Chapter Eleven
"Your plan failed." Uther said, matter-of-fact. "I am aware of that, Uther." Ithengil snapped. "Thank you ever so much for pointing it out, now shut up!" He waved the staff threateningly. Uther backed off. "Even after I sent the hunter android after them it failed." Ithengil mused. "I had hoped the demons would destroy them and then go steal energy. Oh, well, can't have everything. But to have one of my precious hunter-babies destroyed..and by that cape boy, too.." "We picked up a very strange energy reading coming from both Tuxedo Onyx and Obsidian towards the end of the fight." Katrina reported from her station by a hologram computer. "An old type, and very powerful." "Onyx and Obsidian, hmmm?" Ithengil thought deeply. "Let me see, what was so special about them-" "They were in love in the Silver Millennium." Damon said quietly, fingering something and leaning against a pillar. Ithengil cackled. "Ah, yes. Damon, our little secret agent, spying on the lives of innocent Senshi. In love, hmmm?" He laughed again. "Good! Now we know Obsidian at least has a weakness. That flash was probably their memories returning!" He rubbed his hands together gleefully. "A mixed blessing." Damon said, continuing to study what was in his hand. "That will make Obsidian stronger at the same time." Ithengil waved his hand at Damon. "Nothing to worry, about, Damon. All we must do is find Onyx, then threaten to hurt him to her. Easy!" "One problem, though, Ithy." Jedin said sarcastically. "We know nothing about the rose-throwing boy. He shows up, fights a little, vanishes. All we know is that he's of the line of the Therinan. A guardian." "He's got to have some sort of energy reading..." "It's not likely." Damon ignored the rest of the conversation. His eyes were too busy fastened on the ripped bandage he was stroking in his hand.
* * * Angie awoke with a start in the huge bed that Onyx had occupied a few hours before. Someone had touched her shoulder. "Whassamatta?" She groaned sleepily, turning away to bury under the covers again. A shadow rudely yanked the covers off her form. She groaned and reached for them again. "Diamond! Wake up!" Emerald hissed, shaking her slightly. Angie groaned again, but sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Emerald? What're you doing here at this time of night?" "We need you for patrol now." "WHAT?!" Emerald clapped a hand over Angie's mouth to stop her furious ranting. "Shut up!!" She hissed. Angie grouchily obeyed, folding her arms. "It's a school night, Emerald!! Tomorrow's Tuesday!! School day!!" "You think I want to be up either?!" Emerald demanded. "Come on, you dozy lump! There's a group of demons on the west side of town!!!" Grumbling, Angie reached for her transformer. She glared at Emerald. "I am so going to hurt you one of these days."
* * * It was an exhausted Diamond who de-transformed and tumbled into her bed that morning. She had spent all night scouring the streets and had "slain" a group of demons and one errant vampire, totaling to ten. She curled up in her bed, pulling covers and sheets over her, and snuggled down, ready for a few hours of rest. Right beside her, her alarm clock went off. "Not. Happening." She groaned, hitting the thing hard before unplugging it and throwing it across the room. "Not happening." "Angie, honey?" A dark brown head poked into the room. "The alarm went off, dear. Time to wake up." "Mommy, can't I be late for school today?" Angie complained, blocking her ears with pillows. "I had a really bad night." "Tough, dear!" Her mother said cheerfully, tugging the blankets off her. "Come on, now! It's a big new day!" Humming happily, she skipped out of the room. "I hate my life." Angie muttered, dragging herself to the closet.
* * * By lunchtime, her sleepiness had worn off, though she was still grumpy and snapped at people if they surprised her. Which Mary unfortunately did. "HIYA, ANGIE!!!" Angie jumped nearly a foot in the air. She whirled around in her seat to glare as Mary sat beside her. "Do you mind?!?! I got maybe four hours of sleep last night!" "Oh, come on, we all had a bad night!" Mary said soothingly, patting her head. Angie groaned and let her head bang down on the table. "Ow. But still.not fair." She yawned a little. "Table.nice and soft." "Oh, no you don't!" Mary yelled in her ear. "WAKE UP!!" Again, Angie nearly shot to the ceiling. "Stop doing that!!!" She yelled at Mary when she came down. Mary cackled and began eating her lunch. "Grouchy today, are we?" Marisa asked, coming up with Malorie and Rachelle. "It's your fault." Angie muttered, taking a morose bite of sandwich. "Waking me up like that." "Hey, you volunteered for the second shift!" Marisa said, putting her lunch across from Angie. "I wasn't going to do yours and mine!" "Why not?" Angie muttered. "It would have been the nice thing to do." Malorie lightly smacked her friend's head. "Come on, Angie. I had to do the second shift too." Indeed, her normally happy face had a few crease lines in it, like someone who had been up way too late. "As did I." A grouchy voice said. Lacie slid in on Angie's other side, eyes red and hair messy. "Jeez. Takes me long enough to get to sleep anyway, probably only got about an hour." She yawned and closed her eyes. "Wake me when the lunch bell rings." "Ask someone else to." Angie muttered, closing her eyes also and putting her head down. A large gong appeared in the air beside Mary, along with a beater. She grabbed both, then held the gong just between Lacie and Angie. She grinned evilly, and raised the beater. Lacie and Angie shrieked and leapt up as the gong resounded in their ears. "CUT IT OUT!!!" Lacie yelled. "How'd you get that gong, anyway?!" "This is the lovely world of anime." Angie muttered, banging on the side of her head. "The author can make us do anything and have anything happen." "Oh, yeah. Right." Lacie glared at Mary. "Baka! You could have made us deaf!" Mary grinned evilly, the gong vanishing. "But you feel awake now, right?" "Yes," Lacie gritted, "but that was STILL unnecessary!!" "Oh, piffles." Mary said, batting her eyes. "Nonsense!" She began humming to herself as she munched on a ho-ho. "You okay?" Rachelle asked uncertainly. Mary grinned extremely brightly. "Never better!! Why?!" In her mind, she kept replaying the thought of Onyx's lips, so close to her ear, whispering, "You're a good kisser." "You've been on cloud nineteen and a half since yesterday!!!" Rachelle shouted accusingly. "All right, fess up!! What happened between you and Onyx?! You've had that glazed look since yesterday!!" Mary sighed a little, smile lurking on her features. "Nothing, really. He just-complimented me, on something." "Uh-huh." Rachelle snorted. "Yeah, right." The other girls nodded in agreement. "What?" Mary asked uncertainly. "YOU ARE IN FREAKING LOVE WITH HIM!!!!" All of them yelled, making the cafeteria go quiet for a moment before the noise picked up again. "Me?!" Mary said in shock, not realizing her face had gone a revealing red. "I'm not!" "You are SO!!!!!" Lacie yelled, fully awake now. "You're blushing! Your face is all red!" Mary hastily attempted to cover her face. "So what?!" She yelled back. "Like any guy'd like me?!" "He certainly seemed VERY friendly." Marisa said teasingly. "What'd he whisper to you that made you look like a strawberry?" "NOTHING!!!" Mary yelled, a lot louder than she meant to. Again the cafeteria fell momentarily silent. "Look, would you guys shut up?!" Mary hissed. "It's none of your business!!" "Oh, yes, it is." Angie said with a malicious grin. "We will dissect every atom of your love life until you are a mass of jelly on the floor, begging for mercy!" "Not happening." Mary said firmly, crossing her arms. All the girls sighed sadly. "Hey, where's Elisha?" Marisa asked suddenly, looking around.
* * * "Let-go-of me!!" Elisha hissed, desperately trying to free herself from the strong hand wrapped around her wrist. "We need to talk." Chase told her in a low voice, close to her ear. Elisha melted a little at the sound of his husky voice, but pretended not to care. "About what?!" She demanded. "Look, I'm sorry for the way my friends treated you the other day, but we were expecting someone and-" Chase didn't want to hear it. He simply began dragging Elisha along out of the cafeteria. "Let go of me!!" She shrieked. "Did you suddenly go back to caveman or something?! Have off!" Chase ignored her small fist beating against his frame. He hauled her along until they were through the doors, then slammed her up against the wall. Elisha winced and looked at him with large, frightened blue eyes. "What do you want?" She whispered. Chase glared at her. "Look, I know your secret, okay, Elisha? So no more tricks." "M-my secret?!" No way! He can't! She laughed nervously. "What secret? I don't have any-" "I know who you are, Sailor Sapphire!!!" Chase hissed at her. Elisha flinched, trying to cover her guilty expression too late for it to have been unnoticed. "I-I don't know what you're talking about-" Elisha began. Chase shook her slightly. "I saw you transform, damn it!! You and your friends! Angie, Mary, Marisa, Lacie-" "Shut up!" Elisha cried, clapping her hand over his mouth. "All right, fine! Just-shut up, okay?!" She glanced around nervously, but the halls were empty and silent. "You saw us-transform?" She whispered. Chase nodded grimly. "And fight the demon, not to mention demon horde-" Elisha abruptly smacked his chest. "Hentai!! We lose our clothes!!" She winced as she cradled her hand and looked up at him furiously. "And you're too hard! Jeez, what are you made out of, brick?!" "It's called working out-and I noticed you lost your clothes." Chase drawled, a smirk creeping onto his face. "Ugh!" Elisha hit him again. "You pervert!" She turned away, trying to move past him. A hand attached to an arm hit the wall an inch from her. She recoiled, then glared at Chase's smirking face. "All right, are you going to blackmail me now or something?!" She demanded. "Because may I remind you I AM Sailor Sapphire and have the power to kick your butt from here to Mexico!!!" "So you admit it?" Chase said, eyes dark. "You already knew. Can't deny it anymore." Elisha said with a sigh, adjusting her glasses. "So what do you want?" Chase blinked. "What do I-want?" "Money, jewels, homework done?" Elisha glared at him. "To keep you quiet?" Chase blinked again. "I can keep quiet on my own, thank you very much! I- just-" he blushed slightly. "I wanted to make sure you're all right. That you know what you're doing." "Me?" Elisha squeaked, fiddling with her glasses and blushing. "You're worried about me?!" "Well-yeah." He admitted. "Don't take it personally or anything, it's just-all those demons-" "Hey, I'm a Sailor Scout, remember?" Elisha asked gently. "I can handle myself. Not to mention I have the most butt-kicking-est friends this side of the galaxy." "Yeah, I got the gist that your friend Lacie would pretty much pound me if she found out." Chase said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Darn right." A cold voice side from behind them. Chase found himself getting hauled away from Elisha quicker than he could blink. Angie and Malorie jumped in front of their friend, faces grim, as Lacie and Marisa flung him against the wall. "Creep!" Lacie raged, shaking her fist at him. "What were you trying to do to our Elisha?!" She began to raise her fist. "Lacie-it's all right." Elisha said, putting up a hand. "He knows." "Knows what?!" Angie demanded, looking back at her. She stopped, did a double take, and her eyes went wide. "Oh my god. You didn't." "Didn't what?!" Marisa asked. She gasped and turned to stare at Elisha. "Elisha-" "He saw us transform." Elisha said calmly, adjusting her glasses. "Possibly because someone didn't make sure he was either properly knocked out or at a reasonable distance!" She looked calmly at Lacie. Lacie blushed. "We were pressed for time, remember?! I did the best I could!!" She glared at Chase as if she completely blamed him. "I told you to get out of there anyway!!! Eavesdroppers seldom hear or see anything pleasant!!" "I was bloody confused!" Chase growled. "I had no idea you could take care of yourselves with that-thing-around!!! I was worried, for God's sake." Lacie had nothing to say to this. She merely cracked her knuckles and scowled. "Wait a second!" Angie said suddenly, eyes narrowing. "You saw us transform?!" Chase nodded. "HENTAI!!!!!!" Angie screeched, leaping at him. "BAKA!!!! HENTAI!!!!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!" An intrusion from Elisha was the only thing that saved Chase's life. As Angie flew past her she grabbed a lock of her hair. Angie wailed and grabbed her scalp. "Elisha, let go!!" She growled. "I'm-going-to-kill- him!!!" "Angie, calm down and chill!" Elisha said, yanking her friend back and making her eyes water in pain. "You are not going to kill Chase. He knows our secret. He's one of us." "WHAT?!?!" Chase, Angie and Lacie all yelled at the same time. "Shhhh!" Malorie hissed. "I'm not a Sailor Scout!" Chase roared softly. "He doesn't have our powers!" Lacie protested. "I'M GOING TO MURDER HIM!!!!!" Angie boomed, making no attempt to lower her voice whatsoever. "You are not." Elisha stated calmly. "And he may not be a scout, but he knows our secret. Like Kyle." "SO?!" Angie demanded. "Kyle is Rachelle's boyfriend! They love each other! Besides, she can keep a close watch on him." Suddenly a crafty look came into her eyes. "Unless one of us wants to date him," she went on, much calmer now, "He can't know." "What're you going to do?" Chase snorted. "Modify my memory?" "If possible." Angie replied coldly. Come on, Elisha or Chase..take the bait.. "No one messes with my memory." He uttered frostily. Angie shrugged. "Then you'll have to be constantly with one of us." Come on!!! I know you like her!! I'm the Scout of Love!!! I know these things!!! Now GO get her, you idiot!!! I'm laying this out perfectly for you!!!!! "As girlfriend and boyfriend or something?" He inquired, finally getting the same look she had. "It'd be easiest." Angie said serenely, fighting excitement. Yes! Yes! Come on!! Go for it!! "No way." Chase said calmly. "I won't just sell my heart to anyone." "Then I'll assign someone to watch you." Angie warned. Damn you, you idiot!! You couldn't just work with me here!! Chase sighed and slumped. "Fine. But can I just choose someone to watch over me?" He turned pleading eyes on Angie, not bothering to hide the spark of mischief. Why, you dirty scoundrel!! Angie thought, grudging admiration in her mind. You plan to seduce her on your own!! "Fine." Angie said, unable to hide the slight smile that flitted over her features as she gave him a small wink. "Choose." Chase pretended to inspect Malorie, Lacie, Marisa, and Elisha. Lacie was calmly cracking her knuckles, Malorie was giggling uncontrollably, and Marisa gave him a deeply suspicious look. Elisha did not look at Chase, but instead at the ground, half wishing, half praying. Please don't let him choose me-choose me! Choose me! No! No! Don't! I take that back!! "Sapphire." Chase announced calmly. Elisha looked up, mixed emotions moving across her face like lightning. NO!!! I said no, you idiot!!! Wait-I'll watch him? Spend time with him? YES!!! No-wait-bad Elisha! Bad Elisha!! Bad thoughts!! "What? Why me?" She asked out loud. "You saved my life from the wrath of Miss Diamond, here." Chase said, with a courteous bow to Angie. "No offense meant." "None taken." Angie replied. "But watch my transformation again, pal, and you will find yourself in several different pieces before you know it." Chase laughed nervously before strolling over to drape an arm over Elisha's shoulders. "So since you're already my protector, I figure you can be my watcher too." Elisha desperately tried to hide a deep blush. "Fine. Sure, I guess." Chase beamed. "Good girl." He grinned lasciviously at her. Elisha's face went red. She shrugged his arm off and retreated back into the cafeteria. "Watch it, Chase." Lacie warned. "You make one little move on our Elisha and I will personally bash you from top to bottom. Scout's promise." Lacie glared at him. Chase rubbed his head a little and nodded very respectfully. "I heard that." Angie said in amusement. "And I tell you this, Chase-I gave you this chance on an open platter. As the Scout of Love, I know you like her. And therefore, you'd better take this opportunity. All I ask is that she still be-intact-all right?" "I think I made a definite mistake finding out who you lot are." Chase muttered, rubbing his head. "Damned if I do, and damned if I don't." "Your have fallen into our group, it seems." Malorie said with a giggle. "And no one can escape. Your every secret is now to be figured out and monitored courtesy of us. And be warned: we are vicious." "You are never going to recover." Marisa said, frown melting into an evil grin. "NOODLES!!" Mary shrieked suddenly, bouncing out from the hall. She abruptly hugged Chase. "Hah! You're obeying my wishes! Good! Welcome to our gang!" She began skipping about the group, humming happily. "Like a frog!" She cried before going into the cafeteria. "Of all the people I find hardest to believe is a scout." Chase said, staring after the departing girl. "It has got to be her." "Very true." Angie said, nodding sensibly. "She's insane-" Her left foot caught on the back of her right and she fell forward. "Ow!" "Aside, of course, from you." Chase said, with a sigh. "And this is our leader." Lacie groaned. "Klutz." "Can someone please help me off the floor?" Angie asked pitifully. "Hello?"
* * * "We are letting Elisha alone with that creep?!!?!" Rachelle shrieked a few minutes later. "Hello?! A teenage man and an innocent, rather pretty girl?! He'll have her on the floor in seconds!" "Not unless he wants instant death." Angie said calmly. Lacie nodded in agreement, scowling. "And Elisha's no doll, Shellie. She can very much take care of herself." "But she likes him!!!" Rachelle roared. "Her common sense might be overrun-oh god-" "Chill!" Malorie said, patting Rachelle on her back. "Calm down. Elisha won't do that. Besides, she'll mostly be in Sapphire-form, I hope." "What difference does that make?!" Rachelle demanded. "You cannot get out of those evil suits unless you rip them apart with some evil weapon." Malorie said with a laugh. "I tried to this morning. Too tired to realize all I had to do was de-transform. Couldn't make the slightest tear in it." "So what happens if we need to go to the bathroom in it?" Marisa wondered, popping a French fry into her mouth. This question caused sweat-drops from everyone. "Let's not go there, all right?" Lacie asked, munching on a cookie. Elisha came back to the table from where she had been talking to Chase. Her face was still a nice shade of pink. "Hey, gang." She said, scooting in between Angie and Marisa. She calmly folded her arms and looked around the table, smiling. "All right." Mary said after about five seconds of this. "We'll bite: what's up?" Elisha grinned, then opened her backpack and slammed something onto the cafeteria table. The girls all stopped eating to stare. "Where'd you get the laptop?!" Lacie demanded. "Special gift from Lune and Demetri." Elisha said, flipping it open. "I found it in the gym yesterday, and they said it was meant for me!!" She began typing something quickly on the keyboard. Angie peered over her shoulder. "What's it do??" Elisha hit a final key and sat back, arms crossed and a very pleased look on her face. Angie looked at the screen and gasped. "You hacked into the PENTAGON!?!?!" She screeched. "Shhhhhhh!!" Elisha snapped, clapping a hand over her friend's mouth. She grinned evilly. "I do NOT believe you!!" Angie said, freeing her mouth. "That's just- jeez! No more! Get out of there RIGHT now." Elisha clicked a few buttons and the screen vanished back to her desktop- which happened to feature a large picture of Sailor Mercury. She sighed dramatically. "What else can you do?!" Marisa asked eagerly, leaning over also. "Is this just a regular computer?" Rachelle asked, touching the milky white surface gingerly. "Definitely not." Elisha said instantly. "How can you tell?" Malorie asked. Elisha began typing something furiously. After a few moments, something popped up on the screen. The girls stared at it, mouths gaping. "How many computer do you know that have complete information databases on generals, their attacks, and a way to hack into their megacomputer?" Elisha asked dryly. "Oh, my god." Angie whispered. "They have a computer? And they were supposed to be these high-tech advanced creeps." Elisha brought up a picture of a computer the size of a bus complete with chemical testing station and hologram emitter. "I think it's a little more advanced than ours." She said ironically. "Jeez." Rachelle muttered, rubbing her head. "This is incredible." "Do you think you could hack into their computer?" Angie asked, finally giving into her curiosity. "As easy as pie." Elisha replied, beginning to type furiously.
* * * Damon raised his head as Katrina let out a shout from her place at the computers. "Mr. Ithengil, sir! You might want to see this!!" Ithengil began shuffling over to the computer, as did Spike and Uther. Uther got there first. He stared at the screen, then gasped. "We've got company!! Someone's hacking into our files!" He shoved Katrina away and began hitting several keys. "What?" Ithengil growled. "That's not possible! You said our files were hack-free!" "Tell that to the person going through them!!" Uther growled, pointing at a small blip on the screen. "Can you try and track the person?" Spike asked interestedly. "I can try." Uther growled, moving his fingers about and hitting several keys. He began to make a video connection back to whatever computer the hacker was using.
* * * "Elisha-what's that?" Mary asked uncertainly, pointing over her shoulder at a quickly moving black dot across the screen. It was getting larger. "I don't know." Elisha said, frowning at it. She began typing a cross- reference furiously, then she gasped. "Everyone get out of sight! Move it!" She flung herself down under the table. The girls readily obeyed, but Marisa kept peeking at the screen. The information database suddenly erupted into blackness. There was a strange, pulsing light in the center. As Marisa watched, it grew into a head-shaped form-and then Uther's face appeared. "Holy-" Marisa quickly ducked out of sight. "Sapphire!!" She hissed. "I know, I know!!" Elisha hissed back, raising her hands to type something on the keyboard. "Who's there?!" The computer Uther snapped, glaring around. "Eep." Rachelle murmured, making sure she was well out of sight. "Strange place." The computer general muttered. "Lots of people." "Shut it down!!!" Angie hissed at Elisha. "I'm trying!" Elisha hissed back, still typing on the keyboard. "Who's there?!" Uther demanded. Angie sighed, then growled. "Mind your own business!" "Diamond!" Elisha gasped, clenching her hands. "What are you doing?!" Uther's head snapped around. "Sailor Diamond?" "Not coming out." Angie retorted, sounding as she always did, which fortunately sounded exactly like Sailor Diamond. "What's all this about?!" A voice boomed from behind them. "Oh, crap!!" Mary whispered. "Sapphire, shut it down!! Neo-Nazi alert!" Elisha quickly reached up an arm and banged the screen down onto the keyboard, just as Vice-Principal Nichols came striding over to their table. "What is that, girls?!" He demanded loudly. "Nothing, sir!" Elisha gasped, praying that he wouldn't call them by their names. "I'll be the judge of that!" Mr. Nichols said importantly, reaching over to flip up the top of the laptop. The girls immediately ducked again. Mr. Nichols and Uther stared at each other. "Just a game, sir!" Rachelle squeaked. "Well, laptops aren't allowed in this school, Miss-" Nichols began. Rachelle raised a hand. "Power of the fire, come to my bidding." She said in a low voice. "Erase this one's memory of the last five minutes. Let him walk on and ignore us. Thy mistress of flame and power commands thee." Mr. Nichols blinked at her. A glazed look came into his beady brown eyes. He waved to the girls and walked off with a vague, "Merry Christmas." "Rach-Garnet!!!!" Angie said indignantly. "Did you just erase his memory?!" "Yeah, so?" Rachelle replied. "I had to, Diamond!! Otherwise he would have gotten on our case big time. Now, Sapphire, get the heck out of there and put that thing away!" Elisha carefully pushed one more button. Uther's face disappeared with a pop. The screen went back to normal. "From now on, be extremely careful with that!" Angie scolded as Elisha turned it off and put it in her bag. "God, we almost got caught!! And I do not want the generals finding out who I am!!! That would most assuredly not be pleasant!!!" "We'd be atomized within three hours!" Mary said with a shudder. "Or less." Marisa said with a shudder. Malorie clapped a hand to her forward. "Of course you ALL know you've jinxed us now, right?!?!" She demanded. "Idiots!!! Now for certain they'll find out sometime!! Jeez!!" "What?" Elisha asked, bewildered. "YOU'VE ALL JUST CURSED US!!!!! YOU NEVER SAY YOU DON'T WANT SOMETHING TO HAPPEN!!!!! SOMEDAY IT WILL!!!!! THEY'LL FIND OUT!!!!!" Malorie wailed, burying her head in her arms. "Idiots!!!" "Think she's right?" Rachelle asked, watching the blonde wail and sob. "Certainly hope not." Lacie said, grinning a little. "Come on, Mal!! Chill! We won't get found out!" "YOU WENT AND JINXED US AGAIN!!!!!!" Malorie cried, glaring up at Lacie. "BAKA!!!" She began wailing, head buried under hair and a jumble of arms. "I think she's cracked." Mary said, watching her in fascination. "Most definitely."
* * * After school, Elisha went to the cafeteria to wait for Chase. She closed her eyes, frantically trying to stop this insane flood of emotions swirling around in her stomach. Fear, attraction, even hatred-it was way too confusing for her to stomach. "WHAT am I doing?" She wondered out loud. "Why couldn't I have just said no way?" She kneaded her forehead in frustration. "Jeez, this is annoying..where's he live, anyway? What if the girls need me and I'm too far away? Why'd he have to find out about us?!?! Jeez!! Couldn't he have just obeyed and walked away?!" "Now, where would the fun in that be?" A drawling voice asked from behind her. Elisha stiffened and quickly turned, adjusting her glasses. "Hello, Chase." She said stiffly. "Hey, Sapphire." Chase returned, grinning. "What was that about me finding out?" "Why'd you have to." Elisha said truthfully, walking past him. "I mean, jeez! I could be with the girls, you could be with your friends-both of us could be much happier!" "So sorry you have to get stuck with me." Chase retorted teasingly, matching her stride. "But personally, I'd rather not be dead by tomorrow morning, as no doubt your friend Lacie would have me." Despite herself, Elisha giggled. "She's extremely mad at you, you know. I don't think I've ever seen her so steamed! Except-" She broke off. "Except in battle?" Chase asked. "Exactly." Elisha continued walking, sighing. "When she's in battle, she gets truly terrifying. Everyone does. Heck, even Garnet!!" "You looked pretty impressive yourself, back when you lot were destroying demons." Chase said smoothly, sensing the girl's doubt. "Me?" Elisha laughed. "You said that Mary was the one least cut out to be a scout, but I think I am! I can't ever mention how terrified I get going into battles, I hate pain, the generals scare the crap out of me-need I go on?" She sighed. "But you face it anyway." Chase pointed out. "True." Elisha said, a hint of smugness in her voice. "Hah. Me brave." She sighed and looked at him. "Where do you live anyway? And your parents! How will you explain me to them?!" Chase stiffened a little. "I won't need to." He said stiffly. "Why not?" Elisha asked, unaware of the change. "I never knew them." Chase said coldly. Elisha stopped with a gasp and looked up at him. "O-oh. I'm sorry." "I don't want your pity." Chase snarled, walking on. "I told you: I never even knew them anyway. I'm probably just some prostitute's brat who was conceived by some drunkard who left a handful of money and me behind!" The bitterness in his voice was so strong that Elisha stepped back. "Look, I just said I was sorry!" Elisha snapped, not to be deterred. "I'm sorry you never knew you parents and that you have to be alone, but I don't pity you!! You're not the first orphan in this world!!" "And I'm sure you know dozens." Chase sneered. "Well-no, but there are tons!" Elisha retorted. "You see them on the news all the time! So lay off on the self-pity!" Chase laughed harshly. "I never have pitied myself. It'll only kill you in this world. I saved up my money I got from the orphanage as an allowance, I ran away, and I made my living on my own sweat. My life's been nothing but hardship, but I pulled through, and now I'm one of the most popular athletes in school." The arrogance from the first time she had met him was creeping back into his voice now. "So what?!" Elisha shot back. "I don't envy you, you know!! Maybe you're popular and beautiful and have lovely sluttish girls all over you, but I've got my brain, my friends, and my powers. I don't need anything else. And another thing: I always thought you were a self-centered, egotistical jerk, you know?! And I think I was righter than I thought!!" With a glare, she turned her back on Chase and began to walk away. Inside, she was screaming at herself for being so cruel. "You think I'm beautiful?" Chase drawled, coming after her. Elisha turned back to look at him Chase gave her a grin, a real smile that she hadn't ever seen. Elisha stared at him, then began to laugh as the neared the front doors out of the school. "You shut up. I can already see this is going to be a huge hassle." "Maybe I am a self-centered jerk, but I'm a very handsome self-centered jerk." Chase teased. Elisha swatted him as they walked out of the school into the afternoon sunlight. "DARN YOU, NEO!!!!!!" Someone roared. There was a flash of black and auburn as someone began to race by. The blur stopped to be revealed as the same guy that had aggravated Mary a few days ago. He smiled at Elisha. "Hello, there, Elisha." "Hey, Neo." Elisha replied, waving at him. "Friend of yours?" Chase murmured in her ear as he offered a hand. "Chase Spawnborn." "The name's Neo." Neo replied, offering his hand. "And yes, Elisha and I are acquaintances, though I do not believe of the kind you are thinking of." Elisha giggled. Chase blinked, then grinned. "You're strange. I think we'll get along." "NEO!!!! GET BACK HERE!!!" Neo sighed. "Excuse me. Miss Chimp is still after me." He took off just as Mary came racing in. "Where is he?!" She demanded furiously. "Oooh, Neo!! You give me back my Sailor Moon manga now!!!!" "Come get it, Chimp-girl!!" Neo taunted from fifty feet away. Mary let out a yell of fury and victory and charged after him. "He seemed so nice a moment ago." Chase murmured, watching Mary chase Neo, who was fortunately very fast. "He and Mary have their-differences." Elisha said with a shrug. "Like the Arabs and the Israelis have minor conflicts." Angie said dryly, coming up. She managed to trip over her own feet and go tumbling to the ground. "Ow." She sat up, rubbing her shins, and calmly looked at Chase. "He and Mary have been enemies since day one, which was only three days ago." She sighed. "A relationship bound for murder, sooner or later. And probably that of Neo's. Good thing he can run fast." "COME BACK HERE!!" Mary screeched as she and Neo ran past, Neo a few feet ahead. "YOU GIVE ME IT BACK!!" "Have to catch me first!" Neo yelled tauntingly, running faster than ever. "Tough guy, eh?" Mary growled furiously. Before she knew it, she had slipped into Sailor Obsidian's strength and speed. Quick as the wind, she tore after Neo, this time gaining on him steadily. Neo looked back to see her gaining, a look of abject madness on her face. To everyone's surprise, he laughed. Even more incredible, he sped up even more. The two were now nothing more than black blurs moving quick as lightning over and around the school grounds. "Just give it back and I'll only maim you!!" Mary yelled. She was still gaining on Neo, though much more slowly now. "Not a chance, chimp-girl!" Neo called back. Mary growled, then took a flying leap. She tackled him, grabbed the object in his hand, and used his chest as a springboard to leap into the air and land a few feet away. "Hah!" She crowed, raising her manga to the sky. "Mine!" Neo grinned from his place on the ground. Mary looked at him smugly, tossed her head, then calmly walked away. "Crazy." Malorie commented, shaking her head as she walked up to the stunned observers. "De both o' dem. Cra-zee!" Angie sighed and got up from the ground, dusting her rump. "Sorry to do this, Chase, but you need to come with us." "What?" Chase demanded. "Why?" "Elisha needs to come to the gym with us to train, and you stay with her." Angie told him. Then, much quieter, "Do it, or else Lacie will have your hide." She turned and began to walk away. Chase sighed. "Fine. All right. But I'll have you all know that I'm no traitor to the human race." Angie stopped and whirled back around, eyes snapping blue sparks. "I believe you, Chase, but I've been to a possible future. I saw people there who-who abandoned their race to save their own hides. I'd hate to make that mistake on anyone who finds our secret." Her voice was deadly cold. Chase gulped. "Remember when I said I didn't think you could be a scout? I take it all back." "I'm very protective of my friends." She went on softly, glaring at him. "If you'd seen half of the things I have, you'd be overprotective too." With a final look, she turned and began walking away again. "Is-is she okay?" Chase asked uncertainly. "She was so bright and happy earlier-" "Diamond's-seen things the rest of us haven't." Elisha explained softly. "By a general's plot she went into a future where she disappeared and saw what it was like. She saw Rachelle as an old woman that chose to die instead of submitting to Rubian, and had to kill us because we had been forced into evil service." "Who's Rubian?" Chase asked, confused. Malorie sighed and hung her head. "Oh boy. Here we go again."
* * * Rachelle managed to give the punching bag a mighty kick that sent it spinning up away. She leapt back before it could knock her down and beamed at the scouts. "Yes!" "Excellent, Rachelle, quite excellent!" Demetri exclaimed, watching Rachelle proudly. "Go Shellie!" Marisa cheered from the trapezes. "That's our little psychic." Mary crooned, stroking her manga book. Rachelle grinned proudly. "Thank you, Demetri. Thanks guys." She lifted herself up to rest on the tops of the monkey bars and grinned down at everyone. Chase eyed Demetri and Lune suspiciously. "Did that cat just talk?" He asked Elisha. "He most certainly did." Lune said snootily. She had been furious that someone else had found out about the Senshi's identities aside from Kyle, and had given Lacie a severe scolding. Chase's eyes grew to the size of saucers, then he grinned. "Oh, this is going to be fun." "Don't. Try. Anything." Lune warned him, extending razor-sharp claws. "We bear the marks of messing with Lune." Mary said, showing small scars around her wrist from where Lune's claws had been embedded in her from their first meeting. Angie and Lacie also revealed similar scars on arms and ankles. "Lune's got a temper as fierce as Hades himself." Lacie said with a laugh. "And don't make me give you another dose." Lune growled, face and tone affectionate despite the threat. "Lacie, you next." Lacie made sure Chase was watching before she calmly walked over to the punching bag and swung her arm back. She let loose a blow that sent the punching bag sailing off its supports and banging into the nearby wall, splitting into at the seams. The girls cheered as Lune and Demetri sighed. "Third one!" Demetri sighed. "Could you at least try to not destroy them, Lacie?" Lacie grinned, then looked over at Chase, then at Elisha, then pointedly at Chase again. She raised her fist and blew a little dust off it, eyes hard on his. Chase got the meaning loud and clear, and gulped. "Oh, chill out, Lacie." Angie said as Malorie and Elisha replaced the punching bag. She walked over to it and gave it a punch of her own. Again the bag went sailing away to burst after knocking into the wall. She grinned at Chase's expression. "We're not exactly weak little dolls, you know. Takes strength and brains to fight evil." "The same goes for you also, Angie!" Lune scolded. "Stop breaking our punching bags, they're not unlimited, you know!!" "I thought they grew from trees." Lacie said innocently. Lune muttered something under her breath while Demetri muffled his giggles with a cough. "Oddest bunch." Chase muttered. "I personally think you are all insane." "Quite right." Malorie said in agreement. "But take notice: we are insane Sailor Scouts. Much superior to your regular loony." "And the fate of the world rests in your hands." Chase sighed. "We are all going to die." "You sound like Elisha." Marisa said cockily. "Doom, death, and destruction. Cheer up! We've won so far, and we've managed to seriously annoy some generals." She jumped off from her perch on a trapeze and flipped several times before landing in front of him. "Speaking of doom and destruction." Rachelle murmured, raising her head and closing her eyes as if listening to a far off call. "They're coming." "Baddies?" Mary asked. The joking mood was vaporized in an instant. Each girl was rigid, expressions of concern or ferocity on each face. "Yes." Rachelle whispered, turning her head a little. Her eyes snapped open as she stared off in a certain direction. "It's.back at our school.." "Uh-oh." Malorie whispered. "But-no one's there now, right? No problems." "HELLO?!?!" Rachelle screeched. "Remember that lovely scene with Elisha's computer?!" "So?" Elisha said defensively. "That was several hours ago!" Rachelle growled angrily. "Think about it! If Uther or one of the others recognized where we were." "Yeah, but it was a while ago!" Elisha protested again. "Hidden cameras?! Video recordings?!" Rachelle pointed out, almost shaking in fury. "Come ON, people!! Shake a leg!!" "Jeez, all right, already!!" Lacie growled. "Take a chill pill! And you- " She pointed at Chase's guileless face. "In the corner, pal, and no peeking, or I'll have Lune scratch your eyes out." "And I will, too." Lune muttered. Chase obediently stood in the corner, facing the wall. Behind him, he heard Angie say, "And Demetri, you keep an eye on him, too. You can take an eye each." There was a pause as the cats meowed in agreement, then, "Diamond Star Power!!" "Amethyst Star Power!!" "Obsidian Star Power!!" "Garnet Star Power!" "Emerald Star Power!!" "Topaz Star Power!!" Chase couldn't help it. He peeked over his shoulder as Elisha raised her jeweled transformer. "Sapphire Star Power!!" "MAKE UP!!!!" As a blinding flash of light hit his eyes, he could just make out the form of Elisha before going blind. She seemed to be staring at him, as were all the others. He dimly realized this before the light blinded him, taking over his sight. He didn't mind. It was wonderful, this light. Soothing. Healing. Beautiful. He sighed as it slowly began fading away. Sailor Amethyst was at his throat in an instant. "HENTAI!!! I SAW YOU!!!! YOU WERE PEEKING!!" "Only-at-Elisha!!" Chase choked. If he thought this would help at all, it didn't. "GET HIM!!!" Lune, Diamond, Topaz, Emerald, and Obsidian shrieked, leaping at Chase with hands (or paws) outstretched. "HELP!!!" Chase yelled, running as quick as he could for the other end of the gym. Unfortunately, all the girls and Lune were much faster. Lune struck first. She leapt up and embedded claws into his neck and shoulders and began scratching as best she could. Chase yelled and stopped, trying to shake her off. This only allowed the rest of the girls to catch up with him. There would have been considerably less of Chase today had Sapphire not intervened. "FREEZE!!!!!" She bellowed in a voice that would have made a charging elephant stop dead. The girls all froze, Lune in mid-scratch, and looked open-eyed and open-mouthed at Sapphire. "Leave. Him. Alone." Sapphire ordered. "You can punish him later. Right now we've got some serious Sailor business to attend to, so let's move!" "She's right." Diamond said reluctantly, releasing Chase's head. "Come on, scouts. Lune: wait till we get back, okay?" "I won't let him get away." Lune promised, giving Chase such an evil eye that he shuddered. "Thank you." Diamond said, walking towards the doors of the gym with the rest of the scouts following. An unpleasant surprise was waiting for them. As they exited the gym and began to make their way along the busy streets, someone grabbed Obsidian's arm. "Hey!" She spluttered, yanking her arm away. The other Senshi stopped. "What's the deal?!" A bald, pudgy, short man-the Mayor-blinked up at her. Several policemen were behind him. "Oh, good, the Sailor Senshi. We've been looking all over for you!" "What for?" Emerald asked suspiciously, not liking the look of the policemen. A hard-faced policeman came up behind the Mayor. "You are all under arrest." All the girls gasped. "Under arrest?! What for?!" Topaz demanded. "Destruction of public property, breaking into a college during school hours, disturbance of the peace-many minor misdemeanors." The Mayor said soothingly. "We may just need you to do a few hours of community service-" "Hah!" Amethyst snorted. "Buddy, our whole life is community service! We've got to go fight bad guys and save the world, now, so if you'll excuse us-" "And also a few days in an institution." The Mayor added, blinking at Amethyst. "My dear, what you are talking about does not exist! There can be no 'evil generals' or bad guys aside from our everyday law breakers such as yourselves!" He gestured to the policemen who came forward with handcuffs. "Okay, that's it." Obsidian growled. She leapt forward and knocked the Mayor down before punching the lead policeman in the gut. He went down with a surprised grunt. The other policemen leapt forward. "Jeez, Obsidian!" Amethyst grated, joining the fray. "You could have just chilled for a moment and we would have just jumped away!" "They pissed me off." Obsidian snapped, ramming her elbow into one's gut. "These guys are very annoying." Topaz agreed from her other side, bashing a guy in the face. "How dare they call us lawbreakers!!" Emerald roared, outraged. "After all we've done!" She shook a man by the collar before dropping him. "ENOUGH!!!!!" Diamond yelled, glaring at the four fighting Senshi. They stopped to stare at her. "Come on!!" She snapped fiercely. "We've got more important business to attend to at the school! Worry about these guys later! Move it!" "She's right!" Garnet gasped, clutching her head. "Oooh, man.how many.." "Lotsa baddies?" Sapphire asked quietly. Garnet gulped and nodded, massaging her head. "Yes. At least four or five." Amethyst grinned as she took off. "Fun. Party time."
Ummmmmmmm. yeah.
^_^ I'm having a great deal of fun going back and reading through this. Very enjoyable. I can't believe some of the things I used to write. This is one of my better works, but still.
In case no one has figured this out, I might as well let out a secret: Things are going to heat up reeeeeal soon. Soon as I post the next chapter. Funfun!
*bounces*
"Your plan failed." Uther said, matter-of-fact. "I am aware of that, Uther." Ithengil snapped. "Thank you ever so much for pointing it out, now shut up!" He waved the staff threateningly. Uther backed off. "Even after I sent the hunter android after them it failed." Ithengil mused. "I had hoped the demons would destroy them and then go steal energy. Oh, well, can't have everything. But to have one of my precious hunter-babies destroyed..and by that cape boy, too.." "We picked up a very strange energy reading coming from both Tuxedo Onyx and Obsidian towards the end of the fight." Katrina reported from her station by a hologram computer. "An old type, and very powerful." "Onyx and Obsidian, hmmm?" Ithengil thought deeply. "Let me see, what was so special about them-" "They were in love in the Silver Millennium." Damon said quietly, fingering something and leaning against a pillar. Ithengil cackled. "Ah, yes. Damon, our little secret agent, spying on the lives of innocent Senshi. In love, hmmm?" He laughed again. "Good! Now we know Obsidian at least has a weakness. That flash was probably their memories returning!" He rubbed his hands together gleefully. "A mixed blessing." Damon said, continuing to study what was in his hand. "That will make Obsidian stronger at the same time." Ithengil waved his hand at Damon. "Nothing to worry, about, Damon. All we must do is find Onyx, then threaten to hurt him to her. Easy!" "One problem, though, Ithy." Jedin said sarcastically. "We know nothing about the rose-throwing boy. He shows up, fights a little, vanishes. All we know is that he's of the line of the Therinan. A guardian." "He's got to have some sort of energy reading..." "It's not likely." Damon ignored the rest of the conversation. His eyes were too busy fastened on the ripped bandage he was stroking in his hand.
* * * Angie awoke with a start in the huge bed that Onyx had occupied a few hours before. Someone had touched her shoulder. "Whassamatta?" She groaned sleepily, turning away to bury under the covers again. A shadow rudely yanked the covers off her form. She groaned and reached for them again. "Diamond! Wake up!" Emerald hissed, shaking her slightly. Angie groaned again, but sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Emerald? What're you doing here at this time of night?" "We need you for patrol now." "WHAT?!" Emerald clapped a hand over Angie's mouth to stop her furious ranting. "Shut up!!" She hissed. Angie grouchily obeyed, folding her arms. "It's a school night, Emerald!! Tomorrow's Tuesday!! School day!!" "You think I want to be up either?!" Emerald demanded. "Come on, you dozy lump! There's a group of demons on the west side of town!!!" Grumbling, Angie reached for her transformer. She glared at Emerald. "I am so going to hurt you one of these days."
* * * It was an exhausted Diamond who de-transformed and tumbled into her bed that morning. She had spent all night scouring the streets and had "slain" a group of demons and one errant vampire, totaling to ten. She curled up in her bed, pulling covers and sheets over her, and snuggled down, ready for a few hours of rest. Right beside her, her alarm clock went off. "Not. Happening." She groaned, hitting the thing hard before unplugging it and throwing it across the room. "Not happening." "Angie, honey?" A dark brown head poked into the room. "The alarm went off, dear. Time to wake up." "Mommy, can't I be late for school today?" Angie complained, blocking her ears with pillows. "I had a really bad night." "Tough, dear!" Her mother said cheerfully, tugging the blankets off her. "Come on, now! It's a big new day!" Humming happily, she skipped out of the room. "I hate my life." Angie muttered, dragging herself to the closet.
* * * By lunchtime, her sleepiness had worn off, though she was still grumpy and snapped at people if they surprised her. Which Mary unfortunately did. "HIYA, ANGIE!!!" Angie jumped nearly a foot in the air. She whirled around in her seat to glare as Mary sat beside her. "Do you mind?!?! I got maybe four hours of sleep last night!" "Oh, come on, we all had a bad night!" Mary said soothingly, patting her head. Angie groaned and let her head bang down on the table. "Ow. But still.not fair." She yawned a little. "Table.nice and soft." "Oh, no you don't!" Mary yelled in her ear. "WAKE UP!!" Again, Angie nearly shot to the ceiling. "Stop doing that!!!" She yelled at Mary when she came down. Mary cackled and began eating her lunch. "Grouchy today, are we?" Marisa asked, coming up with Malorie and Rachelle. "It's your fault." Angie muttered, taking a morose bite of sandwich. "Waking me up like that." "Hey, you volunteered for the second shift!" Marisa said, putting her lunch across from Angie. "I wasn't going to do yours and mine!" "Why not?" Angie muttered. "It would have been the nice thing to do." Malorie lightly smacked her friend's head. "Come on, Angie. I had to do the second shift too." Indeed, her normally happy face had a few crease lines in it, like someone who had been up way too late. "As did I." A grouchy voice said. Lacie slid in on Angie's other side, eyes red and hair messy. "Jeez. Takes me long enough to get to sleep anyway, probably only got about an hour." She yawned and closed her eyes. "Wake me when the lunch bell rings." "Ask someone else to." Angie muttered, closing her eyes also and putting her head down. A large gong appeared in the air beside Mary, along with a beater. She grabbed both, then held the gong just between Lacie and Angie. She grinned evilly, and raised the beater. Lacie and Angie shrieked and leapt up as the gong resounded in their ears. "CUT IT OUT!!!" Lacie yelled. "How'd you get that gong, anyway?!" "This is the lovely world of anime." Angie muttered, banging on the side of her head. "The author can make us do anything and have anything happen." "Oh, yeah. Right." Lacie glared at Mary. "Baka! You could have made us deaf!" Mary grinned evilly, the gong vanishing. "But you feel awake now, right?" "Yes," Lacie gritted, "but that was STILL unnecessary!!" "Oh, piffles." Mary said, batting her eyes. "Nonsense!" She began humming to herself as she munched on a ho-ho. "You okay?" Rachelle asked uncertainly. Mary grinned extremely brightly. "Never better!! Why?!" In her mind, she kept replaying the thought of Onyx's lips, so close to her ear, whispering, "You're a good kisser." "You've been on cloud nineteen and a half since yesterday!!!" Rachelle shouted accusingly. "All right, fess up!! What happened between you and Onyx?! You've had that glazed look since yesterday!!" Mary sighed a little, smile lurking on her features. "Nothing, really. He just-complimented me, on something." "Uh-huh." Rachelle snorted. "Yeah, right." The other girls nodded in agreement. "What?" Mary asked uncertainly. "YOU ARE IN FREAKING LOVE WITH HIM!!!!" All of them yelled, making the cafeteria go quiet for a moment before the noise picked up again. "Me?!" Mary said in shock, not realizing her face had gone a revealing red. "I'm not!" "You are SO!!!!!" Lacie yelled, fully awake now. "You're blushing! Your face is all red!" Mary hastily attempted to cover her face. "So what?!" She yelled back. "Like any guy'd like me?!" "He certainly seemed VERY friendly." Marisa said teasingly. "What'd he whisper to you that made you look like a strawberry?" "NOTHING!!!" Mary yelled, a lot louder than she meant to. Again the cafeteria fell momentarily silent. "Look, would you guys shut up?!" Mary hissed. "It's none of your business!!" "Oh, yes, it is." Angie said with a malicious grin. "We will dissect every atom of your love life until you are a mass of jelly on the floor, begging for mercy!" "Not happening." Mary said firmly, crossing her arms. All the girls sighed sadly. "Hey, where's Elisha?" Marisa asked suddenly, looking around.
* * * "Let-go-of me!!" Elisha hissed, desperately trying to free herself from the strong hand wrapped around her wrist. "We need to talk." Chase told her in a low voice, close to her ear. Elisha melted a little at the sound of his husky voice, but pretended not to care. "About what?!" She demanded. "Look, I'm sorry for the way my friends treated you the other day, but we were expecting someone and-" Chase didn't want to hear it. He simply began dragging Elisha along out of the cafeteria. "Let go of me!!" She shrieked. "Did you suddenly go back to caveman or something?! Have off!" Chase ignored her small fist beating against his frame. He hauled her along until they were through the doors, then slammed her up against the wall. Elisha winced and looked at him with large, frightened blue eyes. "What do you want?" She whispered. Chase glared at her. "Look, I know your secret, okay, Elisha? So no more tricks." "M-my secret?!" No way! He can't! She laughed nervously. "What secret? I don't have any-" "I know who you are, Sailor Sapphire!!!" Chase hissed at her. Elisha flinched, trying to cover her guilty expression too late for it to have been unnoticed. "I-I don't know what you're talking about-" Elisha began. Chase shook her slightly. "I saw you transform, damn it!! You and your friends! Angie, Mary, Marisa, Lacie-" "Shut up!" Elisha cried, clapping her hand over his mouth. "All right, fine! Just-shut up, okay?!" She glanced around nervously, but the halls were empty and silent. "You saw us-transform?" She whispered. Chase nodded grimly. "And fight the demon, not to mention demon horde-" Elisha abruptly smacked his chest. "Hentai!! We lose our clothes!!" She winced as she cradled her hand and looked up at him furiously. "And you're too hard! Jeez, what are you made out of, brick?!" "It's called working out-and I noticed you lost your clothes." Chase drawled, a smirk creeping onto his face. "Ugh!" Elisha hit him again. "You pervert!" She turned away, trying to move past him. A hand attached to an arm hit the wall an inch from her. She recoiled, then glared at Chase's smirking face. "All right, are you going to blackmail me now or something?!" She demanded. "Because may I remind you I AM Sailor Sapphire and have the power to kick your butt from here to Mexico!!!" "So you admit it?" Chase said, eyes dark. "You already knew. Can't deny it anymore." Elisha said with a sigh, adjusting her glasses. "So what do you want?" Chase blinked. "What do I-want?" "Money, jewels, homework done?" Elisha glared at him. "To keep you quiet?" Chase blinked again. "I can keep quiet on my own, thank you very much! I- just-" he blushed slightly. "I wanted to make sure you're all right. That you know what you're doing." "Me?" Elisha squeaked, fiddling with her glasses and blushing. "You're worried about me?!" "Well-yeah." He admitted. "Don't take it personally or anything, it's just-all those demons-" "Hey, I'm a Sailor Scout, remember?" Elisha asked gently. "I can handle myself. Not to mention I have the most butt-kicking-est friends this side of the galaxy." "Yeah, I got the gist that your friend Lacie would pretty much pound me if she found out." Chase said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Darn right." A cold voice side from behind them. Chase found himself getting hauled away from Elisha quicker than he could blink. Angie and Malorie jumped in front of their friend, faces grim, as Lacie and Marisa flung him against the wall. "Creep!" Lacie raged, shaking her fist at him. "What were you trying to do to our Elisha?!" She began to raise her fist. "Lacie-it's all right." Elisha said, putting up a hand. "He knows." "Knows what?!" Angie demanded, looking back at her. She stopped, did a double take, and her eyes went wide. "Oh my god. You didn't." "Didn't what?!" Marisa asked. She gasped and turned to stare at Elisha. "Elisha-" "He saw us transform." Elisha said calmly, adjusting her glasses. "Possibly because someone didn't make sure he was either properly knocked out or at a reasonable distance!" She looked calmly at Lacie. Lacie blushed. "We were pressed for time, remember?! I did the best I could!!" She glared at Chase as if she completely blamed him. "I told you to get out of there anyway!!! Eavesdroppers seldom hear or see anything pleasant!!" "I was bloody confused!" Chase growled. "I had no idea you could take care of yourselves with that-thing-around!!! I was worried, for God's sake." Lacie had nothing to say to this. She merely cracked her knuckles and scowled. "Wait a second!" Angie said suddenly, eyes narrowing. "You saw us transform?!" Chase nodded. "HENTAI!!!!!!" Angie screeched, leaping at him. "BAKA!!!! HENTAI!!!!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!" An intrusion from Elisha was the only thing that saved Chase's life. As Angie flew past her she grabbed a lock of her hair. Angie wailed and grabbed her scalp. "Elisha, let go!!" She growled. "I'm-going-to-kill- him!!!" "Angie, calm down and chill!" Elisha said, yanking her friend back and making her eyes water in pain. "You are not going to kill Chase. He knows our secret. He's one of us." "WHAT?!?!" Chase, Angie and Lacie all yelled at the same time. "Shhhh!" Malorie hissed. "I'm not a Sailor Scout!" Chase roared softly. "He doesn't have our powers!" Lacie protested. "I'M GOING TO MURDER HIM!!!!!" Angie boomed, making no attempt to lower her voice whatsoever. "You are not." Elisha stated calmly. "And he may not be a scout, but he knows our secret. Like Kyle." "SO?!" Angie demanded. "Kyle is Rachelle's boyfriend! They love each other! Besides, she can keep a close watch on him." Suddenly a crafty look came into her eyes. "Unless one of us wants to date him," she went on, much calmer now, "He can't know." "What're you going to do?" Chase snorted. "Modify my memory?" "If possible." Angie replied coldly. Come on, Elisha or Chase..take the bait.. "No one messes with my memory." He uttered frostily. Angie shrugged. "Then you'll have to be constantly with one of us." Come on!!! I know you like her!! I'm the Scout of Love!!! I know these things!!! Now GO get her, you idiot!!! I'm laying this out perfectly for you!!!!! "As girlfriend and boyfriend or something?" He inquired, finally getting the same look she had. "It'd be easiest." Angie said serenely, fighting excitement. Yes! Yes! Come on!! Go for it!! "No way." Chase said calmly. "I won't just sell my heart to anyone." "Then I'll assign someone to watch you." Angie warned. Damn you, you idiot!! You couldn't just work with me here!! Chase sighed and slumped. "Fine. But can I just choose someone to watch over me?" He turned pleading eyes on Angie, not bothering to hide the spark of mischief. Why, you dirty scoundrel!! Angie thought, grudging admiration in her mind. You plan to seduce her on your own!! "Fine." Angie said, unable to hide the slight smile that flitted over her features as she gave him a small wink. "Choose." Chase pretended to inspect Malorie, Lacie, Marisa, and Elisha. Lacie was calmly cracking her knuckles, Malorie was giggling uncontrollably, and Marisa gave him a deeply suspicious look. Elisha did not look at Chase, but instead at the ground, half wishing, half praying. Please don't let him choose me-choose me! Choose me! No! No! Don't! I take that back!! "Sapphire." Chase announced calmly. Elisha looked up, mixed emotions moving across her face like lightning. NO!!! I said no, you idiot!!! Wait-I'll watch him? Spend time with him? YES!!! No-wait-bad Elisha! Bad Elisha!! Bad thoughts!! "What? Why me?" She asked out loud. "You saved my life from the wrath of Miss Diamond, here." Chase said, with a courteous bow to Angie. "No offense meant." "None taken." Angie replied. "But watch my transformation again, pal, and you will find yourself in several different pieces before you know it." Chase laughed nervously before strolling over to drape an arm over Elisha's shoulders. "So since you're already my protector, I figure you can be my watcher too." Elisha desperately tried to hide a deep blush. "Fine. Sure, I guess." Chase beamed. "Good girl." He grinned lasciviously at her. Elisha's face went red. She shrugged his arm off and retreated back into the cafeteria. "Watch it, Chase." Lacie warned. "You make one little move on our Elisha and I will personally bash you from top to bottom. Scout's promise." Lacie glared at him. Chase rubbed his head a little and nodded very respectfully. "I heard that." Angie said in amusement. "And I tell you this, Chase-I gave you this chance on an open platter. As the Scout of Love, I know you like her. And therefore, you'd better take this opportunity. All I ask is that she still be-intact-all right?" "I think I made a definite mistake finding out who you lot are." Chase muttered, rubbing his head. "Damned if I do, and damned if I don't." "Your have fallen into our group, it seems." Malorie said with a giggle. "And no one can escape. Your every secret is now to be figured out and monitored courtesy of us. And be warned: we are vicious." "You are never going to recover." Marisa said, frown melting into an evil grin. "NOODLES!!" Mary shrieked suddenly, bouncing out from the hall. She abruptly hugged Chase. "Hah! You're obeying my wishes! Good! Welcome to our gang!" She began skipping about the group, humming happily. "Like a frog!" She cried before going into the cafeteria. "Of all the people I find hardest to believe is a scout." Chase said, staring after the departing girl. "It has got to be her." "Very true." Angie said, nodding sensibly. "She's insane-" Her left foot caught on the back of her right and she fell forward. "Ow!" "Aside, of course, from you." Chase said, with a sigh. "And this is our leader." Lacie groaned. "Klutz." "Can someone please help me off the floor?" Angie asked pitifully. "Hello?"
* * * "We are letting Elisha alone with that creep?!!?!" Rachelle shrieked a few minutes later. "Hello?! A teenage man and an innocent, rather pretty girl?! He'll have her on the floor in seconds!" "Not unless he wants instant death." Angie said calmly. Lacie nodded in agreement, scowling. "And Elisha's no doll, Shellie. She can very much take care of herself." "But she likes him!!!" Rachelle roared. "Her common sense might be overrun-oh god-" "Chill!" Malorie said, patting Rachelle on her back. "Calm down. Elisha won't do that. Besides, she'll mostly be in Sapphire-form, I hope." "What difference does that make?!" Rachelle demanded. "You cannot get out of those evil suits unless you rip them apart with some evil weapon." Malorie said with a laugh. "I tried to this morning. Too tired to realize all I had to do was de-transform. Couldn't make the slightest tear in it." "So what happens if we need to go to the bathroom in it?" Marisa wondered, popping a French fry into her mouth. This question caused sweat-drops from everyone. "Let's not go there, all right?" Lacie asked, munching on a cookie. Elisha came back to the table from where she had been talking to Chase. Her face was still a nice shade of pink. "Hey, gang." She said, scooting in between Angie and Marisa. She calmly folded her arms and looked around the table, smiling. "All right." Mary said after about five seconds of this. "We'll bite: what's up?" Elisha grinned, then opened her backpack and slammed something onto the cafeteria table. The girls all stopped eating to stare. "Where'd you get the laptop?!" Lacie demanded. "Special gift from Lune and Demetri." Elisha said, flipping it open. "I found it in the gym yesterday, and they said it was meant for me!!" She began typing something quickly on the keyboard. Angie peered over her shoulder. "What's it do??" Elisha hit a final key and sat back, arms crossed and a very pleased look on her face. Angie looked at the screen and gasped. "You hacked into the PENTAGON!?!?!" She screeched. "Shhhhhhh!!" Elisha snapped, clapping a hand over her friend's mouth. She grinned evilly. "I do NOT believe you!!" Angie said, freeing her mouth. "That's just- jeez! No more! Get out of there RIGHT now." Elisha clicked a few buttons and the screen vanished back to her desktop- which happened to feature a large picture of Sailor Mercury. She sighed dramatically. "What else can you do?!" Marisa asked eagerly, leaning over also. "Is this just a regular computer?" Rachelle asked, touching the milky white surface gingerly. "Definitely not." Elisha said instantly. "How can you tell?" Malorie asked. Elisha began typing something furiously. After a few moments, something popped up on the screen. The girls stared at it, mouths gaping. "How many computer do you know that have complete information databases on generals, their attacks, and a way to hack into their megacomputer?" Elisha asked dryly. "Oh, my god." Angie whispered. "They have a computer? And they were supposed to be these high-tech advanced creeps." Elisha brought up a picture of a computer the size of a bus complete with chemical testing station and hologram emitter. "I think it's a little more advanced than ours." She said ironically. "Jeez." Rachelle muttered, rubbing her head. "This is incredible." "Do you think you could hack into their computer?" Angie asked, finally giving into her curiosity. "As easy as pie." Elisha replied, beginning to type furiously.
* * * Damon raised his head as Katrina let out a shout from her place at the computers. "Mr. Ithengil, sir! You might want to see this!!" Ithengil began shuffling over to the computer, as did Spike and Uther. Uther got there first. He stared at the screen, then gasped. "We've got company!! Someone's hacking into our files!" He shoved Katrina away and began hitting several keys. "What?" Ithengil growled. "That's not possible! You said our files were hack-free!" "Tell that to the person going through them!!" Uther growled, pointing at a small blip on the screen. "Can you try and track the person?" Spike asked interestedly. "I can try." Uther growled, moving his fingers about and hitting several keys. He began to make a video connection back to whatever computer the hacker was using.
* * * "Elisha-what's that?" Mary asked uncertainly, pointing over her shoulder at a quickly moving black dot across the screen. It was getting larger. "I don't know." Elisha said, frowning at it. She began typing a cross- reference furiously, then she gasped. "Everyone get out of sight! Move it!" She flung herself down under the table. The girls readily obeyed, but Marisa kept peeking at the screen. The information database suddenly erupted into blackness. There was a strange, pulsing light in the center. As Marisa watched, it grew into a head-shaped form-and then Uther's face appeared. "Holy-" Marisa quickly ducked out of sight. "Sapphire!!" She hissed. "I know, I know!!" Elisha hissed back, raising her hands to type something on the keyboard. "Who's there?!" The computer Uther snapped, glaring around. "Eep." Rachelle murmured, making sure she was well out of sight. "Strange place." The computer general muttered. "Lots of people." "Shut it down!!!" Angie hissed at Elisha. "I'm trying!" Elisha hissed back, still typing on the keyboard. "Who's there?!" Uther demanded. Angie sighed, then growled. "Mind your own business!" "Diamond!" Elisha gasped, clenching her hands. "What are you doing?!" Uther's head snapped around. "Sailor Diamond?" "Not coming out." Angie retorted, sounding as she always did, which fortunately sounded exactly like Sailor Diamond. "What's all this about?!" A voice boomed from behind them. "Oh, crap!!" Mary whispered. "Sapphire, shut it down!! Neo-Nazi alert!" Elisha quickly reached up an arm and banged the screen down onto the keyboard, just as Vice-Principal Nichols came striding over to their table. "What is that, girls?!" He demanded loudly. "Nothing, sir!" Elisha gasped, praying that he wouldn't call them by their names. "I'll be the judge of that!" Mr. Nichols said importantly, reaching over to flip up the top of the laptop. The girls immediately ducked again. Mr. Nichols and Uther stared at each other. "Just a game, sir!" Rachelle squeaked. "Well, laptops aren't allowed in this school, Miss-" Nichols began. Rachelle raised a hand. "Power of the fire, come to my bidding." She said in a low voice. "Erase this one's memory of the last five minutes. Let him walk on and ignore us. Thy mistress of flame and power commands thee." Mr. Nichols blinked at her. A glazed look came into his beady brown eyes. He waved to the girls and walked off with a vague, "Merry Christmas." "Rach-Garnet!!!!" Angie said indignantly. "Did you just erase his memory?!" "Yeah, so?" Rachelle replied. "I had to, Diamond!! Otherwise he would have gotten on our case big time. Now, Sapphire, get the heck out of there and put that thing away!" Elisha carefully pushed one more button. Uther's face disappeared with a pop. The screen went back to normal. "From now on, be extremely careful with that!" Angie scolded as Elisha turned it off and put it in her bag. "God, we almost got caught!! And I do not want the generals finding out who I am!!! That would most assuredly not be pleasant!!!" "We'd be atomized within three hours!" Mary said with a shudder. "Or less." Marisa said with a shudder. Malorie clapped a hand to her forward. "Of course you ALL know you've jinxed us now, right?!?!" She demanded. "Idiots!!! Now for certain they'll find out sometime!! Jeez!!" "What?" Elisha asked, bewildered. "YOU'VE ALL JUST CURSED US!!!!! YOU NEVER SAY YOU DON'T WANT SOMETHING TO HAPPEN!!!!! SOMEDAY IT WILL!!!!! THEY'LL FIND OUT!!!!!" Malorie wailed, burying her head in her arms. "Idiots!!!" "Think she's right?" Rachelle asked, watching the blonde wail and sob. "Certainly hope not." Lacie said, grinning a little. "Come on, Mal!! Chill! We won't get found out!" "YOU WENT AND JINXED US AGAIN!!!!!!" Malorie cried, glaring up at Lacie. "BAKA!!!" She began wailing, head buried under hair and a jumble of arms. "I think she's cracked." Mary said, watching her in fascination. "Most definitely."
* * * After school, Elisha went to the cafeteria to wait for Chase. She closed her eyes, frantically trying to stop this insane flood of emotions swirling around in her stomach. Fear, attraction, even hatred-it was way too confusing for her to stomach. "WHAT am I doing?" She wondered out loud. "Why couldn't I have just said no way?" She kneaded her forehead in frustration. "Jeez, this is annoying..where's he live, anyway? What if the girls need me and I'm too far away? Why'd he have to find out about us?!?! Jeez!! Couldn't he have just obeyed and walked away?!" "Now, where would the fun in that be?" A drawling voice asked from behind her. Elisha stiffened and quickly turned, adjusting her glasses. "Hello, Chase." She said stiffly. "Hey, Sapphire." Chase returned, grinning. "What was that about me finding out?" "Why'd you have to." Elisha said truthfully, walking past him. "I mean, jeez! I could be with the girls, you could be with your friends-both of us could be much happier!" "So sorry you have to get stuck with me." Chase retorted teasingly, matching her stride. "But personally, I'd rather not be dead by tomorrow morning, as no doubt your friend Lacie would have me." Despite herself, Elisha giggled. "She's extremely mad at you, you know. I don't think I've ever seen her so steamed! Except-" She broke off. "Except in battle?" Chase asked. "Exactly." Elisha continued walking, sighing. "When she's in battle, she gets truly terrifying. Everyone does. Heck, even Garnet!!" "You looked pretty impressive yourself, back when you lot were destroying demons." Chase said smoothly, sensing the girl's doubt. "Me?" Elisha laughed. "You said that Mary was the one least cut out to be a scout, but I think I am! I can't ever mention how terrified I get going into battles, I hate pain, the generals scare the crap out of me-need I go on?" She sighed. "But you face it anyway." Chase pointed out. "True." Elisha said, a hint of smugness in her voice. "Hah. Me brave." She sighed and looked at him. "Where do you live anyway? And your parents! How will you explain me to them?!" Chase stiffened a little. "I won't need to." He said stiffly. "Why not?" Elisha asked, unaware of the change. "I never knew them." Chase said coldly. Elisha stopped with a gasp and looked up at him. "O-oh. I'm sorry." "I don't want your pity." Chase snarled, walking on. "I told you: I never even knew them anyway. I'm probably just some prostitute's brat who was conceived by some drunkard who left a handful of money and me behind!" The bitterness in his voice was so strong that Elisha stepped back. "Look, I just said I was sorry!" Elisha snapped, not to be deterred. "I'm sorry you never knew you parents and that you have to be alone, but I don't pity you!! You're not the first orphan in this world!!" "And I'm sure you know dozens." Chase sneered. "Well-no, but there are tons!" Elisha retorted. "You see them on the news all the time! So lay off on the self-pity!" Chase laughed harshly. "I never have pitied myself. It'll only kill you in this world. I saved up my money I got from the orphanage as an allowance, I ran away, and I made my living on my own sweat. My life's been nothing but hardship, but I pulled through, and now I'm one of the most popular athletes in school." The arrogance from the first time she had met him was creeping back into his voice now. "So what?!" Elisha shot back. "I don't envy you, you know!! Maybe you're popular and beautiful and have lovely sluttish girls all over you, but I've got my brain, my friends, and my powers. I don't need anything else. And another thing: I always thought you were a self-centered, egotistical jerk, you know?! And I think I was righter than I thought!!" With a glare, she turned her back on Chase and began to walk away. Inside, she was screaming at herself for being so cruel. "You think I'm beautiful?" Chase drawled, coming after her. Elisha turned back to look at him Chase gave her a grin, a real smile that she hadn't ever seen. Elisha stared at him, then began to laugh as the neared the front doors out of the school. "You shut up. I can already see this is going to be a huge hassle." "Maybe I am a self-centered jerk, but I'm a very handsome self-centered jerk." Chase teased. Elisha swatted him as they walked out of the school into the afternoon sunlight. "DARN YOU, NEO!!!!!!" Someone roared. There was a flash of black and auburn as someone began to race by. The blur stopped to be revealed as the same guy that had aggravated Mary a few days ago. He smiled at Elisha. "Hello, there, Elisha." "Hey, Neo." Elisha replied, waving at him. "Friend of yours?" Chase murmured in her ear as he offered a hand. "Chase Spawnborn." "The name's Neo." Neo replied, offering his hand. "And yes, Elisha and I are acquaintances, though I do not believe of the kind you are thinking of." Elisha giggled. Chase blinked, then grinned. "You're strange. I think we'll get along." "NEO!!!! GET BACK HERE!!!" Neo sighed. "Excuse me. Miss Chimp is still after me." He took off just as Mary came racing in. "Where is he?!" She demanded furiously. "Oooh, Neo!! You give me back my Sailor Moon manga now!!!!" "Come get it, Chimp-girl!!" Neo taunted from fifty feet away. Mary let out a yell of fury and victory and charged after him. "He seemed so nice a moment ago." Chase murmured, watching Mary chase Neo, who was fortunately very fast. "He and Mary have their-differences." Elisha said with a shrug. "Like the Arabs and the Israelis have minor conflicts." Angie said dryly, coming up. She managed to trip over her own feet and go tumbling to the ground. "Ow." She sat up, rubbing her shins, and calmly looked at Chase. "He and Mary have been enemies since day one, which was only three days ago." She sighed. "A relationship bound for murder, sooner or later. And probably that of Neo's. Good thing he can run fast." "COME BACK HERE!!" Mary screeched as she and Neo ran past, Neo a few feet ahead. "YOU GIVE ME IT BACK!!" "Have to catch me first!" Neo yelled tauntingly, running faster than ever. "Tough guy, eh?" Mary growled furiously. Before she knew it, she had slipped into Sailor Obsidian's strength and speed. Quick as the wind, she tore after Neo, this time gaining on him steadily. Neo looked back to see her gaining, a look of abject madness on her face. To everyone's surprise, he laughed. Even more incredible, he sped up even more. The two were now nothing more than black blurs moving quick as lightning over and around the school grounds. "Just give it back and I'll only maim you!!" Mary yelled. She was still gaining on Neo, though much more slowly now. "Not a chance, chimp-girl!" Neo called back. Mary growled, then took a flying leap. She tackled him, grabbed the object in his hand, and used his chest as a springboard to leap into the air and land a few feet away. "Hah!" She crowed, raising her manga to the sky. "Mine!" Neo grinned from his place on the ground. Mary looked at him smugly, tossed her head, then calmly walked away. "Crazy." Malorie commented, shaking her head as she walked up to the stunned observers. "De both o' dem. Cra-zee!" Angie sighed and got up from the ground, dusting her rump. "Sorry to do this, Chase, but you need to come with us." "What?" Chase demanded. "Why?" "Elisha needs to come to the gym with us to train, and you stay with her." Angie told him. Then, much quieter, "Do it, or else Lacie will have your hide." She turned and began to walk away. Chase sighed. "Fine. All right. But I'll have you all know that I'm no traitor to the human race." Angie stopped and whirled back around, eyes snapping blue sparks. "I believe you, Chase, but I've been to a possible future. I saw people there who-who abandoned their race to save their own hides. I'd hate to make that mistake on anyone who finds our secret." Her voice was deadly cold. Chase gulped. "Remember when I said I didn't think you could be a scout? I take it all back." "I'm very protective of my friends." She went on softly, glaring at him. "If you'd seen half of the things I have, you'd be overprotective too." With a final look, she turned and began walking away again. "Is-is she okay?" Chase asked uncertainly. "She was so bright and happy earlier-" "Diamond's-seen things the rest of us haven't." Elisha explained softly. "By a general's plot she went into a future where she disappeared and saw what it was like. She saw Rachelle as an old woman that chose to die instead of submitting to Rubian, and had to kill us because we had been forced into evil service." "Who's Rubian?" Chase asked, confused. Malorie sighed and hung her head. "Oh boy. Here we go again."
* * * Rachelle managed to give the punching bag a mighty kick that sent it spinning up away. She leapt back before it could knock her down and beamed at the scouts. "Yes!" "Excellent, Rachelle, quite excellent!" Demetri exclaimed, watching Rachelle proudly. "Go Shellie!" Marisa cheered from the trapezes. "That's our little psychic." Mary crooned, stroking her manga book. Rachelle grinned proudly. "Thank you, Demetri. Thanks guys." She lifted herself up to rest on the tops of the monkey bars and grinned down at everyone. Chase eyed Demetri and Lune suspiciously. "Did that cat just talk?" He asked Elisha. "He most certainly did." Lune said snootily. She had been furious that someone else had found out about the Senshi's identities aside from Kyle, and had given Lacie a severe scolding. Chase's eyes grew to the size of saucers, then he grinned. "Oh, this is going to be fun." "Don't. Try. Anything." Lune warned him, extending razor-sharp claws. "We bear the marks of messing with Lune." Mary said, showing small scars around her wrist from where Lune's claws had been embedded in her from their first meeting. Angie and Lacie also revealed similar scars on arms and ankles. "Lune's got a temper as fierce as Hades himself." Lacie said with a laugh. "And don't make me give you another dose." Lune growled, face and tone affectionate despite the threat. "Lacie, you next." Lacie made sure Chase was watching before she calmly walked over to the punching bag and swung her arm back. She let loose a blow that sent the punching bag sailing off its supports and banging into the nearby wall, splitting into at the seams. The girls cheered as Lune and Demetri sighed. "Third one!" Demetri sighed. "Could you at least try to not destroy them, Lacie?" Lacie grinned, then looked over at Chase, then at Elisha, then pointedly at Chase again. She raised her fist and blew a little dust off it, eyes hard on his. Chase got the meaning loud and clear, and gulped. "Oh, chill out, Lacie." Angie said as Malorie and Elisha replaced the punching bag. She walked over to it and gave it a punch of her own. Again the bag went sailing away to burst after knocking into the wall. She grinned at Chase's expression. "We're not exactly weak little dolls, you know. Takes strength and brains to fight evil." "The same goes for you also, Angie!" Lune scolded. "Stop breaking our punching bags, they're not unlimited, you know!!" "I thought they grew from trees." Lacie said innocently. Lune muttered something under her breath while Demetri muffled his giggles with a cough. "Oddest bunch." Chase muttered. "I personally think you are all insane." "Quite right." Malorie said in agreement. "But take notice: we are insane Sailor Scouts. Much superior to your regular loony." "And the fate of the world rests in your hands." Chase sighed. "We are all going to die." "You sound like Elisha." Marisa said cockily. "Doom, death, and destruction. Cheer up! We've won so far, and we've managed to seriously annoy some generals." She jumped off from her perch on a trapeze and flipped several times before landing in front of him. "Speaking of doom and destruction." Rachelle murmured, raising her head and closing her eyes as if listening to a far off call. "They're coming." "Baddies?" Mary asked. The joking mood was vaporized in an instant. Each girl was rigid, expressions of concern or ferocity on each face. "Yes." Rachelle whispered, turning her head a little. Her eyes snapped open as she stared off in a certain direction. "It's.back at our school.." "Uh-oh." Malorie whispered. "But-no one's there now, right? No problems." "HELLO?!?!" Rachelle screeched. "Remember that lovely scene with Elisha's computer?!" "So?" Elisha said defensively. "That was several hours ago!" Rachelle growled angrily. "Think about it! If Uther or one of the others recognized where we were." "Yeah, but it was a while ago!" Elisha protested again. "Hidden cameras?! Video recordings?!" Rachelle pointed out, almost shaking in fury. "Come ON, people!! Shake a leg!!" "Jeez, all right, already!!" Lacie growled. "Take a chill pill! And you- " She pointed at Chase's guileless face. "In the corner, pal, and no peeking, or I'll have Lune scratch your eyes out." "And I will, too." Lune muttered. Chase obediently stood in the corner, facing the wall. Behind him, he heard Angie say, "And Demetri, you keep an eye on him, too. You can take an eye each." There was a pause as the cats meowed in agreement, then, "Diamond Star Power!!" "Amethyst Star Power!!" "Obsidian Star Power!!" "Garnet Star Power!" "Emerald Star Power!!" "Topaz Star Power!!" Chase couldn't help it. He peeked over his shoulder as Elisha raised her jeweled transformer. "Sapphire Star Power!!" "MAKE UP!!!!" As a blinding flash of light hit his eyes, he could just make out the form of Elisha before going blind. She seemed to be staring at him, as were all the others. He dimly realized this before the light blinded him, taking over his sight. He didn't mind. It was wonderful, this light. Soothing. Healing. Beautiful. He sighed as it slowly began fading away. Sailor Amethyst was at his throat in an instant. "HENTAI!!! I SAW YOU!!!! YOU WERE PEEKING!!" "Only-at-Elisha!!" Chase choked. If he thought this would help at all, it didn't. "GET HIM!!!" Lune, Diamond, Topaz, Emerald, and Obsidian shrieked, leaping at Chase with hands (or paws) outstretched. "HELP!!!" Chase yelled, running as quick as he could for the other end of the gym. Unfortunately, all the girls and Lune were much faster. Lune struck first. She leapt up and embedded claws into his neck and shoulders and began scratching as best she could. Chase yelled and stopped, trying to shake her off. This only allowed the rest of the girls to catch up with him. There would have been considerably less of Chase today had Sapphire not intervened. "FREEZE!!!!!" She bellowed in a voice that would have made a charging elephant stop dead. The girls all froze, Lune in mid-scratch, and looked open-eyed and open-mouthed at Sapphire. "Leave. Him. Alone." Sapphire ordered. "You can punish him later. Right now we've got some serious Sailor business to attend to, so let's move!" "She's right." Diamond said reluctantly, releasing Chase's head. "Come on, scouts. Lune: wait till we get back, okay?" "I won't let him get away." Lune promised, giving Chase such an evil eye that he shuddered. "Thank you." Diamond said, walking towards the doors of the gym with the rest of the scouts following. An unpleasant surprise was waiting for them. As they exited the gym and began to make their way along the busy streets, someone grabbed Obsidian's arm. "Hey!" She spluttered, yanking her arm away. The other Senshi stopped. "What's the deal?!" A bald, pudgy, short man-the Mayor-blinked up at her. Several policemen were behind him. "Oh, good, the Sailor Senshi. We've been looking all over for you!" "What for?" Emerald asked suspiciously, not liking the look of the policemen. A hard-faced policeman came up behind the Mayor. "You are all under arrest." All the girls gasped. "Under arrest?! What for?!" Topaz demanded. "Destruction of public property, breaking into a college during school hours, disturbance of the peace-many minor misdemeanors." The Mayor said soothingly. "We may just need you to do a few hours of community service-" "Hah!" Amethyst snorted. "Buddy, our whole life is community service! We've got to go fight bad guys and save the world, now, so if you'll excuse us-" "And also a few days in an institution." The Mayor added, blinking at Amethyst. "My dear, what you are talking about does not exist! There can be no 'evil generals' or bad guys aside from our everyday law breakers such as yourselves!" He gestured to the policemen who came forward with handcuffs. "Okay, that's it." Obsidian growled. She leapt forward and knocked the Mayor down before punching the lead policeman in the gut. He went down with a surprised grunt. The other policemen leapt forward. "Jeez, Obsidian!" Amethyst grated, joining the fray. "You could have just chilled for a moment and we would have just jumped away!" "They pissed me off." Obsidian snapped, ramming her elbow into one's gut. "These guys are very annoying." Topaz agreed from her other side, bashing a guy in the face. "How dare they call us lawbreakers!!" Emerald roared, outraged. "After all we've done!" She shook a man by the collar before dropping him. "ENOUGH!!!!!" Diamond yelled, glaring at the four fighting Senshi. They stopped to stare at her. "Come on!!" She snapped fiercely. "We've got more important business to attend to at the school! Worry about these guys later! Move it!" "She's right!" Garnet gasped, clutching her head. "Oooh, man.how many.." "Lotsa baddies?" Sapphire asked quietly. Garnet gulped and nodded, massaging her head. "Yes. At least four or five." Amethyst grinned as she took off. "Fun. Party time."
Ummmmmmmm. yeah.
^_^ I'm having a great deal of fun going back and reading through this. Very enjoyable. I can't believe some of the things I used to write. This is one of my better works, but still.
In case no one has figured this out, I might as well let out a secret: Things are going to heat up reeeeeal soon. Soon as I post the next chapter. Funfun!
*bounces*