Reviews are always welcome. The only way I can get any better at this is if someone tells me what I'm doing wrong, also it is some small consolation that someone is actually reading it.
Heroes are often found in the most innocent and least likely of places, and a person's true worth often lies far within.
"I can't believe it, my first week with my diver's license and Mom has me running errands." Usagi whined as she drove her mother's silver hatchback through the city streets. "'Get the groceries, go to the bank, pick up your stupid brother...'"
"I sincerely doubt she said that last part" Her friend Ami giggled from the backseat.
"I paraphrased a bit, sue me."
"At least she said you could use the car after we get back." Minako offered beside her.
" I'm sorry you guys got roped into this. Let's just get this over with so we can get to the movies."
"It's really not a big deal, Usagi..." Mina offered.
"Besides it'll be fun to see Shingo again," Ami said, "I don't think any of us have seen him since he started Junior High." He was usually off with his own friends doing... whatever it was he was into now, Usagi could barely keep track. She did know that he had joined the music club and taken up the guitar. She was forced to go to one of his concerts at school but fell asleep. Even her mother's pinching her ear couldn't wake her up.
"What is there to see? He's still the same dorky Shingo. The only thing that's changed is now he lugs that dumb guitar everywhere he goes, he even took it to camp this year, and I'm the one who has to try and fit it in the truck with the rest of his junk..."
"Wow, she's really on a roll today." Mina whispered to Ami as their friend continued her rant.
"You haven't heard the half of it," Ami sighed, "On the way to your place She was going on about Akela."
Akela was Shingo's dog. He was a rescue Shingo brought home after finding him living on the streets. Their parents figured that since Usagi got to have Luna it was only fair that Shingo could keep the dog. Thus had Akela become another fixture of the Tsukino household, usually lying on the back porch or in front of the picture window in the living room when he wasn't sleeping in Shingo's room or out for a walk. Oddly enough Usagi couldn't stand Akela while Luna liked him very much. His back always provided a warm place to sleep and she cited him as an "excellent listener," whatever that meant for to a dog (of course, Shingo didn't know about that last part).
Usagi finally ran out of steam as they pulled into the bus station.
"Usagi, we're late!" Ami said as they piled out of the car, "Shingo's bus was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago."
"Oh let him wait!"
Apparently she needn't worry, Shingo's bus was running late too so they bought some drinks and sat down to wait. The didn't have to wait long, Ami's coffee hadn't even gone lukewarm before a bus full of rowdy teenagers pulled in from the summer camp Shingo attended every year. This was his last year though, as next summer he would be too old.
"You are late!" A sandy-haired young man shouted from the window. It could only be Usagi's brother.
"How would he know anyway..." His sister grumbled.
The kids streamed out to greet their parents and friends who had gathered to meet them. Shingo was the last one off the bus, chatting with a shaggy dark-haired young man about his age who carried a guitar case identical to the one Shingo owned. They walked over to a nice-looking couple who they assumed here his parents. The father was wearing some kind of military uniform although it it didn't look Japanese and none of them couldn't make it out from this distance. Shingo nodded several times and shook everyone's hands before heading over to where the girls were seated.
For the first time they got a good look at him and Ami was amazed at how much he had changed in just a few years. The first thing she noticed was how tall he had become, at only fifteen he was easily over six feet. Taller than his sister, maybe as tall as Mamoru. He was a little lanky but was filling out. He still had the same messy brown hair but was wearing it shorter. As he called out a greeting and waved to them it was impossible to not notice how much his voice had changed. This was no longer the same skinny kid Usagi used to bury at the beach, He was definitely a young man now.
"Holy cow Shingo!" Mina blurted, "Just what the heck have they been feeding you at camp?"
"Believe me, you don't want to know." He said with mock regret.
"Hi Shingo, how was camp?"
"Ami! Long time no see! Uh, great, really great! How are you?" He blurted, obviously excited to see her. Ami blushed at his enthusiasm. Or was it his smile?
"Busy, very busy. What with school and everything..."
"That's right, you guys will all probably be going to college next year. Well, except maybe Sis."
"I heard that!" Usagi spat.
"There'll be plenty of time to talk about that later!" Mina broke in, "I want to hear about this camp, I wanna know what they did to turn you from punk to hunk!"
"Minako!"
"It's... it's nice to see you too, Mina." Shingo nervously shifted his duffel bag from one shoulder to the other.
"Oh, that looks heavy, let's get back to the car." Ami offered, "Can we help you with anything?"
"If you really want to you can take my bag. Be careful, it's a little heavy."
He wasn't kidding, Ami immediately regretted her offer. What was he carrying in there, a Jeep? The walk back to the car seemed longer than the walk to the station.
"Uh, I actually think I can take it if it's too heavy for you..."
"Oh no, it's fine!" She groaned.
Once they (finally!) got back to the car and loaded Shingo's things into the trunk there was a minor squabble about seating. Shingo wanted to ride shotgun while Usagi flat-out refused to sit with her brother. In the end though Minako ended up sitting up front with Usagi while Shingo and Ami squeezed into the back.
"So who was that guy you were talking to back there?" Usagi asked.
"That was Joe, a friend I made this year. They just moved here from Hawaii, his dad is in the United States Air Force."
"That would explain the uniform." Ami said.
"He'll actually be going to out school for the fall semester. See, in the States their school years starts late in August and ends in June so he'll be a little bit behind. His parents are going to try to get him transferred into my class so I can help him out."
"That'll be nice, at least he'll know someone then."
"I don't think he'll have any trouble with that," Mina said, "A guy that cute would have no problems making friends."
"So what are you guys doing here? How did Usagi drag you along?" He asked. "I'm sure you didn't come just to see me."
"No, that was just a delicious bonus." Mina purred.
Shingo turned red.
Ami came to his rescue. "We were planning on going to the movies."
"After we take you home." Usagi clarified.
"Well! Usagi I'm very surprised at your rudeness!" Mina said in a tone meant to imitate her mother, "Did you ever think that maybe Shingo would like to go along with us to the movies?"
"Don't." Usagi growled.
"Aw, c'mon sis! When was the last time we did anything together?"
"I promised Mom that I would bring you home first."
"She's not gonna care if I tag along with you instead of going right home first. Heck, she'll probably be happy we're spending time with each other." Ever since Shingo began Junior High with Usagi being in high school and preparing to graduate they hadn't spent much time hanging out like they used to, Usagi had her world and Shingo had his.
"Ami, what do you say? We'll make you the tiebreaker."
"Oh, well I'm really not sure..." She hated being put on the spot like that. Shingo gave her his most charming smile, the one he reserved exclusively for girls.
Oh that's just not fair! Ami thought to herself.
"I think that if he wants to tag along then it's fine with me." she said quietly.
Usagi was silent the rest of the way to the theater. Her defeat was more than she could bear.
Well, that's interesting.
"My Lord?"
There appears to be a massive flux in the datastream.. Its epicenter is a planet in the Sol system.
"That system is mostly uninhabited. Only one planet has anything resembling intelligent life and it is still only a class-C."
That may be true, but appearances can be deceiving. Remember that there has been no sign of Galaxia since she left on her insane campaign to destroy it.
"Could they really have destroyed Galaxia? The combined data from the entire planet give it only a level-5 intellect."
I make no presumptions. I simply observe and report. That is my function, yours is to assist me in that goal. You would do well to remember that.
"Of course, My Lord."
We are relocating, this bears further study. They are monitoring activity in their system so we shall have to remain cloaked. Prepare a probe to go down to the surface once we make solar orbit.
"At once, My Lord."
We will not underestimate this planet like Galaxia did. Overconfidence and failure often go hand-in-hand, and failure is not an option in our mission.
The sun was setting as the four teenagers left the movie theater.
"It was okay, I guess. I could have used more Leonardo DiCaprio though." Usagi said.
"I liked it. I mean, yeah, they changed a few things like d'Artagnan being the father of Louis and Philippe, but that adds drama and also explains his blind loyalty to the king." Shingo mused.
"You know your Dumas!" Ami congratulated.
"I know my adventure stories."
"I'm with Usagi," Mina piped up, "Too many old dudes."
"Nah, what do they know anyway." Shingo said with a dismissive gesture, "They have no appreciation for the classics." They both laughed as they walked through the streets. Usagi and Mina quickly dropped behind them.
"What's up with Ami?" Mina whispered, "Usually she's pretty quiet but she hasn't stopped talking to your brother ever since the ride over. I don't think I've ever seen her talk that long to a guy before. Except maybe Mamoru, but that's their geek stuff."
"Ignoring that you just called my boyfriend a geek, I'm inclined to agree." Usagi shuddered, "If I didn't know any better I'd say she was sweet on my little brother."
"That I could understand, I mean, look at him! He's huge! Look at his arms Usagi! I bet he could bench-press any one of us!"
"One more word out of you and I'm throwing you in the nearest body of water!" Usagi hissed. "That's my dorky little brother you're talking about."
"Face the facts girl, there's no way he's you're "little" brother anymore."
"It's not fair." Usagi pouted, "Boys change so much when they grow up. It seems like only yesterday if I didn't want him to see something all I had to do was put it on a higher shelf."
"I should have known he would grow into a dreamboat, he always was a cute kid."
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with Ami?" Usagi asked. "You know how she is."
"Well, he is smart enough to know what she's talking about most of the time."
"Ugh, don't remind me. Mom and Dad are constantly going on about how good his grades."
"And the whole music thing does add another charm point." Mina explained. "The guitar is a very sexy accessory."
They were both so caught up in their gossip they ended up walking right into Shingo and Ami.
"Watch where you're going!" Usagi snapped.
"Hey, what's up guys?" Mina asked.
Shingo pointed to the sky. A shooting star lit up the dusk, it was close, really close. Just as they were noticing that it was maybe a little too close for comfort it suddenly changed direction, right towards them!
"Shingo," Usagi said, "Run."
"What?" He said incredulously.
"Go get help, go get someone, just go!" She said frantically, pushing him as hard as she could.
He gave her a confused look but ran off. He wasn't alone, most of the people in the area decided to get the heck out too.
"We need to find someplace a little more private..." Mina suggested.
Moments later the meteorite slammed into the earth, taking out an elevated train rail in the process. When the smoke and dust settled a crater twelve feet deep had been carved into the roadway. Cars parked alongside had either been tossed aside or flipped over. A few of the people who had hung behind gathered at the edge and tried to catch a glimpse of just what had landed. It stood upright as if the rough landing hadn't even phased it, it was humanoid in shape but that was where any sense of familiarity ended. It was glossy black, almost like obsidian, with glowing sickly green lines over its body almost like a circuit board. It rose out of the crater and landed before the surrounding crowd.
Confirmation: Planetfall has been successful.
Its "voice" reverberated mechanically through the minds of the gathered throng, a few people clutched at their heads and looked like they might be sick.
Orders received: Begin scanning and observation.
It began walking forward, the crowd scattered chaotically as people tried to get get out of its way. Green beams fired from a cycloptic "eye" in the center of its face.
Someone tried to run it down in a car, It stretched out its hand and lifted the whole thing into the air.
Warning: Attacking a probe is considered an act of war.
"And what about attacking innocent people?"
Without lowering the car or even taking another step The Probe turned its head one-hundred and eighty degrees to see the new development.
"I will not allow this mindless destruction to continue. I don't know who you are or where you came from but this world and all it's people are protected. We are guardians of love and justice! I am Sailor Moon!"
"I am Sailor Mercury!"
"I am Sailor Venus!"
"And together we shall punish you!"
Declaration: Your proposal is intriguing.
And with that The Probe threw the car at them.
"...Oh."
"Sailor Moon, get out of the way!" Sailor Mercury cried, dragging her friend out of the path of the flying vehicle.
"No!" Sailor Venus shouted, "There are people behind us!"
But there was no impact, no crash. The car simply hung in midair.
Ever so slowly it began to rise even higher until it became obvious that something was lifting it from underneath. As it lifted the vehicle higher more details about this mysterious stranger were revealed. He wore a hooded midnight black cloak which was clasped on the right side with a blazing golden sun. The tunic and trousers under his cloak were white . Golden armored epaulettes rested on his shoulders and his matching gold boots had folded-over flaps giving him a swashbuckling, piratical look.
"Hi. Nice outfits." He smirked.
He rose higher in the air, over everyone's heads and came down on the other side to set down his burden as gently as a crystal vase.
"Who the heck is that?" Venus asked.
"Just a concerned citizen." He assured her.
"Oh yes, that explains the clothes and the flying and being able to lift a car over your head!" Sailor Moon shot back.
"You need to ask yourself who you really want to fight here, me or him."
"The man has a point..." Mercury pointed out.
"Oh, fine!" Sailor Moon submitted, "But when this is over I want to know who is under that hood!"
"Get used to disappointment." He smirked quietly.
"Now, where were we? In the name of the Moon-!"
"Uh, Sailor Moon? He kind of got away." Venus interrupted.
"...What!"
"It must have happened while you were arguing!" Mercury grumbled.
"Don't worry, I've got you covered." The hooded man said as he rose high into the air.
"Showoff."
"Usagi!" The other girls hissed.
"He's not far!" Their mysterious ally called down to them, "He's about two blocks ahead, I'll head him off and meet you there!"
"I don't like him."
Two blocks ahead the Probe was being as well received as you'd think.
Observation: The people of this planet appear skittish and cowardly.
"Then why don't you just start with me?" The hooded man dropped like a stone, landing directly in the Probe's path.
Declaration: Your proposal is accepted.
The probe pushed him out of the way and sent him flying into lamp post. He stumbled to his feet, shaking his head.
"The direct approach. Fine." He responded with a love tap of his own, sending the probe flying to the ground.
Warning: Attacking a probe is considered an act of war.
"Don't whine to me, you started it laughing boy."
Correction: A probe's function is to observe and record.
"Observe and record for who, exactly?"
Declaration: A probe is not permitted to disclose information regarding its origin.
"Tch, we're getting nowhere slowly..."
"Nice work Golden Boy, we'll take it from here!" Sailor Moon said as she and her allies arrived at the scene. "Moon Twilight Flash!"
"No!" The hooded man cried as he jumped in front of the deadly disc, "Solar Shield!"
"Solar powers?" Sailor Mercury wondered as she activated her visor. She couldn't get much on the probe, only that it seemed to be made out of some kind of colony of nanomachines and had no centralized core. The stranger was something else entirely, his entire body was sheathed in some kind of aura. It seems that the manipulation of that aura is what allowed him to fly, lift heavy objects and form the shield he used to intercept Sailor Moon's attack. The aura seemed to be slowly fading though and she couldn't understand why. From the readings she got Sailor Moon really hadn't hit him that hard. It wasn't until her eyes drifted to the horizon that she understood why.
The sun was setting.
"Sailor Moon, we need to stop this thing and stop it now!" She cried.
"No!" The hooded man shouted, "Not until we know who sent it and why it's here!"
"This isn't up for discussion," Sailor Moon snapped, "We've been at this longer than you, you don't get a vote."
"That thing is a probe of some kind!" He shot back, "Everything we say and do is being recorded and sent god knows where, don't you want to know to whom, where and why?"
"I'm not sure we have the time to find that out." Mercury offered helpfully.
"Listen, all this thing has done is walk in a straight path and scanning everything it can. It's only reacting defensively. There are two dangers here: whoever sent this thing and collateral damage that ensues from trying to stop it, and only the second one is certain."
Orders received.
They had been arguing so much they had almost forgotten about the probe, which had been observing them the whole time.
"Wait, what orders?" Venus asked.
This unit will comply. Proceed with self-destruct.
"Self-destruct?" Sailor Moon puzzled, "That's... usually not how it goes."
This unit will explode in sixty seconds.
"We've got to get out of here!" Venus cried.
"No, we've got to get it out of here, there's no telling how big a blast this thing can make!" The hooded man said.
"He's right," Mercury agreed, "According to my readings the damage caused would be catastrophic."
"I'll do it." He volunteered. "I'll take it out of the atmosphere as far as I can into space, shouldn't hurt too much out there."
"Can you even do that?" Sailor Moon asked.
"First time for everything."
"Should you even do that?" Mercury asked giving him a hard look.
"Like I said..."
With that he grabbed the probe around the middle and dragged him high into the air. Higher and higher, until he was nothing more that a bright speck rising through the coming night, until they couldn't even see that anymore. Seconds ticked by until finally a tiny flare went off in the distance. There wasn't a big flash or a loud bang like you see in the movies, it just blinked once before fading into the dark.
"Do you think he made it?" Venus asked.
"I don't know..." Mercury answered.
"Such strange defenders, my Lord. They appear to fight one another almost as much as they do their enemies."
Nevertheless, their methods were sufficient to repel Galaxia. That much is certain now.
"Their way of dealing with the probe was likewise... unconventional. Most try to destroy it on sight, at least one of them attempted to understand its origins."
That is why I ordered its destruction. They know someone is coming now, surely they will attempt to organize to meet this new threat as they have previous ones.
"Do you believe this worthless little planet could actually pose a threat to High Lord Thanatos?"
I make no presumptions...
"Of course, My Lord."
However, some of the readings we received should be of great interest to the master. There is the possibility, however remote, that the search is close to an end.
"The Starheart? I was under the assumption that Galaxia's rampage had destroyed them all."
That is why you have remained at your current station. We are not to make assumptions, we are to observe and report. We will remain here for further study. It may also be necessary to provoke further action from the inhabitants of this planet.
"All necessary action will be taken, my Lord."
Excellent.
"Whew, good thing we parked far away." Usagi said as the assembled back at the car.
"Just who the heck sent that thing anyway?" Minako asked.
"I don't know, but I've got a bad feeling about this." Ami said.
"Me too, we better contact Makoto, Raye, and Mamoru as soon as we get home. Too bad Michiru and Haruka aren't still in town, I have a feeling we could use all the help we can get."
"What about that guy in the hoodie?" Minak asked, "He seemed pretty decent."
"If he's still alive." Ami said. "He could have been caught in the blast or not have survived re-entry. His shield seemed to be fading near the end. His powers appear to be solar based so they may not work properly at night."
"Hey sis, over here!" A familiar young man's voice called out. "Man, I have been looking all over for you guys! What's the big idea running me off like that?" Shingo trotted up to the car and leaned against the side.
"I, uh... just wanted to make sure you made it out of there okay." She assured her brother. "Mom would kill me if anything happened to you."
"Yeah well what do you think she would do to me if you got yourself killed. Next time I go where you go."
"Let's just go home, I've had enough excitement for one day." Mina suggested.
"Can we get something to eat first? I'm starving!" Usagi whined.
"Aren't you full from all the snacks you ate at the movies?" Ami asked, "Besides, I'm not sure I have any money left."
"Don't worry," Shingo smiled, "I've got you covered."