An American Dream
Chapter Ten: Soldier of Fire
Now that Usagi had a friend who was also a soldier, She and Luna showed Amy the secret room in the basement of the school. Luna decided that it was time to tell them about the Silver Crystal and how they needed to find it before the enemy did.
"The silver crystal can destroy Earth if it is placed in the wrong hands" Luna explained, transforming into her human self. She showed them a picture of Sailor Venus.
"She is our ally" Luna explained. "My husband is guiding her, just as I am guiding you. She will not reveal herself to us until the time is right"
"But why?" Usagi asked. "Is she the princess we are searching for?"
"That I cannot say" Luna replied. "I am not allowed to tell you too much at this time" Usagi and Amy frowned, but they said nothing more.
Outside the gym, one of the cheerleaders was walking to the locker room, when she was attacked by a Youma that pulled her through a door to another dimension; the doorway vanished and two crows circled the spot where the girl had been. She was the third girl to disapear that week.
At lunch, Usagi, Amy and Makoto discussed the missing girls. Amy and Usagi couldn't reveal too much to Makoto and it pained them. Both were hoping that somehow, she'd be a soldier like them.
"All the girls that have gone missing have been cheerleaders" Makoto warned Usagi. "I think you should be careful" Usagi nodded and glanced over at Raye, who was sitting with her friends. She wondered if Raye would be a target too.
In its strange blue-lit dimension, the Youma danced amidst the unconscious bodies of its victims, as PallasPallas reported to Queen Beryl.
"I won't accept any more failures" Beryl warned the girl. PallasPallas nodded. She and her sisters were working hard to protect the Queen..
that evening, in the Secret base, Amy pulled out a file.
"I'v been compiling information on the missing girls in the hope that we'll find something useful" She said. Usagi nodded as Luna brought them some juice.
Later, Luna met up with Artemis and Venus and they discussed the princess and the mission.
"I sense another soldier" Luna said. "But she will make things difficult for Moon and Mercury" She didn't want Venus to know thier identities just yet.
The following day, Usagi was in the locker room, when she heard three girls yelling at Raye.
"I find it suspicious that you have yet to disapear" Sally said, hands on her hips. "Several cheerleaders have already gone missing"
"Are you saying that I had something to do with it?" Raye demanded.
"Who else" Hannah declared. "I wouldn't be surprised if that Japanese girl was next. All the girls who have disapeared are girls you hate" Raye scoffed.
"How do you know Usagi isn't behind the disapearances?" She asked haughtily. "She's a cheerleader too"
"Usagi is too sweet" The third girl, Elizabeth said.
"Well I didn't have anything to do with it" Raye snapped. "Now leave me alone" The girls refused to leave, so Usagi stepped in.
"I don't think Raye is behind the disapearences" She said softly. "She may be harsh, but she's hardly supernatural and I heard that the girls disapeared into thin air" Somehow, Usagi was able to defuse the tension and the girls walked away. Raye stared at Usagi in surprise.
"Why did you defend me?" She asked, narrowing her eyes. Usagi sighed.
"No one deserves to get bullied" She replied. "Not even someone who bullies others" She turned and walked away, just as her cell phone rang.
"Hello" She answered.
"Usagi, you need to come quickly, I think I know who the next cheerleader to be targeted is" Amy said into the phone. Usagi agreed and met up with Amy by the gardens where Amy was watching Dorinda, the co head cheerleader next to Raye.
"We need to keep an eye on her" Amy said quietly. "Apart from you and Raye, she's the last cheerleader" Usagi nodded and they followed Dorinda, making sure to keep thier distance.
Suddenly Dorinda rounded a corner out of sight and they heard a scream. They ran around the corner and found Raye, crouching by the unconscious girl. When she heard them approach, Raye stood and stared at Usagi, making her slightly nervous.
"Are you the one causing them to disapear?" She asked. Raye didn't answer and instead, looked behind them, wide-eyed. Usagi turned to see a floating pile of leaves which swirled into a youma. The Youma's dimensional door opened and it pulled Raye in. Usagi quickly grabbed Raye's waist and was sucked in as well. Left behind, Amy made a frantic phone call to Luna.
Usagi and Raye found themselves in the blue-lit dimension with the Youma approaching, threateningly.
"Run!" Usagi urged the raven haired girl. "Get out of here" She turned towards the youma.
"Moon Prism Power, Make-Up" She cried, transforming into Sailor Moon. Raye stood there, astonished. The Youma trapped her with some vines, but she still tried to encourage Rei to run to safety. Raye turned to leave, but a red glow encircled her wrist.
Luna arrived and told Amy to transform and open a gateway to the Youma's dimension, which she does using Mercury Aqua Mist.
A transformation bracelet appeared on Raye's wrist and Sailor Moon felt her stomach drop. Raye was the third soldier.
"You must transform" She shouted, but the youma attacked, burying Raye in a pile of leaves. Raye broke free of the attack and transformed.
"Mars Power, make-up" She shouted. After a brief fight, she destroyed the Youma using Youma Taisan. The Youma's victims began to wake up just as the portal Sailor Mercury created opened, and Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars helped them escape. Once they're out, Sailor Mars followed, but Sailor Moon was grabbed by another one of the vines and pulled away. Tuxedo Mask saved her, though, and helped her get through the portal just as it closed.
Tuxedo Mask quickly departed, and Luna questioned again who he was. Luna turned to Sailor Mars.
"You are a part of the Sailor Soldier team now" Luna said. Raye stared at Moon and Mercury, who she now recognized as Amy.
"Can we be friends now?" Usagi asked. Raye cocked her head to the side.
"I may be a soldier, but I have no intention of becoming your friend" She snapped. She turned and walked away.
Meanwhile, Zaira was beginning to awaken.
"The musical genius is awakening"
"Yes, she will be the first of the generals to awaken and the first to die"
"But why?"
"I can not say, yet. She has a good heart. I fear what will happen when Kunzite awakens. He may blame the Prince for what happened"
"Do you not know for sure, your majesty?"
"No. I cannot see as much as I could before the fall, Pluto. My powers are weak"
"I understand, your majesty. Will Mars warm up to the other soldiers"
"I hope so, Pluto. I hope so"