Sailor Moon: Dark Stars
Chapter 6
"Come on Tanya, we only got about 10 minutes before we're late!" yelled Anna as she raced up the steps from the New York City subway. The tall dark-skinned girl stretched her long legs and took two steps at time. When she reached the top, she impatiently looked back at her cousin.
Tanya quickly caught up to Anna, then stopped on the last step at the top and gasped for air. "You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say you're doing this on purpose!" She shot Anna an annoyed look. It was true sometimes. Every time she had a chance, the taller girl loved to race her and leave her behind.
Anna flung her duffel bag over her shoulder and turned to walk off. "Hey, YOU'RE the one who just HAD to stop at McDonald's and get that big breakfast!" she shouted back behind her. Tanya gave a look of embarrassment and looked around, hoping no one heard that. She sighed, smoothed out her short white skirt, and raced to catch up to Anna.
"Hey, you didn't have to go there!" said Tanya, embarrassed.
The taller girl laughed and ruffled her cousin's long jet black hair. "Don't worry, I only said that because I love you!" Anna said, her green eyes twinkling.
"Yeah right!" Tanya laughed back. Both of them continued to laugh and tell jokes to each other until they finally reached a tall brown building at the end of the next busy street.
"Okay, this is it, the New York Gymnasium!" said Anna as both girls stopped in front of the large building. "Cool, isn't it?" She looked down at her smaller dark-skinned cousin to see if she was impressed.
"WOW! I didn't know just a gymnasium could be this big!" Tanya said with wonder. The glass front doors swung to and fro with people walking in and out of the building. Some walked in already wearing the required clothing of a leotard, leg warmers, or sweat pants.
"Well, let's not just stand here and admire it. Let's go in before my couch gets BALLISTIC!" said Anna as she grabbed Tanya's hand and dragged her inside. Once inside, Tanya looked around and was amazed at the amount of parallel bars, rings, trampolines, and long beams that were all round. They were men, women, and young boys and girls on almost everything, flipping, turning, jumping, and doing moves the girl had never seen. "Sugoi!" Tanya breathed out, her brown hazel eyes wide and looking everywhere.
Suddenly, a tall, black haired man...looking to be about in his late 20's with a muscular build and deep blue eyes, walked in front of the girls on their way to the Lady's Locker Room. "Anna! I see you finally made it, and with just 5 minutes to spare," The man looked at his watch. "That's not like you." He gave Anna a disapproving look.
"Good morning Coach Mason! I'm sorry I'm almost late, but I brought along my cousin, Tanya Cambridge. Tanya, this is my coach for the last 6 years, Mr. Dan Mason." said Anna, while blushing at his admonishment.
Tanya smiled shyly and shook hands with the tall man. "G..good morning Coach Mason."
"Hello, nice to meet you." the couch said, giving Tanya the once over. He turned to look at Anna. "Now, Anna, if you don't mind, I need you on the floor in about 3 minutes. We have a tight schedule today." With that, the coach quickly turned and went to assist another student of his.
"Alright Tanya, you can stay on the benches until I come back. Is that okay with you?" Anna looked at her cousin with concern.
Tanya smiled and pushed Anna toward the lockers. "Sure, I'll be fine! You go on before you get in trouble. There's plenty of people I could talk to while you practice."
Anna nodded and rushed into the locker room. After looking around for a few more seconds, Tanya slowly made her way to the benches, where a young blonde woman was hunched over tying her sneaker. "Umm, hi. Do you mind if I sit here?" Tanya asked shyly. The woman looked up and frowned, then nodded impatiently before going back to tie her sneakers. Thinking the lady didn't want to be bothered, Tanya sat down without saying anything more.
A few minutes later, Anna came out of the locker room wearing a pink leotard, white stockings, pink leg warmers, and her hair in a long ponytail. With her coach by her side, Anna quickly made her way to the balancing beams, smiling and waving at Tanya. With careful guidance and instruction from Coach Mason, the gymnast gracefully leapt on the beams, staying balanced for a moment, then bent over backwards and did a perfect backward flip, landing expertly on her feet on the beam.
"WAHOOO! That's my cousin! Go Anna! Go Anna!" shouted Tanya as she stood up and started clapping. Anna looked over at Tanya as a look of slight embarrassment flushed across her dark features and a huge sweat drop formed above her.
"Tanya, would you PLEASE stop that!" the taller girl said through clenched teeth.
Tanya stopped as she saw that everyone staring at her, then quickly sat back down. "Err, sorry!" she said quietly as her own face began to flush red.
"Your cousin is very talented. You should be proud of her." the blond haired woman sitting next to Tanya said as she smiled softly.
The smaller girl turned to her, then smiled back and nodded. "Yeah, I am. She's going to be a great gymnast someday!" Proudness for Anna shined in her eyes.
But before the woman could say anymore, a loud crash interrupted the daily routine of the gymnasium. A large creature had flung itself through one of the large windows of the buildings. Everyone on the floor screamed and scattered as the broken pieces of glass fell on the wooden floor.
Anna ran to where Tanya was sitting on the bench and dragged her around the side and underneath. Both girls nodded to each other and crawled unseen to where the soft mats were stacked up for cover, hoping to transform in private.
Basset jumped down in front of the woman, who was now whimpering on the floor, frozen with fear. "Look into my eyes and become the servant of the Master, King Meerages! You cannot resist me!" hissed out Basset as her eyes grew big and started to swirl. The woman's eyes also suddenly grew big and began to swirl a dark blue. With a moan, she fell unconscious. Letting out a loud laugh, Basset turned into a green mist, and with great speed entered the woman's body through her mouth. Once Basset was inside, the woman's hands grew claws and her sneakers burst as claws grew out of them too. Fur quickly grew and covered her whole body.
With a roar, the now possessed woman quickly flew up high the air and shot green mist out of her mouth. Everyone who had witnessed the unbelievable scene now fell like dead as their energy was being drained out. "That's right, ALL of your energy will be mine!" Basset screamed out, then laughed in a high-pitched voice.
"You better think again, fur ball!" shouted a young voice throughout the large gym. Jumping down from the air, Super Sailor Sirius landed right in front of Basset. "A place like this is only for people who are planning for their future in the Olympics! You have no right here! Leave now, or suffer the consequence!" Sirius pointed an accusing finger at the possessed woman. "As sure as the Star that shines brightest in the Heavens, I am Sailor Sirius, and you WILL be vanquished!" Sailor Sirius stood in a determined fighting stance.
"Oh PLEASE!" Basset said in a bored voice. Thrusting her arms forward, the nine inch nails grew longer as she tried to slice through Sirius's body. But the Star Senshi was expecting this, and she quickly jumped out of the way, dropped to the floor, and rolled safely away.
The deadly claws tore through the floor where she was just standing in, sending up pieces of wood and splinters high in the air. "Ha! Too slow, you blow! Come and get me!" taunted Sailor Sirius as she got up and ran with heighten speed towards the parallel bars.
Floating down to the floor, Basset ran on foot behind Sailor Sirius, thinking she would finish this easily enough. The small senshi stopped in front of the parallel bars as Basset caught up with her, and with a smile, ducked down. "Hey you! Up here!" shouted a new voice. The monster looked up in surprise as Sailor Polaris expertly jumped down from the top bar, caught the bottom bar, swung up and over once, and with both feet out on her way up for the second swing over, knocked Basset about 10 feet clear across the large gym.
Letting go and jumping down from the bars, Polaris landed expertly, then ran over to Sirius. "Are you all right?" She helped her cousin stand up.
The shorter senshi nodded with new determination. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just lose this creep!"
Suddenly, there was a loud, piercing cry as the woman's body convulsed violently. Green mist shot out of her mouth and materialized into the creature that possessed her. Basset floated above the woman and glared in anger at the two senshi, "Your powers mean nothing to me! Prepare to die!" she screeched as she shot forth her claws again. Both girls jumped high into the air away from each other, barely missing the deadly claws.
Sailor Polaris flipped high over and landed behind Basset, while Sirius landed in a squat in front, then dashed away to the side. "Alright fur face, you gots to go! POLARIS MAGNETIC...FREEZE!" shouted the North Star Senshi. The familiar large pink cosmic beam burst from her left hand and flew straight at the large creature. The power hit its mark heavily, knocking back the monster a few inches. Basset tried to get up and shoot out her claws again, but barely screeched and hissed in vain as she realized she couldn't move a muscle.
"Sirius, your turn now girlfriend!" shouted Polaris with a wink.
The Sirius Senshi winked back, then turned to give the monster a look of triumph. "Buh-bye now! SIRIUS KISS OF DEATH, CAPTIVATION!" Sailor Sirius shouted as she gathered red energy in her hands. She kissed her right palm and blew the imprint off towards the monster. The imprint turned into a large, black energy ball. It encased the creature when it reached her, and shrank down to the size of a fist. After a moment, the ball exploded, spreading particles of electricity and fur everywhere. After the explosion, there was silence for a moment.
A low moan suddenly sounded through the gym floor. "Coach Mason!" Sailor Polaris ran to the black-haired man as he tried to get up. She gently placed his head on her lap and watched as the energy slowly appeared and dissipated back into the bodies of everyone in the building.
The coach blinked as he looked up at the dark-skinned girl wearing the strange clothes. "W..What's going on here? Who are you?" the man asked as he sat up and looked around at broken glass and bleeding people everywhere, moaning as they started to regain consciousness.
"It's all right Coa...Sir!" said Sailor Polaris as she steadied the larger man to his feet. "My..companion and I took care of everything. You're going to be fine." She at looked Sirius and nodded. The other Star Senshi was about to answer when she was suddenly interrupted.
"I beg to differ!" shouted out an angry voice. In a puff of orange smoke, a small, bald headed man appeared, wearing a black shirt, black pants, and a black trench coat over it. He fixed the two senshi with a look of pure hatred "You girls are REALLY beginning to get on my nerves! I should destroy you right here and now by myself!"
"Who are you? Are you the one who's sending these...things to attack innocent people and steal their energy?" shouted out Sailor Sirius. She and Sailor Polaris stood next to each other and assumed their fighting stance.
"The name's Pitkin, and although you don't know me and my Master, we certainly know YOU!" The man gave a sinister sneer. "And now that the introductions over with, it's time for you to DIE!" He raised his orb that gathered the energy, and the silver ball gave off an almost blinding light. Pitkin smiled and prepared to fire at the girls, but he was suddenly stopped by a booming voice that filled the whole building.
"Pitkin! You must report back to the ship, at once!"
Pitkin looked up in surprise and disappointment. "But, but Master.. you said..."
"I SAID NOW!" The force and strength of the voice nearly shook the entire building.
Pitkin once more looked at the girls with scorn and hate. "You may have lucked out on this one, but it is one time thing! Next time, you WILL die!" With a "HMPH!", he disappeared in an orange flash.
"What the heck was that all about, and who's his master?" said Sailor Polaris as she looked at the now empty spot in wonder a moment later. From a far distance, police sirens could finally be heard.
"I don't know, but we better get moving and talk to Marco and Dief about this!" Sirius replied. Nodding to each other, both girls got ready to leave.
"Wait!" Coach Mason smiled at the girls. "I just wanted to say thank you, for helping us!" He nodded and gave a small salute. Sailor Polaris grinned back and gave a "V" for victory sign.
"No thanks necessary, Sir! Just doing our duty!" She and Super Sailor Sirius then turned and jumped high out the window, disappearing into the morning light.
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Vortex Ship:
King Meerages sat on his throne, a look of triumph and great mischief in his eyes. Suddenly, a puff of orange flames flashed, and Pitkin appeared, kneeling on one knee in front of the throne. "Your Majesty, why did you summon me back? I surely would have..."
"You surely would have been destroyed by those girls instead of facing me, and I will not give you that satisfaction!" shouted the King, his ice blue eyes flashing. He smiled as his tone softened slightly. "But, no matter. I have come up with a little plan that will distract those girls for a while as I continue to collect my energy," He gave a secret smile," A girl's heart is always set in finding love, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is. What are you planning to do?" The little man stood up from his kneeling position.
King Meerages laughed deeply, his voice booming throughout the ship, and flicked his hand. A large mirror appeared to the side of his throne. The King got up and walked in front of it. His reflection stared back, its eyes flashing as his was. "Oh, you'll see soon enough. You'll see," the King chuckled.
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To be continued...
