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 7: QUEST FOR THE RAINBOW CRYSTALS #1: FIGHTING ONE OF THEIR OWN
SATURDAY, 4 OCTOBER, 1986
SUSAN'S COFFEE SHOP, FULLERTON, CALIFORNIA
3:30 PM
Jerry Logue had just gotten off work, busing tables at the restaurant his mom's twin sister owned. He worked there a few days a week after school, and occasionally either Saturday or Sunday. It wasn't the greatest job in the world, but at least it gave him a little spending money. One of the benefits of working there was free food, he got an order of biscuits and gravy with hash browns and sausage during his lunch break, and after he clocked out, he got a cheeseburger, onion rings, and a root beer shake. After eating, he hopped on his Harley-Davidson SS-350, and rode home. When he got home, a few of the kids in the neighborhood, including Sammy Campbell, Usagi's younger brother, as well as Steven Renzulli, Jerry's stepbrother, talked him into joining them in a game of butt's up. Jerry didn't mind, he kind of enjoyed it, even though he was in high school, it allowed him to blow off a little steam. Jerry was actually the oldest kid on the block. Usagi and Amy were both less than a year younger, and one boy had an older sister who was about 18 months younger, but other than them, all the other kids were between 4 and 10 years younger, with the exception of one boy who lived a couple houses from Jerry. He and Jerry were friends, however, his family usually had their own friends, and didn't really socialize with most of the rest of the families on the block. The younger kids looked up to Jerry as kind of a mentor, an older brother. However, there was a secret Jerry kept from all the other kids on the block, with the exception of Usagi Campbell and Amy Anderson. In fact, Usagi and Amy were two of only five people who knew Jerry's secret, that he was the superhero known as Golden Hawk. Of course, the reason Usagi and Amy knew was that the two of them were superheroes in their own right, they were Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury, respectively.
Anyways, Jerry, Steven, and Sammy were playing butt's up with two of the boys who lived on their block, Bryan and Mickey. They were playing in the driveway of the house next door to Jerry and Steven, where Mickey lived. Bryan's sister Brandi and her best friend Sarah were playing 2 square in the driveway. Sammy threw the ball against the wall, and it rolled across the street, where it was fielded in the gutter across the street by Bryan. According to the rules, whoever fielded the ball had to throw it from where he fielded it, only being allowed to take one step. However, if someone was too far to hit the garage door(which they were using as the wall) on the fly, another player could yell "saves", and the person who fielded it could throw the ball to the person who yelled "saves", who would then have to throw the ball so that it hit the garage door on the fly, and if he didn't, he would take the penalty. Anyways, Jerry saw that Bryan was across the street, and due to his size and age, would be unable to hit the garage door on the fly. "Saves!" Jerry yelled, after which, Bryan tossed the ball to him, Jerry relayed it, and threw a perfect strike that hit the door on the fly. Sammy fielded the ball near the end of the driveway, and tossed it at the wall, where Jerry fielded it. When he fielded it, Jerry got a feeling in his gut something was amiss, so he just stood there, holding the ball.
"Earth to Jerry," Mickey said. "Throw the ball."
"Something's wrong here," Jerry said, as Endymion appeared in a puff of smoke, the Black Crystal in his hand glowing, showing that a host of one of the Rainbow Crystals was nearby.
"One of the Rainbow Crystals is here," Endymion said. "Now let's see who the host is."
"You touch any of these kids," Jerry said, "I'll rip your head off with my bare hands and drop kick it over the horizon."
"What is that?" Brandi, Bryan's sister, asked, as Jerry directed the boys to Sarah's front yard.
"Bad news," Jerry said, as Bill, Sarah's dad, came out of the house, with his old Army rifle, which he pointed at Endymion.
"Everyone in the house, now!" Bill said. "Jerry, you too."
To hell with a secret identity, Jerry thought to himself, as he activated the emergency alarm on his communicator. I know the Army taught Bill how to use that M14, but he's still no match for Endymion. "I can take care of myself," Jerry said, grabbing a couple smoke pellets. Before he could toss them at his feet and transform into Golden Hawk, Endymion fired a beam of black energy at him from his black crystal. The beam opened up a hole in his chest, drawing out a red crystal. As the crystal left his body, Jerry had the sense of mind to pick it up and put it in his pocket, just before being transformed into a human/hawk hybrid.
"Red Tail, destroy those pathetic humans," Endymion said, as he disappeared, just as Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus showed up. Red Tail let out a loud screech, as he fired feathers from his wings at the Sailor Soldiers.
"Sailor Soldiers, attack!" Sailor Moon said.
"Hold on a second!" Bill said, getting in front of Sailor Moon, arms outstretched. "Don't harm that thing."
"What do you mean?" Sailor Moon asked.
"That thing lives a couple houses down from me," Bill said. "His name is Jerry, and the kids in the neighborhood, including my kids, think of him as a big brother. Some guy dressed in an old military uniform pointed a black crystal at him, and fired a beam of energy at him, which drew what appeared to be a large ruby from his chest, and turned him into that thing."
"You heard the man," Sailor Moon said. "Try to stop that thing, but don't harm it."
"Right," Sailor Mercury said. "Mercury Bubble Spray!"
Red Tail was surrounded by bubbles, which impaired his vision, causing him to be unable to fight. However, the Sailor Soldiers could see him perfectly. "Jupiter Thunder Crash!" Sailor Jupiter said, throwing a ball of lightning at him, which was low powered, meant to stun him, rather than harm him.
"Mars Flaming Punch!" Sailor Mars said, throwing a haymaker, which caused her to throw a fireball at Red Tail, also meant to stun him.
"Venus Crescent Beam!" Sailor Venus said, firing a low powered version of her attack at Red Tail.
"We're slowing him down," Sailor Mercury said. "But how are we going to restore him?"
"With this," Luna said, jumping in the air, and doing a backflip, which materialized a pink stick, about 8" long, with a gold pommel at one end, and a gold crescent moon at the other. "Sailor Moon, take the Moon Stick, point it at Red Tail, and say "Moon Healing Escalation", and your friend will be restored."
"It's worth a shot," Sailor Moon said, picking up the Moon Stick, as Red Tail continued to attack. "We need to immobilize him, so I can aim properly."
"I'm on it," Sailor Venus said. "Venus Love-Me Chain!" When she said that, she materialized an energy chain with heart shaped links, which she used as a lasso, to ensnare Red Tail.
"Allow me to be of some assistance," Sailor Mars said. "Mars Fire Surround!" She pointed at Red Tail, surrounding him with fire, further immobilizing him.
"Moon Healing Escalation!" Sailor Moon said, pointing her Moon Stick at Red Tail. She fired a beam of white energy at Red Tail, which transformed it back to Jerry Logue, who collapsed to the ground. Fortunately, he was on his neighbor's front lawn at the time, the grass padded his fall.
As Jerry tried to get up, Bill went to help him up. "How do you feel?" Bill asked.
"I'll let you know when the world stops spinning," Jerry said. "What happened, anyways?"
"You turned into a giant bird," Bryan said.
"You began to attack just about everyone in the neighborhood," Bill said.
"I didn't hurt anyone, did I?" Jerry asked.
"Fortunately, no," Bill said. "Sailor Moon and her friends showed up, and they managed to prevent you from hurting anyone, and were able to turn you back to normal. But listen, whatever that thing was, it was in control, not you."
About half an hour later, Jerry was at home, resting, when Usagi came to the door. "Is Jerry there?" Usagi asked.
"He's resting right now," Jerry Lee, Jerry's dad, said. "I don't know if you heard what happened to him today."
"Of course I heard," Usagi said. "I just live a few houses down from you, apparently someone turned him into a giant bird. But fortunately, Sailor Moon was there to save the day and turn him back into his normal, lovable self."
"Who's there?" Jerry asked, as he came down from his room.
"It's me," Usagi said.
"She came to see if you were okay," Jerry Lee said.
"Actually, my cat and I came to check on him," Usagi said.
"Meow," Luna, who was in Usagi's arms, said.
"I'm fine," Jerry said. "The world stopped spinning about 5 minutes after Sailor Moon turned me back to normal. If anything, though, I'm royally pissed right now. If I ever see that guy who did that to me again, I'd love to rip his head clean off his body and drop kick it over the horizon."
"I hope you get your chance," Usagi said. "Anyways, is there anyplace we can talk in private?"
"There's my room," Jerry said.
"Just leave the door unlocked," Jerry Lee said.
"I'm going to run to the store before I start dinner to pick up a few things," Bonnie, Jerry's stepmother, said. "You need anything?"
"What are you making?" Jerry asked.
"Shepherd's pie and salad," Bonnie said. "I don't know if you're hungry after what happened to you today."
"Starving," Jerry said. "Being turned into a bird takes a lot out of a guy."
"I wouldn't know about that," Bonnie said. "In fact, you're the only person I've ever met who's been turned into a bird. Anyways, you sure you don't need 1000 island for your salad?"
"We have mayonnaise, ketchup, A-1, and relish," Jerry said. "Besides, sometimes I prefer the homemade stuff."
"Okay," Bonnie said.
Jerry and Usagi went upstairs to Jerry's room, as Bonnie left. "So how are you really doing?" Usagi asked, once the door was closed.
"Fine," Jerry said. "But I actually want to rip Endymion's head off his body and drop kick it over the horizon."
"So what exactly happened?" Usagi asked.
"Endymion had a black crystal in his hand," Jerry said. "He fired a beam of black energy from it at me, and next thing I know, the world's spinning like I just got off the teacup ride at Disneyland. But there is one other thing."
"What's that?" Usagi asked.
"This," Jerry said, taking the crystal that was drawn from him out of his pocket and showing it to Usagi and Luna. "Just before I turned into Big Bird, this was drawn out of me. Somehow, I had enough sense to realize that was what Endymion wanted, so I grabbed it before he could get it."
"If I were human," Luna said, "I would kiss you right now."
"For grabbing the crystal?" Jerry asked, as the crystal disappeared.
"What happened to the crystal?" Usagi asked.
"I put it in Hammerspace for safekeeping," Jerry said. "When Luna said saw the crystal, she said she would kiss me if she were human. Somehow, when she said that, I got the idea that whatever it was, it was something she definitely didn't want Endymion getting his hands on."
"I definitely don't want Endymion getting his hands on the Red Rainbow Crystal," Luna said. "Or, for that matter, any of the others."
"Why's that?" Usagi asked.
"If he has all seven Rainbow Crystals," Luna said, "Metalia will have the full powers of the Silver Millennium Crystal at her disposal. But Metalia will need all seven Rainbow Crystals. Since we have one in our possession, even if Endymion manages to get the other six, they'll be nothing but useless baubles."
"But if we were to have all seven," Jerry said, "I have a feeling we'll have enough power to destroy Metalia."
"I know you've been a great help to us," Luna said, "but I think you're going to be sitting this one out."
"No way," Jerry said. "When Endymion turned me into Red Tail, made me try to hurt my friends, he made it personal. Like it or not, you're stuck with me."
À SUIVRE...
IN OUR NEXT CHAPTER: Meet Julie and Traci. Julie and Traci are Siamese twins, find out where they fit in to our story. Join us next time for Chapter 8:
QUEST FOR THE RAINBOW CRYSTALS #2: TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE