Chapter 3: Psychic Fire
Parallax Katzenjammer wasn't surprised that the Starlights were living at the palace. That was because she had seen it in a psychic vision. Noting their black uniforms, she wondered if they had had some dark and spooky part of their past. Those were the thoughts she had when she woke up that Monday morning. She started to get out of bed when a small, squealing figure bounced up and nearly knocked her over.
"It's our first day of school in Japan and it's gonna be fun and it's neat that you're from Germany and I'm from Italy and why are you looking at me like that?" the figure asked in a babbling voice.
"Because I need to put my glasses on to see you," Parallax said dryly.
"Sure, you can borrow mine!" the figure giggled. Parallax ignored that statement and put them on. She now could see that the strange figure was Mozzarella Rigatoni, one of the other girls summoned to come to Japan. They were going to be in the same class; they were the same age, both 10-year olds. Not for long, though, Parallax thought, April 15 is a little more than a month away. But aside from their age and their eyeglasses, the two girls seemed to have nothing in common. Mozzarella's idea of a good time was running around and playing sports while Parallax liked to read horror stories. Before Mozzarella could cause any more trouble, Princess Chibi-Usa entered the room.
"So THAT'S where you went! Come back here, you imp, Yaten told me you stole the toothbrush Mommy gave her," Chibi-Usa said sternly. Parallax liked Chibi-Usa; she was only a year older than herself and Mozzarella but sometimes the age difference seemed like 10 years. Parallax was intruiged by the dark, gloomy vibes that the pink-haired princess gave off sometimes, like she had had dark, depressing secrets in her past. Too bad her old school in Germany hadn't offered "Senshi History" as a subject like she knew many schools in the world did, it might've answered some of her questions.
Umi struggled and squirmed, but it was no use. She couldn't get loose from the bindings that held her down to her bed. She could see Fuu taking a monster seed to the teleportation pool.
"Let me go! I'll stop trying to kill Mokona if you do!" Umi begged.
"No. How do we know you're not just saying that to escape?" Fuu retorted.
"Please let her go! This isn't right, Fuu!" Hikaru pleaded.
"Yeah, I thought we were friends!"
"Shut up, Umi, you should know better than to kill our food supply!" Fuu snapped as she plunked the monster egg in the pool where it disappeared in a spurt of green light.
"But don't you see? We should send Mokona against that Sailor Peanut Butter girl again, she doesn't want to hurt him. We can use that against her," Umi protested. Fuu turned back around to face her with a stern glare.
"We are not trying to do that right now. What we must do is send the monsters to destroy the Senshi as they are awakened, that is the moment that they are at their weakest. If possible, the monsters should be able to at least try to destroy the bracelets so they CAN'T awaken. That is our mission, Umi. It is not to send Mokona into danger for the purpose of tricking one Senshi, especially since she ended up believing that Mokona was a fake."
Parallax looked around. Good, no one was there. She could eat her lunch in peace. She opened the bento box the servants at the palace had made for her. Packed in on top was an odd orange bracelet. She took it out, put it on, and an orange glow came out of it and blocked her vision.
When she could see again, she wasn't at school anymore, but on a rusty-looking rocky area. She could see a teenage girl in a red and white Senshi outfit, shooting fire at a monster. The monster was destroyed, and then the girl turned to her silently, her long black hair flipping around. The girl walked towards her, holding out a ball of fire. Instead of being scared, Parallax reached out to touch it. The fire suddenly grew and consumed her, but instead of being hot and painful, it just smelled like cinnamon. Too much like cinnamon. So much that it overwhelmed her and she blacked out.
"Hey! Wake up, Parallax! Wake up or I'll eat your lunch!" urged a playful voice. Parallax opened her eyes to find Mozzarella sitting next to her.
"I had a dream...fire...cinnamon...a Senshi..." Parallax droned, still somewhat in the trance. Mozzarella tried to sit her up, which was difficult since Parallax was not only much taller than her, she was also chubbier.
"Come on, silly! Let's talk about the Starlights!" she giggled, trying to change the subject. Mozzarella wanted this strange psychic girl to play with her, especially since they were in the same class. Talking together would be a good start to that.
"I guess. What about the Starlights?" Parallax asked, coming out of her vision finally.
"Did you hear how their planet was destroyed? Some villain in a Senshi outfit came and blew it up, then she took them back here and drained away their Senshi powers so they can't transform anymore. Isn't that weird? Why didn't she just kill them?" Mozzarella wondered.
"Possibly she needs them for some use. Or maybe she thinks that Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto will kill them. That where she sent them first, and I've always heard that they didn't like each other," Parallax mused.
"Yeah, but why didn't she do it herself? Why did she even leave that house when she came to drop them off? Why didn't she fight Sailor Peanut Butter and Sailor Popsicle? That was really weird, I bet she could've killed them easily! Why is she having the Magic Knights do it? 'Cause that's who everyone thinks the new enemy is, the Magic Knights. That sounds kinda boring, letting other people do the fun fighting work for you."
"Not everyone is as energetic as you. Possibly she's just plain lazy."
"A lazy villain? HAHAHAHAHA!!! Then we have nothing to fear!" laughed Mozzarella. She then gasped as a horned shadow appeared on the ground in front of her.
"Don't be so sure. Puu told me that the evil Senshi had the aura of the Black Moon family," said the warning voice of a child who was only a little bit older than them. The two girls turned around to see that the girl was Chibi-Usa, her pointy hairbuns making her shadow look like it had horns.
"Them? Those guys are back again? I thought Sailor Moon turned them into good guys," Mozzarella said, confused.
"No, not Prince Diamond's group. Just someone else from Nemesis. Puu said her Senshi aura was like theirs," Chibi-Usa answered, a slight whimper in her voice. She suddenly burst into tears, crumpling to the ground. "No....Wiseman...I am not loved by anyone? They...they didn't come to my birthday? Everyone hates me? Stop! STOP!!! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, WISEMAN! MAMA!! PAPA!!! I'M ALL ALONE!!! Loud noises...dust...the ground shaking...MAMA!!! IT'S MY FAULT!! IT'S MY FAULT!!!" Chibi-Usa was screaming at the voices of the past, at the Wiseman who had made her believe that no one loved her, and at her memories of accidentally causing the Crystal Palace to be attacked. Parallax reached out to her, curious and also concerned for the princess, when a giant vine smacked the ground between them, luckily hitting neither. Chibi-Usa seemed to come out of her trance as she and the other girls noticed there was a weird plant monster sitting nearby.
"I won't let that happen again! Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"
"Cinnamon Power, Make Up!" Mozzarella didn't have a transformation, but she went into a martial-arts fighting stance she had seen on TV.
"Pink Sugar Heart Attack!" The monster countered the attack by wrapping up Chibi Moon in another vine that began to squeeze her.
"Hey! Let her go! Stop giving her nightmares!" shouted Mozzarella, and she jumped at the plant monster. It shot out a second vine and tied her up too. Now it was Sailor Cinnamon's turn; she had to stop being so distracted by her curiosity about Chibi-Usa's dark past and make sure she had a future too.
"Fire Soul!" she called, using the attack that Sailor Mars had so long ago. The stream of fire shot out of her fingers, setting the plant monster on fire.
"Pink Sugar Heart Attack!" Chibi Moon tried again, the combination of the two attacks defeating the monster. She and Mozzarella fell to the ground, rolling the fire off of their clothes.
"Let me go! What's the point if it doesn't work anyway!" Umi screamed, still tied down.
"I was late in sending out that monster because you were complaining and arguing with me," Fuu retorted.
"Please stop fighting, you two. We should use the teamwork we learned when we were in Cephiro!" Hikaru begged.