Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters contained within this work are the copyright of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansya and probably lots of other big people I'm forgetting. I am using them without permission, but suing me because of it would be futile as I have nothing. Any characters that are not copyrighted by other people are my own creation, and therefore copyrighted by myself... which means that if for some REALLY weird reason you decided you wanted to use them, (and why would you decide that?!?!?!?) you need to write me for permission.
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See the Character Bio for information on key people to this Fic....
The Wanderer: Wandering Moon: Episode TWO: Plans in Motion
Cabelite looked at Tinkerer with a mixture of admiration and disgust. "Are you sure that this... amusement park... is the place to begin our plans? Surely these sailor scouts you fear would keep a close eye on such a valuable collection of energy."
"What I am sure of is that if you try and drain a lot of energy from a human, one or few, the scouts show up and destroy the drainer. However, what I propose is to drain just a bit off of several thousand people. It should be subtle enough to avoid however it is that the scouts detect youma, and the amount of energy we can obtain..."
Cabelite interrupted "But the amount of energy is so small, how can it be of any use?"
The look that Tinkerer gave the Negaverse general was the blackest Cabelite had seen yet. "Simple, general. Take that amount of energy and add five zeros after it. That's how much energy we can get. _PER DAY_, until the scouts interfere. And I am hoping that is a conservative estimate."
Cabelite nodded satisfactorily. "So, then, how do we go about this?"
Tinkerer gave Cabelite the sort of grin he hadn't seen since he had left the 'company' of his former generals. "You rig the following rides with energy collectors; the two coasters, the 'sky drop' and the 'Tunnel of Love'".
"I do not understand why you wish to rig the last. It does not seem to generate the same excitement that the first three do."
"No, general, it doesn't. But it will harvest the most energy of them all."
* * * * * * * * *
Patricia Haruna gave Micheal Thunders the strangest look. "Why did you bring us here? Aren't we a little old for amusement parks?" This was not what she had expected when she had agreed to his offer of a date.
Micheal just gave her a goofy grin as she proceeded through the entrance turnstiles. "Couple of reasons. First, who do we teach?"
"Teenagers. Thirteen to sixteen or so, depending on your classes."
"That is exactly why we are here. Its my first rule of teaching; always remember what it was like to be a student their age. Granted, you must still retain a position of respect, but I find remembering what was like to be them helps establish a bond with them." Micheal looked at Patricia and decided that he hadn't made his point. "OK, try it from this point of view. When you were attending the university, getting your teaching credentials, who did you feel most comfortable with, the older teachers, or the young ones who were just getting started?"
"The younger ones. They seemed to remember better what it was like to be a student. They didn't always let it affect them, but they did seem..."
"And that, Patricia, applies to us, as well," Micheal pointed out, driving his idea home.
"But what about student discipline? Doesn't having to enforce order make it harder to be close?"
"Yes, but sometimes discipline, as enforced here in Japan, isn't the answer either. Take Ms. Tusinko, for example."
The grimace on Patricia Haruna's face said even more than her words. "Do I have to? I thought you were teaching me to have fun again."
"Your the one who brought the subject up. Consider this, though, Patricia. All those times you've given her detention, or worse. Have they really done that much good?"
* * * * * * * * * *
Tinkerer could hardly conceal his glee. The energy drain was barely detectable, according to the sensors he had had placed near the amusement park. And yet the amount of energy they were siphoning off the park goers was twice the amount he had hoped for. In one day they had so far gathered enough energy to replace everything expended since he had 'recruited' Cabelite. And they could continue to do this until the enemy discovered it. 'Which may well be never!' he chortled to himself. If they could keep this rate of drain, in a month Cabelite's warriors would be invincible. 'Don't exactly want that. I want him strong enough to defeat those 'scout' girls, but not so strong I can't eliminate him once he has served his purpose.' Quietly he reached over and tripled the amounts of energy the collectors were gathering from the Tunnel of Love.
* * * * * * * * * *
Micheal smiled and whooped as the train pulled into the station. He had finally talked Patricia into riding the parks main attraction, a coaster filled with several loops and drops. He looked at his left hand as the safety bar released, noting with concern that it had transformed. Quickly he helped Patricia up with one hand while shoving his suddenly metal left hand into the pocket of his great-coat and out of sight. 'I'm transforming?!?! WHY??? What threat can there be _here_???' The two of them walked down the exit ramp of the ride and found a bench.
It took a moment before Patricia was able to speak. "That was rather intense. It's strange though; a moment ago I was soo excited, but now I feel almost drained."
'Strange, so do I. Something is defiantly wrong here. I wonder if FRED is detecting anything. Can't hurt to ask.' Micheal cast his eyes around and saw the perfect excuse. "I'll be right back. I need to use the little sensei's room."
"Ride to much for you, Mr. cast iron stomach? I thought you were boasting about how tough you were."
"That's not why I'm going."
"Must be all that liquid then. I don't see how you can drink all that sugar and caffeine and still get to sleep at night. I think you drink more soda than even Serena Tsukino!" giggled Patricia to Micheal's retreating back.
Inside the restroom Micheal was glad to find that the stalls had doors. He needed the privacy, something that was a premium in this crowded city. <
>>Danger detected. Preparing to engage defense mode.<<
<
>>Energy levels dropped 3%. Danger of energy loss greater than danger of detection.<<
<
>>Negative. Energy removed from system. Not system producing less energy. Survival imperative will be invoked if situation remains unchanged.<<
<
>>Agreed.<< With that, Micheal felt his skin crawl as metal became flesh again. He reached into one of the inner pockets of his coat and withdrew what looked like a common cellular phone and turned it on.
"FRED, Have you been detecting anything unusual?"
"Only readings that totally defy baselines defined to date. WHY THE _BLEEP_ did you shut the link off??? Something is not right here. In fact, a moment ago I detected some sort of power surge from the Tunnel of Love. But can I get a hold of you?? Noooooooooooo......."
"Can the sarcasm, FRED. I'll go check it out right now."
"I don't suppose that.."
"No, FRED. Low profile, remember?"
"Doesn't mean I have to like it."
* * * * * * * * * *
Patricia smothered a yawn as they waited in line for the Tunnel of Love. 'Great. I've been around Serena so long she is rubbing off on me!' She had immediately agreed with the idea for riding the Tunnel of Love. Somehow, sitting down for a bit in a nice slow boat seemed just the thing to do. 'Can't fall asleep though, or Micheal will think I'm just like that baka Serena.'
"Thinking about Ms. Tusinko, I see," grinned Micheal as he looked at her.
"How could you tell?"
"You looked like someone just hit you over the head with a mallet. Same expression that you had when that front office clerk told you no one else wanted her."
"I didn't think it was that obvious."
"If you know what to look for. And I wanted to talk to you about her, anyway," continued Micheal. "Have you noticed anything peculiar about the way she answers questions on tests?"
"Just that no matter how many times I cover a topic, she never gets it right."
"More than that. Have you noticed she seems to get the general idea behind something, but she tends to have the specifics all garbled?"
"It's because she doesn't study enough. I'm surprised that we haven't seen her here. This is the sort of thing she prefers to homework."
Micheal grinned. "I happened to have run into her on my way out the door to pick you up. Apparently her boyfriend is my next door neighbor. I rather strongly hinted that if she had enough time to go out on a date, she had enough time to have her homework done."
"It won't help. Even when she does do the homework, she doesn't get it right."
"Which is why I wanted to talk to you. This pattern seems familiar to me. I want to try and have her take a couple of tests for me. Special tests, to see if my suspicions are correct." Micheal Paused for a moment. "I think she has a learning disability. But I won't know for certain without those tests. Would she agree?"
Patricia thought about that for a moment. "Maybe, but I would want to talk to one of her friends about it first. If anyone can convince her to do it, it would be her."
"Great. Who is she?"
"Only the best student in the school. She is in that advanced physics class you teach in the mornings. Amy Mizuno."
At this point they had reached the front of the line. As they climbed into the small boat, Micheal draped his great-coat over Patricia's shoulders. 'Amy is Serena's friend. Hmmm.' As they settled in, he asked, "Tell me, have you ever heard of something called Mentoring?"
* * * * * * * * * *
>>SURVIAL IMPERATIVE INVOKED. ACTIVE DEFENSES ENGAGED. Inquiry: Organic Status?<<
<
Micheal looked about, knowing without looking that he had transformed into Star Ranger. The weight of his transformed self had sunk the boat they were sitting in, so he hopped out and gathered up an unconscious Patricia and set her on a ledge out of the water, just in time to avoid the boat behind them. Micheal noted with concern that it's occupants were also unconscious.
<
>>Severe system energy loss. Defense mode immune. Source: undetermined Awaiting instructions.<<
<
Star Ranger's senses widened, his vision spreading into the infra-red and ultra-violet. His enhanced vision showed strange crystals embedded along the roof of the ride.
>>Crystals contain unknown properties. Theory: Crystals cause of energy drain phenomenon. Eliminate?<<
<
>>Targeting<< White rectangles appeared around the strange crystals, even as his arm came up. The gun in his right hand began firing, strobes of laser light flashing out, one shot to a crystal. As each crystal was struck, it shattered with a flash of ultra-violet light. Leaving Patricia where she was, Star Ranger made his way to the unloading area of the ride, destroying crystals as he went. As he emerged, he saw ride attendants picking up unconscious riders and stacking them on the dock like cordwood. Only his enhanced vision showed something other than human contained in those forms.
"I don't know what you things are, but your plans end here!" As Star Ranger, his voice was rather flat and metallic, but the creatures seemed to get the message well enough. They dropped the people they were carrying and charged him, shedding their apparent human forms for something more menacing. Apparently, whatever they were did not consider his robotic Star Ranger form very menacing.
<
<
>>Primary weapons ineffective. Recommend alternate tactics.<<
<
>>Negative Threats. Targets have disengaged.<<
<
>>Insufficient Data.<<
<
* * * * * * * * * *
Micheal yawned as he took his morning coffee out to the balcony, letting the rising sun wash the last vestiges of sleep from his mind.
/Morning, neighbor!/ Came from the adjacent balcony.
/Good morning to you to, Darien. What's with the English?/
/Getting in some practice. I'm hoping for a chance to go to an American college in a year or two./
/Impressive goal. Kind of expensive though. Which school?/
/Harvard. I hope to study civil engineering./
/Personally, I think its overrated. Cal-Tech in California is closer and cheaper./
/Really? I hadn't heard of it./
/OK, I confess bias. Its my alma matter./
/I'll have to look into it then. How did the date go?/
/It gets an eight on the weird-o-meter. I took her to the Astro-Land amusement park. They suddenly closed the place though, when people started passing out in the Tunnel of Love. Does that sort of thing happen a lot around here?/
'DAMN!' swore Darien to himself. 'I thought we were done with fighting for a while!' /Kind of. Public works claimed that the problem was solved though. Guess they were wrong./ 'What is the Negaverse up to now?? Strange though, that he was there and not attacked like the others. I wonder if Raye can help with this.' /Have any plans for this morning?/
/Not really, Why?/
/I happen to know a Shinto priestess in training who has an open mind. Would you like to meet her?/
/Does Tokyo have a bay??/
/I'll take that as a yes. Meet you at your car in half an hour?/
/I'll be there!/
* * * * * * * * * *
Raye looked past Darien to where Micheal was standing, looking at the small booth where the shrine sold various charms. "I don't sense anything from him. What makes you think that he might have something to do with the Negaverse?"
"I just want to make sure. He claims he was at the amusement park that was attacked last night, but that he wasn't affected. That makes me a little suspicious. And he is interested in the more mystical aspects of Shintoism. I would have brought him by to meet you and your grandpa because of that anyway."
"OK, Darien. Just what exactly do you want me to do?"
"Talk to him. Answer his questions, and try and see if you can pick up anything else. Maybe even try a fire reading if you can talk him into it. I'm going to call a meeting about what happened last night. Why didn't any of us know what was going on until it was all over?"
"OK, but I'm going to call the others first. I want us all here if your right about this. Although I hope your wrong."
"Not as much as I do, Raye."
* * * * * * * * * *
"TINKERER!! I want an explanation. You said it would take time for the scouts to discover what we were doing at that 'amusement park' place. Yet someone stumbled onto our plan the first night!"
"Someone miscalculated the draw of the crystals your youma placed in the Tunnel of Love, Cabelite. People started passing out, and that got the attention of the park management. I aborted the operation before we were discovered. Or do you WANT to loose warriors to those 'Scout' brats?"
Cabelite considered this for a moment. "How are my youma supposed to attack the enemy if you have them run away at the first sign of discovery?"
"The time for attacking those do-gooders will come very soon Cabelite. But its pointless to send youma who cant defend themselves against the enemy. Without more energy, your warriors are little more than clay pigeons for those fuku-clad girls."
"Since you have such a low opinion of my warriors, why don't you try gathering energy without them," Cabelite sneered.
"Fine. I will." 'That's it, you arrogant bastard. Play right into my hands.'
* * * * * * * * * *
Raye eyed her friends as she entered her room. Darien looked at her expectantly. "Darien, what do you know about this person?"
"Not to much. He moved into my Apartment building about 10 days ago. He said he comes from America, flew for their air force, and made a lot of money designing high technology before embarking on a journey to find himself. He has a civilian version of the American army personell transport loaded with electronic gadgets, and a computer that talks like a real person."
Raye shook her head. "None of that helps explain what it was I saw in the fire. It was the weirdest thing. I saw him, but he was also some sort of robotic creature. He give of a weird vibe too, very subtle, you have to be searching for it detect it. Not Negaverse vibes, but he doesn't feel like he belongs here either."
"And this from the girl who thought *I* was a youma the first time she saw me?" quipped Serena as she looked up from the manga she was reading.
"Spare me, meatball head. That was before I knew what a Negavibe really was. And which one of my manga are you into now?"
"Chill out Raye. I borrowed this one from Chad. He said it was a classic."
"Which one?"
"Macross, why?"
"Can I see it for a moment?" Raye quickly flipped through the pages and then gasped.
"What is it, Raye?" inquired Amy.
Ray laid out the manga and pointed to a drawing of a humanoid robot, the 'Battleoid' form of the transforming mecha featured in Macross. "Except for the color scheme, the form I saw overlaid on him looked JUST LIKE THIS!"
"Would someone please tell me who we are talking about here?" complained a very confused Mina.
"The new teacher at Serena's school. Micheal Thunders."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Action, intrigue, and misconceptions. Sounds like life as usual for the Sailor Scouts, doesn't it? I _almost_ feel sorry for doing that to Muck. I know I wouldn't want to have Raye think I might be suspicious... She packs a mean ofuda, dont'cha think?
Episode 3: Friend or Foe? (Kinda Fits, ne?)