Danielle bent forward stretching her arms as far as she could.
Slowly, she moved them to the right, reaching for her toes. Then, she did
the same on her left. She slowly stood up and walked to the middle of the
room. She sighed as she waited for the next song to start.
"Why do I do this to myself?" she asked aloud. "It could be because I'm nuts."
As the music started, she shook her head and launched into her routine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celeste caught up with Rini as she came down the school steps.
"Dare I ask what was going on this afternoon as you nearly plowed me over on your way out of the cafeteria?"
"I was chasing Hotaru. I was telling her about the guy I ran into."
"Ah. You have your gym uniform with you, right?"
"I should. Why?"
"Diana and Khons want us to learn how to fight without using our powers in case we need to. Come on, one of the practice rooms should be free."
Rini followed Celeste back through the school to the woman's locker room. The two changed and Celeste led the way to the practice room the two were going to be using. They could hear music as they approached the hall containing the practice rooms. Celeste indicated that the second door on the right was the room they were going to be using.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Danielle was so focused on her routine that she didn't notice Rini and Celeste as they entered the room. They stood against the wall, watching the end of her perfectly executed routine. As she straightened from her final back flip, she was startled by the clapping she heard. She turned to see the pair.
"Oh my god. I didn't realize any one else was here," she said, turning red.
"Sorry, we were coming to use the room, but didn't want to interrupt you," Rini told her.
"We're sorry if we startled you. You're amazing," Celeste added.
"Thanks. I didn't realize anyone had signed up for this room. I normally practice in the gymnastics area, but since the room was empty, I figured I'd work on my floor routine today."
"It's not a problem. I'm Celeste Deon. This is Rini Kamra."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Danielle Colin. I'll leave now so you guys can use the room."
"Actually, we were wondering if maybe you could show us some of the basics?" asked Rini.
"I'd love to."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Almost an hour later, Rini lay sprawled on the floor. Celeste was bent over, holding the bar that was attached to the wall. Both were breathing hard. Danielle stooped to pick up her water bottle.
"Are you two ok?" she asked before taking a sip.
"I'm fine," Rini replied. "I'm just not used to all that flipping and tumbling."
"Me neither," chimed in Celeste. "And I thought our track practices could be brutal."
Danielle laughed. "Yeah, it's quite the workout."
Rini and Celeste exchanged glances. "Danielle, would you be willing to work with us like once a week? We'd love to learn more." Celeste asked.
"Same time and day works for me if it works for you."
"Works for us," Rini said. "Thank you so much. I think it's time I got home."
Rini pulled herself up off the floor as Celeste started to gather up her stuff. Rini grabbed her water bottle off the floor and groaned.
"You might be sore for a while," Danielle warned. She laughed as the other girls groaned in reply.
"Just what I wanted to hear. Thanks so much. We'll see you next week. Bye," Celeste said.
"Bye."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Khons, that energy mass is still on the move," Diana announced.
"Is it still heading our way?"
"Yes. Not to mention there are several other energy masses in this area already."
"Well, we know the yellow and red ones belong to Celeste and Rini."
"I know. It's the gray ones I'm worried about. They could be potential scouts or enemies."
"Is Command still working on a way of sorting them?"
"Unfortunately, so far the best they've been able to achieve is that alarm that sounds when a monster attacks and no Sailor Scout is present."
"That's good for sounding an alarm. Horrible for preemptive measures."
"You're telling me? There's thousands of people in this town and anyone of them could be a Sailor Scout or enemy."
They both heard the front door open and shut, signaling Rini's arrival home. As she walked into her bedroom, the two guardians noticed how worn out she looked. They exchanged worried glances. Rini noticed this.
"Don't worry about me. Just very tired and worn out from the gymnastics."
"Gymnastics? I thought you guys were going to go over hand-to-hand stuff," Diana asked.
"We ran into an awesome gymnast who's going to work with us once a week."
"Ah. The flips and tumbles will come in handy," Khons pointed out.
"That's what we figured," Rini replied. "But right now, I'm so exhausted. I'm going to bed. Don't even think about waking me up unless there's a monster on the loose or it's time for school."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that night, Rini's computer started to beep. Diana woke up and ran to the terminal. She entered her security code and the alarm silenced itself. Scanning the screen, she was relieved to see that it was just an important message from Control. They had completed a new energy-tracking program, which they claimed was better than the old one. Diana downloaded and installed it. She radioed Khons, but didn't get a response.
"Just my luck. Either he forgot the transmitter or he's out like a light," Diana groaned.
She ran the program and scanned the screen. The new program broke the energies into three categories. The first was for the positively identified Sailor Scouts. Second, was the strongest energies, those that exceeded the minimum energy level possessed by a Sailor Scout. Third, were those higher than normal levels but not the level possessed by a Sailor Scout. Diana groaned as she looked at the number of category 2 blobs.
"Great, only half a dozen more blobs than there are Sailor Scouts," she thought. "I don't even want to think about what they could be."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, let me get this straight," Rini started. "We now have a program that tracks energies, but it's saying there are more potential Scouts than there are?"
"Pretty much," Khons replied.
"That's messed up. How accurate is this stupid thing anyway?" asked Celeste. "I mean obviously it can't count."
"It's very accurate," Diana replied.
"So what's with the extras?" Celeste pressed.
"They could be enemies or 'keystones' or just 'normal' people with high energy levels," Khons answered.
"What is a 'keystone'?" asked Rini.
"It's a person who holds a key piece of Crystal Tokyo within their body," Diana supplied.
"My head's spinning enough. I don't even want to know anymore than that," Celeste groaned.
"It'll make sense later. I promise," Khons offered.
"Thanks. But until then, how do we tell them apart? For that matter, how do we know who's a category 2 and who's a category 1?" asked Celeste.
"We can't except for tracking them through the program. Control is working on a way of being able to tell who they are. They are also working on a kind of homing device, too."
"That'd be helpful," Rini replied.
"Yes, it would. Until then, we'll just have to keep fighting the monsters and hope Control's program works when it's developed.
"Why do I do this to myself?" she asked aloud. "It could be because I'm nuts."
As the music started, she shook her head and launched into her routine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celeste caught up with Rini as she came down the school steps.
"Dare I ask what was going on this afternoon as you nearly plowed me over on your way out of the cafeteria?"
"I was chasing Hotaru. I was telling her about the guy I ran into."
"Ah. You have your gym uniform with you, right?"
"I should. Why?"
"Diana and Khons want us to learn how to fight without using our powers in case we need to. Come on, one of the practice rooms should be free."
Rini followed Celeste back through the school to the woman's locker room. The two changed and Celeste led the way to the practice room the two were going to be using. They could hear music as they approached the hall containing the practice rooms. Celeste indicated that the second door on the right was the room they were going to be using.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Danielle was so focused on her routine that she didn't notice Rini and Celeste as they entered the room. They stood against the wall, watching the end of her perfectly executed routine. As she straightened from her final back flip, she was startled by the clapping she heard. She turned to see the pair.
"Oh my god. I didn't realize any one else was here," she said, turning red.
"Sorry, we were coming to use the room, but didn't want to interrupt you," Rini told her.
"We're sorry if we startled you. You're amazing," Celeste added.
"Thanks. I didn't realize anyone had signed up for this room. I normally practice in the gymnastics area, but since the room was empty, I figured I'd work on my floor routine today."
"It's not a problem. I'm Celeste Deon. This is Rini Kamra."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Danielle Colin. I'll leave now so you guys can use the room."
"Actually, we were wondering if maybe you could show us some of the basics?" asked Rini.
"I'd love to."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Almost an hour later, Rini lay sprawled on the floor. Celeste was bent over, holding the bar that was attached to the wall. Both were breathing hard. Danielle stooped to pick up her water bottle.
"Are you two ok?" she asked before taking a sip.
"I'm fine," Rini replied. "I'm just not used to all that flipping and tumbling."
"Me neither," chimed in Celeste. "And I thought our track practices could be brutal."
Danielle laughed. "Yeah, it's quite the workout."
Rini and Celeste exchanged glances. "Danielle, would you be willing to work with us like once a week? We'd love to learn more." Celeste asked.
"Same time and day works for me if it works for you."
"Works for us," Rini said. "Thank you so much. I think it's time I got home."
Rini pulled herself up off the floor as Celeste started to gather up her stuff. Rini grabbed her water bottle off the floor and groaned.
"You might be sore for a while," Danielle warned. She laughed as the other girls groaned in reply.
"Just what I wanted to hear. Thanks so much. We'll see you next week. Bye," Celeste said.
"Bye."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Khons, that energy mass is still on the move," Diana announced.
"Is it still heading our way?"
"Yes. Not to mention there are several other energy masses in this area already."
"Well, we know the yellow and red ones belong to Celeste and Rini."
"I know. It's the gray ones I'm worried about. They could be potential scouts or enemies."
"Is Command still working on a way of sorting them?"
"Unfortunately, so far the best they've been able to achieve is that alarm that sounds when a monster attacks and no Sailor Scout is present."
"That's good for sounding an alarm. Horrible for preemptive measures."
"You're telling me? There's thousands of people in this town and anyone of them could be a Sailor Scout or enemy."
They both heard the front door open and shut, signaling Rini's arrival home. As she walked into her bedroom, the two guardians noticed how worn out she looked. They exchanged worried glances. Rini noticed this.
"Don't worry about me. Just very tired and worn out from the gymnastics."
"Gymnastics? I thought you guys were going to go over hand-to-hand stuff," Diana asked.
"We ran into an awesome gymnast who's going to work with us once a week."
"Ah. The flips and tumbles will come in handy," Khons pointed out.
"That's what we figured," Rini replied. "But right now, I'm so exhausted. I'm going to bed. Don't even think about waking me up unless there's a monster on the loose or it's time for school."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that night, Rini's computer started to beep. Diana woke up and ran to the terminal. She entered her security code and the alarm silenced itself. Scanning the screen, she was relieved to see that it was just an important message from Control. They had completed a new energy-tracking program, which they claimed was better than the old one. Diana downloaded and installed it. She radioed Khons, but didn't get a response.
"Just my luck. Either he forgot the transmitter or he's out like a light," Diana groaned.
She ran the program and scanned the screen. The new program broke the energies into three categories. The first was for the positively identified Sailor Scouts. Second, was the strongest energies, those that exceeded the minimum energy level possessed by a Sailor Scout. Third, were those higher than normal levels but not the level possessed by a Sailor Scout. Diana groaned as she looked at the number of category 2 blobs.
"Great, only half a dozen more blobs than there are Sailor Scouts," she thought. "I don't even want to think about what they could be."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, let me get this straight," Rini started. "We now have a program that tracks energies, but it's saying there are more potential Scouts than there are?"
"Pretty much," Khons replied.
"That's messed up. How accurate is this stupid thing anyway?" asked Celeste. "I mean obviously it can't count."
"It's very accurate," Diana replied.
"So what's with the extras?" Celeste pressed.
"They could be enemies or 'keystones' or just 'normal' people with high energy levels," Khons answered.
"What is a 'keystone'?" asked Rini.
"It's a person who holds a key piece of Crystal Tokyo within their body," Diana supplied.
"My head's spinning enough. I don't even want to know anymore than that," Celeste groaned.
"It'll make sense later. I promise," Khons offered.
"Thanks. But until then, how do we tell them apart? For that matter, how do we know who's a category 2 and who's a category 1?" asked Celeste.
"We can't except for tracking them through the program. Control is working on a way of being able to tell who they are. They are also working on a kind of homing device, too."
"That'd be helpful," Rini replied.
"Yes, it would. Until then, we'll just have to keep fighting the monsters and hope Control's program works when it's developed.