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 #3
"Real Estate Blues"
The girl lay quietly in her bed, fast asleep. Her face was so
peaceful one might have wondered what dreams she was having. Nobody would
have wanted to disturb her serenity to ask her, however...
Nobody but the shadowed figure slowly opening her door.
Stealthily the intruder crept toward the girl's bed. A dark hand
reached out for her shoulder...
The figure spoke in an urgent voice, shaking the girl awake.
"Tori...Tori..."
The girl sat bolt upright. "Huh--wha--"
The figure switched on the bedside lamp. "Tori, it's just me,
Merry. Time to get up or we'll be late."
Tori sank back to the plush pillows. "Not fair--shouldn't start a
new semester day after final exams..."
"Hurry up and get dressed," Merry said as she walked toward the
door. "I've got breakfast ready."
"Breakfast--"
"Yeah, breakfast. You know, food? Better hurry, too. Pop-Tarts
don't taste too good when they're cold."
Merry barely dodged the pillow Tori threw at her.
In another part of San Francisco, another girl was just waking up as
well. This neighborhood, however, was far from Tori and Merry's, both in
distance and in sophistication. Thirty years ago, it would have been
referred to as the wrong side of the tracks (that is, back when trains were
in style).
None of this made any difference to the girl. This was her alley,
her neighborhood, no matter what.
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home...
The girl wore fading blue jeans and a dark blue windbreaker, both
with a few holes in them, like most things in the nieghborhood. Her most
striking feature was her hair--a shade of dark blue. Most people who asked
if it was natural wound up checking their teeth.
The girl blinked her eyes open--and kept blinking. A dark blue
crystal had embedded itself in the pavement near her head. The crystal,
unblinking, gazed back at her.
Had this crystal been here last night, when she lay down here to
sleep? She couldn't remember--it had been too dark to see much of anything
anyway.
Finally, she reached out to touch it, to prove that it was real.
Her grimy hand met with the crystal instead of passing through it, as she
thought it would.
As she picked up the crystal, the wind seemed to pick up a little
too. The girl unconsciously pulled her windbreaker a little tighter around
herself. The wind didn't seem to bother her anymore.
Right now, the only thing that mattered was the crystal.
Tori sat in the front row of the classroom, with Merry on her right.
Ordinarily Tori would have chosen a seat near the back, but this was her
favorite class and her favorite teacher.
Honors Literature with Mr. Murphy.
Tori loved reading the stories of years gone by (even though she
hated history, something Merry had never exactly figured out). Homer's
Iliad and Odyssey, the King Arthur legends, Shakespeare's tragedies--Tori
loved them all.
She loved Mr. Murphy, too (his teaching style, that is). Instead of
sitting at his desk, he taught on his feet, occasionally walking around the
room, but more often standing possessively by his Jane Fonda swimsuit
calendar and emphasizing important points by smacking the chalkboard with a
yardstick.
He didn't spend all his time lecturing the class, either.
Ordinarily, after introducing a work, talking about it, then giving everyone
the evening to read it, he'd open the floor to the class for discussion. If
the debate seemed a little off-track, he'd casually mention something to
return to the topic.
Then again, sometimes he'd stray slightly from the subject matter to
illustrate a point by telling a story. Tori's favorite was the one about
the golden retriever, simply because of its grisly and unexpected ending.
All in all, Tori thought, it only made sense to start a new semester
with Mr. Murphy's class--one she'd gladly get up early for.
Tori stretched and smiled contentedly as the door opened, fully
expecting Mr. Murphy to jauntily walk in. Her smile froze as the assistant
principal strode over to her.
"Miss Brand, Miss Rivers," she said. "I would like to see you in my
office right now."
"Yes, Miss Lawrence," they responded automatically. As they
followed her out the door, the two exchanged surprised glances.
Miss Lawrence's room was deliberately designed for intimidation.
Her desk lay bare except for a telephone and the relevant paperwork, while
the only other furnishings in the spartan room were hardback chairs--very
uncomfortable, especially during interrogation.
Out of the three chairs in front of Miss Lawrence's desk, two were
empty. The third was occupied by an orange-haired girl who quickly arose
to greet Tori and Merry when they entered.
"Hello," the girl said. "I'm Roxanne Grant."
"Nice to meet you," Tori replied. "I'm Tori Brand and this is
Mered--" a sharp elbow made her change her choice of words--"Merry Rivers."
"Now that introductions are finished, have a seat, ladies," Miss
Lawrence said. She clasped her hands on the desk in front of her.
"Miss Brand, Miss Rivers," Miss Lawrence began, "you know that I
usually do not ask for favors--but this is an unusual situation. Miss Grant
is a new student here at Sutter Academy. She and her parents were to move
here from New York, but the sale of their house there as well as their
purchase of one here both fell through. I'm afraid that, for the time
being, Miss Grant needs a place to stay." She paused awkwardly. "Would--
would you be willing to let Miss Grant stay with you until this problem is
solved?"
"Gee, it's--it's not really my call," Tori said, carefully judging
Roxanne's reaction--downcast, as she'd expected. "I mean, it's Merry's
family that owns the house..." She trailed off, staring at Merry.
Merry glanced at Roxanne's bowed head. "Of course she can stay with
us," she said, watching as Roxanne's face immediately brightened. "Like my
dad says, the more the merrier."
Merry had started to giggle before she realized where she was.
Amazingly, there was a hint of a smile on Miss Lawrence's face too.
"Very well then," Miss Lawrence said. "I've arranged Miss Grant's
schedule so that she is always with one of you--so that you may 'show her
the ropes', so to speak." She checked her watch. "Which means that you
should all be returning to Honors Literature by now. Good day."
The three fled from Miss Lawrence's office.
The girl in the windbreaker strode confidently toward her
destination. Nothing was going to stop her now...
Except the three punks with hair colored more strangely than hers
who stepped out of an alley in front of her.
"Well, well," said the leader. "What's this?"
"More of a fighter than you'll ever be," she replied, backhanding
him and sending him to the pavement.
The other two jumped at her simultaneously. She took a quick step
backwards and brought her hands together, catching their heads in between.
"I've gotta couple minutes ta kill," she said, walking up to the
leader and lifting him by the shirtfront. "Mind if I stick around here?"
"No," he choked. "Please-please go away."
She dropped him and wordlessly walked away.
"I-I don't know what to say," Roxanne stammered.
"Hmm...how about 'thanks'? Or maybe 'we're going to have a lot of
fun together'? Nah, too trite..."
Merry clamped her hand over Tori's mouth. "You'll have to excuse
her. She can be...exasperating at times."
Tori broke free. "I am not! Besides, you're my _best_ friend--and
you've never said anything until _now_? In front of someone we've just
met?"
Roxanne blushed. "You two _are_ just joking, right? Just to break
the ice?"
"Guilty as charged," Tori admitted. "So, what do you thing of San
Francisco so far?"
"I haven't seen enough of it yet," Roxanne replied. "But I know one
thing--I'm going to like this school a _lot_ more than my old one. The
people are _definitely_ more friendly here."
"Just most of the students, not the teachers."
"Tori!"
"What?"
"Let her make her own decisions. I'm sure she'll find something to
hate here before the day is out."
All three laughed at that statement.
The girl stared forlornly at the CLOSED sign in Joey's window.
Joey supposedly ran a pawnshop, but everyone on the street knew he
was really a fence--a merchant in stolen goods. The girl had figured he was
her best bet to sell the crystal--but now...
The rest of the school day passed uneventfully. Tori and Merry
escorted Roxanne to the cherry-red Camaro.
"Wow, a ninety-seven!" Roxanne said admiringly.
Tori spun the keys on her finger. "Everybody ready?"
"Buckle up tight, Roxanne," Merry said in a stage whisper.
"I've got a small favor to ask first," Roxanne said quietly.
Tori stopped revving the engine. "What's that?"
"Can we go shopping?"
"Huh?"
"You see, all my clothes are in storage. All I've got to wear is
this uniform and one other outfit..."
Tori was already on the road before Roxanne could finish. "Next
stop, the mall!" she announced.
Tori skidded into the last close parking spot a split second before
a white-haired old lady could.
Roxanne tottered unsteadily from the Camaro. "I-I guess that takes
some getting used to..."
"Great," Tori joked. "Now there's two of them."
Merry shrugged off Tori's insult. "Where exactly did you want to
go?"
"I just planned on checking from store to store," Roxanne answered.
"Okay. After the food area, there's the restrooms, then a jewelry
store and the Gap on the right. Sound all right to you?"
"No problem!"
The blue-haired girl cautiously surveyed everyone as she entered the
mall. There was a woman with a baby in a stroller. An old man bought his
grandson an ice-cream cone. Three girls in school uniforms passed by. The
blue-haired girl was in luck--a jewelry store was up ahead.
She had almost reached the store when it exploded.
Roxanne had just picked up some clothes to try on in the fitting
rooms when the explosion knocked the three girls down.
"What the--" Tori began, from her facedown position on the floor.
Merry reached Roxanne first. "Leave the store and turn right.
There's an exit about a hundred yards down on the left."
Roxanne nodded and disappeared.
"Tori! You all right!"
"This carpet doesn't taste too good..."
"Let's go! It's Sailor time!"
Roxanne stopped at the entrance of the store. No way was she going
to desert her friends...
"Blue Crystal Power!"
"Red Crystal Power!"
Roxanne saw a blue flash of light, followed by a red one. All she
caught through the pyrotechnics and smoke was that those were Tori's and
Merry's voices she'd heard...and that they were holding crystals up while
shouting those words--crystals like the one in her pocket.
Suddenly two girls in Sailor outifts came running toward her. They
stopped in their tracks when they saw her.
"Uhh...miss, it's not safe here," the one in blue said. "The exit
is that way."
"You're not fooling anybody, Merry," Roxanne said as the Sailors'
jaws dropped. "Whatever you're doing, I'm going to help."
"Roxanne, I don't think..."
"Orange Crystal Power!"
The blue-haired girl slowly pushed herself up from the ground. She
had cuts all over her body, but that didn't matter...only getting herself to
safety...
From the smoke, three figures materialized. As she got closer to
them, she saw that two were wearing sailor-style costumes, while the third
seemed to be arguing with them...
Until the third figure raised a crystal high and an orange flash
blinded her.
By the time she could see again, all three were wearing sailor
suits.
"Where did you--"
"No time to explain. Let's go save some people!"
"Wait!" the Blue Sailor commanded. "What's your power?"
"Huh?"
"What do you feel?"
"Strong and tough, like rock...like earth." Her hand glowed orange,
then faded. "Now, can we go?"
"Sure thing, Orange Sailor."
It was definitely a very weird idea.
The blue-haired girl stared at the dark blue crystal in her hand...
and raised it.
"Blue Crystal Power!"
Nothing happened.
"Dark Blue Crystal Power!"
Still nothing.
The girl examined the crystal again. It was still the same dark
blue crystal, but she still felt there was something else there...
She began to think--something she hadn't really had to do for a
while. One sailor in red, one in orange, and one in blue...what was the
connection? Colors...colors of the rainbow? And in the rainbow, another
name for dark blue was...
"Indigo Crystal Power!"
"Time to put this fire out, Blue Sailor," the Orange Sailor
suggested.
"No problem," the Blue Sailor replied. "Water--Stream!"
The water cascading from her hands quenched the burning debris. It
also revealed a monster standing amid the wreckage. It appeared to be
inspired by a fire truck, with twin cannons on its arms.
"Not bad, Sailor girl," it said before firing a stream back at her
from its right arm. "I guess I'll have to dry this out again."
The flames spurting from its left arm set some of the wreckage on
fire again.
"Fight fire with fire, I always say," the Red Sailor said. "Fire--
Flame!"
Water shot from the monster's right arm cannon back at her, stopping
her attack.
"Looks like you're all washed up," the monster laughed.
A bolt of blue suddenly tackled the monster from behind. Its
punches were damaging the monster, until the monster caught its opponent in
a headlock.
"Friend of yours?" it asked.
The three Sailors stared at the fourth. She was dressed in a dark
blue uniform exactly like theirs...and she was in trouble.
"Let her go!" the Orange Sailor ordered.
"Make me."
The Orange Sailor felt power building up inside her. "All right,
you asked for it. Earth--Shake!"
The ground beneath the monster trembled, cracked, and began to
disappear. The monster dropped the fourth Sailor before falling into the
earth. The crack closed up after it.
The Red and Blue Sailors staggered to their feet.
"Is it--"
"Yeah, it's gone. Who's the other Sailor?"
"I've never seen her before," the Blue Sailor answered.
"Me either--hey, where'd she go?" the Red Sailor asked. "She
didn't--"
"No," the Orange Sailor said. "She broke free...but why would she
run?"
"I don't know," the Red Sailor replied. "But I think our problems
are just beginning."
Pearl punched the console in frustration. Not only had she failed
in her unauthorized mission, but now there were _four_ crystals activated.
At this rate, all seven crystals would be activated in enemy hands any time
now...
Roxanne yawned from the backseat of the Camaro.
"Not bad for a first day in town," she said. "New school, new
house, new friends..."
"New superpowers?" Merry asked.
"That too. By the way, you were right."
"About what?"
"That I'd find something to hate."
"Those monsters?"
"No, this blouse," Roxanne said, holding up a flowered shirt. "I
really shouldn't have bought it."
Merry and Tori groaned as Roxanne laughed.
Hi, it's me again. Here are the notes...
* My brother woke me up once like Merry did Tori. (He and Merry are
wrong, too! Pop-Tarts taste _best_ when they're cold!)
* Okay, the railroads were another reference to the past...locomotives
were cool.
* Here's your introduction to the great English guru, Murphy. He did
do all that I've attributed to him, plus some others (like combing his hair
once a month and accidentally spilling Sex Appeal perfume in his classroom,
which stunk for two weeks. Ask sometime about the golden retriever story.)
* I never got in enough trouble in high school to be in the assistant
principal's office...so the decor is guesswork.
* The sad thing is, I know a couple of girls who fight like the girl
in the windbreaker...once when I was with one of them. (It made me feel a
little worthless, too...then again, I'm mostly a pacifist anyway...)
* I know a couple of girls who drive like Tori, too.
* Yeah, so this chapter is shorter than the others. Oh well. I could
have introduced on e of three characters here; I chose Roxanne. This way,
it'll be like the original three Sailors living together: the slightly dippy
leader, the school genius who can't seem to make a good impression on the
leader, and the outsider introduced to new friends. And no, Roxanne won't
choose the same way to fit in that Raye did: to bash the leader every chance
she gets, in an effort to improve her.
(
geocities.com/tokyo/bay) (
geocities.com/tokyo)