Character Sketches #1, Sailor Mercury - Part I, "Mizuno the Senshi"
Chapter 3: In which criticism is met, and a domestic dispute arises.

TOKYO (AP)--More questions than answers came out of yesterday's sailor scout press conference, as signs of disunity and strife were apparent in the group.

There were many fireworks during the event, starting with the lateness of their leader, Sailor Moon. About five minutes into the introductions, she appeared, late and out of breath, to receive from her comrades first jeers, then a show of what can only be described as respect to a leader, calling her "Neo-Queen Serenity," a title they later refused to comment upon.

The most interesting development, in a conference full of them, was the Scouts' initial reluctance to comment upon the danger to the public posed by the recent wave of monster attacks, which has some clamoring for action from the government.

"How many down?" panted Usagi, as she raced to evade the swarms of cameras that had, contrary to Artemis's prediction, followed her to school, to the arcade, and everywhere else for the past week and a half. Speaking into a communicator, while on the run, had never been easy for Usagi, and so it took awhile for the listener to figure out what had just been said.

"Four, all unconscious," answered Sailor Mercury, who was desperately trying to fend off the youma alone and failing miserably. "You've got to hurry, Venus is the only other one nearby, and she's got problems of her own."

"Don't wanna know," muttered Usagi. She stopped her headlong dash.

"No point in the cloak and dagger routine. MOON CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE UP!" After the obligatory lightshow and speech (odd, since no enemies were present), Sailor Moon continued her sprint through the sunlit streets.

"Mercury, this is Mars. I'm about a minute away. Hold on!"

Sailor Moon arrived at the battle. Or, at least, the fringes of what she could see of the battle, surrounded as it was by the camera and reporters.

"Dammit, I told them to stay away. How many video crews *are* there in Tokyo?" How stupid *were* these people, anyway, she thought. You give them a bloody explicit warning, and they *still* wouldn't listen. She had no problem saving the world for six billion people who didn't know or care about her. But for them to deliberately disobey *her* warnings for *their* safety, well.... She came to a decision, and backed up a couple of steps.

In the heat of battle, Mercury, with the miraculously appeared Mars, was fending off the latest attack. A glint of gold appeared in a crack through the media coverage, and Mars could just make out a blue skirt. Then, she saw Sailor Moon accelerating downwards at a rate of 9.8 meters per second squared, at an altitude of three meters. At that point, Mars turned to her blue-clad comrade.

"Mercury, our problems are solved."

"Why?"

"Sailor Moon's here."

"And?"

"She's mad."

"All right, buster," shouted the recently arrived Moon, "I've had enough of this!" Making sure the microphones could hear her, she continued. "Since no one else around here is listening to me, you sure better. For love and justice, I am the pretty sailor-suited soldier Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I will punish you!"

It was the trademark phrase the media had been waiting for. It would not hyperbole to say that the flashbulbs that answered her speech could be likened to a second sun. The senshi (and the youma, for that matter), were caught unawares by the sudden light, and staggered about aimlessly. If Venus hadn't shown up at that point, who knows what might have happened. But she did, and the events from there were fairly straightforward.

"Venus Love Me Chain!" The youma reeled, trying to escape the confines of Venus's assault.

"Burning Mandala!" In flames, the monster was in no shape to see Mercury powering up her attack.

"Shine Aqua Illusion!" The chunk of ice, formerly a youma, had no chance whatsoever.

"Moon..." The photographers raced to reload their cameras.
"...Princess..." And finished in record time.
"...Halation!" And had their cameras destroyed by the glare of Sailor Moon's attack. As a bit of a sidenote, the youma dissolved into the customary pile of ashes.

"YES!!!" crowed Moon, as the others gathered round for congratulations. As they closed in, the vultures outside did as well.

"Sailor Moon, why didn't you use your moonie prissy exhalation at the start? Wouldn't it have saved a lot of time?"

"Ordinarily," she muttered, "it would save a lot of time to just leap over all of them and let them ask what was left of the youma questions." But there was no chance of that; the boom mikes, as well as a few cameras hoisted aloft, prevented that. Unless they wanted to resort to physical violence against them (not an option), they had to stand the questions, and ostensibly answer them. She was more than a little peeved, and it showed.

"First, it's 'Moon Princess Halation,' not whatever you said. Second, *we* hold my attack in reserve so that its chances of success are increased. Yes, it has tremendous power, but it might not be enough to finish off an attacker. The others' attacks give us the needed margin of error to assure a victory."

"Sailor Venus, why did you take so long to get here? In fact, why isn't Sailor Jupiter here?"

"She's probably with some boyfriend," muttered Mars under her breath.

"I was so bloody late because of the bloody press! You leeches are always following us around, it's no wonder I'd be a bit late showing up!"

"Um, excuse me," said a reporter who was panting from having just run a good three kilometers, "but your lateness is more probably due to your signing autographs for three hours. In fact, I bet you could've been here far faster if it wasn't for your posing for photographs on the way over."

"And just who do *you* think you are, second guessing us like that? How many monsters have you defeated lately, hmm? That's what I thought! Now, if-"

"I'm here!" Sailor Jupiter's arrival threw things into total confusion (or at least, more confusion than there had been before), with everyone trying to interview the senshi at once. Taking advantage of the situation (and her height), Mercury squeezed through the crowd and raced for home, with visions of improper integrals dancing in her head.

As she stepped onto her mercifully empty doorstep (the first time it had been that way since 2am the previous morning), she realized that, due to extremely inopportune timing, this would be her first meeting with her mother since the announcement.

Because of all the late nights at the ER and various professional conferences, she had not been home with her mother in ages. Interestingly enough, her mother, Ayumi, hadn't even called to see about her daughter's welfare. Ami had assumed that it wasn't one of her mom's concerns. And, as it had been for as long as she could remember, no word from her father, whose name she didn't even know.

She walked in and detransformed, all thoughts of the battle swept aside by the studying she had to do. Thus, the voice from her left, in the direction of the kitchen, took her completely by surprise.

"Good day, Ami."

The voice was so cold, so distant, that Ami did a double-take. Turning, she saw her mother, who was at the same time a complete stranger. Her mother had never had that expression that surpassed hate before. Seeming to rip the words out of cast iron, she continued.

"I do not need to tell you how disappointed I am. So I'll put it simply. Get out."

"N-nani?!?"

"Leave. I don't want you in my house anymore, Ami, Mercury, whoever you are."

"Wh-"

"I've already packed some clothes for you, you're perfectly capable of making it on your own."

"But-"

"You've demonstrated obvious irresponsibility and a total lack of respect for my authority. I will not have you under my roof."

"H-"

And then, she found herself on the doorstep, clutching an overnight bag, with a father who didn't seem to exist and a mother who threw her out, rather than be the parent of a sailor senshi.

A lone beat reporter, taking a chance on ignoring the brouhaha at the park, and taking another chance on hanging around Ami's house, saw Ami and approached for an interview. She sighed as he drew closer.

Ami Mizuno had problems.