"Cinder! Wake up! It's already 7:30!" Peony yelled, banging on her bedroom door.
"Hmmm… What!" Cinder moaned, "Why didn't you wake me sooner?"
"I tried, three times and you slept right through it," Peony exclaimed.
Cinder grabbed a shirt and pants, throwing them on she dashed out of her room. She paused at the door to shove her boots on, and pull her gloves up. Grabbing her pre-packed bag she sprinted out of door and down the hallway.
"Cinder! Wait! Your lunch!" Peony called after her.
"Hi! I'm Linh Cinder! I'm a 16 year old cyborg (and a mechanic!) I'm a Sagittarius and very loyal! I can be a bit of a pessimist,but I try to stay optimistic! My stepmother always says I'm too sarcastic for my own good… oh well! I'm sure everything will be fine."
She ran from the elevator all the way down the block. Cinder sprinted around a corner, colliding with another.
"Watch where you're going!" a very annoyed voice cried.
"Likewise," Cinder grunted at the hooded person.
The glowering figure wore a grey hoody and blue jeans. His eyes scanned her messy hair and wrinkled clothing with disdain, "You'll never get anywhere if you don't watch what you're doing."
"Same goes for you," Cinder retorted, already walking away, "What a jerk."
Who's a jerk?"
"Iko? Why aren't you at the booth?" Cinder asked.
The droid cocked it's bulbous head, "You hadn't arrived yet, so I came to find you. I was worried."
"Well I'm fine, nothing to worry about, for now. When Adri finds out I over slept again she'll have my head," Cinder mused.
\oOo/
Cinder paced the booth, "It's a weekday, nobody needs repairs or buys parts at all. That's how it always is, and yet here I am!"
"I'm bored too," Iko replied.
"Sailor V saves the day yet again!" a heneric female voice chirped.
"Somebody must've turned the net-screen on," Iko stated.
"The super heroine not only stopped a robbery but saved a family from a freak hover crash!" the woman continued, "In other news we urge everyone to stay home as much as possible and be cautious around unclean areas in regards to recent letumosis outbreaks."
\oOo/
"Master Jadiete," a cold voice called out.
"Yes, my lady?" he inquired slowly.
"I have a mission for you," the regal figure declared voice ringing, "Contaminate New Beijing with the test strain of letumosis; report back to me after it is finished. If anything remotely happens that can be traced to the silver crystal, contact me immediately."
"Yes Queen Levana," Jadiete murmured, fading into the shadows.
The queen laughed; it was a long cold sound. Soon the entire earth would kneel before her. They would beg for salvation from the terrible disease that had devastated their population.
\oOo/
"Cinder!" Peony called, the name echoing down the alleyways.
"Hey Peony," Cinder replied glumly.
"You forgot your lunch," she panted [having ran there from school].
"Yeah, I figured," Cinder said gingerly, grabbing the package, "Shouldn't you be in school?"
"Letumosis outbreak," Peony replied casually, "Sent us home to to be with our families. It happens so often though, its a wonder they still cancel school."
"Adri will be worried," Iko butted in.
"She can take a hike. I'm 14 now, she should trust me enough to let me go out alone," Peony declared.
Cinder laughed, "It's good to see you sticking up for yourself."
"I've got another reason too," she explained, "Chang Sunto's having a huge sale at her bakery. Everything is super cheap!"
"But neither of us have any money!" Cinder protested as Peony dragged her across the square.
Peony pulled Cinder through the crowd of school girls and women out grocery shopping to the front of the booth. "I don't serve cyborgs here," Chang Sunto sneered, glaring at Cinder.
"It's not like I would want food from someone like you, anyways," Cinder retorted, already walking away.
"Bu-" Peony began to protest.
"It's fine," Cinder murmured, pushing her way through the crowded bodies of curious shoppers, "See you at home Peony!"
Cinder stormed past her booth, grumbling angrily to herself. She should have been used to this treatment by now.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Iko called after her.
"Close up the shop Iko, I'm going home!" Cinder yelled, turning down a back alley way.
Cinder was nearly a block away from her apartment complex when the grinding of ober used treads caught up with her. "You forgot your bags," Iko buzzed, treads screeching.
"Thanks," Cinder replied, taking her packs from Iko's three pronged hands.
"Won't Adri be mad when we get he home so soon?" Iko asked.
"I'm not going back up to the apartment for a while," She said slowly.
"Oh."
Cinder dashed into the parking area, darting between rows of hovers with Iko at her heels. Slowing down, she squeezed between two walls moving towards the storage sector. Turning around she mouthed "Come on!" to Iko and slipped into her storage compartment.
Cinder flopped onto her work bench, and swiped her arm across the table, clearing space for her bags.
"Stars," Iko wheezed, "Its even hotter in here then in the booth."
"How can you tell?" Cinder asked, "You don't have any heat sensors."
"Built in thermometer, du-uh," Iko retorted.
Cinder yawned, "You should plug yourself into the charger station before you crash."
"And what are you going to do while I charge?" Iko iquired.
"Work."
\oOo/
Burning pain; flashes of red on a back drop of black. She could barely get enough air; her lungs were on fire. Screaming filled her ears and jumbled her thoughts, "Help…"
Cinder awoke with a jolt, the sounds of her dream still echoing in her mind, "What the-" gripped firmly in her hand was a small brooch. The outer rim of the brooch was serrated like a gear, with four gems at each point (north, south, east, and west). The inside held a carved crescent moon and star. "How?" Cinder whispered, turning the piece over. The words "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" were engraved on the back.
Cinder read the words over, "Moon prism power make up?"
She gasped as her body was wrapped in tendrils of light, forming clothes completely foreign to her body. "Stars!" Cinder cried, examining her new outfit.
"At least it comes with gloves and boots," she mused, reaching up she touched her hair lightly, "Though the buns are pretty ridiculous."
"Help…" the voice from Cinder's dream gasped in her mind.
Cinder dashed for the exit, not stopping to question anything. She would have recognized the voice anywhere; Peony was in trouble.
\oOo/
Cinder entered the square quietly, using the shadows as her hiding place. Scattered around the square people lay unconscious, letumosis caused bruises forming on their skin. A single figure stood among the damage, a thin girl dangling limply in its grasp. Cinder froze; Peony hung from the man, no monster's hand, bruises forming around her neck.
"This is unforgivable! I won't ever forgive you!" Cinder cried, stepping forwards.
"Who-" it began, turning to face her.
"I am the pretty sailor-suited soldier of love and justice, Sailor Moon! And in the name of the moon I will punish you!"
"In the name of the moon, huh." the creature snickered, "Let's see you punish them first."
Slowly the people around the square began to rise, staggering towards Cinder. A clammy hand clamped around her ankle, another found her calf. She kicked the arms off, and surged forwards. Cinder tried to move towards Peony, who was now a crumpled heap on the cement, but was met by another group of victims.
"I'm so sorry," she yelled as her fists collided with chests, and heads, though Cinder doubted they could hear her. The damage of Cinder's hits and kicks went unnoticed by the lunar controlled people; no matter what Cinder dead they kept getting back up.
All at once the bodies collapsed in a heap. The monster grinned at her, flashing dangerously long canine teeth. He lept towards her, Cinder braced herself for the blow. It never came.
The creature fell back, yowling, clutching its wounded hand. On the ground lay a brilliantly red rose.
"Tricking people into becoming victims with promises of affordable prices is unforgivable, and hurting pretty girls on top of that!" Cinder turned her gaze towards the voice. A tuxedo clad figure perched on top of her booth, a rose held ready in his hand like a dagger, "Now Sailor Moon!"
Cinder reached up on instinct; grabbing the tiarra off of her head she cried, "Moon Tiarra Action!"
The monster fell back as the tiarra hit it's mark. The life had left his body in a matter of seconds.
"Who are you?" Cinder called towards the man perched on her booth.
"Tuxedo Mask!" he replied as he lept away and out of sight.
Cinder slowly picked her way towards Peony. She stopped a few steps away; she was too late, the telltale signs of letumosis were already forming on Peony's pale skin. Cinder turned and ran; she ran to the nearest alley way. Slowly she felt her transformation unravel into strands of light. Closing her eyes, she composed an emergency comm towards the hospital, and the police.
\oOo/
