Chapter 4: The Mystery of Jessica Cornflower

It had actually started awhile ago, when the Love Angels still were in the clutches of their homophobia. It was after that fateful trip to the marketplace that Akane asked her question.

"Why is Jessica so cold? Do you think something made her that way? I've heard of some people becoming that way in defense because they grew up in abusive homes," she told Maria.

"But how would we find out? Do you think we should ask her? Would she even tell the truth? Abused children often don't want to tell people it happened to them," Maria pointed out.

"Then we can ask her parents themselves! Better yet, bring them here to Crystal Tokyo so we can find out in person!" Akane declared. When Akane told Neo-Queen Serenity about her idea, Serenity actually liked it.

"I would love to meet the parents of one of you girls. I know Sakura, Madoka, Kurumi and your parents, but that's because they're all my old friends. I think it would be interesting if we could have them all, but just Jessica's would be fine too," she had said. Jessica's parents, Ashley and Roger Cornflower, agreed to come, and they decided to make it a vacation. Crystal Tokyo WAS a rather popular tourist attraction, although the popularity had started to die down once the need for the Senshi fights had started again. So it was a sunny July 5th that Jessica, her parents, Rei Hino, Ami Mizuno, and Akane all came to the palace for the meeting. Oddly enough, Pierre and Rainbow were also there.

"Is it true that Jessica's just like Spectra or Red?" Rainbow immediately asked Roger and Ashley.

"Um, who are Spectra and Red? And who are you, anyway?" asked Ashley, completely confused.

"I thought Japanese people were polite," Roger whispered to her teasingly.

"I'm not Japanese! I'm Australian," Rainbow corrected them coldly, "And Spectra and Red are two characters in what will be a great best-selling science fiction series...Space Girl Spectra!"

"You mean Space Girl Perfect," muttered Pierre, which could've gotten him into a fight with Rainbow had Serenity not interrupted them.

"I apologize for them. These two are Rainbow Sparkles and Pierre Fromage, and they're also Sailor Senshi who have come here from other countries. Just like your daughter did," she explained, "And this is Akane Aino, who is also part of the Dessert Sailor Team. She has some questions to ask you."

"I can ask for myself, you pompous Queen head! I just wanted to know why Jessica's so cold! I bet you two were mean to her! I hear stories like that all the time in the soup kitchen I work at," Akane blurted out.

"Mean to her?! No no no! She just acts that way!" Ashley protested angrily.

"Really. I don't believe you. See how she's barely paying attention to you? I think she's scared of you," Akane challenged.

"Akane, please, she's telling the truth. I had the same worries when I first met her but I looked into it and she really wasn't abused," Rei pleaded, but Akane didn't listen.

"Scared of...oh, honey, I understand. Are your parents cruel to you, just because you can't walk? And that's why you're so bitter?" asked Roger sympathetically. Akane gaped at him in indignant shock.

"NO! Mom may be a prissy socialite, and we argue sometimes, but she is NOT cruel to me! How dare you presume something like that about a stranger!" Akane shouted.

"Do as you say, Akane," sighed Rei, "You're the one judging them first."

"That's because I need to know why Jessica doesn't care about having friends and isn't expressive like normal people!" Akane shouted.

"It's nothing we did to her. She was just...born that way. She was a very quiet baby, and she's just always been like that," Ashley explained.

"At least Jessica's not got a temper. She'd be scary if she was angry," Pierre remarked. Rainbow nodded.

"She's just like Spectra! Spectra was just born that way too, except Spectra's all huge and Jessica's tiny!" she burst out happily.

"But...isn't it wrong for her to be so isolated? Won't she get lonely?" Akane worried. Jessica stared at her.

"The point is that I have rarely, if ever, been lonely, mon. Nor does it seem that I feel emotions to the same extent other people do," Jessica answered her coolly.

"But if she's not friendly, how is she going to get a job? Get people to help her if she needs it? She STILL NEEDS SOCIAL SKILLS!" Akane panicked.

"I am aware of that, mon," Jessica replied in that same emotionless tone.

"I think we'll cross that barrier when we get to it. She's a smart girl, she can fake it if she has to. I know she's done so before because she's acted in school plays. There are also jobs where she would not have to need as much social skills, especially computer jobs that are 'offstage,' so to speak," Roger reassured her.

"I just wanted to help her, and I got scolded for it," Akane pouted.

"Akane, it's okay. It's okay if not everyone's as sociable as you are. There are some things in life where it's better to be talkative, and some things where it's better to be quiet," Ami told her.

"And some things where you need to find the Lightning Rod!" a cute girl's voice announced. This new girl was small, and she had short blond hair with little braids sticking out of it. She also was dressed all in yellow, and she had a brown monkey tail on her butt.

"Speak your name, you intruder! How did you get past the guards?!" Rei shouted, whipping out an anti-evil sticker.

"I am Mew Pudding! And the Lightning Rod is inside that girl!" the yellow monkey girl shouted, and she shot a yellow energy beam at Jessica.

"Not again! That happened to me once! Cookie Crystal Power, Make Up!"

"Lollipop Crystal Power, Make Up!"

"Peppermint Star Power, Make Up!" Rainbow, Pierre, Akane, and Jessica transformed, although the latter's outfit was different from her usual one in that it was yellow instead of purple.

"This'll be easy! Lollipop Princess Halation!" Sailor Lollipop yelled, but Jessica put up her Silence Wall attack and blocked it.

"Stop it! Why are you attacking her?!" Ashley and Roger protested, running in front of Evil-Jessica to protect her.

"Because she turned evil when that monkey girl hit her with the energy beam. See this? It's her Soul Crystal. We can't put it back in her until she's knocked out," Sailor Cookie explained, holding up a purple jewel.

"That girl is one of our new enemies. They're from the anime show, Tokyo Mew Mew, and they're making us fight each other," added Sailor Peppermint, her fingers crackling with electricity.

"But isn't there another way? Why do you have to...OW! Jessica! No biting! You've never done that before!" Ashley screamed as Jessica bit her leg.

"I told you she was evil. Sparkling Wide Pressure!"

"Lollipop Princess Halation!"

"Calculator Spinning Boomerang!" Jessica tried her Silence Wall attack again, but while it blocked the first attack, the other two still hit her and she was knocked out, just like Sailor Cookie said. Ami put her Soul Crystal back in her body, and looked back up at Ashley and Roger, who seemed pretty shocked at this.

"It's okay. We don't like attacking our allies either, but it's part of being a Sailor Senshi. And these new enemies seem to disappear before we can fight them ourselves," she said sadly.

"You don't want Jessica to leave now, do you? Please don't, she's a part of the team," Rei pleaded.

"No, we knew what she was getting into. There's hardly anyone in the world who doesn't know about the deeds of the famous Sailor Senshi. So, of course she can stay here," Ashley said, "We weren't even thinking about it. It was just that...she's never been violent like that before."

"It was that monkey girl, Pudding," Rei said.