A Straightforward Approach
Chapter 3
Can't Make Bricks Without Clay
I don't own Sailor Moon.
"So, Mizuno-san," Naru inquired in a conversational tone, "There've been a lot of weird fires in Juban lately, huh?"
"The arsonist or arsonists, as I can determine by the data presented, appear to be targeting major chain stores that pop up inexplicably," she replied, "The correlation between the rise in fires and explosions in the ward have lowered property values, which provides the chains the ideal situation in which they can invest in the area, but the end result is that, whatever profits that they intend on making get negated by the costs that the fires would cause. I have calculated that there are two scenarios that are more likely than others, by examining the data that is available at this time?"
"Oh?" she asked, glancing at Usagi, who seemed to be distracted in a whispered conversation with Luna, "What're those?"
"The first is that there is someone intent upon ensuring that the ward is not subject to gentrification and is going to extreme efforts to achieve that goal," Ami answered, "It is possible that they are intending to avoid having Juban's historical sites destroyed or they are simply against modernization."
"And the other option?" she asked.
"Following the paper trails seems to lead to the same banking firms that have offices worldwide. All accounts, however, lead to one Dark Agency," she stated, "As this Dark Agency has had issues with various business ventures in other locations suffering some form of catastrophe, some of which involving sulfuric acid, I believe it possible that the entire affair is some manner of scheme involving insurance fraud."
"Really?" Naru asked, genuinely curious about her conclusion, "What other businesses have they had that had catastrophes hit them?"
"So, Luna, why are you so concerned?" Usagi inquired softly, Luna once more riding on her shoulder.
"I sense strong magic from that girl," Luna whispered, "I believe she might be connected to our adversaries."
"I don't know what she's involved in, but she's definitely not involved with the Negaverse," Usagi replied, "I've seen her around school from time to time long before the Negaverse came into the picture."
"Are you certain of that?" Luna asked, "You'll recall that Naru's mother had been replaced with a Negaverse doppelganger on your first mission."
"Trust me, she's alright," Usagi stated plainly, "I can just tell."
"I'll keep an eye on her regardless," Luna mused.
"I wouldn't expect anything less," Usagi smiled, reaching up with her free hand to pet Luna.
"And the one thing that ties them all together is Dark Agency?" Naru asked.
"Indeed," Ami replied, "All of their funding comes from that corporation."
"How do you know all that?" Naru asked.
"I determined this through means that were not hacking their database, as I am a normal teenage girl and not in any way a cybernetic organism."
Before Naru could ask what those means were, she was cut off by someone shouting.
"Come and attend our cram school!" a well-dressed woman called out, holding out CD cases, "Take a free sample of our test CDs!"
Naru watched as Usagi tilted her head curiously, approaching the woman.
"Worried about exams?" the woman asked her, holding out one of the discs, "Go ahead. This one starter CD will show you just how much better our method is than your average cram school!"
Usagi carefully took the CD and slid it into her bag but, from her position, Naru heard her whisper to Luna, "When we get home, I'm going to want us to take a look at this."
"And by 'us,' I presume you mean me," Luna noted dryly.
"That's why we're a team," Usagi replied cheerfully.
"Just because you are borderline technologically illiterate..." Luna sighed.
"...Let's not get into who's more capable of what in this team," Usagi responded, "The point is that this is something to look into."
"Very well," Luna sighed.
It was when they got to school when they saw that the mock exam scores had been published.
"Wow, Ami!" Usagi praised, "Number one in all of Japan?! You're amazing!"
"Oh!" Ami exclaimed, surprised by the sudden cheerful shout to her left, "Thank you."
"And look at you Usagi," Naru teased, "Would you believe she was practically dead last just a couple months ago, Ami? Whatever do you think brought about that change, Usagi?"
"Better time management," Usagi replied dryly.
"It is quite the improvement, Tsukino-san," Ami praised after a moment of silence, "Your growth has been rather consistent as of late."
"You remember things like other students' scores?" Usagi asked, surprised and impressed.
"I do," she agreed, "Is that shocking for an ordinary girl who is not a cybernetic organism?"
"Most people only remember their own scores," Usagi noted, "You've must have a really good memory."
"My recall was determined to be higher than expected..." Ami demurred, "Thank you."
"Want to join us at the arcade this afternoon?" Usagi asked.
Ami tilted her head slightly before seeming to determine her response, "I would enjoy doing so, though I would need to depart after some time, as I will be expected at my cram school."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Naru remarked cheerfully.
It was afterschool when either of them remembered the earlier promise to discuss the Sailor Moon situation.
"I swear, I forgot that we had that planned, Naru," Usagi murmured as they headed to the front to meet with Ami.
"That better be what happened," Naru replied, though there was no actual malice in her tone as she said that.
"What's going on, exactly?" Luna asked, approaching Usagi to be picked up for discreet conversation.
"We're taking Ami to the arcade," Usagi explained, "So we're going to wait a bit on the explanation for Naru."
"If not for the fact that it's you, I would almost think that you did that on purpose," Luna noted dryly.
"I'm not afraid of setting you down," Usagi noted.
"I'll pick you up if she does," Naru chimed in.
"Mutiny on all sides," Usagi sighed in a jokingly defeated tone, before smiling as their new friend approached. "Ami, hi! Ready to go?"
"I am, but, as I said, I will have to leave to attend cram school," she agreed.
"But you can hang out?" Usagi asked, hoping to be certain that they weren't making things difficult for Ami.
"I have time," she agreed.
"Great!" Usagi cheered, "Let's go, then!"
"You're amazing, Ami!" Naru cheered as Ami blazed through the levels of the Sailor V arcade game.
"Are you sure you haven't played this before?" Usagi asked jokingly.
"To my recollection, I have not," Ami replied, "It seems to be a matter of finding the correct patterns."
"Still impressive," Usagi noted, "I know that I have a lot of trouble with the game."
"Maybe you just lack control Odango-chan," a familiar voice teased from behind her.
"What's your excuse, then, Mamoru?" she smirked, "I seem to remember one of us not making it past Level 3 last time he tried."
"Gee, I wonder if the backseat gamer shouting at me the entire time had anything to do with it," he noted dryly.
"Oh sure, blame the person who's actually gotten to Level 4," she replied, "Anyway, don't you have homework?"
"I could say the same," he noted, "And I actually finished mine."
"Low blow," she glared with no real animosity, before pausing, "Wait, we didn't have homework today, so ha!"
"100020!" Naru exclaimed, "I don't think anyone's ever scored that high, Ami!"
For the first time ever, the arcade machine's mechanism ground to life, dropping an elegant blue pen with a golden cap that had a circle with four colors on it: blue, red, green, and yellow.
"That's such a cool pen, Ami!" Usagi praised.
"I'll leave you three to that and go talk to Motoki," Mamoru nodded, before turning with a wave, "See you around, Odango-chan."
"See you, Mamoru," she replied.
"I suppose it's for the best that I end it here," Ami mused, "I do have to get to my cram school."
"Let's meet up later!" Usagi replied cheerfully, "We can all hang out more after you're done!"
"That is agreeable," Ami nodded.
"Here's my phone number," Usagi said, writing down her phone number on a sheet of paper.
"And here's mine," Naru added, "Text when you're done."
"I will," Ami agreed, taking the paper.
Once she was gone, Naru turned to Usagi, "No, you owe me some explanations."
"That I do," she agreed, "Let's go to my house. We'll talk there."
"So, those things that steal our energy are from something called The Negaverse, and your job is to fight them in the name of some moon princess?" Naru summarized some time later.
"There is a bit more to it than that," Luna noted dryly.
"So, why the fires and explosions?" Naru asked.
"I'm just done with this stuff," Usagi noted, "Jadeite hasn't had a legitimately original plot in months, and I've had to deal with pretty much the same setup with only Luna and Tuxedo Mask as my allies."
"What does Tuxedo Mask do, exactly?" Naru pressed.
"Very little," Luna noted dryly, "He is a jewel thief seeking the Silver Crystal."
"As illustrated by the fact that he tends to go to so many jewelry shops these days," Usagi noted dryly, "He usually popped in to distract the youma and give me a breather while making a big speech. These days, he mostly sticks around in case I need help with dealing with the youma."
"And you really just go after any new business that pops up around here?"
"It usually works," Usagi noted, "Luckily, you can tell them apart from normal businesses because they're usually acting like they're part of bigger corporations and these days tend to put 'Dark,' 'Jadeite,' 'Queen,' or 'Nega' in the name of the thing, unless they're trying to be subtle, then they jumble letters or sometimes use the word 'Crystal.'"
"So you check every new business for that?" she asked.
"Yep," she replied, before pausing and going through her backpack, "That reminds me!"
She pulled out the CD, whose case read 'Negadark Jedi ETA: The Crystal Clear Queen of Cram Schools.'
"Luna," Usagi noted, pulling out a laptop and putting the disc into it, "Get to work, please. Try to figure out what they're doing with the discs."
"I know you're bad with computers, but..." Naru began. At that moment, Naru and Usagi's phones let out a chime to show they'd received texts.
"It looks like Ami had to stay later..." Naru noted, "I hope it wasn't our fault. Do you think we made her late?"
Usagi, however, was busy typing out a text, which she then sent.
"Please be wrong, please be wrong, please be wrong..." she murmured, only to receive another text. "Uh oh... Luna, what did you find."
"Some manner of mind control," Luna determined, showing the encoded message extrapolated from the disc, before shutting the laptop with one paw.
"How'd...?" Naru tried to ask, only to be interrupted by Usagi.
"I'm going to have to actually go in this time!" Usagi declared determinedly, "They've got Ami and possibly others in there, so my usual methods are too dangerous!"
"You mean the fires and explosions?" Luna noted dryly, following Usagi even as she did so.
"That's what I said," Usagi agreed, "My usual methods."
"What do I do?" Naru asked.
"For now, stay here," Usagi said, "There's going to be actual fighting this time, so I'd rather you sit this one out. We'll be back as soon as possible."
"Ami's my friend, too," Naru protested, "I want to help."
Usagi groaned in frustration before coming up with an idea. "Okay, but we're going to have to be smart about this." She pulled out the disguise pen. "And you're going to have to do exactly what I say, then get out immediately."
"I can't believe that worked," Luna noted as Naru, disguised as a doctor, led the students out of the cram school.
"People here are really gullible," Usagi noted as they snuck around the school, Usagi once more dressed as Sailor Moon, "Plus, Naru's smart enough to roll with this, since I'm the expert here."
They entered a room illuminated by one computer screen just in time to find a youma shoving Ami's face into a computer monitor's screen, clearly trying to brainwash her, while Luna observed a familiar symbol glowing on Ami's forehead.
"I've heard of getting pushed into working hard, but that's a bit much!" Usagi called out, drawing the youma's attention to her.
"Who are you?" the youma hissed, stopping what it was doing to toss Ami aside, "I, Garoben will harness these students' energy, their yearning for academic achievement, for the benefit of the Dark Kingdom!"
"I'm Sailor Moon, the Guardian of Love and Justice! The desire to better one's self is a noble one and shouldn't be used for purposes like that! It should be allowed to flourish!"
"You will not stop me!" Garoben snarled, before firing paper blades at Usagi, who dodged the attacks as best she could while Garoben did not let up.
"Get up," Luna commanded of Ami, "Sailor Moon needs your help."
When Usagi was finally backed into a corner, Garoben grinned maliciously, arm outstretched to send another attack, only to suddenly be struck by a red rose that cut her arm.
"Corporal punishment of your students is considered bad form," Tuxedo Masked called out, perched upon the nearby windowsill as Garoben glared at him, "There's nothing worse than a bad teacher."
Ami rose to her feet, her pen in hand as the words flew freely off her tongue, as if she's always known the words in the back of her mind, "Mercury Power Make-up!"
When she had finished transforming, she announced, "Protected by Mercury, the planet of water, Guardian of Wisdom, Sailor Mercury! Douse yourself in water and repent!"
Garoben turned to face her, only for Sailor Mercury to shout, "Mercury Bubble Spray!"
The room filled with a nearly impenetrable mist.
"So, have you thought about my suggestion?" Sailor Moon asked Tuxedo Mask as they waited for any movement from the youma.
"I can't just throw one hundred roses every single time, Sailor Moon," he noted, "I actually have to grow those roses."
"Wait, you don't magically produce them?" she asked in surprise.
"No, I have a garden."
"Oh, that sounds nice! Maybe you could invest in another weapon, at least?"
"I'll think about it, but we do have a more pressing concern, don't we?"
There was suddenly a sound of something inhuman making a surprised noise before there was suddenly a very repetitive sound of something being slammed repeatedly into another object before there was the sound of glass shattering, followed by another inhuman noise, this time a howling sound over the sound of electricity. When the mist finally cleared, they saw Sailor Mercury standing next to Garoben, the youma's head firmly rammed through the large, old-fashioned computer monitor, the glass shattered.
"I have disabled the adversary, Sailor Moon," Sailor Mercury noted, before glancing at Tuxedo Mask, "Are we allied with the jewel thief Tuxedo Mask?"
"I think that it's the other way around. I suspect I'm allied with you," he replied, before taking Sailor Moon's hand, and pressing a light kiss to it as he climbed back onto the windowsill, "We'll be seeing more of each other in the future, I think. Until then, I take my leave." He released her hand and leaped out the window. Behind Sailor Mercury, Garoben slowly began to regain consciousness, only for Sailor Moon to attack first.
"Moon Tiara Magic!" she called out, striking her down like so many youma before her, leaving nothing but ash in her place.
"Am I to presume that you are the arsonist of Juban, Tsukino-san?" Ami asked.
"Code names while in costume, Sailor Mercury," Luna chided, "And yes, she is."
"Should we burn this building to the ground as well?" Ami inquired in the same way one would ask about the weather.
Usagi thought for a moment, before reaching her conclusion, "Why not?"
"I believe that starting the fires in specific areas will allow for a controlled burn that will also have the conflagration be quick and complete," Ami concluded, "I can show the areas in question if we approach the directory."
"I get the feeling this is going to be the start of an excellent partnership," Usagi grinned.
Watching from beyond time and space, the green-haired figure was satisfied. The important factors were progressing properly, even if certain details were progressing in an unexpected manner.