Chapter 346
Serena wandered down the street casually glancing into store windows.
If they want me to buy what they're selling, they should make the things easier to afford. She thought. Wonder how things are going for the others. What are they doing over there anyway? Blowing up buildings apparently. Is that part of the plan? I hope not. That would just be strange. I'm sure they know what they're doing.
She stopped and stared at a sign.
What's this?
She read it.
DO YOU HAVE THE BEST RELATIONSHIP IN THE CITY?
WANT TO PROVE IT? THEN ALL COUPLES COME TO THE 93rd ANNUAL LOVE PAGEANT.
93rd Annual. That's awfully gratuitous. Serena thought. Still a love pageant, what a perfect way to bring Darrien and I closer together, and we must have the best relationship in the city, look at what it's endured? Sure, we'll win for sure. I wonder what the prize is?
THE WINNERS RECEIVE A ROMANTIC VACATION.
Well...if they have the best relationship why would they need one? Serena thought. But that's not the point! It would be wonderful, me and Darrien off alone somewhere special.
She drifted off into one of her romantic stupors.
But could this be some sort of trap? No of course not, who would trap us, all the people who would do that are on our side now. Sure, this is legit! I can't wait!
She hurried down the street hoping to find Darrien and tell him the news.
"HAH!" Mike shouted.
"What..." Steve muttered.
"Ehh..just thought I'd say that."
"You're an idiot."
"But I'm the good kind."
"There's no such thing as a good kind."
"Moving on from that," Mike said. "I have this plan...let me tell you about it."
"You and your plans? Have they ever worked?"
"Sure, on occasion."
"You have annual success I bet."
"Diurnal success."
"Shut up."
"No look, now put yourself in my place for a moment.."
"Okay, hi I'm Mike, I'm an idiot, I'm also insane and I annoy everyone I know. Heck I don't know why, my brain is the size of a walnut, in fact the walnut's been cracked in half because I've been hit so many times, and my girlfriend cheated on me, but I want to get back together with her anyway because that's the kind of pathetic ludicrous fool I am!" Steve said.
"Well done," Mike said. "But that all said, let me show you this."
"Can't wait," Steve muttered.
"Now right now, Mina is going out with Yaten."
"Your observational skills are beyond measure."
"Yaten is a straight shooter. He's not insane, but he is well schooled."
"More or less."
"So, what I have to do is turn him to the dark side."
"Why would anyone want to join the dark side?"
"Because we have great fringe benefits."
"You do not?"
"Steve, have you ever thought of how fun it must be to be me?"
"I'm sure your existence is highly overrated."
"Maybe in the universal scheme of things, but look let me put it plainly, I am going to turn Yaten into me, while becoming Yaten."
"So you're going to molecularly transmogrify the pair of you."
"No...I'm going to break him down emotionally and intellectually until a point he cannot resist passing over into the abyss."
"Mike, Mina likes the abyss, that's why she's giving you another chance."
"Yes, well, Yaten will be unable to handle the abyss, and he will collapse leaving me to rise to the surface, and become..the man."
"Oh, but Mike, you are already the man, in so many ways," Steve muttered.
"Sarcasm is not the answer Steve, learn to live free of the evil."
"You use it all the time."
"But only for the forces of good."
"Mike, this plan of yours, why don't you execute it right now, before I execute you."
"Very good word use my friend, but you're forgetting one thing."
"What?"
"Got your nose!" Mike said and hurried off.
Steve sighed and then began laughing.
He's positively insane, but hilarious, especially when he's not here.
Steve continued to laugh hysterically.
That's why I haven't killed him yet.
In one of Tokyo's many clothing stores.
"What do you think of this?" Raye asked holding up a dress.
"Well..I don't know," Rick said. "Go with what you feel like."
"But you have to look at it."
"Of course I do, but I don't mind. If you like it, I like it."
"Now don't be like that. Tell me what you really think?"
"It doesn't matter what I think."
"Rick..come on..if we're going to be serious and by all accounts we are....if we're not some things very wrong, look..we have to be truthful with each other."
"Raye, I just don't care enough about how you dress to risk hurting your feelings."
"Oh..." Raye said. "I see...so you don't like it."
"No, I do like that one, but what about he next one, and the inevitable thirty others you girls end up buying on every shopping excursion?"
"Hey..that's not fair, you have a large wardrobe," Raye said.
"Built over time Raye, I don't replace it monthly, " Rick said.
"It's a girl thing," Raye said. "You wouldn't understand."
"Yeah, it's that new higher order thinking they're always talking about," Rick said.
"Don't tease," Raye said. "How about this one?"
She said pulling out another dress.
"It's ugly," Rick said.
"Rick!"
"I figured as much. You girls just want us to tell you what you want to hear."
"Of course Rick, but what do you think?"
"The moonlight itself could not compare to you in that dress," Rick said.
"Now you're being silly," Raye said.
Rick sighed.
And elsewhere.
"Seiya...what are you doing?" Lita asked.
"Nothing, nothing," Seiya said.
"Seiya, I can tell you otherwise. You're glancing around like crazy. Trouble with the mob?"
"No..look I'm just uh..nervous about something."
"What?"
"Well..uh..I didn't think to bring the sunglasses I usually wear to disguise myself, these are pretty flimsy. I'm hoping no one notices who I am," Seiya said.
"Seiya, they're over you. Chad's all the rage," Lita said.
"How can he be?" Seiya asked. "He's..CHAD?"
"I don't know, but it's the way it is," Lita said. "Anyway, you haven't had to deal with rabid fans at all since you got back. What are you worried about?"
"It's just instinctive, then again I wouldn't mind a mob or two. I'm actually surprised at being ignored like this."
"I haven't had that problem," Lita said. "My fifteen minutes of fame are over and done with, but I don't mind it."
"I had more than fifteen minutes."
"But you don't want to be an idol do you?"
"Well I actually liked it, even we had another motive. Yaten and Taiki do not agree though. They did it for the mission. And I guess I kinda wish we could have continued."
"But it was hard work."
"Yes, it was, but it felt good I guess," Seiya said.
"You could always try again."
"Alone? No way, and besides the record companies won't touch us after the stunt we pulled."
"I'm sure you could draw the crowds in again."
"As a solo act, nah..I'm more of a group singer, besides, maybe in a few years, I'm staying here for a while, gonna finish school."
"That's good," Lita said. "So is your move here permanent?"
"Don't know yet, our planet is doing well, but our families are gone, really this planet is what we have left. For better or worse."
"Well, it'd be great to have you around," Lita said.
"Yeah," Seiya muttered.
"What's wrong now?"
"Nothing," Seiya said. "Just thinking about things."
Lita looked at him curiously.
Now what? She thought.
"Listen to this Darrien," Serena said. "It's a contest to prove who's the best couple in all of Tokyo."
"Is it?" Darrien muttered typing something on his computer.
"Sure is," Serena said. "Wouldn't it be great if we won."
"Yeah sure."
"So we should do it you think?"
"Uh..well.."
"What?"
"Been a little busy lately."
"Oh come on, one night?"
"Well..are you sure we should put ourselves up like that, I mean, who cares if someone else thinks we have a good relationship or not, we know what we have."
"But it'll be fun?"
"I don't uh...well.."
"What?"
"Serena, I'm just uncomfortable with the idea, I know you like to jump into these things, but I don't," Darrien said. "I'm not a big fan."
"Ah come on," Serena said. "What have you got to lose?"
"I uh...it's just not something I want to do," Darrien said.
"Fine then," Serena muttered. "Be that way."
Serena then stormed out of his apartment.
"Hmm..that could have gone better," Darrien muttered.
"YOU'RE RIGHT!" Serena said shouted from down the hall.
Darrien sighed.
"We're not particularly trying to blow things up you know," Michiru said into her communicator.
"Naturally," Setsuna said. "But aren't you being careful, I mean you're all pretty rational over there."
"Yes, but, "Michiru said. "We're dealing with a very well prepared enemy. They're managing to meet our every move and push their own advantage."
"Do you need some help then?"
"It's not a matter of that. This is all tactics. You just need to keep an eye out for trouble over there."
"So far things have been quiet," Setsuna said. "Which is worrying me. If things are as big as they are over there, we should expect some sort of move here too."
"I know, we'll let you know what we find."
"Be careful Neptune," Setsuna said.
"Isn't it obvious we're doing just that?" Neptune asked with a grin.
"So, does anyone have any idea what is going on?" Prime Minister Kanzaki asked starring at the group sitting around a table in front of him consisting of Generals Nagumo and Patterson, as well as Chief Ozaki, his daughter, and Lieutenant Nelson.
The five looked at each other.
"We're looking into it," General Nagumo said.
"Yeah, this is very complex," Chief Ozaki said.
"Don't patronize me!" Kanzaki snapped. "You all know more than you're letting on."
"Why would you think that sir?" Nagumo asked.
"Despite your best efforts, I have my own intelligence network, and I am quite capable of figuring out the obvious connections left open by the scouts, now I'm also savvy enough to realize how useful it is to keep that information secret. Now come on, I'm relying on all of you to do your jobs because I'm not going to ride you like Coral did. I just want periodic status reports, like why the scouts are over in New York blowing things up?"
"Uh..sir," Patterson said. "I can explain it. We've traced the conspiracy to Ambassador Churchill, he's believed to be heavily involved, and if we branch out from him we'll be able to figure this out. A group of the scouts went to New York to investigate it. What we found out is that this conspiracy whatever it is, is well endowed and ready for our efforts. They're playing hardball."
"So..who do you think is involved?" Kanzaki said. "It's not like Great Britain to take this so rashly."
"Yes sir, it may be that Churchill is acting on his own, or has managed to convince the other members of his government to go along somehow," Patterson said.
"Or, he's zapped them with energy or something," Ozaki said. "We can all attest to how effective that is."
"Oh..yes..I remember that," Kanzaki said. "So..regardless of his motivations he is in deep, who else though?"
"We don't know sir, we can only suspect some of the other nations critical of us," Nagumo said. "But then again they may just be agreeing with the genuine ideology stirred up by Churchill."
"So it's a mess then?" Kanzaki asked.
"Yes sir," The five said.
"Well...then get to work, I want this stopped," Kanzaki said. "And keep me posted. Other than that, do whatever is necessary."
The group all nodded and headed out of the office.
"I kinda like him," Captain Ozaki said.
"Well...that aside we've got to make some headway here," Chief Ozaki said.
"I'll talk to my contacts," Patterson said.
"Indeed let's get this done, I have a feeling there's much more riding on this then we know," Nagumo said.
"You felt that to huh?" Lieutenant Nelson said.
"We're all feeling it," Patterson said.
"Someone's going to invade aren't they?" Captain Ozaki asked.
All eyes turned to her.
"Well...when you think about it....I mean..divide and conquer right?" she asked.
"I wouldn't be surprised," Nagumo said.
"Me neither," Patterson said.
"I knew you had some smarts in you," Chief Ozaki said.
"You're embarrassing me," his daughter snapped.
"Sorry."
Later General Patterson stood next to his vehicle in a vacant lot. Sai Tsukano approached out of the shadows.
"General Patterson. How interesting it is to meet with you? Why have you summoned me. What can I do for you?" Sai asked.
"Those aliens are planning to invade aren't they?"
"An invasion, ah yes that's exactly it," Sai Tsukano said.
"You know this for sure?" General Patterson asked.
"Because when you get inside a conspiracy it's pretty easy to see the writing on the wall," Sai said.
"He's right you know," Setsuna Meio said striding up. "There's a ship out there. It's coming here quickly."
"When will it arrive?" Patterson asked.
"Hard to say," Setsuna said. "Months perhaps, but these aliens are trying to lay the groundwork to somehow waltz in and take us on."
"Indeed," Sai said. "What better thing to do then set the world at odds with the only country capable of stopping the invasion."
"What makes you think that Japan's the only way?" Patterson asked.
"Because you've got all the scouts," Sai said.
"Well yes," Patterson said. "But the world has billions of people."
"Billions of humans, without the resistance to whatever they plan to do," Sai said. "I have no idea what that is, but the key is neutralizing the scouts, and the best way to do that is to have the earth do it for them. They're quite scared of the scouts you know."
"Why utilize you to help carry this out though?" Setsuna asked.
"They didn't, Churchill used me to cause trouble while his conspiracy continued. "He didn't suspect, or maybe he did, I don't know, that I knew all along what was happening, however, that's another story, the truth is, that if there's chaos, it'll be much easier for these enemies to invade, and that's that."
"Do you know anything about the conspiracy aside from that?" Patterson asked.
"Not much, they were very careful," Sai said. "I couldn't risk offending them by sneaking around, but I did pick up some information. Earth knows it, and he's no doubt told the others."
"Is this an global conspiracy though, I mean is there more than just Churchill?" Patterson asked.
"I can't tell," Sai said. "This kind of stuff is awfully complex."
"At least you're helping," Setsuna said.
"I try, considering my past failures, I might as well."
"And when that ship gets here we'll need your help then."
"That's assuming we're still here, it's going to be a mess no matter what we do," Sai said.
"We'll see," Setsuna said.
Setsuna and Patterson headed away.
"You could have told me about the ship earlier you know," Patterson said.
"With no context to present to you first?" Setsuna said.
"Even so..."
"Sorry General, we wanted to have more complete information."
"Yeah, well anyway, this is going to be another one of those things isn't it?" he said.
"Fraid so."
"I should have stayed retired."
"Probably."
Patterson looked at her and laughed.
"I get the sense you know what I mean," he says.
"I've lived that feeling for centuries," Setsuna said.
"Sorry to hear it."
"Yes, well, that's destiny for you."
"So should my side be making a next move?"
"Just delay General, it's very dangerous I'd hate for anyone to get hurt, just try to keep from getting them onto any of you, delay the UN that sort of thing, leave it to us."
"Oh one thing, there maybe someone the scouts in New York may want to talk to," Patterson said.
"Oh?"
In Yaten's apartment room.
"You never let me read your poetry Yaten," Mina said.
"Well it's not meant to be read by anyone but me," Yaten said.
"And why is that, why compose it if you're the only one who will read it?" Mina asked.
"That's just the way it is," Yaten said.
"Hmm.." Mina said. "Well okay, if you say so, it's too bad I'm sure you write good stuff."
"I'm flattered that you'd say so, but it would have little meaning to anyone else."
"Things of beauty have meaning to everyone."
"This is hardly a thing of beauty."
"Now you don't know that."
"Look Mina, I just don't want you reading it."
"Fine, fine, fine," Mina said. "I don't care, good for you."
"What now?"
"Nothing."
"No, you're obviously upset."
"Yaten, you don't share your true thoughts you know. You just keep those inside, I want to hear what you're thinking, not what you've filtered through some box in your mind."
"Well put Mina, but really, I'm not holding back. We've had some wonderful discussions."
"Yaten please," Mina muttered. "You react to what I say with occasional bits of wisdom and beauty, but overall you aren't putting any effort into it at all. I have needs."
"What would you suggest."
"Talk more for one thing. Say what's on your mind."
"But that's dangerous."
"Yaten, look, I know what dangerous is. Just go with it."
"Mina, I'd rather not."
"What are you afraid of. I hope it isn't me."
"Well..no, I just.." Yaten said. "I'm not good at letting out that kind of feeling."
"But you sang it out."
"Yes, but that was to so many people, it's different and Taiki and Seiya were doing it too."
"Oh...I see.."Mina said. "It obviously means a lot to you. Still..you always seemed like the one with the most to say."
"What?"
"Sure, Seiya's brash, he has a romantic heart, but he has other concerns...Taiki's rational, how can he ever truly understand romance from that point of view, but you...you're perfect for it."
"Uh..well..I never saw it that way," Yaten said. "Besides Taiki does know a thing or too about romance."
"Maybe I should date him then."
"Uh..that's not what I meant."
Mina smiled.
"You're stiff Yaten, stop it."
"Now..Mina..look...I've just learned that expressing feelings is something that has to be done right, this is the way I do it."
"Yeah sure," Mina said. "But let me tell ya something, you keep this up and I'll go where I know I can get true feelings 24-7."
"Where's that?"
"Mike's house."
"Are you kidding?"
"No," Mina said. "He expresses himself in a way you couldn't understand unless you spent a lot of time with him, and perhaps not even then."
"But..you dumped him.."
"No, he dumped me..but that's another story entirely."
"But..Mina..he's a loon..what exactly makes him romantic?"
"He doesn't hold anything back Yaten," Mina said. "Everything he says comes from the heart."
"What?"
"I knew you wouldn't understand," She said.
"I guess not," Yaten said.
That night in New York.
"Do you think we could avoid blowing anything up this time?" Guardian Jupiter asked.
"Now that wasn't anyone's fault and you know it," Maverick said.
"I didn't realize how much internal conflict there was in this group," Guardian Earth said.
"There'll be more if you don't watch it," Maverick said.
"Just where are we going?" Sailor Mercury asked.
"UN HQ," Guardian Earth said.
"We've been down that road," Maverick said. "We searched the office and even though we hurried out there was nothing there."
"In the office, but what you didn't do was look below it.," Guardian Earth said.
"How far below it?" Gmerc asked.
"Several hundred feet,"Guardian Earth said.
The scouts all looked at each other.
319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328
329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338
339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348