Senshi & Spies United, Episode 2: "Fearful Freedom"

By: Sokai

Disclaimer: As we all know, the great manga/anime that is Sailormoon is owned by the even more great Takeuchi Naoko, not I, Sokai. Nor do I own the very adorable anime-styled American cartoon, Totally Spies, which is owned by the cool people of TF1-Marathon Animation. However, the storyline, the character Princess Lenia and any other minor characters and/or attacks I will put into here (and anything else) IS owned by me. So, please...REMEMBER that. :)

Note: This episode was created/written in October 2004.

It was now the beginning of Winter, a few months since the news broadcast concerning the release of Tim Scam, as well as Rei's disturbing premonition that may or may not have pertained to him had both occurred. The increasingly cold weather and beginnings of heavy snow fall brought about completely opposite, almost "warming" effects upon the citizens of Tokyo, Japan, surprisingly.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying Old Man Winter's newfound presence, not at all minding the way he'd use their vast municipal as his own personal canvas to create frosty, although beautiful, portraits along riverbanks or the now naked trees that stood tall and proud around the city.

And, while it did appear to hold true that nearly every man, woman, and child embraced the new season with great relish, there was at least one individual in particular who remained just as uneasy and alert as she had been during the remainder of the Fall season.

Hino Rei silently trekked through the glossy sidewalks that steadily became buried under the white, blanketing snow that continued to fall that chilly Tokyo evening, head hidden under her winter coat's hood and eyes cast downward.

Her mind was racing with a wide variety of assorted thoughts, some important while some remained rather trivial: what would she eat when she got back home; where had she put her favorite yellow sweater that complimented her fair complexion rather well; would there be enough hot water to take a nice warm bath before bed . . .

And then there were the more pending matters that solely she, among her friends, seemed to be increasingly concerned with -- that notion in itself bothering her all the more. Even after having been informed of the miku-san's startling premontion, her friends continued to remain placid towards the matter. Admittedly, nothing life-threatening had occurred since having had the vision, nor had any sightings of youma been reported.

Still, there was something unsettling about the way everyone around her, it felt like, seemed to take on a sudden carefree attitude, almost as though caution or everyday apprehension had been miraculously thrown to the wind. Something just didn't feel right. . .

Too bad a youma isn't here right now . . . it would give me a formal excuse to use my fire power right about now . . . Rei thought rather glumly as an icy gust of wind forcefully caressed her cheeks with its glacial-like fingers when she had at last reached her destination.

Stepping through the front door of her grandfather's and her home, Rei was greeted by the sweet smell of Red Bean Paste Dumplings cooking in the kitchen, as well as the warmth of the crackling fire burning steadily in the living room.

"Ojiisan! I'm back from the study session with Usagi-tachi! Mmm, dinner smells really good, although I'm sorry that you had to get it started at all, since it's my job, and --"

"Shizukesa, Rei-Rei-chan; you are my granddaughter, not my servant girl. One night of having to make dinner will not do this old man in, I can tell you that much! Here, let me have your drenched coat, and then you can take a nice warm bath I've already drawn for you before dinner," Rei's grandfather interrupted her politely as he welcomed her home, peeling off her heavy winter coat and directing her toward the wash room.

As she allowed her grandfather to shoo her away to get washed up before eating the delicious-smelling food for dinner, Rei couldn't help but to gratefully allow her former worries about the city's newfound behavior wash away with the dirt and fatigue while beginning her bath rituals several minutes later.

If no one else is going to worry about it all, then why should I? I'm a teenager, for Kami's sake! I should be worrying about regular teenaged things, like who will be my next boyfriend, or something trivial like that, as Minako and even Usagi do . . . though, Kami knows she shouldn't, she thought, a small smirk grazing her lips as her mind briefly wandered to her two blonde friends. Her amethyst eyes momentarily became sealed off from the world as she closed them while her curvaceous body slowly sank further into the bathtub, the steam filling up and clouding both the entire room ad well as her tired mind for the time being.

"Dinner was wonderful, ojiisan; domo arigato gozaimasu. I think I'll head to bed now, though . . . pretty exhausted from a very long day. Oyasumi nasi, ojiisan; koi shiteru," Rei called to her grandfather an hour later after dinner, blowing a tender kiss goodnight as she walked down the hall towards her bedroom, sleep already clouding her amethyst colored eyes.

Collapsing onto her mattress, not bothering to take off her night robe, Rei instantly fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillows, a small, secure smile forming upon her lips.

For once, everything felt as it should. No youma. No more premonitions. And no battles to be fought and won for the sake of this world. Just peace and . . .

"Hai, hai! I'm watching it right now, Kenji-san! I just turned on the television . . . aya! A person would have to be crazy to climb as high as they could atop Tokyo Tower, and then to just jump off like that! Hmm . . . I suppose you're right, Kenji-san . . . you would have to be quite insane to do something that foolish . . . either that, or completely fearless . . ."

The sounds of her grandfather's sudden heated telephone conversation crept into Rei's bedroom and through her ears, stirring her awake.

Yawning, she stretched and sat upright, gazing at the alarm clock upon her night stand through blurry eyes. Its neon green face brightly shown the numbers eleven thirty, only twenty or so minutes since she had first fallen asleep.

"What's with all the noise? Better go check and see if ojjisan's all right," Rei murmured to herself groggily as she regrettably climbed out of bed and headed back down the hall towards the living room where her grandfather sat, beady eyes glued to the bright television screen as he ended his phone call.

". . . Very true, Kenji-san. I seem to remember another foolish act like this happening a few days ago, although it had never been reported, oddly enough. Tomoyo-san, the young woman who runs the Tachikawa Corner Store, had a similar sudden burst of bravery and lack of inhibition, herself, for whatever reason!

She had walked straight across the street to that animal shop of Honda's, went right up to the snake tank, and kissed one of the cobras squarely upon its head!

And this coming from a normally shy, quiet girl who never did anything daring, either! Not to mention that her mother always talks of how completely terrified she is of snakes, the one she'd kissed being extremely poisonous, to boot!

If I had not been there to witness with my own two eyes, I'd have never believed it . . . I tell you, Kenji-san, I often wonder what's happening to this world of ours . . . Hai . . . hai . . . good night, then,"

Rei listened to her grandfather finish the last of his intense conversation before entering the room, watching as he hung up the phone crookedly, eyes never once leaving the television screen that now showed random photos of the perpetrator who'd miraculously defied death.

The news reporter's underlining voice was in the middle of explaining that the daredevil was a young man, who looked to be around his late twenty's, as her grandfather softly murmured in mixed shock and awe,

"Amazing . . . simply amazing . . ." He continued to listen to the last of the arresting report, the screen now showing the weather report.

Rei watched him slightly jump out of his seat just as he'd finally become knowledgeable of her presence.

"Oh! Rei-Rei-chan! What is the matter, child? Did I wake you? Gomen nasai," her grandfather asked, startled as his face became flushed, a warm smile forming across it while watching his only granddaughter walk over to the phone and replace it correctly.

Rei turned to face him, her own smile upon her fair visage as she shook her raven head, eyes absentmindedly gazing back at the television screen that now displayed random commercials.

"No, no, ojiisan; it's all right. Demo . . . what was all the commotion about? What happened? Something about a man jumping off Tokyo Tower? Why? When?"

"My, my! Such eager questions from one so usually calm and collected! Nevertheless, this is not something I'd wish to discuss with you, even if that young man was very lucky to have survived such an act . . . why don't you go back to bed now, and forget --"

"Well, yes, but, ojjisan, I just wanted to kn--"

"Please . . . granddaughter . . . as my only granddaughter, you are even more precious to me than had you been one of fifty granddaughters, although still remaining just as loved, of course . . . I do not wish for you to go looking for trouble, and getting yourself involved with matters that may not need . . . your kind of 'help . . .'"

Rei's mouth, which had opened to object once again, had closed just then as her grandfather finished his sentence, a sad, worried smile slowly replacing his formerly warm simper just moments before.

She had always managed to forget, it seemed, that he now knew of her well kept secret of being the infamous Sailormars that most everyone in the city seemed to regard -- the Sailor Senshi in general.

They stared at one another for a few lingering moments without a word, the television the only thing to continue to make a sound as it began to advertise a new laundry detergent called, "Happy, Happy! Go, Go! Laundry Detergent."

Taking a low, tiresome deep breath, Rei finally broke the uncomfortable silence between them as she sat down next to him and clasped his dry, callous and wrinkled hands between her dissimilar own.

"Ojjisan . . . I honestly don't know what to say . . . except . . . that I'm sorry. Believe me, it is never my intent to cause you any kind of worry, and if I could I'd make it so I never would have to again in the future.

But I can't . . . I can't change who I am . . . who I was destined to be well before I became your only granddaughter . . . demo, for you, I will not worry or concern myself with any of these strange occurrences, I prom --"

The familiar jingle that alerted news viewers of when breaking news had been received suddenly sounded through the screen and interrupted her vow to her grandfather, to which she couldn't help but (although still feeling a tad guilty) be slightly thankful for.

"This just in! We've just received word that there seems to be a gaggle of what appear to be youma, something our city hasn't had any trouble with for a long while now . . .

Eye witnesses say that they were spotted heading towards Tokyo Tower mysteriously, and not to mention ironically, and were described to resemble look like young, naked females with smooth bodies like . . . a mirror, almost.

Authorities have already been dispatched to the area, and have advised citizens to stay as far away from the vicinity as possible . . ."

Rei let out yet another sigh, this one more through defeat than fatigue as she managed to tear her eyes away from the screen to gaze sadly up at her grandfather, who forced himself to put on a brave resolve, if only for his girl's sake.

"Ojjisan, I --"

"No . . . you don't have to say it. And, while I wish with all that is left within these tired bones that your destiny were allowed to be proficiently different, I understand the importance of your duty . . . and, I am very proud of you . . . Now, go; protect the city we all so dearly love . . ."

Relieved at his understanding (although quite sure his heart was hurting as much as her own), Rei embraced her grandfather tightly and whispered a faint "Thank you" and "I love you" into his ear before releasing him, quickly leaving the comfort of her home.

I don't know what I'm about to encounter, but whatever it is, I'll be sure to make it back in one piece . . . for you, ojjisan, Rei solemnly promised to herself as she ran through the deepening snow, about to henshin and contact her other senshi teammates through her compact communicator.

YYYYYYYYYYYY

"Ahh, another school day down, with only glamorous pedicures, shopping, and movies, movies, movies to await us later tonight! Girls, this is what being a Beverly Hills gal is all about!" Clover gushed excitedly as she inhaled the slightly brisk Winter air; although, of course, one would never have guessed it was the beginning of the Winter season, judging by the surroundings.

The sun was continuing to shine brightly as always, with citizens walking about the city in nothing but tank tops or shorts while the weather gradually became cooler as the weeks rolled by.

Regardless, it was apparent, it seemed, that everyone planned on taking advantage of the current atmosphere for as long as they could until it was gone from them for the next couple of months.

Clover, Alex, and Sam were no different in that notion.

"Yes, definitely! That chemistry lab took a lot out of me . . . like I'm ever really gonna need to know what emperor and stockingmeter formulas are," Alex agreed, lightly scoffing while resting her hands behind her head as the trio walked off school property and towards the parking lot to go to their shared home while their parents were all vacationing in Europe until the end of the semester.

Sam sighed, slapping her hand to her forehead as corrected her youngest friend.

"That's 'empirical' and 'stoichiometric' formulas, Alex; and, judging by how you didn't even know how to say their names right, I'd say that you could use all the help you can get in the subject. Besides, it is very fascinating, and --"

"Um, geek alert much, Sam? School's out! We're no longer required, by law, I might add, to talk about anything even remotely related to academics until tomorrow morning, thanks! Now, let's go home and drop off our school stuff before we --"

The rest of Clover's sentence was abruptly cut short as the familiar sound of her lavender colored and now upgraded compowder, the "X-Powder," sounded from within the pocket of her khakis.

Suppressing a faint, annoyed sigh, she pulled it out and flipped it open to see the face of Jerry while she, Sam, and Alex hurriedly moved to behind a bush to obscure anyone's sight from seeing what was going on.

"This had better be important, Jere, because we were just about to head over to the mall for our pedicure appointment, not to mention --"

"I'm sorry, Clover, but I'm afraid the ritualistic grooming of your toes will just have to wait. I need the three of you to promptly report to WOOHP headquarters straight away; Brittany and Mandy have already been notified and are on their way, as well."

"Well, so much for having a relaxing evening to ourselves, you guys. Guess we'd better head on over, and --"

"No way, Sammi! This week has been nothing but stressful for me, and the 'ritualistic grooming of my toes' most certainly cannot wait! It's not like Jere doesn't have other WOOHP agents there to take care of whatever it is, besides us. Plus, he's already enlisted Brittany and 'Evil Mandy's' assitance in the matter," Clover reasoned, perturbed as she slammed the compowder shut after Jerry's face disappeared from it.

Alex and Sam both looked at their friend with mixed shock and confusion as they helplessly followed her towards the car.

"Well, maybe, Clover, but Jerry sounded pretty urgent about it; it's our job to --"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, Alex, but today it's our 'job' to go home, relax a bit, then go to the mall to get our nails done! Now, let's g --"

Suddenly, the ground beneath them caved in without warning, causing the three to fall straight down before they could reach the car or sufficiently grab onto anything to prevent them from doing so, their startled screams echoing through the darkness that immediately enveloped them.

"I knew Jerry wouldn't really let us make it to the car, let alone the mall, anyway, but I still had to try!" Clover shouted as they continued to fall blindly down, until at last landing upon the familiar red couch placed within their boss' office quarters.

Standing up and beginning to dust themselves off before straightening up, the trio began to hear faint screams growing louder and louder until something else got propelled from out of the wall behind them.

Turning around, they were greeted with the crumpled sight of both Brittany and Mandy, who was groaning and whining dramatically about how it was quite possible that she might have broken her wrist from the fall.

"And I thought the 'Great and Wonderful Mandy Snow' always landed gracefully whenever she got 'WOOHP'ed?'" Clover smirked in amusement while walking over to help Brittany up, ignoring Mandy's icy glare as she herself climbed up from off of the floor.

"Yeah, well, I would have this time, too,Clovvvverrr, if 'Miss Sunshine' over there hadn't fallen on top of me like that!" Mandy covered, her cheeks growing rosy as she turned up her nose at the two girls before walking to the front of Jerry's desk.

"I'm sorry about that, Mandy, but it's never easy to land upright when traveling to this place. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen you do so whenever we're 'WOOHP'ed' together," Brittany said politely, although a small, satisfied smile slowly grew upon her lips while she and the rest of her teammates lined up once more before Jerry (who, this time, had a small furrow deepening within his brows to greet them) as he opened his mouth to settle them down.

"Yes, well . . . anyhow, girls, the determination of whether Mandy can land in an erect position when 'WOOHP'ed' will simply have to wait. Right now, I need all of you to head to Tokyo, Japan, for an investigation of sporadic, although increasing, occurrences that have been reported by its citizens," he revealed, ignoring Clover, Sam, and Alex's faint giggles as they all watched Mandy's face grow an even deeper shade of crimson at his remark.

"Why? What's been happening there, Jerry?" Brittany asked with a bit of concern in her voice, stepping forward slightly. Her grandparents lived in Tokyo, and she hadn't heard word from them in a few days, as they regularly kept in touch at least once a week with she or her parents.
Nonetheless, however, she hadn't thought much of it before . . . until now.

Jerry's urgent expression softened into one of understanding comfort as he acknowledged the young girl.

"No need to worry, Brittany; I'd thought that this mission might become a bit of a conflict of interest for you, and so I took it upon myself to evacuate your grandparents from the area and straight into safekeeping until all of this has been taken care of."

Brittany's appreciative smile instantly evaporated her formerly contorted expression of worry at word of this.

"Oh, thank you so much, Jere! For a moment there, I really was beginning to worry!"

"You're quite welcome . . . now, then! Carrying on with our briefing, as I've said, the occurrences have been rather uncalculated; however, they are gradually becoming more and more frequent news coverage within the Tokyo area.

It appears as though random citizens have suddenly been stricken with a bout of either impulsive insanity, or boundless courage . . ."

Mandy wrinkled her nose and scoffed, folding her arms across her chest.

"So, what's the big deal about that, Jerry? If they're insane, then that's what hospitals are for. And if they're suddenly fearless, then more power to them! But, either way, it doesn't really seem like something we need to handle at all."

"Yeah, I mean, for once I have to agree with Mandy, here, Jere. What's so bad about letting loose of all of your crippling inhibitions?" Clover concurred, absentmindedly playing with a few strands of her blonde hair.

Jerry let out a low sigh as his grimace made its way back across his face, deepening.

"It's bad, Clover, when those 'crippling inhibitions,' as you called them, are about the only thing keeping one from doing something drastic, or perhaps even life threatening . . . such as jumping from off the tallest tower in the city without any such life-protecting provisions . . ."

Clover and Mandy immediately closed both of their mouths that had just then opened to further object, and instead remained silent as theirs as well as Sam, Alex, and Brittany's facial expressions became rather pensive.

The five agents watched as Jerry pressed a hidden button from underneath the top of his desk to reveal an assortment of different gadgets and weapons for them to use on their current mission -- some very familiar to them, while others looked rather foreign.

"From the extremely stoic expressions upon each of your faces, I'd gather that you are all now in concurrence about this mission . . . and with that said, since G.L.A.D.Y.S. is currently on . . . 'vacation,' as it were," he paused, making reference to the newly installed machine that was supposed to make weapon and gadget distribution easier for the aging man; however, and irritably so, he'd find himself frequently be at odds with the contraption that apparently had a mind of its own whenever dealing with the appropriate kind of gadgets to give to his agents for each mission,

"allow me to be the one to show you the gadgets you will bring with you . . . we have here the 'Tornado in a Can Hair Spray,'" Jerry started, holding up a small lavender can that slightly resembled a regular can of hair spray, although donning a more oval shaped and longer nozzle.

". . . Our trusty 'Laser Lipsticks . . .'" He continued, raising a tiny, golden and seemingly harmless tube of red lipstick,

". . . 'Scanner Sunglasses' . . . 'Laser Hair Dryer' . . . and last, but certainly not least, the usual, as well as favorite 'Jet Pack Backpack,'" Jerry concluded, pushing five separate orchid heart shaped, metallic backpacks towards the girls that now securely contained all of their needed gadgets, including the last two: a pair of pink stylish sunglasses, and a silver hair dryer with violet buttons that caused it to look more menacing than the simple hair dryer it was indeed not.

Strapping their packs upon their backs, each spy reached into her pocket and took out her X-Powder and pressed the button in the center of it, which then instantly adorned the five of them into their WOOHP spy wear with their respected colors of red, lime green, yellow, sky blue, and light purple.

Jerry's business-like countenance at last dissipated as he gazed fondly at his five WOOHP agents with increasingly soft eyes, a small, proud smile creeping up from the sides of his lips to at last meet at the middle.

"As always, I have the utmost confidence in all of you to get to the bottom of things, and to come back safe.

The WOOHP shuttle will take you to your destination in more than half the time it would normally by plane. Good luck, girls; or, as they say in Japan: 'Gambatte . . .'"

"Thanks, Jer-REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The five girls shrieked as a sudden vacuum tube from above each of their heads appeared and sucked them straight up and through, presumably taking them on board of the WOOHP Shuttle that would carry them to Tokyo, where their latest mission awaited them.

--End of episode two

(A.N. Wasn't that super fun to read? No? Well, fine, then! See if I care! I kiiiiid, I kiiiiid. LoL No, really, though, I hope you've enjoyed episode two of my Sailormoon--Totally Spies crossover ficcie. :Dances: And judging by the swarm of reviews I'd gotten in almost one shot, I think it's safe to say that you most certainly do like what you're reading! Yay for me. :Dances some more: Oh! And before I forget, lemme happily respond to said reviews before I go and do boring homework . . . grr . . .

Outshadowed: You and I go "way back," so I'm not surprised you'd get "confused" in the spots you had, and enjoyed the parts you did. That's okay! Whether you're familiar with Sailormoon or not, you should still be able to enjoy the rest of my fic! So, thanks for humoring me and reading it! Oh, and psst, of course that was my intention to confuse you and everyone else about the evil voice in the prologue. Mwa ha haaaa. Suspense; gotta love it :)

RaiinMaker: Very glad to hear you like my story thus far. Y'know, at first, when this whole idea came to me about x'ing the two very different series, I (and even some of my friends LoL) was like, "Are ya nuts? Even YOU can't pull this one off!" But since I was bored at the time of conception and it simply would not leave me alone, I figured I'd write at least one eppie to see how it flowed. . . go me. :)

Yuki3x3: See? I updated for you! HeHe And, FINALLY, someone likes the cute little mess ups I'd make Minako do verbally. LoL It's just super cute to me whenever I'd watch or read her do so, especially in that one Stars ep (although it was Usagi, ironically, doing the mess up) while spying on the Three Lights' voice session. HeHe Now, then, to answer your translation inquiries, here we go:

"Ogenki desu ka" literally means "Are you feeling well?"

"Ojiisan" means "grandfather"

"Usagi-tachi" or "Minako-tachi" or basically so n so and then "tachi's" attached simply means "Usagi/Minako and everyone else implied"

"Shizukesa" means a variety of things, really: "stillness;" "silence;" even "serenity". In my case, I basically meant "Silence/settle down/hush, Rei-Rei-chan," when her grandfather had said it to her (BTW, the "Rei-Rei-chan" is just a little nickname I'd made up for her grandfather to refer to her as in case anyone is like, "Why is Rei written twice?" on me LoL)

"Kami" basically means or refers to (a) God

"Domo arigato gozaimasu" is basically saying "Thank you very much" very politely when/if that's said

"Oyasumi nasai" means "Good night" that's said right before bedtime,

"Koi shiteru" means "I love you," but the more affectionate, more "appropriate" sort of love one would express and reserve towards family members, as was the case with Rei saying it to her grandpappy :)

"Demo," in my case, basically means "but"

"Gomen nasai" means "I am very sorry," a more formal/polite way of expressing such sentiments versus a simple "gomen"

I'm pretty sure I've missed some I've used thus far in here (as well as extremely sure someone'll stroll in here and contest this/that with me about it, which is fine since I never claimed to be an expert in the beautiful language of Japanese, and since I am only in my second year of learning/taking it), but I'm also sure it'll satisfy your curiousity for now. Thanks for asking though:)

Mat49324: I'd already responded to your reviews with a review of my own in one of your many kick arse Totally Spies stories, but I'll answer again anyhow since I like ya so much LoL Once again, thank you for providing me with Sam's real last name (never would've guessed it was "Simpson," that's for durned sure LoL)! However, once again, I prefer the one I gave to her over that one . . . dunno, it just "flows" better than the one that could make her related to Bart and Lisa. LoL Oh yeah, and I still haven't the foggiest what you meant by being more "clear" about when you check out stories like this: are you confuzzled like my good pal, Outshadowed, due to the involvement of the Sailor Senshi? No prob! I tend to write my stories as though "you" ARE a first time reader about such n such (whether it turns out "you're" quite familiar with said topic or not), so hopefully you'll become less confused over time as each episode involving the senshi comes. And speaking of my eps, I honestly cannot say how many I intend to write for this before it's over, although I DO want to make it pretty lengthy (so hopefully 20+ eppies? Who knows LoL). So, keep coming back and leaving me awesome reviews:)

V-chan: Ahh, V-chan. My beloved, old friend. What SHALL I do with you? It's sort of ironic that one who loves to read so much DIDN'T when it came to my disclaimer note about Jerry's last name. LoL I still love you though, of COURSE! So, I'm glad you're also enjoying this ficcie of mine thus far, and aren't TOO miffed at me about changing Sailorartemis' sailorfuku a tick in my other story, after you'd already long since drawn her as fanart for me. :Cowers, blushing: HeHe Oops. It's been a year since I'd first started that one, too! So sue me if I decide to change things around! LoL

Oh right! Speaking of "Sailorartemis" and my other fics, I DO hope you all venture over to my two other stories I have posted here (I've been told they're pretty interesting to read thus far . . . hint, hint LoL): one about Harry Potter, and another involving the Sailormoon crew with nine original new senshi I've created thrown in there PLEASE read that one especially! Only ONE review for it, thus far, though thank you V-chan, for having done so. Still . . . sniff . . . LoL. So you fans of either, please to be reading whichever one appropriately . . . or, both! Heck! I won't complain LoL All righty then! I'm off now, and'll hopefully have episode three up and running soon for you! Reviews, please! Mwa!)