Detention
A warm, bright, afternoon sun blazed blissfully down on top of Crossroads Junior High School ensuring that this was to be one of the few remaining warm days left in the year. As soon as the last bell rang, announcing the end of class for the day, a tidal wave of children poured through the doors to enjoy the phenomena.
That is, except for Amy, Lita, Raye, and Mina. They, along with Serena, who seemed to have disappeared for the moment, had all been assigned detentions for nearly running down principal in the hallway the week before. So, while everyone else frolicked gleefully in the sun, they were stuck sitting in an empty classroom.
"I can't believe Serena got all in trouble like this," Raye groused as she stared out of the window at crowds of other kids forming in the school yard below, "And now she's not even here with us."
Amy, who was skimming through a textbook, glanced up with a slight look of disdain on her face. "We may have followed her," she rebutted, "but we were all breaking the rules. Besides, her feeling about that guy was right and if we would have caught him then Yoshiko and I would not have been attacked."
"Yeah," agreed Mina half heartily from behind a Gameboy that she had been hiding under her desk, "what a bummer of a date."
"Maybe you're right," admitted Raye turning around to face her friends, "It just makes me mad that we have to be here at all."
"Well nobody likes being in detention," Lita laughed, "if they did, it wouldn't be much of a punishment."
"A very precise," came a voice from behind. Half stunned, the quartet twisted themselves around to see who it was that had been speaking. It was Ms. Hokura, the Physical Education teacher. She was standing menacingly in the doorway holding in one hand, her trusty clipboard and in the other, a newly sharpened pencil. "Hino!" she bellowed at the top of her lungs, "take a seat."
"Yes mam," replied the girl throwing herself into the desk next to Mina.
Now having control, the teacher began to stride slowly up the aisle of desks calling out the name of each girl and checking it off on her clipboard when they answered her. At the same time the teacher took the opportunity to confiscating personal items such as Mina's game and admonish her even having such a device at school. And then she came to Serena, who was still no present.
"I'm sure she'll be along in a minute," Amy explained after the second call, "she's always late to everything."
"Quiet Anderson," ordered the faculty member, adjusting her watch, "If she's not here in thirty seconds she'll have double detention."
At that very moment there was a faint squeak from far off down the hall. Another soon followed, and then another. It was the sound of quick footsteps against the linoleum floor. They grew louder and louder as they got closer until they were right outside the room. Then, with all the grace of a retreating army, Serena bolted through the door and headlong into a desk.
It impacted at her waist sending her flying head first over the top and on to the ground. The desk flew forward as well and would have landed completely on top of the charging teenager had her foot not been caught on the top of it.
"Did I make it?" she wheezed from her mangled position, "am I late?"
"No and yes in that order," responded the teacher as she checked Serena's name off of her list. "This," she explained, leaning mockingly over into the girl's face, "is why we don't run in the halls."
"Oh, hi Ms. Hakura," answered the other from behind a guilty smile.
The teacher rolled her eyes in annoyance. She wanted to give out a second detention to the girl but the sight of her student on the floor and wrapped around a desk was so hilarious that she could not bring herself to do so. In fact, it was all she could do to keep from bursting into a roar of laughter.
In spite of that, however, she assisted the girl back to her feet and then stringently ordered her to her seat along side the others. She then took her place in front of the class to explain to them how things were going to work under her command.
"So you all like to run?" she began consumed by unamusement, "Well, I hope so because you're going to be doing a lot of it. I want everyone in the gym in five minutes and in your uniforms."
For a moment the five girls stared back and forth at each wanting any of the others to be the first to move. That is until Ms. Hokura urged them all on by barking out the word "GO" several times as loud as she could. Immediately, all five of the young ladies leapt to their feet scurried out of the room as if there had just been announced that the school was sinking and in only a matter of minutes they all dressed in their gym uniforms and standing in a straight line with their backs to the wall.
That was when, once again, the ominous form the PE teacher reared her head. As soon as she had entered into the gym she paced back and forth in front her detentionies like a drill sergeant. "Mina," she barked after a moment, "you use to play volleyball, do you remember what a suicide drill is?"
The young girl swallowed hard. She knew perfectly well what it was and hated them with a passion. In fact, she was sure that they had been invented merely to torture young athletes into submission.
"Ye - yes," She stuttered nervously.
"Excellent," replied the teacher smiling menacingly, "Perhaps you would like to explain it to your friends."
Mina nervously nodded her head. Just thinking about it exhausted her and having to explain it seemed a far worse punishment than actually running it. Slowly, she pointed out each line on the floor and explained how they had to run it and then back. It was nearly enough to turn her legs to jelly.
It was even worse, however, for Serena and Amy who had never heard of such a thing before in their lives. Neither of them had cared much for running anyway and now that they heard what they were going to be doing they were sure that they could not keep up at all. In fact, the longer the explanation went on the more they began to wonder if they would not simply end up passed out on the floor.
Even Raye, who was usually up to any challenge, had to doubt her own abilities to succeed. She tried to explain to herself that if she could take on an enemy as tough as the Negaforce or the heart snatchers then she could surly run a few laps. The only problem was that the longer Mina's talked the less her description resembled, "a few laps" and by the end of it she wished that there would be some way merely sneak out the back door.
The only one among them who was truly confident that she could make even one trip through the horrifying gauntlet was Lita. She was, of course, the strongest of the five and spent many hours training so that she could stay that way. It was, to her, no different than any ordinary obstacle course.
And that is why she was the only one to notice the boy that was slipping in through the back door. While all of the others had been concentrating on their fear of the exercise Lita looked intently around the gym as if it were about to be a battlefield, searching every inch of it so that she would not be surprised by anything that it had to offer. To her, any failure must be blamed on her and nothing else.
As for the boy, his presence was not in the least an isolated event. Many times people would come into the gym via the back door to watch a practice, meet people after school, or just to get out of the heat. There was, however, something strange about this one. She could not put finger on it exactly but there was definitely something unusual.
He was only a small boy, about seven or eight years old. His only real distinguishing feature were his eyes, which shone brightly from beneath a pair of thick eyeglasses. In fact, they appeared to actually be illuminated by some mysterious force.
Lita was totally entranced. As she stared on at the boy in wonderment the words of her friend seemed to drift away through the air. All that she could concentrate on at the moment were his mysterious eyes.
At the very same time Ms. Hukura turned her head sideways just in time to see that one of her students was not fully paying attention. "Are you listening?" she barked, shaking the girl back to reality.
"Yes mam," answered the young lady, still half in a trance.
The teacher didn't look convinced. After years at the same job it was not hard for her to tell when a student was being less than truthful. "I see," she said smugly as she leaned into her pupil's face, "Then perhaps you could tell me what was just being said."
The young girl bit down on her lower lip. She knew she was caught and she knew that the teacher knew as well. She wanted to say something, anything, she had to say something, but nothing was coming to mind.
The P.E. teacher shook her head in disappointment. "In that case," she said sternly, "I have no choice but to - "
"Excuse me," yelled the suspicious boy, strolling quickly across the gym, "Are you Ms. Hakura, the PE teacher for the Jr. High?"
Quickly, Lita glanced from one side of the room to the other, hoping to see some sort of sign to tell her what to do. She, ever so much, wanted to say something but all she could think of was to mention the boy's mysterious eyes and she was sure that no one would listen to that.
Half-startled, the lady whirled around to face the boy. "I'm kind of busy right now," she snapped, "can it wait?"
The boy shook his head. "No, I'm sorry," he apologized, "but I really need to talk to you now."
The teacher looked at the boy and then back at the five girls on the other side of her. She really did not want to leave them alone but if there was an emergency she had no choice. At last, she sighed deeply in annoyance and turned her attention back to the child. "Alight, in my office," she commanded, stretching her hand out toward a small door next to the bleachers. "And you girls stretch out and start some warm up laps. We'll do the suicides when I get back."
"Boy, was that ever lucky," Serena exclaimed once Ms. Hakura had closed the door to her office.
"What do you mean, meatball head?" yelled Raye, "We still have to run when she gets back."
"Yeah," Lita laughed as she plopped herself onto the ground next to Amy who was still half in shock, "but now Mina can reexplain this whole suicide thing to me."
Mina, for her part, remained silent, for a moment, hoping in vain that everyone would forget about her. She did not want to explain it in the first place let alone do it again. "What were you staring at?" she finally asked, trying to change the subject.
"That boy," her friend answered, "there was something really creepy about him."
"Like what," Serena jumped in.
Lita shook her head. "I don't know," she responded, "I think it was his eyes. They were…different."
"You might be on to something there," Raye said, joining her friends on the gym floor, "I was getting some weird vibes from him."
"In that case," interjected a small voice, startling everyone "maybe someone should make sure that Ms. Hakura is alright." It was Amy. Despite everyone being around her they had completely forgotten that she was there.
"Good idea," Mina agreed, "but next time don't scare us like that. What have you been so quiet for anyway?"
"I'm always quiet before I run," answered the other flippantly.
Hearing that, Serena knelt down in front of her friend ready to ask why it was necessary that she be so quiet when preparing to run but before she could utter a syllable the air was pierced by a loud scream.
It echoed wildly through every inch of the gymnasium, reverberating off of every wall like a bullet. It was not a normal scream either, it was as if death itself had appeared.
"What was that," Lita yelled, jumping to her feet, ready to fight. But before anyone could give any sort a theory at all on the subject the door to Ms. Hakura's office opened and the young teacher fell unconscious to the floor.
There was need for a debate. It was suddenly very obvious what was going on and it had to be stopped. In a flash the remaining four girls were on their feet and had transformed themselves into the Sailor Scouts.
At the same time, a snarling beast appeared, in the doorway behind the fallen teacher and as soon as it noticed the champions of justice it stepped forward ready to fight. "So, this is what defeated the mighty Borlarus?" it chuckled to itself, "at least I will have the satisfaction of destroying you in vengance."
"I don't think so," responded Sailor Moon, "We will never allow you to harm any innocent person and you certainly will never defeat us. I am Sailor Moon! I will right wrongs and triumph over evil. And that means you!"
With a grand snort the monster kicked Mrs. Hakura out of the way. "We shall see about," it responded evilly. Then, suddenly it launched a wall of fire directly the moon princess, only missing her by inches as she ducked out of the way.
Instantly, Sailor Mars retaliated. "Now you're in my world!" she cried as she threw volley of fiery rings at him. But the creature stood firm as the Sailor Scout's attack exploded all around it without causing so much as a scratch.
All five heroines gasped in terror at the sight. Could it be that they were not powerful enough to defeat this enemy? Even if it were they all, in that moment, took a vow within the depths of their souls that no matter what they would all fight to the end.
And so, in that resolve, Sailor Jupiter launched a ball of thunder directly at the enemy's head. To everyone's horror, however, it flew directly through the creature and exploded on the side. "What's going on!" she yelled frantically.
"I'll tell you in a second," Mercury chimed in, expeditiously deploying her scanner. At the same time the enemy quickly launched a second wall of fire.
"Any time would be good," Sailor Moon yelled as threw herself behind a set of outstretched bleachers.
Meanwhile Sailor Venus tried her hand at an attack but with the same results as before. "We had better think of something fast!" she yelled impatiently.
Just then Sailor Mercury looked up from her scanner with a smile that was as pleasant as any she had ever had before. "I've got it," she announced confidently. Then, slowly, she began to ease herself forward toward the monster.
"What are you doing?" came a collective quartet of voices. It almost looked to them like their friend was about to commit suicide. But they knew Amy better than that. She had discovered something.
Suddenly, the creature turned and attacked again, sending yet another wall of fire directly at the approaching scout. Her comrades gasped in utter terror as the flames in engulfed their friend. They knew that was no way that she could survive.
But, as the flames died down so did their fear for in the midst of the fire Sailor Mercury stood firm and confident, unshaken by the assault. "Just as I thought!" she rejoiced triumphantly, "this…thing isn't real at all. Its just some sort of a projection or something."
As soon as she said this, the fake monster began to flicker in and out as if it were a light bulb. Then, a moment later, it disappeared completely leaving the Sailor Scouts alone and perplexed.
"What happened?" Venus asked behind an expression that was more puzzled than usual.
Sailor Mercury walked forward to where the monster had been standing all the time staring straight up at the rafters of the gym. "I'm not sure," she replied, "but it definitely wasn't real."
"Well, whatever it was it's gone now," Jupiter added
"I don't like it," Mars said joining the others, "Why would someone attack us with a monster that can't hurt us?"
Annoyed by all the talk Sailor Moon detransformed herself back into Serena and rapidly made her way over to the unconscious teacher. "We can't worry about that now," she commanded, "we have to help Ms. Hakura."
Quickly, the young girl dropped down beside her instructor and, despite any medical knowledge, tried her best to get the young woman to open her eyes. That, of course, caused Amy, who was full of medical knowledge, to remerge from beneath her planet powers and also lend a hand.
Meanwhile, the remaining Sailor Scouts searched around the gym for any clue to the monster or its disappearance and it was at that time that a most horrifying thought came into the mind of Sailor Venus. It suddenly occurred to her that if their teacher had been knocked cold it could not have been by the monster that they were just fighting. Sailor Mercury had stood directly in the path of its attack and was not singed at all.
She was about to inform everybody about this when the young boy, that had come to talk to Ms. Hakura just before all of this, emerged from within the office. Before anyone could question him about what had happened, however, he morphed and shifted himself into the very monster that they had all just been fighting.
But this time, it was no hologram and Sailor Jupiter was not about to take any chances on the matter. As soon as the creature had fully appeared she reared back and sent out a powerful ball of lighting, knocking it backward for several feet. This was soon followed by a blast of fire from Sailor Mars and a love chain attack from Sailor Venus.
Even at that, though, it was still not enough to destroy the creature. Slowly, it picked itself up and launched blast of fire at them sending them scattering in all directions.
At the same time Amy, using all of her strength, pulled the unconscious instructor to safety while Serena readied herself to transform a second time. Immediately, the monster swung around knocking the young lady to the ground. "Come back with my target!" it yelled at the retreating girl.
Frantically, the monster began to peruse its prize forgetting all about the three scouts that were now lurking upon it from behind. Once again, they all attacked, this time sending their enemy flying face first into metal double doors of the gymnasium.
Again, the creature rose up to attack but this time there was no chance for, as it did, Serena also stood up and, in front her enemy's very eyes, turned herself into Sailor Moon.
Instantly, the monster turned to attack the new scout and, for the third time, it was knocked backward by Mars, Jupiter, and Venus.
Unlike before, however, it did not get up. It simply sat exhausted on the floor. It was an opportunity that the moon princess did not want to miss. Cautiously, she approached her enemy with a wild look in her eye. "What do you want with us?" she asked firmly.
"I am Morphus," announced the other gruffly, "and this planet is ours."
It was not the answer that the scout was looking for. Confidently, she stepped backward, scepter in hand. "Not if I can help it," she stated as she charged her powers. Then, in a flash, she unleashed a moon spiral heart attack on the monster, turning him into moon dust.
Meanwhile, within the deep recesses of outer space a shadowy figure of a young girl stared intently at a small view screen. "You're 0 for two," she scorned turning to face the person behind her, "We can't afford have too many more failures."
"It wasn't a total loss," replied the other, "We now know the true identity of one these scouts… Sailor Moon."
The End…?
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