Chapter 2: Sailor Ceres
At Juuban Junior High the next day, Makoto Kino looked at the students in her Home Economics class. Since Chibi-Usa had awakened as Neo Sailor Moon, she had wondered who was going to be her successor as Neo Sailor Jupiter. She looked at her 2nd year students, and she could sense that several of them possessed the potential to become Sailor Senshi, although she wasn't sure which Senshi they would be.
"Welcome, everyone," she began, getting her focus back, "Yesterday I introduced you to the kitchen units we will be using this year, and told you what we were going to cover this year. Today we are going to begin the year with something fun, baking cookies! I'm sure many of you enjoy eating them, but it's also good to know how to bake them for yourself as well." She then set all the students into the pairs they had decided on the day before, and handed out recipe booklets.
Hinagiku Tamano went to kitchen station 3 with Nozomi Yumehara, and they first made sure they had all the ingredients that were needed in their cabinet. They then began to mix the dry ingredients, and that's when something unusual happened. When Hinagiku opened the bag of sugar, a red glowing object appeared over her head. It was a red wand topped with a yellow heart, and it landed right in the bag of sugar. A cloud of sugar puffed out of the bag, some of it landing on the counter and also all over Hinagiku's face and shirt. Nozomi then grabbed the wand out of the sugar bag while Hinagiku was wiping her face and began licking it. Hinagiku suddenly stopped, stared at her in shock, and then became angry.
"Give that back! That's mine!" she snapped, yanking the wand out of Nozomi's hand, "It's not food just because it fell in the sugar!"
"I know it's not food," Nozomi whined, "I was just licking the sugar off. And how do you know it's...look at that, look at that! There's something weird glowing on your head!" A red mark that looked like a cross between a question mark and the Venus symbol certainly was glowing on Hinagiku's forehead, showing that the wand belonged to her. Makoto noticed the sign and realized what it meant.
"Something glowing on my head? What do you mean? I don't see anything glowing," Hinagiku said, confused, but then she realized she wouldn't be able to see it if it was on her head anyway. Makoto came over to their unit, and Nozomi gave her a pleading look.
"Don't you see it? It's gone now but there was a glowing red symbol on Hinagiku's forehead," she repeated.
"I saw it. It means she's a Sailor Senshi. The symbol on her wand means she's Sailor Ceres," Makoto explained.
"You mean, like you were? But does that mean there's some bad guys causing trouble again?" Hinagiku asked.
"Yes. I'll tell you about it after class, for now you should focus on learning how to cook," Makoto said.
"That's neat that you're one of those Sailor Senshi, just like Mrs. Kino! I bet you'd be good at it, since you're so tough and athletic," Nozomi grinned.
"That's true. I guess if there ARE bad guys, I can beat them up with superpowered kicks and punches!" Hinagiku bragged, demonstrating with a few punches to the air.
Unfortunately, Hinagiku would have to fight sooner than she thought. This is because Jadeite had teleported into Juuban Junior High. He remembered that when he first fought the Sailor Senshi, two of them went to this school, so he guessed that this would be an appropriate place to search for the Rainbow Crystals. He opened the door to a third-year classroom and zapped a blue-haired girl who was sitting in a desk near the front of the room. She cried out in pain, but she didn't have a crystal. As people in the room began to panic, he smirked and began grabbing students and draining their energy.
Back in the Home Ec. classroom, Makoto was startled as she heard screaming coming from down the hallway. Something in her sensed that this was an attack the Senshi would have to deal with.
"What's going on? Is another class having a noisy party? Should we bring them cookies?" Nozomi asked.
"Those are screams of pain, stupid. Like someone started a fight," Hinagiku guessed.
"That is correct. But it's not an ordinary fight. You and I will have to deal with this," Makoto said to Hinagiku softly, and then she addressed the class in a louder voice. "Miss Hinagiku and I are going to have to leave for a bit. While I am gone, please take charge of the class, Yuri, since you're the class president." Before Yuri could ask why Hinagiku needed to leave too, Makoto took Hinagiku by the arm and led her out into the hallway.
"This guy came in here and attacked Class President Minazuki! And then he started grabbing people and zapping them and making them faint and stuff and he turned a desk into a monster!" a boy shouted as he skidded to a stop near Makoto and Hinagiku, and then he ran down a stairwell, eager to put distance between himself and Jadeite.
"That sounds like Jadeite," Makoto said wryly. She hadn't fought Jadeite herself, but she had heard plently about him from Serenity, Ami and Rei.
"Then I'll stop him from attacking people! Ceres Cosmic Power, Make Up!" Hinagiku yelled, holding up her new wand. Red lights surrounded her, creating her Senshi outfit, which had a red collar and skirt with yellow bows. She also had red knee-high boots with yellow trim.
"Jupiter Crystal Power, Make Up!" Makoto called, and she transformed into her old Super Sailor Jupiter outfit. The two Senshi raced down the hallway, but when they got to the classroom that was being attacked, the desk monster crashed through the door, knocking them both down. They both got back up and Sailor Ceres lunged at the monster, this time slamming it into the wall with a big shove.
"Take that, you stupid thing! Crystal Shield!" shouted Sailor Ceres, eager to try out her new powers. Instead of creating an offense-based attack, a red crystal wall appeared in front of Sailor Ceres, blocking her from the pencils that shot out of the desk monster's "mouth," which was really just the lid of the desk. She was disappointed for a moment, but this wasn't the time to worry about not having the type of Senshi powers she expected to have.
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!" Sailor Jupiter called, and she spun around, flinging a bunch of electric leaves at the desk monster, which caused it to roar as it crackled and a leg broke off. She and Sailor Ceres leaped at the monster and slammed it in unison, sending it tumbling down the hallway. They were suddenly struck from behind, and they both fell forward. Sailor Jupiter suddenly started to feel weaker, and she realized who was probably draining her energy.
"Crystal Shield!" she heard Sailor Ceres call, and Sailor Jupiter felt a little stronger, as Jadeite's energy drain was being blocked by the red crystal wall that Sailor Ceres had formed. She could see Jadeite on the other side, looking startled that the new Senshi had been able to block his powers. Unfortunately for the two Senshi, at the same time as Jadeite punched the wall, breaking it, the desk monster jumped back up and clamped over Sailor Jupiter's head, threatening to crush her face.
"Moon Tiara Action!" The call rang out in the hallway and then a disk of golden energy struck the desk monster, and it exploded. As it turned back into a harmless desk, releasing Sailor Jupiter, Neo Sailor Moon ran up from behind it.
"You again! But what are you doing at THIS school?" Jadeite smirked.
"I could sense there was a battle going on, and so I came," Neo Sailor Moon said, trying to sound cold but failing. She was rather embarrassed to have that pointed out to her, what if she got in trouble with Mr. Nakata, her homeroom teacher?
"We'll discuss that later. Jupiter Oak Evolution!" Sailor Jupiter shouted. She jumped up and tried to attack Jadeite, but he teleported away and disappeared, leaving the electric leaves to fizzle out in the air.
"You're cool! Thank you for saving us!" Sailor Ceres exclaimed, but then she sighed, wishing her powers could do something besides create shields. "I'm Hinagiku Tamano, I go to this school," she added, detransforming.
"I'm Chibi-Usa Tsukino," Neo Sailor Moon said in turn, returning to her usual form.
"Chibi-Usa, as long as you make up for what you missed in class, such as by asking your teacher what you missed or a reliable classmate, I believe it is okay for you to skip class to fight Senshi battles. This is something that is more important for the world, and Jadeite seems to be attacking schools anyway. I'm sure your teacher will understand, and if he doesn't I'll talk to him," Sailor Jupiter reassured Chibi-Usa before turning back into Makoto Kino.
"I just wish I could do something more useful than making shields. I want to blast those guys like you and Neo Sailor Moon do," Hinagiku complained.
"It was useful, though. You stopped Jadeite from draining my energy. Because you helped me, we can still go back and finish class," Makoto told her.
"That's true. And I'm still strong and good at fighting, maybe that's why I don't NEED magic to beat up monsters!" Hinagiku bragged, punching the air in front of her.
"I have to go now. I'll see if Mr. Nakata believes me about being a Sailor Senshi," Chibi-Usa said, starting to head towards the exit.
"I'll talk to him if he doesn't," Makoto reassured her, and then she turned to Hinagiku as the bell rang. "Class seems to be over now anyway. We can check on the class that Jadeite attacked before I go back to prepare for tomorrow." The two of them went to the 3rd year class and found the students waking up, seeming rather confused but luckily unhurt. As she went back to the cooking lab room, Makoto touched the transformation wand in her pocket. She then was struck by the feeling that the battle she had just been in would likely be her last. Her time to pass on her powers was coming soon