74 CHAPTER 75  CHAPTER 76 CHAPTER 77

 CHAPTER 78 CHAPTER 79 CHAPTER 80  CHAPTER 81  CHAPTER 82 CHAPTER 83

CHAPTER 84 CHAPTER 85  CHAPTER 86 CHAPTER 87 CHAPTER 88 CHAPTER 89

 CHAPTER 90 CHAPTER 91 CHAPTER 92 CHAPTER 93 CHAPTER 94 CHAPTER 95

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