The Magician Meets Sailor Moon (Part 3)

The Magician Meets Sailor Moon

Part 3: The Beginning of Trouble for One and All

The next morning in the Magic Express, Ashley woke up before everyone else, considering she had to be at Crossroads Junior High to meet Patricia Haruna at 8:00.
She took a bowl of cereal and ate it as quickly as she could before freshening herself up.
Before she left, she went to Angie's room to wake her up. "Hey, little sister."
Sitting up, Angie noticed her friend all dressed up already. "Guess you're going to meet that teacher, right?"
"Yeah, but I need to get to Crossroads quickly, or I'm going to be late."
"Okay, see you at lunch?"
"Count on it."
At 8:00 sharp, Ashley found Ms. Haruna waiting on the front steps of Crossroads Junior High School. "Patricia Haruna, I presume?"
"You presume correctly, Miss Brighton." The Crossroads teacher shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. From what Mr. Kimura told me two weeks ago, your school in Iowa is about to start an experiment on the year-round school system. Allow me to show you around the school and explain how things work around here."
Throughout the morning, Ms. Haruna showed Ashley the classrooms, which were always clean. Also, she explained about having all the students gather outside in the morning before class once a week for hygiene inspection. "It's very important to us here about the children being clean because if they have a clean appearance, it will reflect on their grades."
"That's good to know. You were highly recommended by a student of yours, Serena Tsukino."
Ms. Haruna became very surprised. "What!? One of my worst students recommended me to you? How did you meet her anyway?"
"We met backstage after Ace Cooper's show last night, and she told me how you take teaching very seriously."
"That I do. I believe the children are the hope for the future, and as a teacher, I want to see them succeed."
"So do I. I teach the first grade, giving me the chance to get them started on the road to success and a good life. Of course, in the last few years, kids have become afraid to go to school because of violence."
"Yes, I have heard of all those terrible shootings through the news. A school is supposed to be a place to learn, not a place of guns and violence."
"I wonder if we could adopt your system, stay as close and in touch with the students as possible. I always stay in contact with my students, just to make sure they're okay. I'm always easy to talk to, and they never find me intimidating."
"That's good to hear. I hope when you go home you take with you all you have learned here, since it will hopefully aid in the positive outlook for children over there."
"Thanks, Miss Haruna, I--"
"You can call me Patricia."
"Patricia, thank you for your help. I think my school will be ready to tackle this experiment to see if test scores really can improve. After all, kids will have fresh ideas after three weeks instead of three months."
The two teachers shook hands one last time and parted ways.
On the way back to the Express, Ashley suddenly came to notice a very strange sight: the two cats she and Angie had rescued the night before last. Strangely enough, she could hear the two of them talking.
Luna said, "We need to have a meeting at Raye's temple immediately. There may be trouble brewing around here."
"What makes you say that?" Artemis questioned curiously.
"Amy saw the news report this morning concerning a small meteor crashing not too far from here. It has a high-energy reading, and we need to check it out as soon as possible."
"Okay, I'll inform Mina at once."
When the cats parted, Ashley was left in shock. "Maybe I've been working too hard. Two cats talking? I don't think even Ace would believe me if I told him. I think I better just keep quiet about it."
The rest of the day was very peaceful, but it was only the calm before the beginning of the storm which lay ahead . . .

As night came to Tokyo, the normal scene of hustle and bustle was about to be shattered.
In the mountainous hideout of the Dark Princess, her second-in-command came to see her.
"Your majesty?" said a bowing Nerezza.
"Yes, my dear Nerezza? Are you ready to begin your suveillance of the area?"
"Yes. My body has fully adjusted to Earth's atmosphere, and I am prepared to venture out the night."
"Then, begin your mission, Nerezza. Begin gathering energy so I may conquer this world, which will lead to the conquest of the universe!"
"I hear and obey, Dark Princess. I will not fail you in my mission." Nerezza then disappeared into nothingness.
Staring out the window, the powerful ruler noticed all the lights in Tokyo. "Enjoy the light, humans, for soon, your world will be plunged into total darkness, and it shall be mine for the taking!" She once again let out a laugh of pure evil.
It was not too long when Nerezza began to cause trouble. She started with a couple out on an evening walk. A young man with funny-looking glasses was with a young lady with brown hair and brown eyes.
They had just been to see the new Sailor V movie, and he had decided to walk her home.
"What did you think, Molly?" the young man asked.
She simply answered, "That movie was the greatest, Melvin, and I thank you for the dinner; all that shrimp was delicious."
"I'm glad you liked it. I was thinking tomorrow we could--"
"Dark Inferno!" interrupted a loud female voice.
Suddenly, a series of deathly white ribbons took hold of the pair and started draining their energy.
"Now, humans," said the woman, "you will be the first to feel the wrath of the Dark Princess, as she will take your world and make it completely void of light!"
Amy, studying dilligently at home, suddenly heard a beeping sound from her miniature computer. She quickly took it out and checked on what was going on. Noticing the danger, she quickly contacted her friends via a special radio watch. "Head for 15th and Hargrove," she spoke. "There's trouble!"
Meanwhile, Cosmo had gone to the restaurant where he was to meet Lita for his dinner date. He was wearing his usual attire because he did not feel comfortable getting too formal on the first date. However, time was passing by, and Lita had failed to appear. "Hmm, I wonder if something's happened to her. I'd better, like, see if she's okay." He then came out of the restaurant and started walking around in complete curiosity.
Upon passing a series of bushes, however, he heard a woman's voice screaming, "Jupiter Star Power!"
"That sounded like Lita just now. Maybe I can see through these bushes . . ."
Peeking through the bushes, he suddenly noticed Lita surrounded in sparks of lightning.

In a blinding flash, she suddenly emerged in a strange costume. She looked like some kind of sailor with green trim, a green mini-skirt, and two large pink bows: one on the front centering at the heart and the other at the waist in the back. She also wore a pair of green high-heeled boots and a golden tiara with a green jewel on her forehead.
When she turned around, she said to herself, "Oh, Cosmo, I'm so sorry for having to stand you up like this, but when there's trouble, I've got a job to do first. I hope you understand."
Cosmo could not believe what he had just seen. "Lita, what kind of girl are you? I've gotta learn more."
He decided to follow her from a safe distance to see the action she was involved with.
Coming up to the scene of the trouble at hand, he noticed four other girls with similar outfits but with different colors. "Wow! This has gotta be a dream! Five girls who look like sailors? Just what can they can do anyway?"
"So, there are those who wish to oppose the Dark Princess," the woman said, staring angrily at the five young ladies.
"You know it, sister!" yelled one of them. "You're not going to harm anyone here on Earth, and we will stop you in the name of the moon!"
"Just try me!"
One of them swirled her left arm around and shouted, "Mars . . . Celestial . . . Fire . . . Surround!" Without warning, a series of flaming rings shot out of her fingers toward the evil woman.
The villainess had to break the grip on Melvin and Molly to avoid the flames. "I did not know there were Earthlings with such powers!" She decided to leave the scene before she got herself into bigger trouble. "I shall return, girls, and next time, you will not have a chance!"
When she disappeared, the five young ladies tended to the two weakened victims.
Observing not too far away, Cosmo decided to walk back to the Magic Express, his mind still completely focused on Lita. "She's absolutely incredible! I've never seen anyone quite like her. I don't know if I should tell anyone about this or what because they might think I was crazy or something."
When he arrived back at the Express, Ace was surprised at how early he was.
"What happened, Cosmo? A short date?"
"No," the apprentice answered hesitantly. "Lita, um, had something come up at the last second, and she, like, called the restaurant to let me know she couldn't make it."
"Are you sure she didn't stand you up?"
"Oh, no. I understand." Cosmo's face went down as he then walked to his room and let the door close behind him.
Ace became a little concerned at his odd behavior.
"Ace," a female voice said in his mind, "something's bothering you. What's the matter?"
"I don't know, Angie. Cosmo came home earlier than expected from his date with Lita. I wonder if he may have run into trouble and doesn't want to tell me about it."
"Let me try talking to him, and I'll see what I get, okay?"
"Thanks, Angie. Maybe you can figure out why he's acting so strangely."
In his room, Cosmo lay on his bed as he looked carefully at the photo of himself, his friends, and the new friends they had met the night before. "I wonder if . . ."
Angie came into the room when the door opened. "Hey, buddy, are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine."
She sat next to him as he sat up. "Did Lita stand you up?"
"No, she didn't," he replied in a slightly raised tone of voice. "I already told Ace that."
Angie moved away in slight fear. "I'm sorry, I--"
"No, I should be the one apologizing. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. I just need a little space to think."
"At some point in our lives, we all need thinking space. I'll leave you alone, but if you want to talk, I'm open 24-7, okay?"
"Thanks, Angie."
"I'm going to hit the sack. There's a temple not too far away from here, and Ashley and I really want to see it tomorrow."
"Cool. I'll see ya in the morning, unless I smell your breakfast first."
"Special treat tomorrow morning: omelettes, french toast, lean bacon, and extra-fluffy pancakes."
"Sounds scrumptious already. Good night."
"Good night."
Cosmo went to sleep, but his mind kept thinking about Lita and the strange transformation he had witnessed. "Maybe tomorrow . . ."
In her room, Ashley could not help think about the two cats she had seen talking earlier in the day. When Zina entered the room, she petted the panther calmly. "Zina, do you think cats can really speak English? No, what am I kidding? Cats do NOT talk. It's not possible, and it was probably just my imagination. Angie and I are going to a place called the Cherry Hill Temple in the morning, so I'd better get some shut-eye. Good night, Zina." She then went to sleep as the panther walked out of the room.
As Angie was about to turn in for the night, Ace asked if she got any answers from Cosmo concerning his behavior.
"Nope, no answers. Whatever happened to him, he just wants some time alone to think. He'll open up when it's right for him."
"Maybe you're right. I've never seen him fall for a girl so quickly like he has with Lita. I just hope he isn't going in over his head."
"Don't be so hard on him, Ace," noted Mona, coming down the hall. "Remember, we're only going to be here for one week. It doesn't do us justice because we won't be able to see all the incredible sights."
Angie responded, "I'm not so sure. Ashley and I are both going to the Cherry Hill Temple in the morning. It's not too far from here, and I've always wanted to see a Shinto temple."
"Hmm, sounds interesting, but then, you love to see something new, so I say enjoy it."
"Right," agreed Ace. "Just remember, Angie, I need you back by about 2:00 so we can practice for the next show the following night."
"Not a problem, Ace. Good night, all."
With that, everyone went to sleep, and all was quiet in the Magic Express.

At the mountain hideout of the Dark Princess, Nerezza quickly approached the ruler. "Your majesty, I am sorry. I have failed you."
"What do you mean?" the Princess asked.
"I only gathered a small amount of energy, and I encountered some resistance." The servant then created a ball of energy about the size of a baseball. "This was all I could get before I was attacked."
"Attacked? By whom?"
"Five young women in strange outfits . . . like sailors. They possess incredible powers, and I could not deal with them."
"I see. Nerezza, you have not failed at all in your mission. You managed to steal some energy, but the idea was basically reconnaisance to see if we would encounter resistance in our primary objective. It looks as though we will have to deal with those who oppose us."
"What should we do, your majesty?"
"I am unable to help you for now because my body is still not adjusted yet. However, you can do something. Try to strike in a place that is least expected and without any warning. You will try to steal as much energy as possible beginning with your next mission."
"I shall strike tomorrow morning, and I think I know just the place." With that thought, Nerezza disappeared once more.
"I will conquer Earth, somehow, some way, and I will not let anyone interfere!" She angrily moaned at the thought at least five people would try to stop her, but trouble would start the next morning . . .

As a new day began in Tokyo, Cosmo awakened early to take a morning walk. Passing a newspaper stand, he noticed a flyer with a picture of the five ladies dressed in sailor-style costumes. "The five I saw last night, including Lita? This may be just the clue I need." He took the flyer back to the Express after the owner of the stand gave it to him.
After grabbing the picture of the 12 friends from his room, he quickly went to the computer room to get some help from Angel. "Can you analyze the flyer and the photo?"
"Put them into my scanner, and I'll take a look at them."
After he did so, he noticed a pattern. "Wait a sec. Put the five girls from the flyer together with the five girls in our photo."
When the five in the flyer appeared on the left while the five in the photo appeared on the right, he noticed they all matched up perfectly. "Angel, is there any information on this bunch?"
"Let me check." After a few seconds, the AI said, "Yes. These five young heroes are known by two names: Sailor Scouts or Sailor Soldiers. Their individual names are Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus."
"Sailor Jupiter? Which of the five is she?"
Angel zoomed in on the one in the green trimmed outfit.
"That's the one! Angel, whatever you do, do NOT tell Ace and the others about what I've learned here, okay?"
"As you wish, Cosmo."
Just then, Angie came into the room. "Say, Cosmo?"
He nearly panicked as he shut off the screen. "Oh, uh, what is it?"
"Lita's on the phone. Do you want to talk to her?"
Cosmo thought it over for a few seconds and then smiled. "Yeah, I will talk to her. I'll pick it up in my room."
After he entered the room and picked up the phone, he heard Lita's voice.
"Cosmo?"
"Yeah, I'm here. What's up?"
"Listen, I want to apologize for not meeting you for our date last night. I feel really bad about it, and I want to make it up to you. Can you meet me at the other side of the lake for lunch?"
"There's no restaurant, though."
"No, I'm going to cook lunch for us."
"You can cook?" he asked surprisingly.
"Sure can. So, you wanna be there?"
He thought it over carefully and decided to go along with it. "Okay, Lita, I'm in. In fact, I may have a surprise for you for lunch."
"You're on, Cosmo! I'll see you at 12 sharp."
As soon as he hung up, he heard a voice at the door. "So, Cosmo, you're going to try it again?"
He quickly turned. "Ace!? Can't I have a little privacy here?"
"I'm sorry. When will you meet her?"
"At 12:00. She's cooking lunch, and all I have to do is meet her at the other side of the lake here in Pioko Park." He then realized, "I need to ask Angie if she could whip up a sample to give to Lita."
Angie heard Cosmo very easily. "Of course I can get something cooked for you to give to her. I'll just make some of the grilled barbecue chicken wings with steamed broccoli. I think she'll like it."
"Thanks, Angie. I owe you, like, big time."
"Nah, I just want to give a fellow chef a sample of what I have." She then looked at her watch and stated, "Oops, time for me and Ashley to get to the Cherry Hill Temple."
"Okay," Ace said happily, "have a good time, girls."
"Thanks!" Ashley yelled as she and Angie left.

Arriving at the Cherry Hill at about 9:00, both best friends were astounded by how beautiful the temple really was.
Then, a little man in a special robe came up to them. The bald-headed man looked up and said, "Hello, ladies. What brings you here to our temple?" He then took out some charms and tried to sell them to the pair.
"Grandpa!?" yelled another young woman in a special robe. "Do you have to flirt with every girl you see?"
Angie and Ashley remembered that girl by her hair and purple eyes. "Raye?" they both said.
She remembered the pair. "Oh, Angie Jacobs and Ashley Brighton, right? Wow, what brings both of you here?"
Ashley answered, "Well, we're both interested in this temple, the Cherry Hill. It's the closest to us, and well, we really want to see how it works, like, how do you determine luck by buying some kind of fortune?"
"Come with me and I'll show you." She then demonstrated what would happen. "You take the box, shake it up-and-down, and wait for the first fortune to come out." She did so and gave the fortune to Angie.
"Uh-oh. I'm afraid I can't read these Japanese characters."
Raye took it back and translated it. "It says, 'You are a person with many talents and a love of learning. However, you should be on your guard, for danger is in the horizon.'"
"I admit I have my yearn to learn, and I don't usually admit about my talents, but what did that mean by danger?"
"I'm not sure, but I--" She was interrupted by a feeling in her mind. "I sense an evil presence here."
Suddenly, a woman appeared out of nowhere and said, "In the name of the Dark Princess, I, Nerezza, will conquer you!"
Raye took out a small sheet of paper which was really an evil scroll to use against the evil servant. "Evil spirits . . . disperse!" She then threw it hard towards her.
Nerezza shot a bolt of black lightning from her finger and destroyed the scroll very easily. "Foolish child! I am unconquerable!"
Angie looked at Raye and Ashley. "Both of you get out of here, now. I'll take care of this witch!"
"I don't know," Raye noted.
Ashley grabbed her wrist. "Just do what she says and run!"
As they ran off, Angie turned to face her enemy. "I don't know what you want here, but I'm not going to let you harm anyone!"
"How foolish you are in trying to stop me. What can a human like you possibly do to someone as powerful as me?"
"How about this!?" Angie closed her eyes and put her arms forward as the magic within her heart surrounded her body in a light-blue aura. She then fired a blast of magic at Nerezza.
The evil woman was surprised at Angie's capabilities. "Hmm, you seem to possess much energy. I shall take it from you, one way or another."
Angie opened her eyes and was shocked at Nerezza's non-movement. "My magic's not working on her. She must be more powerful than I anticipated. I've got to keep trying, though."
Ashley had Raye's wrist while they were still running.
"Stop!" yelled Raye.
"Why?"
"I have to go back! That's my home!"
"Oh, sorry." Ashley stopped dead in her tracks. "Guess I got carried away in the craziness."
"That's okay, I understand. Listen, you go for help while I go help Angie."
"All right, but be careful." She then ran to try to find help.
As Raye was running back, she saw Serena. "Serena! Serena!"
"Raye, what's wrong? Why are you frantic right now?"
"Remember that woman we had to deal with last night?"
"The creep who attacked Melvin and Molly?"
"That one. Now she's invaded the temple, and Angie Jacobs is trying to hold her off by herself!"
"She may not stand a chance, come on!"
When they reached the temple, they saw Angie trying desperately to hold off Nerezza.
"Time to transform!" Serena shouted. She took out a special locket from her purse, held it to the sky and screamed, "Moon . . . Crystal . . . Power!"
Suddenly, the locket opened, revealing a beautiful crystal, which released a power around Serena herself! Soon she was surrounded by a rainbow of lights, with the emergence of a sailor-style leotard, blue trim, a blue mini-skirt, and red bows on her chest and in the back. She also had a pair of elbow-length gloves and knee-high red boots. On her head came a special collar with a crescent moon, two special pieces to fit the "meatball" portion of her hair, special earrings, and a golden tiara with a ruby jewel in the middle.
Raye put her hand into the air and yelled, "Mars Star Power!" A pen mysteriously appeared and she caught it, which unleashed flames to surround her body! In seconds, she wore a costume similar to Serena's, except she had red trim, purple bows, and a pair of red high-heeled shoes.
Meanwhile, Angie's struggle with Nerezza was getting more hopeless.
"Now, human, face my wrath!" Nerezza then closed her eyes and crossed her arms to hold the upper arm area. Beginning to glow in complete darkness, she yelled out, "Dark Inferno!" Her cape turned into what looked like eight transparent legs and quickly took ahold of Angie! "Your energy will be mine, human!"
"Hold it right there, creepazoid!" a young woman shouted.
"What!?" she turned to see who wanted to challenge her. "You again?"
"That's right, sister! I'm back again, and you won't harm this innocent person, for I am Sailor Moon, Champion of Love and Justice, and in the name of the moon, I shall punish you!"
"And I, Sailor Mars, will help her defeat you, negajerk!" She then put out her arm and started moving it in a circle. "Mars . . . Celestial . . .Fi--"
Nerezza cleverly moved Angie backwards towards herself. "Oh, no, you don't! If you destroy me, you will destroy her, too!"
"Oh, no, she's right," said a concerned Mars. "What are we going to do now?"
"I don't know," answered Sailor Moon flatly. "If we try anything, we may hurt her in the process."

Back at the Magic Express, Ace had a couple of surprise visitors. Mina had returned to the train, but this time she had Amy come along. When he learned Amy was a computer whiz, he decided to let her and Mina come into the computer room, where he introduced them both to Angel. "Say hello to Amy Mizuno and Mina Aino."
"Hello, Amy and Mina," said the AI hologram.
They were both surprised.
"Um, hi, Angel," Mina said.
"Angel's the backbone of the Magic Express, making sure everything's working properly. She can also set up the defenses in case someone tries to invade and can give information on just about anything."
"Really?" asked a curious Amy. "Okay, Angel, what is Japan's primary religion?"
"Buddhism," the hologram responded quickly.
"I'm impressed, Mr. Cooper. She responds faster than I could."
"You know, Amy," said Ace, "if Cosmo ever gets sick, would you like to take his place?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm too much into studying to be of any help to you."
"Hmm, Cosmo's a computer whiz-kid like you, but studying is not exactly his forté, if you get my drift."
The threesome laughed wholeheartedly about the situation, until Ace felt a sharp pain in his mind. He fell to his knees and held his head.
"Mr. Cooper," said a concerned Amy, "are you all right? What's the matter?"
Within his mind, he could visualize what was happening. Very slowly he said, "I can sense Angie . . . in trouble." He looked up and said, "Angel, trace the signal on her watch."
The computer pinpointed the exact location of Angie's signal.
Mina gasped in fear. "Oh, no! That's the location of the Cherry Hill Temple!"
"That's the name of the place Angie and Ashley were going," the Magician stated. He then looked at the girls. "Do you know about that place?"
"Yes," answered Amy. "Our friend Raye lives and works there."
"Then, she may be in danger herself. You two wait here; I have to rescue Angie." He quickly ran off out of the Express to rescue his younger counterpart. "Hold on, Angie. I know you're in danger. I can feel it in both my mind and my heart. I'll find a way to save you, no matter what it takes!"
On the inside, Mina and Amy were not going to just stand by and do nothing.
"Angel," started Mina, "can we go out and get some help?"
"Of course. I cannot hold you against your will."
Amy smiled and said, "Thanks. Maybe you and I should get together and exchange tech notes."
With that, the pair left the Express and went to a point just out of anyone's sight.
"Ready, Mina?"
"You know it!"
Both girls stretched their right hands into the sky.
Amy shouted, "Mercury Star Power!"
"Venus Star Power!" yelled Mina.
Like Raye before, Amy and Mina both had pens mysteriously appear, and the pens unleashed their individual powers.
Amy swirled her pen around to the point where she was surrounded by a river of light. Then, bubbles exploded around her, and she emerged in the same sailor outfit, except her trim was lighter blue than Serena's, her bows were in turquoise, and her knee-high boots and jewel on her tiara were both sapphire blue.
As for Mina, she was surrounded in a sea of yellow-orange stars. She eventually emerged in her sailor outfit of orange trim and navy-blue bows. She wore a pair of strapped orange high-heel shoes and an orange topaz jewel on her tiara.
"Let's go, Sailor Mercury!"
"Right! To the Cherry Hill Temple!"

The pair of Sailor Scouts ran as fast as they could to try to help their friends.