Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Missing Crystals ❯ Hard to Get ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Missing Crystals 3
A Sailor Moon Original Flavor fic
By: M.H. Torringjan

Okay, let's get the usual legal-ese out of the way. I don't own Sailor
Moon. I made Michael Cross/ Sailor Europa and Jennifer Hino. They are mine.
So there. Now, let me see what I can do with this fic series that I've got
going for me...

Michael walked out of the door of his house to walk to school the next
morning. What about last night? he thought. Does Mina still have feelings for
me? I mean, I'd really like to know, so that I can figure out how to act around
her. Gods, I hate being so awkward. I like the others so much more right now.
I'm clear on how I feel towards them, and how they are towards me. I wish that
I could feel that way with Mina. Almost makes me wish I was like Darien. But
then, look what that's doing to Serena.
Michael walked along, looking at the stores as he passed. Every time he
passed a window, it was hard for him to keep his eyes focused on what was inside
the store. He kept seeing his reflection in the glass.
Okay, stop this crap! he told himself. Someone's going to see it when you
get to school! Think about that book that you're reading! That's a darned good
book! Hey, and think about your favorite band! When's their next album coming
out? Hope it's better than their last one!
He looked at the sky, ignoring the windows. It was still cold, but the
sun shone brightly. The lack of clouds almost made it like a stretch of
tropical ocean, tranquil and blue.

Michael walked into the classroom and sat down, taking out his books for
class. Amy wasn't there yet. He opened his science book and began to read even
further ahead. Amy learns things so quickly, he said to himself. I thought
that I was the only one who could learn like that, but I guess this proves me
wrong. She's even modest about it. I don't get it, I mean, why should you not
be proud about your virtues? Yeah, she'd say that she is proud - she's just not
rude about it. But then again, what would she mean by "rude?" Does she mean
that I'm rude about my intelligence? Or is it just some hypothetical rudeness
that I haven't personally shown? Well, I don't think that I'm rude. Then
again, that could just be the American in me talking. I should take them to
America for a while some time.
Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up to see Serena standing
in front of his desk, smiling. He had been lost in thought so much that he
hadn't seen her walk up. More importantly, he couldn't remember what he had
just read.
"Hey, Mike!" Serena said. "How's it going? Ready for another day in
class?"
"More like I'm ready to get on our next mission," Michael replied.
"Now, now, Michael, you know that Amy wouldn't like you talking about
that," Serena teased.
"But she's not here, is she?" he replied.
"Actually, yes I am," Amy said from behind Michael. Michael jumped and
turned around, grinning sheepishly. "And really, Serena, I don't mind. No one
knows, and even if they heard, they wouldn't know what we were talking about."
"Hey, what you guys talking about?" Melvin asked, walking up.
"None of your business, Melvin," Serena said.
"We're just talking about what we're doing tonight," Amy said. "We're
having a study group for Serena's History and Geography."
"Well, I'd love to help you, but Molly and I are going to go out to the
planetarium tomorrow," Melvin said.
"Funny, we didn't ask you," Serena said again. Miss Haruna walked in
then, starting class. Everyone took their seat and prepared for class.

Michael, Serena, Lita, and Amy walked out of the school that day, meeting
Luna at the entrance. "Are you ready to go?" Luna asked.
"I'm set to go," Michael said. "I assume the others'll be waiting for
us?"
"Of course," Luna said. "We're going to London for Mina's crystal."
"Hey, if Mina lived in London before, then why didn't Artemis give her the
crystal while she was Sailor V?" Lita asked.
"He didn't know about it," Luna replied. "Neither did I. We thought that
they had been destroyed in the Last Battle. Apparently, Rigel wasn't telling us
something, since he had Michael's and the program from Central Command. Oh,
well, nothing we can do with it. Shall we get on with it?"
"Look, we're getting out of here with plenty of time, so can we spend some
free time there? I mean, it's London!" Michael asked. "They've got one of the
best club scenes in the world!"
"Okay, if we've got enough time, you can go around a bit," Luna sighed.
Serena figured there wouldn't be any time, no matter what. You've got homework
this, or you need sleep that.
"I'll settle for that," Michael said.
"Good. Now, can we focus on our job?" Luna said.
"Okay, where is this crystal that we're looking for, anyway?" Lita asked.
"How would you react if I told you it was one of the Crown Jewels?" Amy
asked.
"I'd say that I give up," Michael said. "I'm going home and going to bed.
Anyone want to come with me?"
"No, thanks," Lita said. "I'm in. How are we getting in, anyway?
"Come on, Michael," Serena said. "We need you along!"
"Oh, all right! But it's not my fault when we get thrown in jail for five
consecutive life sentences for trying to steal the Crown Jewels," Michael said,
frowning.
"Don't worry, Mike! We're the Sailor Scouts! They'll understand!" Serena
said.
"Serena, I really doubt that they'll care if we're the Sailor Scouts. I
don't think they'd care if we were the Queen's sisters. And brother, Michael,"
Amy said. "We'll have to get in there and get out somehow without getting
caught. We'll figure something out when we get there."
They spent the rest of the walk in silence. Amy tapped away on her
computer, enclosed in her world of statistics and analyses. Lita walked along,
watching the scenery. Serena watched the stores passing. Michael thought.
Luna followed in close tow, getting more nervous. She had a bad feeling about
this mission.

Mina and Raye waited at the Temple for the others to get there. Artemis
laid down to take a nap. He wanted to be nicely rested for the trip. Mina and
Raye sat on the steps, bundled up from the cold weather. They were engaged in a
conversation about various issues that concerned them.
"Mina, what is going on with you and Michael?" Raye asked.
"Nothing, at this point," Mina said. She was really getting tired of
this. Raye had been bugging her since the after the New York mission about
Michael. Mina had repeatedly told all of them that nothing was going on, as far
as she was concerned. She'd have to give it one more shot. "It's over between
the two of us."
"What about last night?" Raye asked. "What did you say to him after we
got back?"
"I just thanked him again for saving my life. What else was I supposed to
do?" Mina responded. "Why do you keep on asking?"
"I keep sensing a sort of tenseness when I'm around Michael and you
together," Raye said.
"He just hasn't coped yet," Mina replied calmly. "Give him a while, and
he'll be right as rain. Besides, I can tell that he's already started looking
at other girls. I mean, he'd been doing it the whole time we were going out."
"Did that have something to do with the breakup?"
"No. I mean, I was doing the same thing. But towards him, I felt nothing
other than a vague sense of friendship. It was nothing like the last boyfriend
that I had had in London. All I had thought about was him. I can't get that
sort of thing with any guys here, although I do enjoy their company." Mina
sighed. "I think he's got his eyes set on Amy now. Maybe Lita. It's hard to
tell who he's interested in, other than me."
"Well, you've got an easier time at it than I do," Raye said. "I had no
idea he was interested in them. But I've seen him looking at other girls. I
just don't understand the guy."
At that point, the others walked around the corner. "Which guy?" Michael
asked.
"Oh, I saw this guy on the way over here, and I was telling Raye about
him," Mina said. She didn't like lying to Michael, but she didn't want him to
know that they had been talking about him. It was a lame excuse, though; she
expected he'd figure it out.
"Okay, cool," Michael said. "So, are we ready to go? You girls ready for
a tough mission?"
"A tough mission?" Raye asked.
"Our crystal's one of the Crown Jewels," Amy said.
"Oh, well, isn't that just great?" Raye said. "Wait, wasn't one of the
Crown Jewels actually stolen already?"
"What?" Amy said.
"I read in the paper the other day that the Sunburst Necklace was stolen,"
Raye said. "What's the computer say the crystal's called?"
Amy typed into her computer for a moment. "It's the Sunburst Necklace."
"The article said that security cameras saw a strange creature destroying
the door, breaking the glass and taking the crystal," Raye said.
"Oh, what fun," Michael said.
"Look, we'll take this a little bit at a time," Luna said. "We have to do
this, though. I think that if we keep our act together, we can do this. I'd
hate to think what would happen if we were caught."
"That's easy for you to say," Lita said. "You're not the one who'll get
thrown in jail for five consecutive life sentences if you get caught trying to
steal the Crown Jewels."
"Oh, just stop worrying and transform," Luna said. She walked over to
Artemis and poked him. "Come on, Lazy-Head, we're going."
"Mercury Power Transformation!"
"Mars Power Transformation!"
"Jupiter Star Power!"
"Venus Star Power!"
"Europa Power Transformation!"
"Moon Crystal Power!"
A moment later, the Sailor Scouts were standing in their places, ready to
teleport and trying to stay warm. "Scout Teleport!"

They appeared on the bank of a river beside a two-story building. Across
the face of the building was writing for the London Aquarium. The sun was just
beginning to rise over the horizon. The street lights were still on from the
previous night. A few cars drove across the bridge beside the building. Serena
could see Big Ben across the bridge from where they were. The Scouts reverted
so as to look less conspicuous.
"The London Aquarium?" Raye asked. "Why'd we land here?"
"I like the aquarium," Mina said. "I used to come here from time to time
just to get away from Artemis and calm down."
"So, this is where you went!" Artemis exclaimed. "You have no idea where
I looked for you!"
"Let me guess, the department stores, the arcades, and the ice cream
parlors," Mina said.
"Actually, yes," Artemis said, blushing. "But, in my defense, that's
where you usually go!"
"Come on, we've got work to do," Luna said. The group walked down the
street, led by Mina, to the closest money exchange. Michael bought another
newspaper.
"Why do you keep on buying those things?" Raye asked.
"I like to keep up with the current events," Michael said.
"You know, that's why we've got newspapers at home," Raye replied.
"And I like seeing stuff in English from time to time," Michael replied.
"It's nice to not always have to rely on a language that I know shakily at
best."
"Yeah, that's how I felt when my family first moved to Tokyo," Mina said.
"That, and I wanted to find a guy."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Luna said. "Okay, so the first place we
should go is to the Tower of London. We can probably get some clues there as to
where we should be going."

"Droid Windbag, come in!" Rubeus said through the mirror.
"Yes, Lord Rubeus!" Windbag said, her image appearing through the
communicator.
"Have you gotten the crystal?" Rubeus asked.
"Yes, my lord," Windbag replied, holding up the crystal.
"Good. Bring it to me. There'll be a portal waiting for you at
Piccadilly Circus in a little while," Rubeus said. "And don't let anyone stop
you."
"Alright, my lord," Windbag said, closing the communication.
"I can sense the Sailor Scouts near," Rubeus said to himself. "I'll stop
them in their tracks this time!"
"Well, I hope for your sake that you do," Wiseman said from the center
communicator. "Prince Diamond is getting impatient with you. We don't have
unlimited resources to devote to this project. We are fighting our own war
here, you know."
"Yes, Wiseman, I know," Rubeus said. "They beat me to the first three
crystals, but I'm going to get the other three. Just give me some time, and
I'll give you those crystals and the Sailor Scouts' heads on pikes."
"I'll tell Prince Diamond that you need time, but be aware that you don't
have much more," Wiseman said, closing the channel.
"Impudent bastard... I'll show him that I'm not one to be trifled with,"
Rubeus muttered to himself as he returned to work on the next series of droids.

"Okay, we're here," Lita said, looking at the Tower's high stone walls.
"Now, how do we get in?"
"The place is full of guards, and I doubt it'll work if we bust our way
in," Raye said. "They've got this place covered tight, from what I can see."
"You know, it's at times like these that I wish my power didn't suck,"
Michael said.
"I've got an idea," Mina said. "There's an access to the river on the far
side of the castle. We might have an easier time getting in there."
"They've probably got guards there," Artemis said. "After all, that's one
of the easiest places to get in."
"Raye, are you getting any vibes or anything?" Mina asked.
"I haven't felt a thing since we got here," Raye replied.
"Amy, can your computer tell us anything?" Luna asked.
"Yes, just give me a moment," Amy said, typing on her computer some more.
She was beginning to get eyestrain from this mission. She hoped it would be
over soon.
"I'll walk around this way and see if there's any way we can get in," Mina
said, walking away to their left. The morning light had been getting stronger
since they had gotten there. She hated that they'd have to work in the daylight
this time. She looked at the wall of the Tower from her distance as she walked
along. As the next side of the building came into view, she saw a large chunk
of wall had been blown apart.
Frowning, she tried to get a better look at it from there. It didn't look
like anyone was guarding it. Yeah, the cops had always been idiots when she had
lived there. Well, except for Katarine. The name stirred bad memories, which
Mina proceeded to try and ignore. She ran back to the others to tell them about
the opening.
"So, the baddie blew a hole in the wall and ran," Michael said. "Let's
capitalize on it."
"Let's go over there and see if there are any clues as to where to go to
find it," Luna said. Mina led them to the hole in the wall, and Amy changed the
computer to scan the area for strange energy signatures.
"Just as I thought! There are high amounts of droid energy around here!"
Amy said.
"Great, another Negaverse goon to take care of," Serena said.
"Ah, we've got this one," Michael said. "We got Rubeus, didn't we?"
"Don't get cocky," Luna said. "They know that we're causing them trouble,
so they're probably going to send someone stronger than him. And remember how
much trouble he gave us."
"All right! All right!" Michael sighed. "Let's just follow the trail to
find them. Then, can we go home?"
They followed the trail of energy left behind by the droid through the
city. The Scouts walked along the streets, not wanting to draw attention. The
trail was across the tops of buildings, leading towards Leicester Square. At
one point, the energy trail was extremely concentrated. The droid must have
camped there until it was safer to move. They hoped that the creature wouldn't
attack the large crowd that most of the time bustled around the streets of and
around Leicester Square.
"All right, the trail leads this way," Amy said. "It's probably been here
in the past five minutes."
"Well, where is it now?" Michael said. Amy looked around and walked in
the direction that her computer indicated. They came to an alleyway near some
construction.
"It should be somewhere around here," Amy said. "The trail of energy
leads to the top of this building. I say we should transform now."
"Good idea," Luna said.
"Mercury Power Transformation!"
"Mars Power Transformation!"
"Jupiter Star Power!"
"Venus Star Power!"
"Europa Power Transformation!"
"Moon Crystal Power!"
The Sailor Scouts began to climb the ladder, Luna leading the way. All of
the Scouts looked up the whole time. An attack from above would be extremely
difficult to defend. When they reached the top, Luna peeked over the edge.
There was nothing there.
"Mercury, I thought that you said they were up here," Luna said down the
ladder.
"That's what my computer said," Mercury said. They climbed to the roof
and looked around cautiously. "Well, even computers can be wrong sometimes."

"Look at those stupid Scouts!" Rubeus gloated. "I've got their crystal,
and they can't even do anything about it! Droid Windbag, I've got a mission for
you! Go get those Sailor Scouts!"
"Yes, Lord Rubeus!" the droid said, jumping through the portal that
opened behind it.

"Well, the computer says that it was here at one time, but a portal opened
up. It must have already escaped," Mercury said.
"Damn!" Europa exclaimed. "So, we came all this way for nothing?"
"Yup," Moon said. "Can we go do something fun now?"
"What, this isn't fun?" Jupiter said with a tone in her voice that
answered her own question.
"We've got to figure out a way to get that crystal!" Luna said.
"Luna, we can't open up the portal. We don't have the power," Mercury
said. "Plus, we don't know where it goes. If we went there, we could be in
extreme danger. You of all people should know that we can't do that." Across
the roof from them, another portal opened. A droid jumped out, ready for
battle. She had large wings and feet like a bird.
"Mercury! Get what information you can from that portal!" Artemis
exclaimed. Mercury typed away at her computer and activated her VR visor.
"Meanwhile, I think I'll... Jupiter Thunderclap Zap!" Jupiter exclaimed,
letting loose with her attack. The droid jumped out of the way, letting the
attack fly freely into a nearby building.
"Whoops!" Jupiter said. The portal closed, causing Mercury to flinch.
"Umm, Jupiter? Try not to do that again," Moon said. "We're trying not
to blow stuff up."
"Sorry! I can't exactly control my attacks," Jupiter said.
"Well, I can!" Venus said. "Venus Love Chain, Encircle!" Venus called,
throwing the love-chain at the droid. The droid caught it and pulled Venus off-
balance, sending her to the ground.
"Blow off, Sailor Scouts! Master Rubeus wants you dead, you know!"
Windbag called out, inhaling deeply. Her chest expanded as more air filled her
lungs.
"This doesn't look good," Europa said. "Europa Earth Spike!" Underneath
the droid, large spikes of earth rose up, disrupting the droid's concentration.
The air stored in its chest rushed out, swirling the air and picking the Scouts
up.
"Oh, for pete's sake, if Sailor Scouts were meant to fly, we'd have been
given wings!" Mercury exclaimed. "Mercury Blizzard, Blast!" A pillar of
pelting ice pellets flew from Mercury's hands, hitting the droid and freezing it
in place momentarily. Unfortunately, the rush of air stopped when the enemy
did. The Scouts fell, landing with a painful thud.
"Sailor Moon, take it out!" Mars exclaimed.
"I can barely move," Moon groaned back.
"Oh, all right! I'll get it!" Mars said, standing up and taking out her
sword. "Mars Sword, give me the power to destroy this enemy! Holy Sword,
SLASH!" The wave of energy flew from the sword, cutting the droid in half. It
disintegrated, leaving only its darkened crystal behind. "Mars-dusted!" Mars
exclaimed.
"Hey, you stole my saying," Moon said weakly, trying to get up.
"Crap, that hurt," Europa said. "Mercury, did you get anything?"
"No, it wasn't open for long enough. But that's the same energy signature
that Rubeus used," Mercury said.
"And it said that Rubeus wanted us dead," Jupiter replied.
"Well, if it looks like Rubeus, and it smells like Rubeus, then it must be
Rubeus," Venus said. "Great. Just when you thought it was safe to save the
universe..."
"Okay, we've taken care of this mission," Moon said. "Can we have some
fun now?"
"Serena..." Luna said. "Leave it to you to want to have fun when you can
barely stand up."
"Hey, I've got my priorities!" Serena said. She was at least sitting up
at the moment.
"All right," Luna said, exasperated. "It's only been three hours, so you
can have three more. We'll be waiting down there at that big fountain. Make
sure to be there on time." After a short rest, the Scouts were ready to go. In
the distance, sirens from police cars were getting closer.
"Come on, guys! The cops are coming! And I doubt they'll like it if they
find us here," Venus said. "Trust me, they won't like it. Just jump a couple
of rooftops over and climb down. I'll be along in a few minutes." Venus walked
to the edge and watched the police cars make their way through the traffic. As
they got closer, she gave a dramatic pose. As they got out of the car, she gave
a quick speech. "It's nice to be back at home, if only for a while! I'm the
Sailor Soldier of Love and Beauty, Code Name Sailor V!" She wondered if she
could see Katarine, but she figured that she should get moving unless she wanted
to give a nice talk to the chief of police. She jumped behind the others to a
nearby rooftop and down into the nearby alleyway. After looking around to see
that they weren't seen, they reverted.
"So, you want to take a look around, Lita? Looks like there'd be some
interesting stuff around here," Michael said.
"Sure, Michael! Why don't we go take a look in some of the stores?" Lita
said.
"Shopping?! I'm so there!" Serena said, following them around the corner.
"So, Amy, what do you want to do?" Raye asked.
"Well, there's some interesting sights around here," Amy said. "Trafalgar
Square's near here if you want to go."
"That'd be cool!" Raye said, walking away with Amy.
"Aren't you going with them?" Luna asked Mina.
"No, I've got some stuff I think I should do before I go," Mina said,
walking away. She'd need to visit some places and people.

An hour later, Mina stood outside of a warehouse. She remembered this
place. One of the worst moments of her life had happened there. Even in one of
her better moments, a tinge of sadness pushed its way into her mind.
"So, how have you and Alan made out since then?" Mina asked.
"Well, it's been pretty nice," Katarine said. "We tried writing you, but
you didn't leave any address."
"Well, I wasn't sure of it myself. And what about you? Your police
resources not enough to find a simple middle-school student?" Mina asked,
grinning. Katarine laughed softly.
"So, what's going on with you now?" Katarine asked.
"Well, not much. Just going to school as usual," Mina said. "Life's been
boring since I moved. I've met some nice friends in Japan, and they're here in
London with me. I had a boyfriend for a while a short time ago, but I broke up
with him. We're still friends."
"That's good," Katarine said. "Of course, I'm sure it's awkward with
something like that. Feelings can be a mind-boggling thing."
"I'm not too happy with it, myself. He's still got a crush on me. And a
fair number of other girls," Mina said.
"Oh, one of THOSE guys," Katarine said, grinning. "Don't worry. Once he
finds someone new, he'll forget all about you. If that's what you want."
"Well, I still want to be friends with him," Mina said. "I just get
discouraged sometimes." It's almost like what Ace told me was coming true, she
said to herself.
"Oh, don't get discouraged," Katarine said. "I didn't, and I've got
Alan." Ouch, Mina thought.
"I guess you're right," Mina said. "I'll keep at it. I'm sure I'll come
across some guy, as long as I keep trying! So, you want to go take a look
around for a while? I've got a few hours."
"Sure, I've got some free time! Where to?" Katarine said.

Lita looked on the back wall of the "Imperial Honor" store. She wished
that she could understand English a bit better, considering that they were in
England. Michael was having a nice time looking at the trinkets on display in
the few stores where they had been. Unfortunately, he had also been working
hard to prevent Serena from breaking everything she tried showing him. After
Serena got bored and went outside to wait, Michael went back to Lita.
"Well, we've got about an hour left," Michael said.
"Yeah, that's plenty of time to look around," Lita said. "I've always
wanted to come here to London. I've just heard the greatest stories, and I
never thought I'd be really going here! It makes me wish we could have spent
some more time in Paris yesterday."
"Well, London's a nice place. I've been here before, so I know what it's
like," Michael said. "So, do you see anything that you want?"
"Well, this little castle is cute, but I don't have enough money for it,"
Lita said.
Yes! Michael said to himself. "Well, I can help you out with that! I've
got plenty of money, and I've already got plenty of souvenirs from my first
time."
"Thanks, Mike!" Lita said, walking to the register.
"So, are you feeling a bit hungry? It's almost dinner time, after all,
and I know of a nice place around here that we can get some food," Michael said.
"Sure, we can go get some food somewhere," Lita said. "But do you have
enough money for Serena?"
"Yeah, but she'll have to keep her dessert choices to two dishes," Michael
said, grinning. Great, Michael thought, as long as I can keep this up for a
couple of weeks, I might have a chance with Lita.
"I'll try to keep my own appetite in check," Lita said, laughing.
Outside, Serena was looking into the windows of other stores, admiring the
souvenirs.
"I wish I had some money to buy something," Serena said. "Or that Darien
was here so that he could buy it for me. That's it, I'll come back here with
him later on and then he can buy me what I want!"
"That's the right attitude, Serena!" Michael said. "We're going for some
food. Want to come with us?"
"GREAT! Where we going?" Serena exclaimed.
"Oh, just a nice little place I went to last time I was here," Michael
said. "They've got some great food for good prices." They walked down the
street and into a nearby café.

End of part 3

Well, that was interesting. In one fell swoop, I've prolonged my series
another chapter or two and demonstrated that I know nothing about Mina before
she joined the Scouts. Well, if you've got any specific complaints about the
section with Mina and Katarine, then just remember that I'm using my good
friend, Writer's Prerogative. I'm using the garbled information that I've
gotten from Sailor V websites and my Sailor V manga (in French), so I may have
no frickin' clue what I'm doing. :-) Oh, well. Talk to you next time!

Author's E-mail: jmh6187@uncwil.edu