Chapter I; The Sailor Senshi
Arrive
NEW YORK CITY
THE MORNING AFTER THE FIRST ATTACK
"Wow! We're in America!" Usagi squealed in
happiness. Her blond ponytails flew in
her face as she bounced around. Minako
was beside her, just as excited. Stars
sparkled in their eyes as they ogled at the new surroundings.
"Hai! This so great!" Minako yelled out. Ami and Makoto smiled and laughed as they
looked at the skyscrapers that towered all around them. Ami held a thick book in her hands, to which
she occasionally referred as they walked through the city.
"Usagi-chan, you look like a trashy tourist," Rei
said, her eyes closed in disgust. Usagi
blinked and looked down at her outfit. Her shirt read I LOVE NYC in bright red letters with little
hearts and apples. She wore a sun visor
with an American flag on the brim. Usagi looked up, obviously confused.
"Usagi-chan, you may have over done it a bit," Ami's
soft voice pointed out gingerly. Minako
and Makoto nodded their heads reluctantly while Rei smugly nodded. A sweat drop appeared next to Usagi's face.
"Nah ne?" she asked, "what do you mean?" The other girls' heads drooped. Rei growled.
"You don't get it, Usagi..."
"I'm asking because I don't know!"
"Baka Usagi, you'll never get it for the rest of your
life…"
"Naaaeeee! Rei-chan you're so mean!" Usagi wailed. Ami, Makoto, and Minako all sighed in unison as Rei and Usagi bickered
loudly with each other. Suddenly two
furry heads popped out of the large bag Makoto held. Luna looked crossly at the five girls.
"Everyone!" she yelled, "We're here on senshi
business! We have to find the phage
that has been stealing the Americans' starseeds!"
"Well, yes that's true," Usagi said with an impish
grin, "But we have time for a little fun too!"
"No-" Luna said, her voice bordering on a hiss, "We
thought the phage's would stay in Japan, but apparently Sailor Iron Mouse has a
different plan. Now we have to stop
her, and we all have to remain focused!"
Next to Luna, Artemis was
stretching his paw towards a hot dog stand. Minako giggled as she watched him. Soon the other girls saw and barely suppressed a barrage of
laughter. Luna turned and saw what the
white cat was doing.
"Artemis!" she screeched. He cringed sheepishly and grinned. The five girls laughed.
"Luna, can't we just look around for a little while?"
Usagi asked, her eyes wide and pleading.
"Yes, I would have to concur that a tour of this city
would be more than educational," Ami agreed, pushing her wire-framed glasses up
her nose in a single, graceful movement. She flipped through a heavy textbook in her hands, and the other girls
all sighed in unison.
"Ami-chan, why do you have a textbook with you
vacation?"
"Hai, Ami-chan," Rei stuttered, "what's that book
about?"
"Minna-chan, this is only a simple history book on
the founding of New York City, and I would have to say that this city contains
a multitude of interesting facts and…"
Usagi, Makoto, Minako, and Rei all had sweat drops next
to their foreheads as Ami went into a detailed description about the history of
the city.
"Ami-chan," Usagi said, pointing a finger
determinedly into the, "This is vacation! You're supposed to be having fun!"
"So ne?"
"Hai, now let's do some shopping!" Usagi and Minako
said happily. The other girls all cried
out excitedly in unison, each one describing the different things they wanted
to do. Ami cringed slightly, smiling
sheepishly.
"Luna, Artemis- when will be getting to the hotel?"
she asked gingerly, watching the growing shopping-frenzy in the other girls
with mild apprehension.
"We'll have to wait until after we meet Setsuna-san
and the others in Central Park," Luna mumbled reluctantly. When she mentioned Setsuna's name, Makoto
looked suddenly at her watch.
"We have to hurry," Makoto said to the other girls, "Haruka-san and the other outer senshi will be waiting for us in Central Park."
"This must have been serious for them to ask us to
meet them here," Ami said thoughtfully. The other girls nodded.
"The enemy has been getting stronger…and we must find
out who's behind these attacks." Rei whispered, her eyes distant and
clouded. Visions filled her mind
chaotically of a woman in gold surrounded by starseeds. It was a vision she'd had more often lately,
and it was one she didn't like. The
woman, she seemed so cold… Rei was
filled with terror when these visions consumed her mind. However, she was brought back to reality as
Usagi put her hand on her arm.
"Are you all right, Rei-chan?" Usagi asked, her voice
thick with concern. Rei smiled.
"Hai, but we should get going," she answered,
mustering all the cheerfulness she could manage. Despite her best efforts, her voice seemed flat and forced. The five girls looked worriedly at each other
before starting silently down the street towards Central Park.
Haruka looked up through the
tree's branches, her elbows leaning against the back of the bench and her feet
stretched out in front of her. She
sighed contentedly as Michiru edged closer to her on the bench, stretching her
slender fingers to touch Haruka possessively. Setsuna and Hotaru walked up to them, smiling softly.
"Its hard to believe that only yesterday there was
such a violent attack in this beautiful park," Hotaru's soft voice whispered. She looked at the lush scenery with wide,
happy eyes. Haruka laughed at the young
girl affectionately. Despite all the
little girl's knowledge, there were still things she didn't know.
"Hotaru-chan, this is not a good place to be at
night," she hinted, winking, "but you're right, it does feel peaceful right
now. The air is quiet like a sigh."
Hotaru nodded. Setsuna smiled down at her. What
seemed the most unbelievable to her, and perhaps to the rest of the senshi, was
that this small girl was really Sailor Saturn, a warrior who commanded death
itself and destroyed entire planets with barely a whisper. However, right now she was only Hotaru, and
Setsuna was happy to see her so carefree for the moment. Suddenly, Michiru squinted, and cried out
softly as if in pain. Haruka quickly
put her hands on Michiru's shoulders as she swooned.
"Michiru-chan! What's wrong?" she asked, concern making her voice waiver. Michiru put a delicate hand to her
forehead. Hotaru immediately shot her
hand out to help her, but Michiru stopped her.
"Save your energy-" she said to the young girl. Michiru then turned to Haruka, her eyes
steely with determination, "The Sea is in tumult and writhing in agony. I felt its pain just now. A great power is coming…evil…and cold…"
"Evil…?" Setsuna said thoughtfully, "Is it the phage,
or Sailor Iron Mouse?"
Michiru shook her head, looking thoughtfully into a
beautiful hand-held mirror that she held in her hands. Its reflection was clear. There was no other image in it, which was
not helpful at all at that moment. Michiru looked questioningly at Hotaru.
Hotaru was looking into the
distance, her eyes clouded.
"No, this power is worse…a cold light is approaching
Earth even as we speak…" Hotaru answered for Michiru, her voice strained and
distant as if she were looking at something the others could not see. The other young women watched Hotaru
patiently, knowing that her visions could take a while to be seen clearly.
"Can you see who it is yet?" Haruka asked
quietly. Hotaru shook her head
slightly.
"Sailor?…a woman in gold-" Hotaru whispered. She cried out suddenly, trembling violently,
"The eternal one! No! The yellow hair
is- NO! The darkness!!"
Haruka grabbed her and held her to her chest gently, shaking her to wake her up. Setsuna gasped quietly at the violence and suddenness of Hotaru's attack.
"Hotaru, take it easy," Haruka said, "Hotaru!"
Slowly Hotaru's gaze focused and her trembling
ceased. The three older senshi sighed
in relief. Hotaru looked up at Haruka.
"Help…is here," she whispered weakly. Setsuna looked over her shoulder at the
sidewalk, but nobody was there.
"Do you mean the princess?" Michiru asked. Hotaru shook her head no.
"Who…?"
"Not humans…not senshi…they have powers," Hotaru said
slowly, narrowing her eyes in thought, "I saw fireworks, heard the wind howl,
and- there were…swords? From a man's
hand?"
"I don't understand." Haruka said, "Who could she
mean?"
The outer senshi stood quietly, looking at each other
in confusion.
"Not human…"
end chapter one