Hey again! If you're here, then you're in the right place for the second part of the "Shadows From the Past" series. I've got eight parts planned so far (and am going to stick to that plan if I can at all help it). I think that this is rated PG, and I'm sticking to my plans to make this series PG. But anyway. Here goes the speech. Sailor Moon is not mine. Only the few original characters in this story are mine. Sailor Moon and all the related characters are owned by Naoko Takeuchi and many others who would be really P.O.'ed if I didn't talk about them in here. And now... Shadows From the Past by: M.H. Torringjan Part two: Andrew's Troubles It was the next morning that Lita awoke from a good night's sleep. She had had a nightmare, though, so she couldn't really call it a good night's sleep. It was the dream about the plane crash again. She got dressed and cooked herself some breakfast. She was ready for school with her lunch with about ten minutes to spare before she had to leave. She left anyway. The sun felt warm on her shoulders as she walked down the road towards the school. It was much better weather than the night before. There wasn't a cloud in sight. The weather forecaster had said that there was no rain in the forecast for another week. Lita decided to slow down a bit. She was almost to school and it was early. She always got to school early, but she didn't want to get there too early. She passed some stores on her way and looked into them. They contained some good sports equipment. It would be a good thing to remember, Mina's birthday wasn't very far away. She would have to buy Mina a new mouth guard or something. Lita walked on alone in the street. She wondered how the school-goers would react to the broken windows at the school. She wished that she had been able to stop the Droid faster, but it had been impossible. Well, at least no one had gotten hurt, she thought to herself. Amy hadn't told her or the other Scouts about Greg being taken yet. Lita got to school just as Amy was arriving from her home. They greeted and walked to their classes together, talking. "Did you call Rena yet?" Amy asked. "No, you told me not to call her this early. Remember? What was that attack about last night?" Lita asked. "The Negaverse is going after the Rainbow Crystal Carriers again. They caught us off guard last night, but it won't happen again. I was going to tell everyone about it at the meeting this afternoon. They've already got Greg, so we don't have any way of knowing where they're going to strike next." "How'll we be able to defend ourselves against this, then?" "I don't know. First of all, we'll have to have our transformation sticks and communicators with us at all times." "This coming from a person with experience." Amy frowned. "Last night was a mistake. We didn't even expect it. That's why they attacked when they did. They won't get any more of the carriers. We'll try to keep the carriers safe and save Greg. We should each guard one of the remaining carriers whenever we can." "I wonder who'll be next," Lita said as the first bell rang. "See you at lunch!" She walked into her room, which had new air-conditioning thanks to the structural damage done by the previous night's battle. She sat down at her desk and searched her book bag for her materials. She couldn't find her homework! She could tell that it was going to be a lovely day. At lunch, Lita went out and sat down in her customary spot to wait for the other two girls. Serena arrived before Amy, of course. Lita had gotten in trouble for not having her homework, and had received a detention. It was a good thing that she already knew what was going to happen at the meeting that afternoon. Amy sat down, and the two started talking. "Amy, what was the battle about last night?" Serena asked. "I'd rather wait to tell you about it until the meeting this afternoon," Amy said. "What meeting?" Serena asked. Lita smiled nervously. "Sorry, Serena," Lita said. "I forgot to call you about it. We're meeting this afternoon at the temple. I can't be there, though." "Why not?" Amy asked inquisitively. "I've been having one of those days. First, I forgot my homework. Then, I was almost suspended for being blamed for a fight with some jerk. You'd think that these kids would know not to mess with me by this time." "You know, Lita," Amy said, "You've got to try and suppress these violent tendencies. They're more trouble than they're worth in our battles." "It's just the events of the days and the time that I got to bed last night. I just really need some time to myself." "Girl, what you need is some quality time with a shopping center," Serena said. "You're probably just saying that so you can have an excuse to go shopping," Lita said, smiling. "I think that after I've finished with my detention, I'll go home and go to bed early. Maybe watch some TV before that." "That's a good idea," Serena affirmed. "We'll be able to hold down the fort without you." "I hope so," Lita said. That afternoon, Lita stayed at the school house for the allotted hour and a half to pay her debt to society. Her punishment was to help clean the room of rubble and to clean the desks. She had no trouble with the desks, but she didn't like the rubble. Wasn't that the police or the firemen's job? At the temple, the meeting started without Lita. Amy started out with her reasons for calling the meeting. "Okay, guys, we've got a problem. The Negaverse is going after the Rainbow Crystal Carriers. You know, those people who had the fragments of the Imperium Silver Crystal embedded in them. Last night, they got Greg, and I'm sure that they're going to go after the others, considering that they got one out from under our noses. To prevent them from getting the others, we'll have to stake as constant a guard as is possible on the carriers. All of them." "And don't do what you did, eh?" Mina asked jokingly. Amy ignored the comment. "But anyway, I don't know who all these carriers are. I wasn't here then, remember?" "The rainbow crystals were carried by Greg, Hercules the cat, a priest, Raye's Grandpa, Game Machine Joe, Andrew's girlfriend, and that painter, Loni Lenai. Who wants to guard who?" "I'll take Hercules," Luna said. The cat had had a crush on Luna, but she wasn't in any way returning it. "I'll guard Grandpa," Raye said. "I'll take Loni," Serena said. "I'll find the priest and guard him," Mina said. "I bet that Lita'll want to guard Game Machine Joe," Amy said. "And I'll guard Joe with Lita." "What about me?" Artemis asked. "Why, you'll help me, of course!" Mina exclaimed. "Quick test," Amy said. "Does everyone have their transformation pens with them now?" Raye, Amy and Mina did. Serena made up the lame excuse that she had put it right beside her school stuff so that she wouldn't forget it, but she had been in such a rush that morning... "You must have forgotten your brain!" Raye teased. Artemis broke the two up before they could get at it. "She even flunks tests out of school," Raye muttered to herself. "I heard that," Serena said angrily, but she decided to drop it before the others got mad at her. The Scouts broke up to go to their guard duties with the Crystal Carriers. "They know about my plans," Rubeus thought as the girls broke up to go to their places. "I'll have to get a better Droid. Droid Stalker, come forth!" A Droid appeared from out of nowhere. It looked like a large tabby cat with a pouch at its side and a sheath at its side. Across its back, it had a quiver of arrows. It had a thin over shirt covering its chest and sturdy breeches on. "Your job is to capture this woman," he gestured towards the mirror, and its picture changed to show a woman with the occupation of biologist in Africa. She was visiting Tokyo to be with her boyfriend, who worked at the local arcade. As if that would matter any to the Droid. It just knew to catch its prey. It wondered how it would do its job without being noticed by someone. That was its one flaw. Luckily, it made up for that flaw with its durability. It could take just about anything and not get dented. It could never do a task without being noticed by the wrong person. It killed that wrong person, though. "Bring her back, and try not to be as idiotic as the last Droid was." As it was transporting out, it had the thought, "Why don't I try complete stealth? Come out from under the ground and take her. No one will even see me coming." Lita got home at about seven o'clock at night. Her communicator went off just as she went in her front door. It was Amy on the other end of the line. "Lita, you're home?" Amy asked. "Yes, what's up?" Lita responded. "We're guarding the Rainbow Carriers as we speak. If you want, you can join us. I volunteered you for guard duty on Game Machine Joe." "Good ol' Amy, never fails to find a way to cheer me up. I'll be right there. He's at the arcade?" "Yes, and so is Andrew's girlfriend. That kills two birds with one stone. We can keep an eye on both of them at once. I'll be waiting, unless they move. I'll call you if they do." "Thanks, Ames," Lita said, turning the communicator off. She went back out her door and down the road in the direction of the arcade. She arrived at the same time that Game Machine Joe left the arcade. She remembered him from the first adventure that she had been a Scout in. He had seemed to have been attracted to her, but they had drifted apart after a while. She was more interested in Andrew, anyway. Amy wasn't far behind the guy, sneaking so that he wouldn't notice her. Lita fell in with Amy, and decided that she would be able to handle sticking with Andrew. "Amy, I'm going to go guard Andrew and Reika," Lita said quietly. "Okay. They need someone on them." Amy continued on her way as Lita went back towards the arcade. She entered and saw Andrew standing by the door to the back room with Reika by his side. Reika was the one who she was supposed to be guarding, so she went over to talk to the two. She didn't like Amy's tactic of sneaking around. "Hey, Andrew!" she greeted as she approached. She didn't notice a small black spot on the ground appearing from out of nowhere. It got larger slowly. "How's business today?" "Same as usual for a school afternoon. I've been kept busy so far, especially by your friend, Game Machine Joe." The black spot had gotten large enough to surround both Andrew and Reika if it was to open. Lita looked down just in time to push the pair out of the way. A large, cat-like creature reached up through the black spot for Reika. It caught on to her leg and began pulling. The girl screamed helplessly as she was pulled into the hole. Lita began trying to help Andrew pull her back. After about a moment, she gave up and reached into her pocket for her communicator. As she turned it on, an arrow streaked through it. She had no way to communicate with the others. This just really wasn't her day. She couldn't transform, because someone would notice her. The creature had encased Reika in some sort of crystalline substance and was storing her in the hole. It went back for Lita and Andrew. Andrew wasn't leaving without his girlfriend, though. The Droid wasn't leaving without their heads on a platter. "You've got to get out of here, Andrew!" Lita called across the room. "Don't worry about Reika!" "But that thing's got her!" Andrew called back, rushing towards the monster. Lita gave up and grabbed her transformation pen. She would only use it in case of emergency. She turned toward the creature. It had its bow raised towards her. She jumped out of the way just before an arrow streaked through the air that she had just occupied. She rushed towards the creature and tried punching it. It didn't move or flinch. It took the hit, and Lita pulled back a bruised fist. The Droid kicked her in the gut and threw her back to Andrew. Lita was awake enough to use her transformation pen, and she did. "Jupiter Star Power!" she yelled out. Andrew stared in amazement as Lita changed into one of the world-famous Sailor Scouts. "Lita, you're a Sailor Scout?" Andrew stammered. He couldn't believe his own eyes. "Yeah," Lita said as she stood up, still reeling from the blow dealt to her by the Droid. "Who else is there?" he asked, completely oblivious to the impending doom just off to his left. "Serena, Amy, and Raye. There's also a girl named Mina, but I don't think you've met her," Lita said. She didn't know why she was telling him the whole story. Perhaps delirium brought on by her injuries. "I've seen her around here a couple of times. So that's why you've been hanging around them so much." "Now, if you could let me take care of this creep," Lita said as she went back into the fray. "Jupiter Thunderclap Zap!" She let loose with a blast of energy directed at the Droid. The Droid was hit by the blast. A small explosion erupted from the site of impact. When the smoke had cleared, the Droid was standing in place without a dent in it. "Oh, man! That was a good one, too! Lemme try it again. Jupiter Thunderclap, Zap!" Another lightning bolt flew towards the Droid, which was laughing at Jupiter's futile attempts. The energy hit the Droid, with the same results. "You know, Lita, this doesn't look like it's working," Andrew said. "Call me Jupiter. Andrew, I need you to do something for me. Could you go find Game Machine Joe? Amy should be somewhere nearby. Tell her to get over here!" The Droid had taken out its sword and was preparing to attack the two again. "Yeah, sure!" Andrew said, rushing out of the arcade. He went down the street, trying to find Joe and Amy. About a block down, he came across Joe, who was looking in a store. He looked around the area, and found Amy hiding around the corner of the store. "Amy, Jupiter needs your help!" he said, rushing up to Amy. "What?!" she asked. Lita was in trouble? And how did Andrew know to talk to her? "Come on! There's a monster at the arcade! Jupiter's already fighting it, but nothing's working. You've got to help her!" "I don't know what you're talking about," Amy said innocently. She didn't know how Andrew had figured out that she was Mercury. "Now is not the time to play stupid, Amy! Lita told me everything. You have to come help!" The request was closer to an order. Amy couldn't figure out why Lita would tell him their secret, but she began to follow him, none the less. As she ran down the street, she took out her communicator to reach the others. She contacted them all and told them to get to the arcade as quickly as possible. She hoped that she wasn't too late herself. Another explosive arrow flew in Jupiter's direction. She jumped out of the way of the explosion. The creature rushed at her with its sword drawn. She jumped out of the blade's way, narrowly avoiding being cut to ribbons. She needed something to fight back with. She thought of using her ear rings. She reached up to her ears and removed the back of one. She threw it towards the creature. A thought entered her head in a flash. "Jupiter Earring, Streak!" The Earring began to glow in mid-flight. The creature blocked the projectile with its blade. When the earring hit the blade, though, the blade shattered into pieces. The creature didn't look too happy about this, and took its bow back out. It started shooting arrows in the direction that Jupiter was standing. The arrows missed Jupiter every time, but they didn't stop coming. The creature kept on shooting, and Jupiter kept on dodging. Jupiter began to tire after a few minutes of this, and was finally pinned in the shirt-sleeve. She jerked her sleeve loose and took a defensive stance. "You don't stand a chance, Sailor Brat. I've got a never-emptying quiver!" the Droid taunted. "Oh, yeah? I've got friends on the way right now, and they'll take care of you, along with me!" Jupiter shot back. "Wrong," said a voice from the door of the arcade. Amy had arrived with Andrew. "You've got friends here! Mercury Star Power!" Amy changed into her Sailor Scout and prepared to lend a hand to the tiring Jupiter. "Watch out, Mercury, this one's tough!" Jupiter exclaimed. "Andrew, get out of here!" No sooner had the words left Jupiter's mouth than the man had left the premises. "Ready, Mercury?" "Always am!" "All right! Jupiter Thuderclap, Zap!" "Mercury Ice Storm, Blast!" The two attacks combined in mid-air and formed a wave of electrified water heading towards the creature. The creature stood its ground as the attack flew into it (unfortunately for Andrew, the attacks had also wreaked havoc on his arcade and the equipment therein). The Droid eventually lost its balance and was driven back to the wall. It took the damage for as long as the two Scouts could dish it out. When they finally stopped, the Droid lay still at the wall. The two Scouts walked over to the battered Droid to see if it was dead. Suddenly, the Droid roared back into action and grabbed the Scouts as they stood in amazement at the durability of this creature. Within a moment, the creature had cocooned the two in the same type of cylinder that Reika was in. Just as it teleported the cylinders out, the other three Scouts arrived, itching for a fight. As the creature advanced, the Scouts jumped into action, and the two cats prepared to help if they were needed. "Mars Celestial Fire, Surround!" Mars yelled. An inferno surrounded the Droid, which just stood and took it. When the fire had died down, it shot an explosive arrow in Mars's direction. It missed its target, but the explosion sent Mars flying into a nearby game machine. The resulting thud sent chills up Sailors Moon's and Venus's spines. Venus went over to check the still form of Mars while Moon held the Droid at bay. Mars was only unconscious, thank goodness. Venus rejoined the battle and contributed her powers to it. "I wish that Mercury was here right about now," Moon said. "We could really use that computer of hers. What's this guy weak against, anyway?" "Venus Love Chain, Encircle!" Venus called as her attack flew through the air. The chain bound the Droid's arms to its sides and its legs together. It fell to the ground, screaming and cursing the Scouts. "That'll give us some time to think," Venus said as she concentrated on the chain. "I think that our best bet would be to use some combined attacks," Luna said. "We can do combos?" Moon asked, intrigued. "Yes, and I think that you'll like them. They're incredibly powerful and very energy-draining, so you should use them sparingly. You two have the Moon Shock Wave." Venus dropped the chain and gathered what was left of her energy. "Moon..." Moon began. "Shock..." Venus continued. "Wave!" the two said together. A bright flash emitted from the two as the beams left their hands. The shots combined to form a great wall in front of the creature. As the wave hit the creature, it crumbled to dust. As the dust gathered on the floor, Moon and Venus cried out at the same time, "Moon dusted!" "BLAST! They destroyed one of my best yet! That cat is gonna pay dearly, after the Scouts. At least I got my trophy," Rubeus said, glancing at the crystal cylinders where the three beings laid, unconscious. "I wonder what I'll do with these Scouts. Maybe I'll hold them ransom for the rest of the Crystal Carriers. I'll have to ask Wiseman what he wants me to do." He mentally floated the three cylinders over to where the other Carrier was, and emptied them in with him. When the contents were gone, the cylinders disappeared into thin air. The one named Greg rushed over to Sailor Mercury to check if she was all right. Humans and their frivolous emotions, Rubeus thought. I just don't get it. "Man, Luna, you're right!" Serena said as she and Mina were on their way home from dropping Raye off. "Those duel attacks do take it out of you. I could just sleep 'till next week after that one fight.." Serena was sure that Raye would have made some sort of snide remark at that statement. "Yeah, Rena," Mina agreed. "I hope that the Negaverse doesn't try anything else today, or we're sunk! I wonder what will happen to Lita and Amy. I hope that they'll be all right." "Don't worry about them," Artemis said. "They can take care of themselves against the Negaverse. I just hope that they can do it until we can find a way to save them." "Yes, that part might take a while," Luna said. "I'll put every moment of my time into that project." "Umm... Luna, are you forgetting the part about the Crystal Carriers? The Negaverse is still after them, so we've still got to protect them," Mina said. By that time, they had reached Serena's house. Serena and Luna turned to enter and were met at the door by Rini being chased by Sammy. Serena grabbed Sammy by the scruff of the neck and stopped him dead in his tracks. In his hand, he held one of his frog friends that he had caught while playing outside. "Visiting with your real parents, I see," Serena said to the young boy. "More like showing it around its real home," Sammy said as he struggled to get out of Serena's iron grip. "And what do you mean by that?" Suddenly, in a flash of comprehension, Serena understood what Sammy had meant. She let the boy go after making him drop the frog, and she rushed to her room. She opened the door to see that what she had feared had happened. Sammy had put frogs on Serena's bed top and had left them there for her to discover. "SAMMY!!! YOU LITTLE CREEP! WHEN I GET YOU, YOU'RE GONNA WISH THAT YOU'D NEVER BEEN BORN!" Serena yelled, rushing out of her room to find the miscreant. Luna just sat there staring at the frogs. She didn't mind them as such, it's just that they stank the room up. Serena eventually caught up with Sammy and made him clean her room, along with the bedspread. She wasn't able to get to sleep until about eleven that night because she thought that kept on feeling things sliver against her legs. End of Part Two Coming next: Part Three: Allies Well, that's it for this part. How'd you like it? E-mail me at: jmh6187@uncwil.edu. I prefer good notes, but flames will be accepted. Any creative criticism will be accepted and pondered over until I can think of a way to write myself out of my own writing.
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