Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Shadows of the Past ❯ Andrew's Troubles ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

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.