Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Missing Crystals ❯ Crystal Clear Reception ( Chapter 5 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Missing Crystals
Part 5: Crystal Clear Reception

Original Flavor SM fanfic by: M.H. Torringjan

Okay, well, here's the next part of my Missing Crystals series. I'm not
sure really where I'm going with this, but at least I'm doing it to get it out
of my head. I hope that you're enjoying reading this fic series (well, if
you've gotten this far, then either you're enjoying it or you're MSTing it). As
soon as I've finished this one, then I can finish my Two Heads MSTing, and then,
I'll get started on the counter series to ACS. Or not. I've got too much
material stored up in my head anyway.
Now, just to state it and not get in trouble for it, I do not own Sailor
Moon. I am only using the characters thereof to write a series of stories for
fun. There is no profit involved in this endeavor. There are two characters
that I've made up for this and past series, although only one of them is of any
importance at this point in the series. One is Michael Cross/Sailor Europa, and
the other is Jennifer Hino. Any random products mentioned during the course of
this fanfic are the property of their respective owners. Now, if there is
nothing else, then...

Sailors Moon, Mars, and Mercury emerged on the top of a tall building in
the middle of Chicago. A radio tower stood beside them, indicating a radio
station somewhere below. The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon in
the distance, slowly warming the air around them.
"Well, at least it's warmer here," Moon said. "Can we get down from here
and get on with this? I want to get back and get on the beach for a while."
"This may take shorter than we had thought," Mercury said. "My computer
says that it's right below us about ten floors."
"What time is it here?" Mars asked.
"It's about nine in the morning," Mercury replied.
"Man, somebody's been coming in to work early," Mars said. On the street
below, cars rolled slowly along towards their own works. Moon could hear a
motorcycle revving its motor, as though it could go anywhere anytime soon.
"Let's go through that door over there and see what's going on with this
crystal," Moon said, reverting. Mars and Mercury did the same and followed her
to the doorway. As soon as she pushed the door open, a loud bell began ringing.
"Meatball-head! You must have set off a fire alarm!" Raye exclaimed.
"Guys, the crystal is moving," Amy said. "It's going downstairs."
"We should take the fire escape to get down," Amy said. "Fewer people
will see us that way." The three ran to the fire escape and began the climb
down it. At each level, Amy would peek through the windows to be sure that no
one saw them. Getting arrested would be an incredibly bad thing, since their
crystals would be taken and they'd have to explain to their parents why they had
to be bailed out of a jail in Chicago. They'd also have to explain how they got
there in the first place, which would be an even greater pain. When they
reached the bottom, they jumped to the ground and walked around to the front of
the building.
"Amy, can you find where it is?" Raye asked.
"Yeah, I can," Amy said, typing on her computer. After a few minutes, she
pointed through the crowd to a tall woman with red hair.
"Great, someone owns it," Serena said. "So, who's got the best English?"
"Need you ask?" Raye asked. "Amy, you're going to have to talk to her
about it."
"Oh, come on, you two! I couldn't do that!" Amy exclaimed.
"Amy, this isn't the time to be shy," Raye said.
"All right, I'll give it a try," Amy replied wearily. She walked up to
the woman and started talking in English. She was a bit shaky, but she seemed
to be able to communicate her point well enough. "Excuse me, ma'am, this may
sound odd, but do you have a crystals on you?"
"You're right, that does sound weird. Unless, of course, you're a
burglar. Then, it makes perfect sense, and I'll call the police," the woman
said.
"Oh, no, ma'am!" Amy replied. "I'm not a burglar! I'm sorry of bothering
you!" She walked quickly back to Raye and Serena. "No luck, guys. She thought
I was a burglar. Maybe it would work better if Sailor Mercury asked her."
"Well, whatever happens, it better happen soon," Raye said. And, as
though on cue, the people standing around began screaming. The Scouts peered
around the corner and saw the crowd scattering as a Droid knocked the woman down
and took the crystal.
"Okay, guys, let's go!" Raye exclaimed. "Mars Power Transformation!"
"Mercury Power Transformation!"
"Moon Crystal Power!"
The three Sailor Scouts emerged from the alleyway and ran to the Droid.
Her head was shaped like a battery, with plug prongs for hands. She hit the
woman again, knocking her out cold.
"Stop right there!" Moon called. "That's my crystal, and we're going to
get it from you, no matter what the cost! I'm Sailor Moon, and in the name of
the Moon, I'll right wrongs and triumph over evil!"
"Well, I'm Droid Zapper, and my prediction'll shock you! I'm getting out
of here, and I'm taking the crystal with me!" Zapper said, turning to run. Mars
jumped behind her to block her path. She drew her sword to emphasize her point.
"You're not going anywhere, Volt-face," Mars said. Zapper turned to run
down the closest alleyway, and Mercury jumped to obstruct her path.
"Don't even think of running, Zapper!" Mercury exclaimed.
"You're not getting away," Moon said.
"Oh, I'm not, am I?" Zapper said. The Droid flipped a switch on her
forehead, producing sparks between the prongs on her hands. "Try this!" She
shot a beam of electricity from each of her hands towards Moon and Mars. The
two assaulted Scouts jumped out of the way, as they would any time. "Gotcha!"
Zapper exclaimed as she followed the Scouts midair and hit them with her
electric beams.
"Mercury Blizzard, Freeze!" Mercury exclaimed, letting a blast of icy-cold
wind flow over the monster. The hands of the creature froze, stopping the flow
of electricity through Moon and Mars. The two stood where they were, stunned by
the shock they had received. Mars' metallic armor didn't help in the least.
"Freeze my hands, will you?!" Zapper exclaimed. She pointed her hands to
the top of her battery-shaped head. Energy began to focus at the positive end
in a large, electric ball.
"Oh, is that *really* necessary?" Mercury asked. "Mercury Icicle Jab!" A
giant icicle appeared at the tip of her hands. The two threw their attacks at
the same time, causing them to meet in the center and explode in a fantastic
light show. "Guys, are you okay?"
"Just fine," Mars said. She staggered to her feet to let loose with an
attack of her own. "Mars Explosion Blast!" The resulting explosion threw
Zapper into the wall of the radio building. When she was able to pull herself
together and out of the side of the wall, an impression was left behind that
would require some major work to repair.
"I'm surprised that the building isn't falling on top of us," Mercury
said. "Watch it with that attack, Mars!"
"Sorry, she's just really getting on my nerves!" Mars yelled back. The
fiery attack had reheated Zapper's frozen prongs to the point of melting. She
was only able to retain their shape through sheer will-power. As the Scouts
began to regroup, she waved her arms around lightly to free up the extension
cords.
"So, you want to play rough, do you?" Zapper said, flinging her extended
arms towards the Scouts. They were barely able to dodge the red-hot prongs with
their bodies intact. Mars jumped straight up in the air, returning to the
ground with her sword out and in position to cut one of the hands off
altogether. Her sword sliced cleanly through the thinner extension cord.
Almost instantly, a liquid began to spray out of the wound. Mars and Moon had
no idea what it was, but they didn't want to take a chance. They jumped out of
the way of the unknown substance, and where it hit began to fizzle.
"Watch out, you two! Batteries leak battery acid!" Mercury exclaimed,
dodging out of the way of a spray of the lethal battery acid. "Mercury Blizzard
Freeze!" A larger blast of cold air focused on Zapper, freezing her in place.
"Sailor Moon, hit her now!"
Moon pulled her Moon scepter out and prepared her attack. "Moon Scepter
Elimination!" she called out, releasing all of her energy into the blast, which
hit the paralyzed monster head on. When the smoke cleared, however, the monster
still stood in place, frozen stiff. "Sorry, guys, guess it's not strong
enough!" Moon exclaimed.
"Mars sword, give me the power to destroy this evil," Mars chanted to the
sword. "Mars Holy Sword Slash!" The sword flew at the monster, slashing it
down the middle and leaving only a pile of moon-dust. Moon ran over to the pile
of dust and began to sift through it, looking for her crystal. She pulled it
out and looked at it closer. It was smaller than she had expected, mounted on a
ring, but a very large one at that.
"No, please, don't take it away!" the woman who "owned" it said weakly.
"Ma'am, we need this crystal!" Mercury said in English to her.
"But you can't! It's my engagement ring!" the woman exclaimed.
"Oh, crap," Mercury said flatly. She relayed the information to the other
Scouts, as well.
"Please, return it right now!" the woman said.
Serena looked longingly at the crystal for a moment. "Mercury, Mars, help
her up. We need to take her somewhere that we can talk freely." The three
Scouts led the woman to the top of the building, where they had been only a
little while earlier.
"Ma'am, we're very sorry about this," Mercury began. "What's your name?"
"I'm Becky Linnings," the woman replied.
"There has been some sort of mix-up involving your engagement ring. You
see..." Mercury went on to explain to her the situation with the Silver
Millennium and the Crystals, leaving out parts that she didn't think the woman
should know or weren't important.
"Wait, I have to give this ring up because it could help to save the
world?" Becky said.
"Yes, that's about it," Mercury said. "Moon, show her."
Moon held the crystal high in true showy fashion. "Moon Power
Transformation!" A few moments later, Moon stood in the same place with her new
suit of armor on.
"You see, ma'am, this item can make us stronger and allow us to defeat
evil," Mercury said, working hard to make sense in a real conversation. "You
saw that Moon's attack didn't kill the monster then. It would have now."
"Well, I can understand the importance of it. Can we just go and talk to
my fiancé to make sure that he understands the situation?" Becky asked.
"Yes, Becky," Mercury said.
"And could you three come with me so that I've got some credibility?"
Becky asked.
"I guess we can do that," Mercury said. The four descended the fire
escape to go to her car.
"You know, it might be a good idea if you three changed clothes," Becky
said to Mercury. "It's not the best idea to be going around in such outlandish
outfits in this city."
Mercury passed this suggestion on to Mars and Moon. "What do you think?"
Mercury asked.
"I don't think that it's a good idea," Mars said. "We barely know this
woman, how do we know that we can trust her with our secret?"
"Oh, come on, Raye! She seems nice enough. I doubt that she'd do
anything that'd hurt us," Moon said.
"Rena, I'm with Raye on this one," Mercury said. "We just met her, and we
have no idea what she's really like. We only know that she wants her engagement
ring back, and she has no reason to believe us other than that we say so. I
think that the best way to work this one would be to keep her ring and go with
her still in Sailor form. I'd think that any leverage she gets on us would be a
bad thing for us." Mercury turned back to Becky. "We'll stay this way,
thanks."
"Suit yourself," Becky replied, leading the way to her car in a nearby
parking deck. A few minutes later, they were on their way to Becky's apartment
in her small, crowded, green car. When Becky stopped at a stop light, the
silence became too monotonous for her liking. She tried starting a
conversation. "So, where is home for you guys?"
"We're from Tokyo," Mercury replied.
"In Japan?!" Becky exclaimed.
"Yes, in Japan," Mercury said patiently. She hated when people reacted
like that with an obvious statement. Becky leaned over to Mercury.
"Hey, why don't your friends talk?" Becky asked Mercury quietly.
"They haven't done good in English at home," Mercury said. "They don't
know how to study, even though I've tried teaching them. They talk a lot when
we're home."
Becky decided to let it drop and nervously drive on. This was an
extremely dangerous situation to be in. Then again, these people had just saved
her life, and probably a fair many other people's, as well. She'd play along
with them until she was completely sure of what to think, and until Tom knew
what was going on, as well.

Rubeus stood, watching through a mirror as the Sailor Scouts got into a
car with the woman who had held the Moon brat's crystal. "These Scouts are
getting stronger by the minute," Rubeus said. "But it's not like they're going
to win. I've still got a few trump cards up my sleeves. I've gotten one
crystal, and that will give my new droids the power to take back the rest of
them!"
"It was a very good job, taking the Venus crystal, Rubeus," said Emerald
from behind him. "So, why not the other ones?"
"It was the Sailor-" Rubeus objected,
"That's the story of your life, isn't it?" Emerald asked Rubeus. "And if
it doesn't change soon, it'll be the story of the end of your life. Prince
Diamond is getting very impatient with what you haven't achieved, and he won't
wait for much longer."
"And he won't have to wait for much longer!" Rubeus returned. "I'll be
destroying those Sailor Scouts with the crystal that I've gotten! As soon as
I've finished my newest and most powerful droid, they'll wish that they had
never crossed me!"
"Well, have fun with your personal vendetta," Emerald said. "If I see you
again, then most probably it will be to kill you." She teleported away with a
strident laugh that almost made Rubeus shiver.
"Gods, I hate her," Rubeus muttered to himself as he returned to the Droid
chamber. His creation was almost complete; it was practicing in the combat
range at that very moment. It had killed three of the powered-up Scouts and was
toying with the other three. He enjoyed watching his creations work against the
simulations. It was his only refuge from reality and the scoffs of the Sailor
Scouts. He had worked out a schedule and taped the matches to watch for his own
enjoyment. He grinned as he walked to the range to retrieve his secret weapon
for a tune-up.

Becky parked the car as closely as she could to her apartment building.
The rest of the car ride had been quiet for the most part. A few times, the two
in the back seat, Moon and Mars had gotten into fights, which had promptly been
broken up by Mercury. She still had to figure out the names of the three so
that she could at least try to communicate with them. Plus, it might in some
way help Tom to work through it. She thought that she remembered having skimmed
over something about teenage super-heroines in Japan on the covers of the
tabloids while she was standing in the supermarket checkout line. She had just
laughed at the time, but it seemed a bit more than tabloid trash at the moment.
What would be next, Tom bringing home the Bat-boy?
"Becky? Why are you stopped?" Mercury asked.
"Well, this is where I live," Becky said. "Come upstairs with me, and you
can meet my fiancé, Tom. We'll run this whole thing by him before we go through
with it. I want him to know that I have a good reason to give away the
engagement ring that he gave me."
"Thank you so much," Mercury said. "You have no idea how much better it
makes us feel to have your permission about this."
"Well, I guess it's nice to know that I'm doing something to better the
world," Becky said. She led the three Sailor Scouts up to the fifth floor of
the building. She lived in apartment 510, a fairly large apartment (or, at
least, larger than Lita's apartment). As the four walked in, it was around
about noon time.
"Can we have some food? I'm getting hungry!" Moon asked.
"Serena, this is someone else's house! You don't just ask for someone
else's food when you don't know them!" Mars scolded.
"Becky? Is that you?" a man called from the other room.
"I'm in here, Tom!" Becky called back. "I need to talk to you about
something really quick, dear!" Tom walked into the room and caught the eyes of
Moon and Mars. He was tall, with black hair and perfect skin. The two could
only describe him as extremely hunky. Mercury, sensing this, felt glad that she
was doing all the talking. They filled him in on the situation and posed the
question to him.
"Tom, they saved my life," Becky said. "Shouldn't we give them the
crystal to save the world?"
"Well, it does seem reasonable to me," Tom replied. "You say you saw them
transform?"
"Yes, I saw Ms. Moon over there transform," Becky replied. "Although I
was knocked out for a fair amount of the battle, I saw the last few minutes of
it. They seem to be real, as far as I can tell. I doubt they'd have gone this
far without hurting me or you if it wasn't real. This isn't the sort of thing
that you could stage."
"I suppose that it's okay with me, then," Tom said. "Now, we'll just have
to worry about what to tell everybody else."
"Thank you so much," Mercury said. "You have no idea what this means to
us! I have no way of thanking you!"
"Yes, well, good luck in saving the world, I suppose," Tom replied.
The three Sailor Scouts walked out of the apartment building after
thanking the two a few more times. They walked out to the alleyway and
teleported back to meet the others in Nassau.

They reappeared in the warmer weather of Nassau, and Sailor Moon instantly
reverted and was gone. "We need to find the others! Serena, get back here!"
Mars exclaimed, reverting.
"Raye, let her have some fun," Amy said. "She's got her communicator, so
we can call her when we get ready to go. In the meantime, we should call them
and find out where they are. Even I want a rest." Raye took out her
communicator and pressed the button to contact Mina, Lita, and Michael.
"Hey, guys! Are you there?" Raye asked into the communicator.
A few moments later, Michael called back, "Yeah, we're here."
"Where are you guys?" Raye asked.
"We're on the beach, and we're ready to go," Michael replied.
"What do you mean?" Raye asked. "You don't want to stay and have some
fun?"
"We had a bit of a tough fight," Michael replied. "I'll explain when we
get there." A short walk later, everyone sat on the sidewalk near where they
had originally shown up.
"You were turned into a fish?" Amy asked Mina.
"Yeah, it was pretty bad," Mina said. "I still feel kind of thirsty. But
at least we got Lita's crystal."
"And we saved you, too," Lita said.
"So, I'm the only one without my crystal," Mina said.
"Don't feel bad, Mina!" Raye said. "We'll figure out a way to get it back
from them."
"Yeah, we're not leaving you behind for any reason," Michael said. "We
need all the power we can get, and we aren't leaving any of our own power in the
hands of Rubeus."
"Thanks, guys," Mina said, smiling.
"Okay, so what time is it back at home?" Lita asked.
"It's around about two A.M. in Tokyo," Amy said after working some short
computations in her head. "We really should be heading back home."
"Serena's not back yet. We can't leave without her," Mina said.
"I can solve that," Amy said, taking out her communicator. She gave
Serena a call and told her to meet them where they had teleported in.
"And don't take all day, or we'll leave you here," Raye said before Amy
closed the channel.
"Maybe we can all come back some other time, when we're not fighting
monsters and not taking tests," Lita said.
"Well, maybe," Michael replied. "If Luna ever loosens her hold on us.
We'll come back and spend some time on the beach. Maybe we can go snorkeling or
something."
"Hey, guys, why can't we stay longer?" Serena asked. "I could have been
doing some shopping while I was waiting for you!"
"With what? You don't have any American money," Raye said.
"No, but it's nice to window-shop," Serena said. "This jewelry is so
beautiful around here!"
"And worth only a quarter of what they charge," Michael pointed out. "And
so shoddily made that they break the fifth time that you wear them."
"But that's beside the point," Serena said. "They're beautiful! Almost
as beautiful as the jewelry that Molly's mom sells!"
"Trust me, Serena, it's not worth your time or money," Michael replied.
"And besides, look at me and Mina. Do we look like anyone who should be staying
away from Tokyo for any longer than we have to?"
"I guess not," Serena replied disconsolately. "What happened to you guys,
anyway?"
"I was turned into a fish, and he had an unpleasant meeting with a shark's
tooth," Mina replied. Serena looked at them, confused.
"I just don't want to know, do I?" Serena asked. Lita nodded in
agreement.
"Look, let's just get out of here quickly," Michael insisted. The Scouts
walked over to the alleyway, transformed and teleported back to Tokyo, aiming
for the top of Lita's apartment building.

They appeared on the top of the building in Tokyo a few moments later.
The scenery around them was that of peace. There was little noise coming from
the sparse traffic of the extremely early morning. The lights of distant
buildings and closer ones shone brightly, making it seem like twilight around
them.
Michael yawned. "Let's go downstairs and get some sleep," he said. "I'm
really tired."
"We should get something for that cut before we do anything else," Lita
said. "I've got a first-aid kit in my apartment. It should have something to
help us. And some clean cloth for dressing can be arranged. Anything else
we'll need, Amy?"
"Well, we'll see when we get down there," Amy replied as they walked down
the stairs to the floor with Lita's apartment. They unlocked the door and
walked in to find Jennifer reading on the couch.
"Welcome back, everyone!" she said. "What took you so long? I was
starting to get worried."
"We've had a rough night," Lita said, leading Michael into the bathroom,
where she kept the first-aid kit. Amy followed closely behind to supervise and
offer assistance.
"I can tell from the blood stains on Michael," Jennifer replied. "So,
tell me all about it! It gets boring around here without anyone around." Mina
went on to relate the problems that they had experienced with droid
Chondrichthes, followed by Raye relating the quest for Moon's crystal. "A
woman's wedding ring? That must have been tough."
"Well, the droid wasn't that fun for us, either," Raye said.
"I can imagine," Jennifer said. "Was anyone hurt in that one, either?"
"Only a few minor shocks to the system," Raye replied. "A few bruises,
but nothing worse than that."
"Good. I wouldn't want you to get hurt, Raye," Jennifer said. Raye
blushed slightly at her mother's coddling. She was glad that Serena had already
gone to sleep, otherwise she might have had to kill her.
In the bathroom, Lita was dressing Michael's wound. "Thanks, Lita," he
said. "And you, too, Amy."
"Any time," Lita said. "I just hope I don't have to do it again."
"You're not the only one," Michael said. "That alcohol stings."
"Which would you rather have, a minor, stinging sensation or a painful
infection?" Amy asked.
"Good point," Michael replied.
"We were lucky that I had any around," Lita said. "And then, we were
lucky that I had enough for your wound."
"Now, how do I explain this to my parents if they notice it?" Michael
wondered. "Maybe I killed a wild boar with my bare hands."
"Right, the same way that I'm the Princess of the Moon Kingdom," Lita
replied, laughing.
"Well, I'm going to go to bed now," Amy said, yawning. She walked out to
go to the room that had been set up for everyone.
"Thanks for the help, Amy!" Lita said through the doorway.
"And thank you again, Lita," Michael replied. "I had a good time today."
"So did I," Lita replied. "Maybe next time, we'll have enough time to
have some fun. And the others will be there, which'll be even more fun!"
"Yeah," Michael replied. "You did a great job in the fight tonight. I
love those new powers of yours."
"Yeah, but I think I've got more than that," Lita replied. "You know how
everyone's had a big attack and a small attack? Well, those were only my small
attacks today. I was holding back because you were in the way, and I couldn't
have used the big attacks without hurting you."
"Thanks again, I suppose," Michael said. He wasn't sure of what to do
then. Earlier, she had hugged him. Should he return the favor? Should he try
kissing her? He decided to let it be and see what she did. She stood up and
walked to the door.
"Let's get some sleep," Lita said.
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Michael said. "I'm aching all over. So,
where's my blanket? I'm calling dibs on the couch!"
"Well, if you insist, but the others are sleeping in my room on the couch
cushions," Lita said.
"Hmph," Michael said. The others were still talking in the living room,
so he had a good chance of getting a comfortable cushion. When he walked into
the bedroom, Serena had already taken all of the cushions and piled them under
herself. She dozed happily, clutching the pillow that she had taken and calling
quietly to Darien. Michael tried pulling a cushion out from under her and
received a slap across the face from Serena, still asleep. Lita laughed quietly
at this. "Come on, drop it!" he hissed, trying not to awaken her. He grabbed
for the cushion again and pulled harder, only to realize that in her tossing and
turning, she had latched on harder to it. He abandoned his quest for that
cushion and began to focus his attention on one that was closer to her feet. He
was rewarded in this with the cushion and a clumsy kick to the face.
He grabbed one of the blankets that Lita had laid out and covered himself.
He wished that he could be up on the comfortable bed with Lita, but he figured
that not many of them would consider it kosher at all. He fell asleep, hoping
that he didn't talk in his sleep like he had been told about by his parents and
friends.

End Part 5

Well, not much longer to go in this series. In one more part, I will finish
this one and move on to different projects. It should be really fun doing some
of the projects I've got cooking up right now, I think. As usual, contact me
at:

jmh6187@uncwil.edu