AUTHOR'S NOTE: Naoko Takeuchi created Sailor Moon, and I didn't. This is just my latest reboot of my alternate universe Sailor Moon fanfiction.
SAILOR MOON: A HERO FOR THE 1980S
CHAPTER 6: GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1986
ROUND TABLE PIZZA, BREA, CALIFORNIA
5:30 PM
Jerry Logue pulled his Harley-Davidson SS-350 into the parking lot of the shopping center on the corner of Central and Brea, where Central Boulevard becomes State College Boulevard. After he parked his bike, he went in, and found his way to a table where Usagi Campbell, Amy Anderson, Rae Hinkley, Lisa Kino, and Mina Aino were sitting. "Hope you don't mind that we already ordered," Usagi said. "We figured a large pizza for every 2 people, that seems about right."
"We can always order more if anyone wants more," Jerry said. "So what toppings did you get?"
"Double pepperoni on all 3," Usagi said. "Everyone else wanted it, and I wasn't sure what you would want, but I knew you didn't like mushrooms, olives, or peppers."
"Good call," Jerry said. "If anyone wants, there's also the salad bar."
"We got salad bars for everyone," Amy said "All you can eat."
"And we also got a pitcher of Pepsi, and a pitcher of Dr Pepper,": Mina said. "So what are we doing here again?"
"Getting to know each other," Usagi said. "Since we're going to be a team, we should get to know each other."
"Sounds like a good idea," Jerry said. "In fact, I'll start. I was born on an island in the Pacific, and I'm a Saggitarius with a bad moon rising."
"We kind of want a little more than your sign and where you were born," Usagi said.
"The night's still young," Jerry said.
"How about I start?" Amy said. "My name is Amy Naoko Anderson, I'm originally from Seattle, Washington. I moved here over the summer, due to my mom accepting a position at St. Jude's Hospital in Fullerton. I met Jerry over the summer at the Corn Festival in La Habra, and met the rest of you in the past few weeks, since we started school. According to Jerry and Usagi, I live where Mike used to live. I'm left handed, my favorite baseball team is the Mariners, and I want to be a special education teacher when I grow up."
"Any way I can have a do-over?" Jerry asked.
"Go ahead,": Usagi said.
"Okay," Jerry said. "My name is Gerald Christopher Logue, although I go by Jerry. I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, due to my dad being stationed at Pearl Harbor at the time. I moved to California when I was 2, around the time my dad got out of the Navy. I originally lived with my mom after my parents got divorced, but moved in with my dad back when I was 11, when he lived in Rowland Heights, which I hated. We moved to Fullerton back in the summer of 1982, when my dad remarried and we moved into her house. I met Usagi when I first moved to Fullerton, I've known Mina since she first moved to this country, I met Amy over the summer, and I met Rae and Lisa when they both joined the team. My favorite team is the Angels, although I do like the Lakers, I ride an Italian made Harley-Davidson motorcycle that I affectionately refer to as a pasta burner, and I'm undecided on whether I want to join the Marines or go to film school."
"My name is Minarva Christine Aino, but I prefer to go by Mina," Mina said. "I'm originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but moved to La Habra about 10 years ago. I met Jerry when I first moved to La Habra, when I lived next door to him. I went to Our Lady of Guadalupe school in La Habra, which is where Rae and I met, and went to Rosary High until about halfway through last year, until my family left the Catholic Church. Since by that time, we had moved to the neighborhood behind Tuffree Junior High, I started going to El Dorado. I used to play volleyball, but I kind of gave it up to pursue my real passion, music. I want to be a musician, or a pop star."
"Hi, I'm Lisa Margaret Kino," Lisa said. "I was born and raised in Stockton, but moved here over the summer after my mom died. I've only been here a couple months, but so far, I like Placentia a lot better than I like Stockton. I don't really know any of you all that well, I pretty much met all of you after school started this year. I have a black belt in karate, and I love to cook and bake. In fact, my dream in life is to be a chef."
"I'm Bonnie Rae Hinkley," Rae said. "but I prefer to go by my middle name. I was born and raised in Brea, and like Mina, I went to Our Lady of Guadalupe school in La Habra, and Rosary High until the end of last year, when I decided to leave the Catholic Church myself. My parents are divorced, and I live with my mom, my dad passed away a couple years after the divorce. I drive a 1958 Ford Fairmont Skyliner hardtop convertible, and like Amy, I want to be a teacher when I get older."
"I'm Usagi Serena Campbell," Usagi said. "I was born in San Diego, where my dad was serving in the Marines at the time. After he got out, we moved to Placentia, and my dad got a job as a sports writer for the Register. If anyone wonders why I got a Japanese name, I was named after my mom's college roommate, who was supposed to be my godmother, but she died just before I was born. The name Usagi is also the Japanese word for rabbit, which explains why I have a thing for rabbits. Anyways, I have a younger brother, who just started the seventh grade at Tuffree Junior High, I drive a 1969 Volkswagen Beetle convertible with an auto stick, which is basically a stick shift without a clutch pedal. And as for what I want to do when I get older, I want to be a writer."
"So now that we have the basics out of the way," Amy said, "who wants to tell a little story about themselves."
"I'll go," Jerry said. "I'll start with why I live with my dad. Anyways, based on when I was born, I could have started kindergarten in the fall of 1974, but my mom decided to hold off on enrolling me until the fall of 1975, to give me that extra year to mature emotionally before I started. However, just a few weeks into the year, I was promoted to first grade, due to the fact I had basically taught myself to read by the time I was 2. My mom didn't really want that, she felt promoting me defeated the purpose of holding off on enrolling me in the first place. During the summer before I started sixth grade, my mom talked to my dad. Seems she wanted me held back from going to junior high, give me an extra year in elementary school to make up for having been bumped up to first grade after only a few weeks in kindergarten. My dad was on the same page with her on that, he agreed to hold off on enrolling me in kindergarten for a year. Anyways, my mom asked my dad if I could live with him, since he lived in another city. She felt if I changed schools, it would soften the blow, as I wouldn't have to watch all my friends graduate to junior high while I had to stay behind in elementary school for another year. My dad thought that was a good idea as well, he agreed I could spend the summer with whichever parent I wanted to, but when school started, I would live with him. Since it wouldn't benefit me to repeat either the fifth or sixth grade, so he had me put in special education. Basically, I would only do two or three actual assignments a day, and fill the rest of the day with busy work or free reading. Not that I couldn't handle the workload, but it was because the purpose of putting me in special education was to stretch the sixth grade out over two years. My dad wasn't all that fond of that plan, but the teacher told him the only other choices were to either have me repeat a grade or spend a year doing busy work and free reading, which wouldn't benefit me at all. Now that I think about it, even though I didn't make many friends in Rowland Heights, once I moved to Placentia, and started at Tuffree, I made some good friends. Mike Johnson was a good friend, but unfortunately, he moved. And I met Usagi a couple days after I moved to Fullerton, she and I became very close friends. Of course, I already knew Mina, she lived next door to my mom until early 1984. This past summer, I met Amy at the Corn Festival, she and I became boyfriend and girlfriend in the past few weeks since school started. And now, there's Lisa and Rae, I have a feeling we'll become good friends."
"I bet you were glad to get away from Debbie, weren't you?" Mina asked.
"Who's Debbie?" Rae asked.
"My younger sister," Jerry said. "She just turned 13 back in August."
"You have an uncle named Tom Husted?" Lisa asked. "He's married to a woman named Carolyn, they have 2 kids, James and Pookie?"
"You mean Jennie?" Jerry asked.
"Yeah," Lisa said. "Anyways, before my mom died, she and Carolyn used to be friends. A couple summers ago, your mom sent Debbie to Stockton to spend the summer with your uncle. I met her when she was out there, she kind of rubbed me the wrong way."
"You too?" Mina asked. "Remember, I used to live next door to his mom. I never really liked her, and not just because she was his kid sister. She may be a few years younger than him, but she could be a total bitch. Anyways, one of my favorite memories with Jerry was kind of our first date."
"You went on a date with Jerry?" Amy asked.
"Several," Mina said. "Last year, after I transferred to El Dorado, he and I dated for a few weeks. Anyways, this was back in 1979, his mom took him and me to see KISS at the Forum in Inglewood."
"I remember that, sort of," Rae said. "I would have never expected you to go to a KISS concert. Before, you probably liked maybe one or two of their songs, the next day, you're totally into them."
"Well, he was supposed to go with his friend Jeff, but Jeff's cousin ended up taking him, so his mom had an extra ticket," Mina said. "Even though I liked a couple of their songs, I really wasn't into them, but Jerry and Jeff were. They both had all the records, action figures, they and a couple friends dressed up as KISS to go trick-or-treating on Halloween a couple years in a row. That year, Jerry even had a KISS lunchbox. Anyways, since his mom had an extra ticket, Jerry asked me if I wanted to go. I was kind of curious why some of the guys in our neighborhood liked KISS, so I agreed to go with them. Besides, since we would be out late, my parents agreed to let Debbie spend the night, and I figured seeing KISS would be better than spending the night with Jerry's kid sister. So we get to the Forum, find our seats, and it turns out that Jeff and his cousin are in the row in front of us. Not long before the opening act took the stage, these four people sat down in the row behind us in full makeup and costumes, they even have platform boots on. Jerry's mom is totally convinced they're the actual KISS, I don't really blame her, she's not really into that kind of music to begin with. I'm not really all that much into them myself, but I could tell they weren't the real thing. Now Jerry and Jeff, as well as Jeff's cousin knew for certain they weren't the real thing. Jeff said they were wearing the wrong outfits, they had on the Love Gun outfits, not the outfits they were wearing in the tour program. And let's just say that Jerry and I could tell that whoever was dressed as Ace Frehley was a woman."
"Ace Frehley doesn't have boobs," Jerry said.
"Yeah," Mina said. "Anyways, to make a long story short, after seeing them live, I was hooked. Jerry and Jeff both agreed that was the most awesome thing they ever saw, and even Jerry's mom enjoyed it. Afterwards, I started listening to their music, and even got a few of their records."
"I kind of got out of them a little back in the early 80s," Jerry said. "I still like them, but my tastes started changing, I started getting a bit more into acts like Hall and Oates, or Air Supply."
"I first met Mina when she started at Our Lady of Guadalupe school in La Habra," Rae said. "When I first met her, I never heard a Canadian accent before, I thought she talked funny."
"We were kids at the time," Mina said.
"And after all this time," Rae said, "you still have a Canadian accent."
"You can take the girl out of Canada," Mina said, "but you can't take Canada out of the girl. Why do you think my dad always takes me to Los Angeles Kings games?"
"I've never been to a hockey game before," Lisa said.
"I've been to a few games," Amy said. "A few years ago, we got a major junior team in Seattle. Anyways, did you know the first American team to win the Stanley Cup was from Seattle?"
"I heard something about it," Mina said.
"But it is nice to live somewhere that has a decent baseball team," Amy said.
"I'll say," Jerry said. "Angels clinched the division last night. My mom was listening to the game today, and she was disappointed when she heard the starting lineup, they were starting guys who normally rode the pine pony or got called up when the rosters got expanded to 40 players. We're going to the game tomorrow, my mom said she didn't want to go, because they'd be playing scrubs, but I told her that since it's Fan Appreciation Day, they'd be playing their regular starters. After that, since they'll be on the road, and they can afford to lose every game for the rest of the season, they'll probably give the every day players a chance to rest up for the playoffs. Speaking of the playoffs, my mom said since the Angels won the division, she's going to be able to get tickets to a playoff game."
"That's awesome," Rae said. "I went to a playoff game last year, but I went to see the Dodgers play the Cardinals."
"There's something I was wondering," Rae said. "So Jerry, what exactly are your powers, anyways?"
"I have the ability to tap into another dimension,' Jerry said. "So far, I have the power of flight, superhuman level strength, speed, agility, endurance, stamina, and durability. I can also teleport by entering the dimension and opening a portal where I want to go, I can also tap into the dimension to fire blasts of energy from my hands, blasts I can also channel through objects, so that it's like a blaster. I can hide out in the dimension, and use it for storage. When I'm in the dimension, time moves at a different rate, so for every 30 seconds in the real world, anywhere from an hour to a month can pass. And I also have a staff that I can transform into any weapon I can think of. Of course, I am an avid reader, I've read more than my fair share of comic books and James Bond novels, and seen a few movies, and have a vivid imagination, so I can think of more than my fair share of weapons."
"So what is this dimension called?" Lisa asked.
"I can't really say,": Jerry said. "Actually, the name of the dimension is something unpronounceable by humans, so I just call it Hammerspace."
"Where did you come up with the name Hammerspace, anyways?" Amy asked.
"It comes from cartoons," Jerry said. "It's what they call the dimension where cartoon characters store the objects they seemingly pull out of thin air."
"Usagi Campbell, your pizzas are ready," the store's PA system announced. Jerry and Usagi went to get the pizzas, and took them back to the table. After they got the pizzas, Jerry went to get some 1000 island from the salad bar for dipping, while Rae and Lisa got ranch for dipping.
As they were eating, someone played "My Sharona" by the Knack. "I remember the first time I ever heard that song," Jerry said. "July 1979, Mina and I were at a friend's birthday party at Golf N' Stuff in Norwalk. Afterwards, Mina's mom picked us up, and on the way home, it came on the radio. I thought it was the most awesome thing I'd heard then, and it's still one of my favorite songs."
"I remember that," Mina said. "You asked my mom to turn the volume up. But you're right, even though it was from the 70s, it's still a cool song."
"That was one of my favorite songs to learn on guitar," Jerry said.
"You play guitar?" Rae asked.
"A little," Jerry said. "My uncle Marty lived with my mom, my sister, and I for about a year back in the mid 70s. Anyways, when he moved out, he left his guitar. And after he moved out, there was this girl down the street who used to watch me after school, and sometimes at night. One day, her boyfriend came over, and heard me playing KISS in my room. Turns out he was a KISS fan as well, and asked me who my favorite one was. I told him it was Ace Frehley, he said he would teach me to play guitar, he would even teach me for free. He told me that if I worked at it, took lessons and practiced, one day, I could play like Ace Frehley."
"He's right, you know," Rae said. "I only started when I was in sixth grade myself. The first time I heard "I Love Rock and Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, I was hooked. And when I saw the video, and saw that she played guitar, that was around the time I found out my mom's boyfriend at the time played guitar. I talked him into teaching me to play, he told me he would, just as long as I promised not to listen to anyone who tried to tell me that girls couldn't play rock and roll. I told him I wanted to play guitar because I saw Joan Jett playing guitar."
"If you ever decide to put a band together, I play bass," Amy said.
"You never told me you played bass," Jerry said.
"You never asked," Amy said. "Come to think of it, you never told me you played guitar. Anyways, I was inspired to play the bass from seeing Suzi Quatro playing Leather Tuscadero on Happy Days. There was an older boy who lived in the same apartment building my mom and I lived in at the time, he mostly played guitar, but he did occasionally play bass. Like Rae, he agreed to teach me on the condition I wouldn't listen to anyone who tried to tell me that girls couldn't play bass. I told him I wanted to play bass because I saw a woman playing bass, he said I had the right attitude, and agreed to teach me."
"There are a few other female bass players," Jerry said.
"Right," Rae said. "You have Sandy Fox from the Runaways."
"Michael Steele from the Bangles," Usagi added.
"Kathy Valentine from the Go-Go's," Mina added.
"Of course, the Runaways, the Bangles, and the Go-Go's are all females," Jerry said. "You also have Tina Weymouth of the Talking Heads, and Carol Kaye."
"Who's Carol Kaye?" Lisa asked.
"A session bassist," Jerry said. "Back in the 60s, she played on more than her fair share of hit records."
After they finished, they sat around and talked for a bit, getting another round of sodas, along with seconds from the salad bar. "Anyone for a sleepover?" Mina asked.
"Count me out," Jerry said.
"Aw, come on," Usagi said. "It'll be fun."
"I'm not exactly the kind of person who gets invited to a girls sleepover," Jerry said.
"True," Mina said. "Of course, there was the night after we went to the KISS concert."
"As I recall," Jerry said, "you slept in Debbie's room."
"Yeah," Mina said. "Does she still have that mural on her wall?"
"She had it painted over last year," Jerry said.
"Mural?" Usagi asked.
"Back when my parents first bought that house," Jerry said, "in the back bedroom, the previous owner painted a mural on one wall, with a bunch of Disney characters. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Snow White, all seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Captain Hook, and a bunch of other characters. The mural took up the whole wall. It really pissed me off when Debbie had my mom paint it over. Whenever I had kids of my own, when they spent the night with their bubbie, I wanted them to sleep in that room, with the mural. In fact, that used to be my bedroom, until Debbie was born. At least I still have the Star Wars wallpaper in my room."
"That had to be the one thing you were into as much as you were into KISS," Mina said.
"True," Jerry said. "I saw the movie several times in the theater, I had all the toys, a Star Wars lunchbox, a few Star Wars T-shirts, a Star Wars wristwatch, and the year before my friends and I went as KISS the first time, I went as Luke Skywalker for Halloween. I even had a toy lightsaber, my uncle fixed a semi opaque plastic tube to a flashlight, and added a blue filter. My mom was going to repaint my room a couple months after I saw the movie, and I just happened to see Star Wars wallpaper. My mom decided that couldn't have been any more me, so instead of painting, she put up Star Wars wallpaper. Of course, the Star Wars wallpaper went with the Star Wars sheets, and the Star Wars comforter my meemaw made for me. Nowadays, all my toys and my lunchboxes are in storage, I only use the sheets and comforter in emergencies, and the only thing left is the wallpaper."
"But back when we were kids," Mina said, "his room definitely looked like the bedroom of a Star Wars fan."
"Don't let me stop you girls from having a sleepover," Jerry said.
"Come to think of it," Mina said, "my parents wouldn't let me invite a boy over for a sleepover, even if it was Jerry."
"A sleepover does sound fun," Rae said. "We can pig out on junk food, watch cheesy movies, share gossip and rumors, and paint our toenails."
"Like I said, I'll pass," Jerry said. "Besides, I wanted to check in with the Saturday Night Social Club tonight."
"Never heard of that," Amy said.
"A group of CB enthusiasts who live in the Tri-City area," Usagi said. "Every Saturday night, they all get on the radio and basically shoot the shit for a few hours."
As the girls all got together at Mina's house for a sleepover, Jerry went home, and popped himself a big bowl of popcorn, with plenty of butter and salt, along with a box of Milk Duds, and a large glass of strawberry Kool-Aid. He turned on his CB radio, and tuned it to channel 36. "This is Bull Hammer signing in," came a voice from the radio.
"I read you loud and clear, Bull Hammer," Jerry said into his radio. "Red Five standing by."
"Loud and clear, Red Five," came another voice. "Coyote is on the air."
"Coming in loud as the front row at an Iron Maiden concert, and clear as the waters of a pure mountain spring," said another voice, a young woman's voice, speaking with a New York accent."Betty Boop here."
"Betty Boop, you're coming in clear and loud," said another female voice, this one a couple years older than Betty Boop, and with a British accent. "Gidget live and in colour."
"Gidget Brady I hear you loud, Gidget I hear you clear," said another voice, this one male. "This be Captain Senseless, coming to you from where I am."
"Anyone else within the sound of my voice," Bull Hammer said. "welcome to the Saturday Night Social Club. We'll be shooting the breeze for the next few hours, feel free to join in if you have something to contribute to the conversation, or if you're lonely and need someone to talk to, or even if you just want to say hi."
"I'm going to a playoff game this year," Jerry said. "Since the Angels won the division, my mom's going to be able to buy playoff tickets."
"That's cool," Betty Boop said. "I'd love to see the Angels win the World Series."
"Betty Boop, I thought you'd be a Dodgers fan," Gidget said. "Seeing both you and the Dodgers came to Southern California from Brooklyn."
The conversation lasted a few hours, ending just before midnight. Meanwhile, the girls had fun at their sleepover, doing the things teenage girls do at a sleepover.
À SUIVRE...
IN OUR NEXT CHAPTER: The search for the Rainbow Crystals begins. Join us next time for Chapter 7:
QUEST FOR THE RAINBOW CRYSTALS #1: FIGHTING ONE OF THEIR OWN