Battle for Power Book 1: "Testing Ground"

By: Jay'a

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Sailor Moon was the first to arrive at the battle site, a warehouse. She gave the energy being an once-over as she collected herself. She took a breath and stepped forward. "Hey!" she shouted. It turned to her. "I shall no longer allow you to terrorize my city! I am Sailor Moon, champion of love and justice! I shall right wrongs and triumph over evil. And that means you!" Boy, she thought. I hate to admit it, but Jay'a was right. That IS kinda corny.

The energy being reshaped itself into the image of a larger than normal man. He was slender but well built, and he had a full head of dark straight hair. He spoke. "Well, well, Sailor Moon. You certainly took your sweet time getting here, didn't you? But no matter. Now that you're here, we can get down to business."

"You have no business in this city," she said firmly. "Leave now, peacefully." She dropped halfway into a fighting stance.

"Hmm, you certainly are sure of yourself. And stubborn to." He sighed. "And I was really hoping you'd cooperate."

"I have no wish to cooperate with someone who sees fit to destroy my city." She pulled her scepter from her subspace pocket. "MOON, SCEPTER, ELIMINATION!"

Quetan raised an eyebrow. He watched calmly as the light and energy from the scepter got closer. When it was merely a foot from his nose, he snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash of light. Girl's got guts, he thought.

Sailor Moon stopped as he disappeared. She looked around the warehouse but didn't see him anywhere. Uh oh. I think I… The ground started to shake underneath her. The stress on the floor caused cracks to form. As the tremors increased, she lost her balance and almost fell into a crack. …okay, I know I'm in trouble here.

Quetan appeared in front of her. "I'm terribly sorry," he sad as the tremors continued. "I've forgotten my manners and have not introduced myself. I am called Quetan by those who wish to call me anything."

Sailor Moon scooted back in surprise. She moved as far as could, doing her best to avoid the cracks. She glanced up at Quetan and swallowed heavily. Okay, stay calm. The others will be here soon. She glanced at the door. I hope.

Quetan peered at her expression, a mixture of shock, confusion, and fear. "Ah," he said, understanding, "the tremors." As he spoke, the tremors lessened from a pounding roar to a mere purr.

Sailor Moon slowly stood, making sure she had her balance. Time to figure out what in the world is going on, she thought. "What do you want?" she asked.

Quetan looked thoughtful. "Well, you see -"

"MARS, FIRE, IGNITE!"

Sailor Mars' attack slammed into Quetan from behind. He pitched forward slightly but didn't fall. He turned slowly to Sailor Mars. "That," he said, "was extremely rude." The tremors increased again.

Sailor Mars jumped back in surprise, then lost her balance and fell. She watched in fear as he raised his hand and a bolt of energy appeared heading straight for her. She screamed and covered her head.

Fffwwttt. An object came flying through the air at the energy bolt, stopping it cold. What the - a rose? Quetan looked around for this new interruption, and was amused to see a shadow with a top hat and cape standing on a high windowsill.

The shadow spoke. "You have seen fit to destroy this beautiful city, and then harm the ones sworn to protect it." He jumped down from the sill. "I will not permit you to continue your rampage. I am Tuxedo Mask!" He produced another rose.

Quetan was about to speak, but he was cut off by the arrival of three more sailor-suited women. They and the red one, who'd interrupted before, joined the man. Each introduced herself and posed.

"Sailor Mercury!" (pose)

"Sailor Mars!" (pose)

"Sailor Jupiter!" (pose)

"Sailor Venus!" (pose)

"Sailor Scouts!" they all chimed together, reposing themselves around the man.

Quetan did his beat to hid and amused grin and raised an eyebrow. "How much time do you waste preparing your speeches and poses?" he asked.

Sailor Moon watched the scene unfold and consciously had to keep herself from smacking her forehead. Even she could see that Quetan was not in the least impressed by everyone's little show. I never realized how silly that all sounds, she thought. I'll have to do something about that later… If there is a later. The Scouts started their attacks.

*****

Sailor Earth ran across the tops of the buildings. I hope I'm not too late to do anything if I need to, she thought. But I kind of hope I don't have to. Boy, Mom would yell at me!

She reached the warehouse and found a high, open window from which to watch the battle. She'd gotten there just in time to see the Scouts start their attacks and to see Tuxedo mask carry Sailor Moon to safety. They seem to be okay, Sailor Earth thought. I'll just stick around to watch.

*****

Tuxedo Mask set Sailor Moon down, away from the action. "Sailor Moon, are you -"

"Never mind that. We have to get back in there."

"But Sailor Moon -"

"Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask! Look out!" Venus yelled. A stray energy bolt of Quetan's was headed straight for them.

The two spun around to look. She clung to him. "Darien…" she whispered.

*****

"Oh crap!" Sailor Earth smacked herself in the forehead. "What do I do?! What do I do, what do I do?!" She paced on the windowsill. "An attack! Yeah, an attack, but I don't know one. Well, I'll make one up. In need of inspiration…lightning. That looks pretty good. But what to say? Hmm." She frowned, and then grinned. Got it.

She raised her arms high above her head. They came straight down in front of her as she yelled, "EARTH, LIGHTNING, STRIKE!" Teal-ish energy shot through the air, dissipating the bolt in a flash of light, before it could hit Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. Whoa, that was pretty cool, she thought. I better do it again before they figure out what's going on. She focused on Quetan. "EARTH, LIGHTNING, STRIKE!"

Sailor Earth's attack caught Quetan off guard. The teal energy slammed into his gut, sending him toppling backwards. He raised an eyebrow of admiration at the girl on the windowsill, and then glanced at Sailor Moon. "Well," he said, "this has certainly been an enlightening encounter. I look forward to the next one." With that, he disappeared.

Sailor Moon breathed a sigh of relief as she watched this new Scout jump down from the window. She frowned as something else caught her eye. She glanced up, but there was nothing there. Odd, she thought. I could have sworn someone else was there. Must've been a shadow… She turned her full attention to the new Scout.

Sailor Earth, for her part, looked uneasily at her parents. They'll either hug me, or ground me, or both, she thought. She stepped forward to meet Sailor Moon.

Sailor Moon bowed. "We thank you for your assistance. But I must admit that I was…unaware…that the Earth even had a Sailor Scout."

Sailor Earth blinked in surprise. She's being so formal. She doesn't recognize me! I don't believe this! "Well, I," she paused to clear her throat, "I haven't been at this very long."

"I see." Sailor Moon nodded. "We are having a meeting tomorrow morning and training afterwards at the Palace. I would like for you to be there."

Tuxedo mask jumped in. "You're welcome to stay at the Palace, if you like. There's obviously plenty of space, and we'd like to get to know you. You could walk back with us."

Sailor Earth panicked slightly. Oh no! If I'm going to hide this, I can't walk back with them! "Uh, no, thank you. That won't be necessary. I need to go back to, to, to where I belong." She jumped back up towards the windowsill. Before she reached the top, she turned and smiled. "Do be careful going home. Until tomorrow." And she was gone.