Notes at the bottom, as usual.
The majority of characters in this story are owned and/or copyrighted by
Naoko Takeuchi, DiC, Disney, Bandai, Toei Animation, Seagull Entertainment,
Graz Entertainment, Sunrise, Mixxzine, Saban, Playmates, and probably a half
dozen other corporations which I've neglected to mention. I should add for
the benefit of their respective legal departments that I make no claim to
the characters which the previously listed or referred to companies have
copyrighted, and I am not making any money from the distribution of these
stories (if I were, do you think I'd still be working at McDonald's?)
The characters which do not appear in either the Sailor Moon or Ronin
Warriors shows are mine. Touch them and die.
Now that that's out of the way...
Crystal Scouts #8
"Dark Skies"
Merry set Lucia's suitcases onto her bed. "/Like the room?/"
Lucia surveyed the bedroom: plush, ankle-deep carpet, giant four-
poster bed, ornate dressing-table, walk-in closet, and bright sunshine
pouring in the picture windows, giving the white room a heavenly glow.
"/I love it!/"
"/That's good, because if you don't, we have four others./"
"/No, no, I want this one./"
"/We'll have to get you a bookshelf or three for all your books./"
She looked at her watch. "/The workmen will be here in a half hour./"
Lucia hugged Merry, tears running down her cheeks. "/Thank you,
Merry. For everything. I never had friends before--and now I have six,
just like that./"
Merry wisely remained silent. No cliche about friendship would do
justice to Lucia's statement.
Two doors down, a similar scene was playing itself out.
"This is the last one, Aurelia," Tori said.
Aurelia looked around the room, which was much the same as Lucia's,
except for a desk which replaced the dressing-table.
"I don't know," Aurelia said. "They're all too--posh, too comfy."
She reached for her duffle bag. "Do you mind if I just use my sleeping bag
and sleep on the floor?"
Tori stared at her as if she'd grown three horns and claimed to be
from the planet Xandarg, but wisely refrained from saying anything. "No.
Go right ahead."
The seven girls sat in Merry and Tori's living room an hour later.
Roxanne, Chloe and Tori sat on one couch, Aurelia and Lucia on the other,
and Merry in a straight-backed chair, while Gail was furiously trying to
lean her recliner back.
"/Lucia,/" Mery began in French, "/we had to give you a last name.
We weren't sure if you would like Brand or Rivers, so we named you
Lumiere./"
Aurelia translated for the others, who groaned at Merry's pun.
Lucia, however, was laughing her head off.
"/What's so funny?/" Merry asked.
"/That was my nickname back at the orphanage,/" Lucia said. "/My
favorite hymn was 'Let Your Little Light Shine', so they called me Lucia
Lumiere./"
"/Do you sing?/" Aurelia asked.
"/Sure,/" Lucia replied. She trilled through a few scales.
"/Singing and reading were the only things I could do by myself at the
orphanage./" She laughed. "/Opera was my favorite, but I'd sing anything.
Did you ever hear advertising jingles sung in operatic style?/"
All seven girls started laughing. Merry quickly recovered and
restored order within a couple of minutes.
"/Secondly,/" Merry continued, "/I enrolled Lucia, Aurelia, and Gail
at Sutter Academy. Chloe, you can join us too--it's your choice./"
Gail's reaction was somewhat time-delayed due to the translation,
but was nonetheless vehement.
"Why?" she exploded. "I don't need no education."
"Because I truly believe what I told Lucia at the orphanage," Merry
said, switching to English. "Everybody deserves a chance to prove
themselves. You've never had a chance at all, Gail. I thought sure you'd
want that chance."
"Ya never asked me," grumbled Gail.
"I didn't have to," Merry replied. "I know your drive and
determination, and I know you try to excel at all costs. You'll do well at
the Academy,"
"Just as long as she doesn't take any of Miss Nielsen's classes,"
Tori muttered.
Merry pretended not to hear her. "We're responsible for Lucia and
Aurelia, which means we have to arrange for their schooling. Technically,
Gail, we're responsible for you too. I figured that the best way to keep
this team together is to have all its members go to the same school. Chloe,
you can decide whether or not you want to come to Sutter Academy with us--
I haven't signed you up for classes yet."
"I may need a couple days to decide," Chloe said hesitantly.
"That's all right," Merry replied. "School doesn't restart until
Monday. You've got five days."
"You know, as a tactician, having everyone go to the same school
isn't such a good idea," Roxanne said quietly. "It would be better to have
everyone split up, in schools all over the city. It would be easier to
reach attacks quickly, or investigate odd occurrences."
"So far, the enemy attacks have always been wherever we were," Merry
replied. "By staying together, we minimize the risk of a one-on-one fight
with a monster. We may not always be near the scene, but we won't have to
worry about rounding everyone up to get there."
"We'll see," Roxanne said. "We knew what they were after before.
Now that we've recovered all the crystals, it's anything goes from here on
out."
"Good point, Roxanne," Tori agreed. "I want everybody to be double-
careful. These crystals may give us superpowers, but they don't make us
invincible."
Gail's hand strayed toward her ribs as she silently admitted the
truth of that statement.
"I also want everyone to keep a close watch on their crystals," Tori
ordered. "Don't leave them out of reach, much less out of sight."
Four crystals flashed in silent salute. Chloe fumbled for a minute
before finding the Green Crystal in the bib pocket of her overalls. Gail,
however, bristled at Tori's command.
"I ain't stupid, ya know."
"Nobody ever said you were."
"I didn't ask for this job. I didn't expect much thanks, but I
didn't expect my so-called friends ta treat me like a moron, either. I
don't need this."
The Indigo Crystal had suddenly appeared in Gail's hand. Just as
suddenly, she slammed it down onto the coffee table, leaving a nice dent.
"I quit."
Moving with surprising speed, considering her broken ribs, Gail
headed for the door.
"Gail!" Tori yelled. "Get back h--"
The slamming of the front door was her answer.
Tori bolted from her seat and stalked toward the door. Merry
blocked her path.
"Get out of my--"
"Let her go, Tori," Merry said. "She knows where to find us if she
wants to come back."
"This is world defense, not a kids' game! She can't--"
"I know," Merry said quietly.
Deep down, I hope Gail knows it too, Merry thought.
Tori had pulled the Windstar off to the side of the Golden Gate
Bridge. She stood near the railing, gazing out over the bay, wind whipping
through her long red hair. Merry stood behind her, a couple of steps back,
in case Tori decided to do something stupid like throw herself off the
bridge into the water hundreds of feet below.
"Shouldn't we be looking for Gail?" Chloe asked.
"She's the boss," Roxanne said, pointing to Tori. "And right now,
with the mood she's in, I don't want to cross her."
Aurelia had no such fear. "The field trip's been fun," she said
with uncharacteristic acidity, "but I think we should be searching for our
missing member."
Tori continued to stare, red eyes looking at who-knew-what in the
bay below.
Merry answered Aurelia's challenge. "She wants you and Lucia to
know your way around San Francisco. That's why we went to the harbor,
Fisherman's Wharf, and the Transamerica Building."
Aurelia had finally become exasperated with Lucia's pestering and
had quickly translated for her. "/I loved the pyramid,/" Lucia said.
"/Very tall, like the Eiffel Tower. Great view of the city./"
"The tour of Paris yesterday was interesting, and this one would
be too," Aurelia seethed, "except there's only six of us here instead of
seven."
"Gail grew up on the streets. She knows this city as well as
anybody."
"That wasn't exactly what I meant," Aurelia nearly exploded. "What
are we doing here, anyway?"
Tori spoke for the first time. "I'm looking."
"For what?" Aurelia asked angrily. "It sure isn't Gail!" Her head
bobbed around the bay, mocking Tori's military-style demeanor. "I'm looking
too!" she yelled, starting to point. "There's San Francisco Bay! There's
Alcatraz! And there, at the end of the bridge, there's Oakland!"
Tori turned around and walked toward Aurelia, with absolutely no
expression on her face. Aurelia stood her ground, but Tori walked around
her and toward the van.
"That's Marin County," Tori said over her shoulder. "Oakland's on
the other end of the Transbay Bridge, over there."
The other five girls scrambled for their seats as Tori started the
engine and switched gears as if they weren't there.
Aurelia, whether by chance or persuasion, had wound up in the seat
behind Tori. She snaked her right arm in front of Tori's and behind her
neck in a half-nelson hold.
"Where are we going?"
Tori nonchalantly peeled Aurelia's hold off with her left hand,
keeping her right hand on the wheel and her eyes on the road ahead.
"To see an old friend."
Tori pulled the Windstar into a parking space. She locked and
slammed her door before anybody else could move. Merry unlocked the doors
from her side, and the girls scrambled out as Tori fed some change into the
meter, then began to walk away.
Aurelia's short legs caught up with and matched the much taller
girl's powerful stride without making it look like she was actually running.
"What makes you think Gail's here in Chinatown?"
Tori continued to stare straight ahead. "I'm not looking for Gail."
Aurelia stopped dead in her tracks. She had a blank expression on
her face, one that someone might have just after hearing unwelcome news and
just before the explosion of anger.
"I--" she spluttered. "I thought we were--"
"You thought wrong," Tori said coldly.
Now came the display of anger.
"Then what in the seven levels of--"
"I told you. I'm visiting an old friend."
Tori walked up to the door of a very familiar antique shop. "Now,
if you don't mind," she said as she opened the door, "I'd like to be alone."
Tori slammed the door shut, locked it and flipped the sign in the
window to "closed" within two seconds. Aurelia had barely missed getting
her nose hit by the swiftly closing door. She stood still, blinking, for a
few seconds before regaining her powers of speech, an octave higher than
normal.
"Tori! Get your--"
Merry put her hand on Aurelia's shoulder. Aurelia shrugged it off,
but closed her mouth.
"Let her be," Merry advised. "For a few minutes at least. Then you
can kick in the door and go after her."
"Goody," Aurelia said dryly, crossing her arms over her chest. "I
can hardly wait."
Tori's eyes roved the shop as she stepped away from the door. "Mr.
Chen?" she called. "Mr. Chen?"
The beaded curtain behind the counter rustled as Mr. Chen stepped
from behind it. "Yes, my child?" He looked over Tori's shoulder to see
Aurelia's angry face in the window of the door. "Why are you displeasing
my customers?"
Tori glanced over her shoulder. "That's not a customer. That's
somebody I know." She sighed. "Besides, I wanted to talk to you alone."
Mr. Chen shrugged. "Here I am, my child." A slight frown crossed
his wrinkled face. "Whatever happened to that red crystal? Did you get rid
of it, as I hoped?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Tori sighed again.
"It _was_ cursed. I lost one friend--maybe more--already this week."
"Perhaps it was not the crystal's fault," Mr. Chen said. "Perhaps
you are looking for a scapegoat to blame. Why don't you tell me the story?"
My friends and I are the Crystal Scouts, and one of them quit today
because of me, Tori thought. No way I can tell him _that_. She decided on
a vague version instead.
"Merry and I brought a girl in off the street, to give her a
chance," she said. "We gave her a place to live, food, clothes, schooling--
then today she left because of something I said."
"A caged bird does not sing."
"What?"
"Perhaps she felt smothered, or trapped. Perhaps she did not feel
comfortable--even though you afforded her every luxury. You blame
yourself?"
Tori nodded.
"You blame yourself unnecessarily. Your great English playwright,
William Shakespeare, once wrote 'All the world's a stage, and the people
merely players.' Your performance is the only one you can control--you
cannot act for anyone else."
Tori gave a wan smile. "You're right, as usual."
"Perhaps talking to your friend--asking her why she left--might
bring a sense of closure."
"I wouldn't know where to find her."
"Perhaps she will seek you out."
I hope so, Tori thought as her fingers touched the unfamiliar dark
blue crystal in her pocket. I have something she needs. "Perhaps."
"Are you finished unburdening your soul, my child?"
Tori's smile widened. "I guess so."
"Then perhaps you could unlock my door, before your purple-haired
friend kicks it down."
Aurelia had backed away a few yards and was now charging toward the
door. Tori raced toward it as well.
Tori won.
She unlocked the door and threw it open just as Aurelia launched
herself into the air, feet first toward where teh door had been. She landed
hard on her chest and rolled over to see Mr. Chen standing above her.
"You should only extend one foot when executing a flying kick," he
said. "Tucking one leg under you allows you to land on your feet."
"Thanks for the advice," Aurelia groaned.
"Are you all right?" Tori asked, helping Aurelia up, who desperately
tried to act as if she didn't want it.
"I would have been if you hadn't opened the door."
"Tori and I had just finished her conversation," Mr. Chen said.
"She would have opened the door in a few seconds in either case." He smiled
benevolently. "Patience is a virtue which must be learned."
Tori walked outside, snickering softly to herself. Aurelia stumbled
to the door, holding onto the jamb for support.
"He who hesitates is lost," Aurelia retorted over her shoulder.
Tori had rejoined her friends, who were waiting by the Windstar.
"Is Aurelia okay?" Merry asked.
Tori looked behind her, as Aurelia came wobbling down the sidewalk
toward them. "She'll be fine."
Aurelia reached the van and leaned heavily against it. "You could
have helped me."
"You didn't want it."
"That was just an act."
Merry changed the subject. "How did your talk with Mr. Chen go?"
"Pretty well. He helped me to see a couple things more clearly."
Tori seemed to stand a little taller. "I'm driving this van home. Lucia,
Chloe, and Merry, you stay there in case Gail comes back. Aurelia, Roxanne,
and I are going to take my Camaro and search the city for her."
"I thought we agreed not to split up the team," Roxanne said.
"It's pretty well broken up already, don't you think?"
Roxanne shrugged.
"Okay, everyone," Tori said. "Hop in."
The sound of screaming people a couple blocks away all but drowned
out her last word.
"On second thought..."
Terrified people, first a trickle, then a flood, came pouring from a
side street and turned toward the girls. The crowd rushed by them as the
girls climbed onto the top of the van to escape them.
Mr. Chen stuck his head out of his door and grinned mischievously.
"Did the circus come back to town?"
"Not exactly," Tori told him. "Go back into your shop and lock the
door. Don't come out until someone tells you it's safe. We're going to go
get help."
Mr. Chen nodded. "Be careful," he said before the lock clicked.
Tori waited until his shadow had disappeared from the view through
the shop's windows. "Okay, guys. Let's see what we've got."
"I wish Gail were here," Aurelia said, a shade wistfully.
"Not my fault," Tori replied.
"Well, part of it is..." Aurelia pressed.
Tori said nothing.
Te six girls raced around the corner onto the side street everyone
had vacted. A giant bull stood in the middle of the road--not quite a
minotaur, because it couldn't stand upright. It was busy smashing cars into
each other like toys and seemed not to have noticed the girls yet. They
took the opportunity to jump into a narrow side alley.
"/This is like Pamplona,/" Lucia said.
"No, what this is is somebody getting cute," Tori said after the
translation. Nobody caught her reference, so she supplied it. "1997 is the
Year of the Ox, in Chinese astrology."
"It's not blue, but that's a big ox," Merry said.
Tori let that one go without comment. "Ready?"
Six bursts of light and six Crystal Scouts came from the alley.
They were unprepared for the sight that greeted them.
A dark blue haired girl in blue jeans and a dark blue tank top
brandished a broken parking meter like a staff at the bull. "I dunno where
my friends are," she yelled in a familiar accent, "but ya sure ain't goin'
anywhere 'til they get here!"
"Gail!" the Red Sailor called, only a few yards behind her.
Gail's head inclined over her shoulder slightly, but she kept her
eyes on the ox. "I'm a little busy right now..."
"I've got a present for you," the Red Sailor said, reaching into her
collar front and pulling out the Indigo Crystal. "Catch."
The Indigo Crystal went up in a high, graceful arc. Gail turned,
tossing the parking meter away from her, as her hands came up to catch her
crystal.
The bull charged Gail as soon as her back was turned.
"Indigocrystalpower!" Gail said, running the phrase together into
one word. She somersaulted above the bull's head as it slashed low, trying
to gore her. She landed on the back of its neck as the bull found a new
target.
The Red Sailor's flapping skirt.
The discarded parking meter bumped into the Red Sailor's foot as a
split-second plan formed in her mind. She saw the Indigo Sailor reaching
for one of the bull's horns, finally getting a grip on the right one.
The Red Sailor sidestepped to the bull's left, bending and lifting
the meter as she moved. As the bull started to thunder by, she jammed the
meter between its front legs as the Indigo Sailor yanked hard on its right
horn.
The bull went crashing to the ground as the Indigo Sailor leapt free
and rolled to land beside the Red Sailor.
"Metal--Chain!" the Purple Sailor shouted, wrapping the chain around
the bull's legs, tying it up as neatly as a rodeo calf.
"Stand back," the Red Sailor ordered as the bull continued to thrash
around. "Fire--Flame!"
The fireball died out a few seconds later, leaving only a pile of
ashes and a gray gemstone.
"One big barbecue," the Indigo Sailor quipped.
"Thanks for the help," the Red Sailor said. "It's good to have you
back."
The Indigo Sailor pointed to the Yellow Sailor. "Actually, it was
her idea that I go."
After the obligatory shocked "What?"s, the Indigo Sailor began her
explanation.
"It took me a while ta get what she was sayin', but she told me
she'd had one of her psycho visions--"
"Psychic," the Blue Sailor corrected.
"Whatever. Anyways, she said if we'd all stuck together today, our
enemy woulda destroyed your house--with us in it. I figured ya wouldn't
want that, so I left."
"And you didn't tell one of us?" the Red Sailor asked.
"Nope. I betcha if I had, it'd have made the prediction worthless.
It worked the way I played it, anyways." She shrugged. "Besides, if ya
really wanted ta know, ya coulda asked her."
"We didn't think of that..."
"Ya'd make a lousy detective," the Indigo Sailor said.
"So the whole thing was jsut an act?"
"'Fraid so. Ya ain't gettin' rid of me that easy."
"A very touching reunion."
The Crystal Scouts searched for the source of the unfamiliar voice.
The Yellow Sailor found it first.
"/There!/" she announced. "/On that rooftop!/"
Three figures stood on the edge of the roof of the building that the
Yellow Sailor indicated. One of the three wore gray: a knee-length long
sleeved dress, with gray flats and long hair which seemd to alternate color
between gray and white. The second wore pink: a miniskirt with a midriff
baring top and high heeled shoes, of the same cotton-candy shade as her
short pageboy-style hair. The third wore a brown monk's robe which hid
its wearer's face and identity.
The same voice again--the brown one was doing the talking. "My
congratulations. I did not think that you would be able to defeat my ox.
Of course, I admit I also did not think that you could defeat my other
monsters." The head of the brown one turned slightly to both the gray and
pink ones, as if blaming them.
"Who are you?" the Red Sailor demanded.
"Sorry," the brown one replied. "All you need to know--what you
should have known for some time now--is that I want your crystals."
"Good luck gettin' 'em," the Indigo Sailor yelled. "Air--Wind!"
The brown one's hand appeared from the folds of the robe. The
Indigo Sailor's attack slammed into an invisible wall three feet from the
brown one. The shield flashed black, then bounced the Indigo Sailor's wind
attack back at her, knocking her to the ground and unconscious.
"I have neither time nor patience to deal with you personally," the
brown one said. "However, I will leave you with my pet. In keeping with
our theme, do any of you know what the Chinese consider to be a symbol of
good luck?"
The Red Sailor answered. "Yes, a...oh, no."
A hundred-foot tall dragon shimmered into existence near the brown
one's building. "I'll give my pet ten minutes to play with you. By then,
there should be nothing left of you but the crystals."
The dragon snorted a puff of smoke from its nostrils. The Red
Sailor looked up to the roof again, but only the figure of the brown one
remained.
"I leave you with three words," the brown one said before vanishing.
The voice seemed to echo from everywhere.
"Prepare to die."
Hi, it's me again. Here are the notes...
* In case you missed it, Gail's line upon receiving the news of her
upcoming schooling is the opening of "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink
Floyd. It was my class song, so I had to work it in somewhere.
* Roxanne's tactical sentiments echo something I've always thought
about Sailor Moon: it makes no sense to have everyone attend the same
school. Things are a lot easier if everyone is on their own.
(Of course, the enemy would probably prefer that too...)
* Tori also corrects a common misconception about the Golden Gate
Bridge here. (I used to think it connected San Francisco and Oakland too.)
* Mr. Chen's quote about patience was a favorite of an ex-aunt of
mine.
* I thought that a theme for the monsters for this chapter might be
fun. Something different to do...
(
geocities.com/tokyo/bay) (
geocities.com/tokyo)