Chapter 7: Neptune
"Haruka, the sea is telling me. I'm going to be the next one to give up my powers," Michiru said, spacing out in the middle of a board game she was playing with Haruka, Yayoi, and Shiori.
"Interesting. Well, I hope your successor gets along well with Bianca," Haruka commented as she moved her piece forward.
"I doubt it. I think the one with the hidden power of Neptune is Nabiki Aino, Minako's elder daughter," Michiru corrected her.
"Nabiki? Isn't she the grumpy one who only wants to watch anime and read manga? And that's all she wants to talk about?" Yayoi asked.
"Yes, I think so. And since Bianca is obsessed with astronomy and also has a temper, there would be obvious friction between them," continued Michiru. Just then, the door swung open. Minako and Celestia entered, dragging a limp, scowling Nabiki behind them.
"I am NOT going to be a Sailor Senshi. I will stay in my room and watch anime," Nabiki stated stubbornly; Michiru could see she was clutching a Crystal Animal Fighter Rosaline DVD in her free hand.
"You don't have a choice. Do you think I wanted to be a Senshi? I would've been perfectly happy just being Michiru Kaiou, ordinary violinist girl. But I took that destiny because I knew that if I didn't save the world with Sailor Uranus, no one else would. The same goes for you," Michiru said sternly as she held out an aqua wand topped with a dark green circle. Nabiki glared at the wand.
"No. I refuse. Give it to someone else," she snapped coldly, sitting hunched up against the wall defiantly. Celestia, on the other hand, took one look at Shiori and shrieked.
"That girl's gigantic! She'd probably be able to dunk a basketball without jumping!" Minako rolled her eyes.
"Duh. You've known her since you were born," she sighed.
"I know. I just wanted to say that! It might help me in being a voice actress someday! I have to know how to affect dramatic surprise, you know," Celestia said smugly, smirking at Shiori. With the distraction, Nabiki tried to take the chance to escape, but Haruka spotted her and dragged her back into the room.
"You are going to take the powers no matter what," she demanded. Nabiki stuck her tongue out and then bit Haruka's arm. Haruka roared and pinned the defiant rainbow-haired girl to the floor.
"Don't bite people! That's mean!" gasped Yayoi, who got scared and hid behind Shiori.
"Michiru, just give her the wand. She'll come to her duty when the next attack strikes," Minako sighed, then she glared at Nabiki. "And you are not to bite people, young lady, unless, of course, they're one of the enemies, which Haruka most definitely is not."
"Hey, Nabiki, don't you want to be just like Crystal Animal Fighter Rosaline and fight magical monsters? Then you'll probably like the anime even more! And then you and I, if I ever get Senshi powers, could make our own Senshi videos and do voice acting!" exclaimed Celestia eagerly.
"No. That would ruin the point of anime; to escape from the drugery of reality," retorted Nabiki.
"Um, but wouldn't it be better if real life was LIKE anime, then? She's not suggesting you watch boring anime," giggled Yayoi.
"Even if I became a Sailor Senshi, life still wouldn't be like Fighter Rosaline's life because she always beats the bad guys. That wouldn't necessarily happen," Nabiki pointed out.
"Nabiki, that's just an excuse. Of course there's always the chance that we'll lose, but it's best to hope for that happy ending," Michiru replied. Nabiki heaved a big sigh and reluctantly picked up the wand.
"I suppose someone like me is needed on the team since I know so much about battling with magic powers from watching so much anime."
"YAY! Now can I be a Senshi too?" asked Celestia excitedly.
"Not yet. I do have a suspicion that you will fall in Taiki's footsteps, though. I've sensed that kind of aura from you," answered Michiru. Celestia squealed happily.
"Taiki? You mean I get to be one of the powerful Sailor Starlights! Ahem, let me practice! STAR GENTLE UTERUS!" she shouted, grabbing Nabiki's new wand and throwing it across the room. It landed with a thump just outside the doorway. Suddenly, a brown rope whipped out and snatched the wand away.
"Give that back!" shouted Haruka, and she ran out the door, Minako in close pursuit. Minako gasped when she saw who the thief was.
"Calaveras! I might've known you'd appear too!" Calaveras glared at her and pointed her free hand at Minako, which was glowing with the familiar black energy. Haruka leaped forward and shoved the other blond out of the way, and she was struck by the beam.
"Not again! They already got the talisman out of me!" she yelled before collapsing in the hallway. Calaveras took off again, but she crashed into Bianca, who had happened to walk that way. Bianca picked up the wand and noticed Nabiki standing lazily in the doorway.
"Is this yours? Why don't we both beat that meanie who knocked me down? Uranus Twinkle Power, Make Up!" she called.
"I'm stuck! I don't know what to do!" whined Celestia, then she struck a battle pose, shouting "Let's beat those villains, everyone!" Nabiki rolled her eyes and decided she should at least try out her new powers.
"Neptune Twinkle Power, Make Up!" When she was finished transforming, she was dressed in a turquoise Senshi outfit with dark green bows and high-heels that matched those of the first Sailor Mars. Calaveras swung her whip, and it wrapped around Chibi Neptune's legs, tying her up.
"Uranus Zephyr Flash!"
"Jupiter Thunderbolt Shocker!" The combination of the two attacks not only ripped up the whip, but sent Calaveras and Chibi Neptune flying in opposite directions. Chibi Neptune crashed into Celestia, who cried out in surprise.
"Oh no! What did I do to you? I hear your voice is in pain!" Chibi Jupiter worried. Chibi Neptune glared at her.
"What about me! Don't I count!" she pouted, "Fine, if you want to ignore me...I'll be like Fighter Amanda! Neptune Tsunami Waterspout!" she shouted. With a rumble, a geyser of water burst out of the floor underneath Calaveras, sending her crashing into the ceiling and then back to the floor, where she just barely missed landing on Chibi Uranus.
"Pink Moonbeam Blaster!" Chibi Neptune pouted as the pink energy beam hit Calaveras, destroying her. Chibi Moon entered the room and put Haruka's heart crystal back in her body.
"What are YOU doing here? Is everyone trying to ruin my anime watching!" she ranted.
"Huh? I was just beating that villain. What does that have to...oh! You're a Senshi too now, Nabiki? That's great, now we have one more member!" Chibi Moon exclaimed happily. But Chibi Neptune did not share in the same happiness.
"Don't group me with you. I'm not going to join your little playgroup," she said coldly.
"Stop that! You are NOT a 'cool, aloof' older anime girl that everyone else is in awe of! You're just an oblivious idiot who only cares about her anime and manga! So don't act like you're better than us!" shouted Chibi Uranus.
"I didn't say I was better than you," Nabiki said coolly, after detransforming.
"You implied it by calling the Sailor Team a playgroup, like we're all kindgarteners or something," Chibi-Usa pointed out.
"Obviously, you know nothing. In anime, the cool, aloof ones are the ones the others squeal over and adore and want to be like them. Like me," smirked Nabiki. Chibi Uranus began to cry.
"This isn't anime! This is real life! And in real life, you're just on the Earth, which is one of 9 planets, which is circling the sun, which is one of billions of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, which is..." Chibi Uranus backed up with a whimper as Chibi-Usa put an arm in front of her, stopping her astronomical tirade. Nabiki left the room, heading back to her quarters to continue her Crystal Animal Fighter Rosaline marathon.