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 #12
"Opal Win"
It had taken Roxanne eight long years of college after graduating
from Sutter Academy to receive her degree in education, but she had finally
realized her dream.
She was a kindergarten teacher.
The class had just finished their penmanship worksheets when the
bell rang for recess. "Okay, everyone," Roxanne announced, "play quietly."
Lisa and Stephanie went straight for their dolls, to play with the
dollhouse. Jason and Brad grabbed the trucks. Nicole, Valerie, and Mark
chose to express their artistic talent with the blocks.
Before Roxanne could even return to her desk to put the collected
worksheets away, she heard a loud, repetitive banging noise.
Roxanne calmly placed the worksheets on her desk and turned around
to determine the source of the noise. Yup, Roxanne thought, who else could
it be?
Billy, otherwise known as the class troublemaker, had borrowed two
metal pot lids from the kitchen play area and was now banging them together
like cymbals.
"Billy, please stop," Roxanne said, staring right at the
rambunctious boy.
Billy continued to smash the lids together.
"Billy," Roxanne said, a little louder.
The noise got louder too.
"Billy! Stop it!" Roxanne shouted.
Billy stopped, mock cymbals held in his outstretched arms.
The noise continued.
"Roxanne," an oddly distorted voice said.
What was that? Roxanne thought. The kids only knew her as Miss
Grant, and never addressed her by her first name.
"Roxanne," the voice repeated, more insistent this time.
Roxanne whirled, trying to find where both the voice and the noise
were coming from. Some of the children laughed to see their teacher's
antics, while others were beginning to get scared.
"Roxanne!" the voice shouted, as a hand fell onto her shoulder.
Roxanne jumped--higher than she would have ever thought possible.
She landed in her bed, sitting bolt upright. The incessant banging
noise was not only ringing in her ears, but was even louder than before.
The hand on her shoulder belonged to the Green Sailor.
Not plain old Chloe Bloom; but the Green Sailor.
Idly Roxanne wondered whether she was still dreaming.
"What's going on?" she finally mumbled.
"We're under attack!"
If the Green Sailor had slid down the banister like Chloe usually
did, she would have received splinters where no one was supposed to get them.
The entire bottom of the once-beautiful staircase was destroyed.
The front door, not far from the base of the staircase, was untouched,
although there was a large hole in the wall not far from it, where someone--
something--had obviously entered. So far, the intruder seemed bent only on
destruction, not on attacking the Sailors--else it would have climbed the
stairs instead of ruining them.
The Green Sailor looked at the Orange Sailor as they stood at the
top of the stairs. "What a mess."
"Now I know what all that noise was," the Orange Sailor replied.
As if to emphasize her statement, another loud crash came from
downstairs.
Sailor Venus shoved past the two of them, racing down the stairs.
"Come on!" she yelled angrily.
The Green Sailor's mind raced as fast as her feet as she and the
Orange Sailor descended the stairs. She had sent Aurelia to get the five
Sailor Scouts, who had chosen to stay together in the same room. She knew
Sailor Venus was impulsive, but she didn't think she'd just leave her
friends behind like that, either.
None of that really mattered now though, thought the Green Sailor.
She just hoped that Aurelia and the other four Sailor Scouts would hurry.
It was not hard to follow the intruder's path of destruction. All
the furniture in the living room and dining room had been reduced to little
more than toothpicks.
The three Scouts traced the trail to the kitchen. Four of the
Crystal Scouts--Red, Blue, Yellow, and Indigo--were already there. Each had
chosen a weapon from the available items in the kitchen, with the exception
of the Indigo Sailor, who chose to use her fists, as usual. The Yellow
Sailor had grabbed a heavy cast-iron skillet, while the Blue Sailor looked
a little odd with the large carving knives which she held like daggers in
her hands. The Red Sailor had taken the broomstick, expertly twirling it
over her head and around her, making it sing through the air in the kung-fu
style--apparently, she'd picked up a lot of things in Chinatown that nobody
knew about.
The four Crystal Scouts were arranged around an absolutely huge dark
skinned woman dressed in a black jumpsuit. She had to be nearly seven feet
tall, the Green Sailor thought--and it wasn't a trick of the low ceiling.
The Green Sailor knew better than to try to guess the weight of a woman, but
she was pretty sure that the black one had broken the bathroom scale more
than once. Even Sailor Venus was stunned by the size of their enemy.
The black one, for her part, seemed to have halted her destructive
rampage now that she had been confronted. She now acted as if she were
waiting--whether for someone or something, only the black one knew.
The Orange Sailor finally broke the silence--the question may have
been incongruous, but it was the traditional one of homeowners confronting
burglars, and she was tired of waiting for something to happen.
"Who are you and what do you want?"
The Red Sailor flicked a glance at the three newcomers, keeping her
makeshift staff held at the ready. "Call me crazy, but I'd say she wants
the same thing everybody else wants: our Rainbow Crystals."
The black one smiled and nodded.
"At the risk of going out on a limb," the Red Sailor continued,
"I'd also be willing to venture that she can't talk."
The black one shook her head sadly.
"Which means we'll just have to guess her name."
Everyone was shocked by the Red Sailor's incredibly flippant attitude
until they realized what she was trying to do: stall for time until the other
five Scouts showed up.
"Well, the names of her two friends--Pearl and Coral--were also the
names of gemstones," the Blue Sailor said, immediately catching on to the
Red Sailor's game. "Maybe she's named after a gemstone too--a black one."
The black one grinned, showing all her teeth, and nodded.
"Onyx?" the Blue Sailor guessed.
The black one shook her head negatively.
"How about Opal?"
The black one smiled and bowed deeply. The Yellow Sailor chose that
exact moment to bring her skillet crashing down onto the top of the black
one's head.
The Yellow Sailor yelped in pain upon contact, dropping the skillet
and rubbing her hand as if it had been stung. The black one raised her head
and flashed all her teeth again in an evil grin.
The Indigo Sailor charged toward the black one. With a vicious
backhand sweep, Opal sent the defenseless Yellow Sailor flying into the
attacking Indigo Sailor, leaving them both sprawled on the floor; one
unconscious, the other enraged.
The Blue Sailor jumped in to attack, aiming the knife in her right
hand at Opal's face while directing the other in a vicious slash across the
black one's belly.
With her two massive forearms, Opal blocked them both; one just
underneath her chin, one across her midsection. The blades of both knives
snapped off, leaving only jagged, useless hilts in the Blue Sailor's hands.
A look of utter horror and rising fear crossed the Blue Sailor's face,
compounded by the black one's contemptuous victory gaze.
"Duck!" the Red Sailor yelled as she rushed toward the black one in
a desperate attempt to save her best friend. She thrust the end of the
broomstick at the black one's eye.
Unfortunately for the Red Sailor, both the Blue Sailor and the
black one heeded her warning. The makeshift staff whistled harmlessly over
the black one's head. The black one's huge hands came up, poised as if to
catch a fly, though one hand was a few inches in front of the other. The
two giant hands clapped on the broomstick, one from each direction, at
exactly the same moment.
The Red Sailor was left staring at the broken, ragged end of the
broomstick, which was now considerably shorter than it was a mere second ago.
The black one, on the other hand, remained unfazed, unharmed, supremely
self-confident, and definitely totally and completely in control.
The Indigo Sailor had risen, gently cradling the Yellow Sailor like
a child in her arms. She glanced first at the Yellow Sailor, then at the
black one, as if seriously debating whether to carry the Yellow Sailor to
safety or to place her on the countertop and challenge the black one to
another round.
"Get her out of here now!"
All those in the room who were still conscious were startled by the
voice--even Sailor Venus and the Orange and Green Sailors, who had previously
been little more than statues. The voice was easily recognizable to all but
the black one as Sailor Moon's--though there was something different in her
tone. It was not that of a leader, expecting to be followed--after all, the
Red Sailor, not Sailor Moon, was the leader of the Crystal Scouts. Instead,
the was the tone of royalty, used to commanding everyone and receiving
instant obedience.
The black one turned to face the shadowy, indistinct form in the
kitchen doorway. With the flip of a light switch, it revealed itself as
the pink-skirted figure of Sailor Moon, flanked by Sailors Mercury, Mars,
and Jupiter, as well as the Purple Sailor.
Sailor Moon's gaze was aimed solely at the black one, meaning her
last comment hadn't been for the Indigo Sailor after all. The Indigo Sailor
still looked ready to ditch the Yellow Sailor and rejoin the battle as soon
as it was necessary. The black one, for her part, was staring at Sailor
Moon. She took a couple of uncharacteristically lumbering steps toward the
pink one and her guards, completely ignoring the four defeated Crystal
Scouts with barely a glance at them.
"That's one way to do it," the Indigo Sailor said dryly.
"That's it," Sailor Moon coaxed under her breath as she began to
slowly back away. "Follow me..." she said, slightly louder, hoping the
other Scouts would take the hint.
Opal picked up speed as she continued on toward Sailor Moon. The
pink one tried to keep a constant distance between the two of them, but
failed miserably as Opal continued her relentless advance.
The gap between them had closed to less than two yards when Sailor
Moon finally backed out of the large hole in the Victorian house's wall
through which Opal had made her entrance. Sailor Moon took four steps
backward before Opal herself emerged from the opening she'd created, and
four more before the first Scout poked her head out of the hole--the Red
Sailor, by blind chance or cosmic design.
Sailor Moon dove to one side. "Attack her!" she yelled, going into
a tuck and roll.
The Red Sailor did not hesitate at all this time. The enemy may
have struck a psychological blow by attacking the Red Sailor on her own home
ground, but this was her turf and she was going to defend it--by any means
necessary.
"Fire--Blaze!"
The burst of flame hit Opal squarely in the back, Tongues of fire
licked the black one for a few seconds, then vanished. Opal slowly turned
around to face the Red Sailor.
She was completely unharmed.
Sailor Moon and the Red Sailor voiced their opinions, both choosing
the same words.
"Uh-oh..."
The other ten Scouts quickly followed the Red Sailor out of the hole.
Six of them encircled Opal, making a total of eight Scouts in the ring
surrounding her. The Blue and Green Sailors were off to one side, checking
on the Yellow Sailor's injuries.
Sailor Mercury took up her usual position, slightly out of range of
the fighting, just as her mother before her had done countless hundreds of
times. She flipped Quicksilver's display open, tapped her earring to bring
her VR visor into place, and began typing macros.
The data she gathered made absolutely no sense to her. Undaunted,
she began punching keys to convert it into a readable--and usable--format.
Her visor continued to accumulate data on the subject, as well as to update
her on the computer's progress. File conversion nearly complete...
"Mercury!"
Sailor Mercury instinctively looked up from her computer screen.
She saw Opal--or, more accurately, Opal's chest--just before noticing the
huge smile on the black one's face. Sailor Mercury had little time to think
and even less to react. Unfortunately for her, she did neither.
Opal snatched the computer from Sailor Mercury's hands, just as
easily as stealing sweets from an infant. The black one held it outstretched
in her hand, just a few inches in front of Sailor Mercury's face. Like
lightning, Opal's massive paw clenched shut into a fist.
The Quicksilver computer had been destroyed once before--years ago,
back at the D-Portal point in Antarctica--only then, it had been a voluntary
choice, and it had destroyed the monster it had been used against. Of
course, it had also had the unintended effect of destroying Sailor Mercury
as well.
This time, it did none of these.
A bright light flashed from Opal's closed fist, and a few shattered
microchips fell from between her fingers, but Opal herself remained unhurt.
The destruction of her computer made Sailor Mercury's visor useless,
little more than high-tech sunglasses. Static streaked across her heads-up
display--effectively, Sailor Mercury was blind.
Opal sent her left fist crashing into the point of Sailor Mercury's
chin, twisting the defenseless genius' head to her left, in perfect position
for Opal's incoming right.
The right hook caught Sailor Mercury just above her left temple,
shattering the visor and sending fragments of it flying. Sailor Mercury
slumped to the ground, half of her face covered by the broken visor, the
other half bleeding from numerous cuts inflicted by the shards of the visor.
Opal dropped the remains of Sailor Mercury's computer onto her unconscious
body. The black one savagely drew back her boot to kick Sailor Mercury
in the head.
"Lumiere--Eclat!"
The blazing ball of light just missed Opal, but it hadn't been the
Yellow Sailor's intent to actually hit her with it. Sailor Jupiter raced in
a split-second behind the ball to rescue the injured Sailor Mercury from the
distracted Opal. The black one followed through with her kick anyway in an
attempt to catch Sailor Jupiter, but succeeded only in catching empty air.
Sailor Jupiter gently placed Sailor Mercury on the ground in front
of the Blue and Green Sailors. "I brought you a new patient."
The Blue Sailor nodded, gloved hands exploring Sailor Mercury's
bloody face. "She's lucky she didn't get any shards in her eye," the Blue
Sailor said. "What was her visor made of, anyway?"
"Nobody knows," Sailor Jupiter replied quietly. "We always thought
it was indestructible."
"I bet this is that 'black monster' that maimed Sailor Pluto,"
Sailor Mars said, trying and failing to lock onto Opal with her fire.
"No, really, Sherlock?" Sailor Venus replied acidly, frustrated by
her own inability to get off a clean shot. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
"Earth--Tremor!"
The Orange Sailor's new choice of words signaled a corresponding
increase in power. Everyone was bounced around like bowling balls on a
trampoline--everyone, that is, except Opal. The black one still stood
upright, slowly making her way toward the Orange Sailor.
The Orange Sailor frantically looked around her, searching for help
from the closest Scout. Sailor Mars stood a couple of yards to her right,
but instead of rushing to the Orange Sailor's rescue, she instead had her
head bowed and eyes closed. Sailor Mars seemed to be chanting something--
the Orange Sailor strained her ears to hear what it was.
"...sha, kai, jin, retsu, sai, zen--"
Sailor Mars' head raised and her purple eyes snapped open, burning
bright with an inner fire. She held a strip of parchment in her right hand,
with four Japanese characters inscribed on it--an ofuda, the Orange Sailor
recalled.
Sailor Mars suddenly rushed toward Opal, arm upraised as if to place
the ofuda on the black one's forehead. "Akuryo Taisan!"
Opal took a quick step forward, throwing off Sailor Mars' carefully
planned timing. Her huge left hand caught Sailor Mars' arm midway between
her wrist and elbow, preventing the ofuda from coming anywhere near her
head. Effortlessly, the black one lifted Sailor Mars high into the air.
Sailor Mars flailed and kicked, desperately trying to get her arm
with its precious ofuda free, but to no avail. She caught a glimpse of
Opal's face--Opal was grinning like a Cheshire cat, all teeth displayed.
The sight of the black one's smile made Sailor Mars redouble her
efforts to break loose from Opal's vise-like grip. As if delighted by the
squirming of her captive, Opal tightened her hold.
Sailor Mars thrust her free left hand toward Opal's head, trying to
wipe that stupid grin off her face.
With twin snaps, Opal's fist clenched completely shut--at least, as
far shut as it could go with Sailor Mars' ruined arm still inside.
Through the haze of agonizing pain, Sailor Mars whipped out again
with her left arm, trying to pay Opal back for the destruction of the right.
She missed Opal's face, but her fingertips grazed the black one's
neck, catching themselves on some sort of chain.
Enraged, Opal's right fist came crashing into the side of Sailor
Mars' head.
Sailor Mars had a vague sensation of falling just before the
blackness swallowed her.
Opal contemptuously turned away from the crumpled body of Sailor
Mars, but not before kicking the Scout's already broken arm.
Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus slipped swiftly in behind the black
one, gently lifting Sailor Mars.
"She's working her way down the line, picking us off one at a time,"
Sailor Jupiter said, slightly elevating Sailor Mars' chest while keeping her
broken arm pinned to her side. "Mercury, Mars..."
"Jupiter, Venus," Sailor Venus finished, lifting Sailor Mars' legs.
"Guess we know who's next."
Sailor Moon rushed up to them as they began to carry her away,
trying to cradle Sailor Mars' head. "Tell me she's going to be all right!"
she said, close to hysterics.
"Stop it!" Sailor Venus ordered. "You can't do anything for her
now!"
Sailor Moon's arms fell to her sides. "You're right," she said
quietly. "I can't do anything..."
"Nice choice of words," Sailor Jupiter said.
"Shut up, Jupiter," Sailor Venus retorted as they placed Sailor Mars
next to Sailor Mercury.
"How's your other patient?" Sailor Jupiter quietly asked the Blue
Sailor.
"I cleaned up the scratches," the Blue Sailor replied, "but I'm
afraid that she might have a concussion. Sailor Mars could too, for all I
know--short of taking them to the hospital, there's no way to tell."
Neither Sailor Jupiter nor Sailor Venus felt they had to remind her
that that plan was currently unfeasible.
Sailor Mercury stirred now, under the gentle pressure of the cold
compress applied by the Blue Sailor, battered face grimacing in pain.
"Opal...weak...crystal..." she managed before drifting back into
unconsciousness.
"What was that supposed to mean?" Sailor Venus asked.
Sailor Jupiter was staring off toward Opal. The other Scouts had
adopted a guerrilla style to fighting the black one, trying to stay out of
her way while blasting her whenever her back was turned. "I'd say it has
something to do with her necklace," Sailor Jupiter said mildly.
"What are you talking about? That amazon isn't wearing a necklace."
Sailor Jupiter silently pointed to the black one's chest. There,
from a golden chain looped around Opal's neck, hung a dark shard of crystal,
in the shape of an elongated trapezoid. "Hit the crystal, win the prize."
"No sweat. Clear!" Sailor Venus yelled, warning the other Scouts.
Opal turned toward her, crystal a perfect target. "Venus Crescent Beam
Smash!"
Golden light arced from Sailor Venus' fingertip, straight for the
crystal shard. With a brilliant burst of light, it impacted the crystal.
Both crystal and Opal were unaffected.
"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!"
More golden light streamed from Sailor Venus' finger, with the same
result. Opal began to move toward her.
"Venus--"
Sailor Venus cut her attack phrase short, as the Indigo Sailor dashed
in front of her, headed toward Opal. Part of her wanted to finish the attack
anyway to teach the impetuous upstart a lesson, but Opal was already doing an
excellent job of finishing off the Scouts by herself and didn't really need
any help.
Opal actually seemed to be enjoying the boxing workout, until the
Indigo Sailor realized the black one was only toying with her. Like pistons,
her fists whipped toward the black one's jaw--first right, then left. Two
seconds later, the Indigo Sailor was wildly shaking her hands, trying to
relieve the stinging pain, while Opal stood grinning at her. Angered, the
Indigo Sailor swung at the black one again.
Opal caught the Indigo Sailor's fist with one massive paw and
grabbed her chest bow with the other. As Opal lifted her into the air,
she moved her first hand to the bottom of the Indigo Sailor's skirt, raising
the Scout high above her head.
Surprised by Opal's move, for once the Indigo Sailor thought with
her brain instead of her fists. She realized what Opal intended to do--
smash her over her knee, snapping her in half like a twig. She might be
able to roll slightly to take the blow in her ribs instead of her back,
but still, this was gonna hurt...
With a clarity of mind that surprised her, the Indigo Sailor had
another thought flash into her mind. What was it that Sailor Venus had
been shooting her Crescent Beams at earlier?
From only about a foot or two away, the Indigo Sailor could see it
clearly now--a golden necklace, with a simple piece of crystal hanging from
it. But it had to be pretty important for Sailor Venus to single it out as
a target like that.
Maybe...
Maybe it was Opal's weakness.
And right now it was mere inches from her fingers. It shouldn't be
too hard to slip it off Opal's buzz-cut head--if only she weren't on her way
down. Oh well--if she was going to go down, she'd do her best to take Opal
with her.
Opal started to drop the Indigo Sailor down toward her bent knee.
The Indigo Sailor's hand flashed out, wrapping itself around the crystal.
Odd, she thought. I can't feel any power in it...
The Indigo Sailor was conscious of another sensation. Something was
wrapping itself around her waist. She caught a glimpse of the Purple Sailor
and her chain--her friends hadn't given up on her yet...
With a well-timed jerk on her end of the chain, the Purple Sailor
snatched the Indigo Sailor from Opal's grasp, sacrificing the dark blue
Scout's chest bow. The Purple Sailor rushed over to her rescued comrade.
"Are you all right?"
"Yup." The Indigo Sailor held up the necklace in her hand. "I
brought ya a thank-ya present."
Opal noticed the loss of her precious jewelry. She came charging
toward the Indigo Sailor, using every bit of speed she had.
"Throw it!" Sailor Venus yelled.
The Indigo Sailor spun the necklace like a sling--one, two, three
revolutions, forcing the black one to decide whether to go after her necklace
or the Indigo Sailor. On the fourth revolution, the Indigo Sailor let go,
sending the necklace high into the air.
Opal had chosen to go after the Indigo Sailor. Like an Amtrak
hitting a Yugo at a crossing, the black one barreled into the dark blue
Scout, the force of her momentum scraping the Indigo Sailor's back across
the ground. To her credit, the Indigo Sailor only grunted once, when she
hit the ground--of course, she had been knocked unconscious upon impact.
You're a stupid, foolhardy girl, thought Sailor Venus, but thanks.
"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!"
This time, the crystal exploded in a glitter of fragments.
Opal arose from the senseless, battered body of the Indigo Sailor
and raced toward Sailor Venus. The huge sadistic grin which had formerly
graced her face was now a snarl of pure hatred.
"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" The words barely tumbled from Sailor
Venus' mouth before she ducked and rolled away from Opal's onrushing
onslaught.
Sailor Venus rolled out of her somersault to face Opal. With
elation, she noticed something on Opal's jumpsuit that hadn't been there
before--a three-inch gash on her upper left arm, made by Sailor Venus'
ill-aimed snap shot Crescent Beam.
"She can be hurt now!" Sailor Venus crowed. "Attack her!"
"Lumiere--Rayonnement!"
The ball of light in the Yellow Sailor's hands exploded into several
beams which all arced toward Opal. The black one vanished into a brilliant
burst of light as the beams hit her.
Opal reappeared as the light slowly faded away. Most of her
jumpsuit had been burned away, but the black one herself was unharmed. She
now made her move of desperation, straight for the Blue Sailor's makeshift
medical camp.
The Blue Sailor quickly put herself between the two injured Sailor
Scouts and the charging Opal, glowing blue with power. Opal did not heed
that warning signal.
"Water--Flood!"
The Blue Sailor's attack did not stop Opal; it only slowed her down.
The black one continued to slog through the water toward the Blue Sailor and
her defenseless patients.
"Jupiter Thunder Crash!"
Sailor Jupiter's lightning bolt hit Opal squarely in the chest.
Combined with the water the black one was already standing in, the result
made for a rather interesting laser light show.
When the blindingly bright light finally faded to a tolerable level,
a roughly human-shaped pile of metal lay where Opal had once been.
"What the--" the Red Sailor began.
"Cyborg," Sailor Jupiter said wonderingly. "That's why she was so
tough to beat, even after we destroyed her crystal."
The jagged pile of metal shook spasmodically. A skeletal arm, with
sparking wires still sticking out of it, raised itself from the pile,
followed by a bent and misshapen leg. The infernal machine began to rise
to its feet.
"It's still alive..." the Green Sailor warned.
It was the Purple Sailor's turn for a level raise. She extended
her glowing purple hands. "Metal--Alloy!"
Liquid metal flew from her fingertips, cooling as it touched the
infernal machine, locking its limbs and pinning it into position as if
glued there.
"Fire--Blaze!"
The flames washed over the metallic skeleton of the infernal machine,
leaving only a lump of oxidized metal behind.
"All right," the Red Sailor said, more than a little wearily.
"Rusted."
Just as the Red Sailor said the word, an oddly diffused beam of
light washed over the entire scene. The Scouts heard a confident voice,
easily recognizable as the Commander.
"One battle does not win the war."
The twelve Scouts found themselves pulled upwards by the Commander's
tractor beam, towards whatever fate waited for them at its other end.
Hi, it's me again. No notes, of course; just an apology for being so late.
(
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