Blonde Exchange, by Boyce
Chapter 3 : Amazing Powers
/ Streets of Tokyo \
It was another beautiful day on Tokyo. The sun was shining in the sky without a cloud to worry about. Like they said, the girls and Celes were walking in the direction of the antique shop Raye and Mina had visited the day before. The people walking on the streets were all looking at Celes, intrigued by her clothes and armor.
Celes : Sigh Why are people all looking at me like that?
Lita : Well, your clothes doesn't fit very well with the rest...
Serena : Are we far from the shop Raye?
Raye : It's just around the corner Serena.
Celes : The technology is so advanced here... I can't believe what I'm seeing.
Amy : You don't have cars in your world?
Celes : There's one airship in the world. Or we travel by Chocobo.
Lita : Chocowhat?
Celes : Chocobo! A big bird that run extremely fast.
Serena : Sound a bit primitive...
Celes : Primitive? You should see the technology that permits Figaro castle to move underground...
Amy : (Eyes wide open) Ohhhhh I would love to see that.
Lita : Probably won't happen Amy...
Celes : You never know... I would be glad to show it to you one day Amy.
Amy : Thank you!
Raye : Anyway, here we are.
The group stopped in front of the antique shop. Raye opened the door, and the little bells rang again. She invited her friends inside. Raye entered last, and she went directly to the counter, with her friends behind her. The clerk welcomed them as usual.
Clerk : Hello Girls! Please look around...
Raye : Hi Mister. You don't recognize me? I came here yesterday with a friend.
Clerk : Ohhhhh Yes! The snow medallion right?
Raye : Yes!
Clerk : But your friend seems different today... And she is wearing weird clothes.
Celes : Weird clothes?
Raye : Hmm! This is not the same person, Mister. But look closely at her medallion.
Clerk : (Looking carefully) By the power of the dragons, that's the Fire medallion! So the legend is true after all.
Amy : Tell us about this legend. I'm sure you know more than you told them yesterday.
Clerk : But I...
Celes : (Getting her sword out, almost cutting the counter in two) Hey old man. You better tell us, or else!
Clerk : (Turning white) Of... Of course Mi... Miss!
Celes : (Withdrawing her weapon) That's better!
Clerk : You already know what I told you yesterday. Here's the next part. It is said that when the snow and fire medallion will be worn in different places at the same time, the persons wearing them will switch places.
Lita : (Releaved) So it really means Mina took the place of Celes then... That's good news.
Amy : But how do we get them back to their own worlds?
Clerk : They say a third medallion exists, guarded by a ferocious dinosaur: The black medallion.
Serena : A... A... ferocious dinosaur?
Raye : But that's impossible... There's no more dinosaurs on Earth.
Celes : There is in my world.
Amy : (Eyes wide open) Real live dinosaurs? Wow! Your world is so exciting Celes.
Lita : That would mean that this black medallion is in Celes's world. But how the hell is Mina suppose to know that? How is she suppose to find it?
Clerk : I cannot answer that. I told you everything I knew. But the secret's in the black medallion.
Celes : (Holding the hand of her sword) Sure?
Clerk : Y... Yes. I swear it! One more thing... I don't know what it means, but it is said that you can go to the world you visited, by wishing it on the ball...
Serena : (Puzzled) What? The ball?
Clerk : Yes. I don't know what this ball is, but you can travel with it.
Amy : We'll see that after we get Mina back here, ok?
Raye : All right. You should have told us this stuff yesterday! Maybe Mina would still be here with us.
Clerk : I'm sorry. I didn't want to lose the sell. And even if I told you the next part, your friend didn't seem to mind at all.
Raye : Yeah... Well, Good-Bye sir.
Clerk : Good-Bye girls.
The girls left the store. They knew a little bit more about this legend, but didn't know what to do next. As they started walking back to the Temple, they heard screams coming from the street. They looked, and saw a giant monster attacking the people. It was really huge.
Serena : We have to help them!
Lita : Yeah! Sailor Scouts time!
They went into a back alley, and each used their pen to transform into Scouts. They got out of the alley as fast as they could. And when they got to where the monster was, they were people clapping their hands. The monster was laying down, cut in 2 pieces, in a pool of green goo. A blonde girl was standing next to it, sword in hand.
Mars : What? How did she manage to do that, alone? That monster was so big!
Mercury: I don't know! But she must be very strong.
Celes : (Walking back) Hey! What kind of monster is this? It didn't even leave a single gold piece...
The Scouts look at each other confused.
Moon : Hmm, well monsters don't usually leave money behind. They only leave a mess, like this one.
Celes : Sigh This world is so cheap!
Jupiter: (Smiling) Well, things can't be the same everywhere Celes.
Mars : Yeah! Let's head back to the Temple.
The Scouts, without being noticed by anyone, transformed back to their normal selves again, and started walking back toward the Temple, talking about the legend, and how Celes defeated the big creature.
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/ Forest, near Narshe \
The group composed of Edgar, Sabin, Terra, Locke and Sailor Venus left the Castle in the after-noon, to investigate the mystery of the smoke coming from the forest, near Narshe. At the forest entrance, 4 Chocobos arrived. One for each warrior, and one for Venus and Locke.
Edgar : So here we are guys.
Sabin : Did we really have to bring HER here?
Locke : Get over it Sabin! She can fight too! Without Celes, she'll be a great value to our team if we have to fight.
Terra : That's right. You never know what mystery lies in this forest
Venus : (Eyes in Stars) Ohhhhhh Thank you so much! Thank you Thank you!
Sabin : But she's just a girl!
Locke : So what? Relm is also a little girl, and she can kick ass easily.
Sabin : ... Well... Hmm...
Edgar : Finished yet? Let's get this over with.
With these words, the king and his friends entered the forest, where they encountered weak monsters. Edgar, Sabin, Locke and Terra were fighting them. Venus was standing in the back, not doing anything.
Sabin : Scared a bit? That doesn't surprise me! Those are weak monsters. Just imagine the bigger ones.
Locke : Sabin, Come on. Don't be so rough on her. I mean she just arrived here. How would you feel if you were teleported from another world here?
Sabin : I don't know, because that will never happen.
Terra : All right already! Can we concentrate on the matter at hands?
Edgar : Right! We are almost there.
They were walking slowly, and were approaching the smoke spot. Terra didn't take any chances, and transformed into her Esper form, at the amazement of Venus. Suddenly, a big growling filled the ears of the group. The ground was shaking, and trees were falling in front of them.
Edgar : H... Hey! What's happening here?
Locke : I don't know...
Venus : Is this normal?
Sabin : What a stupid question! Of course not!
Some trees fell in front of them, and they could see the face of a enraged Brachiosaurus appear.
Locke : OH SHIT! IT'S A BRACHIOSAURUS!
Terra : What is it doing here? They do not live near here!
Edgar : We better get the hell out of here before he casts Ultima, and turns us into dust!
Edgar, Sabin, Terra and Locke started running away from the berserk beast. Sailor Venus was standing there, looking at the beast, not moving.
Terra : SAILOR VENUS!
Sabin : Stupid girl! GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!
Venus : (Lifting an hand) VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!
A gold beam form itself in front of her finger, and a beam emerged, heading right at the beast's head. The Brachiosaurus's head was heading right at Venus. The beam encountered the head in an explosion. When the smoke cleared, Venus was still standing, and the headless Brachiosaurus fell to the ground, lifeless...
Sabin : (Jaw on the ground) WHAT THE? THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!
Locke : Hmm Edgar?
Edgar : Y... Y... Yes?
Locke : Have you ever seen someone destroying a Brachiosaurus... a Brachiosaurus I say, in one blow?
Edgar : No! That means she did about 50000 of Hit Points damage in one single shot...
Terra : Yeah, but that's impossible... Right?
Venus : Hey! This little beast was scaring you? Hmm what's an Hit Point?
Terra : Venus! How did you do that? An Hit Point is a system we use to mesure the degree of resistance of a monster. Like the Brachiosaurus here... We estimated it had about 46000 Hit Points. And you destroyed it in one single shot.
Venus : What does it mean?
Edgar : It means two things. That the Brachiosaurus was already wounded. But we can already reject that, because wounded Brachiosaurus will tend to hide, instead of destroying everything in it's path... So that leave us with the second answer : You're strong!
Venus : I am?
Sabin : Not even I can do that to a Brachiosaurus... And I'm one of the strongest guy in this world. I must admit my mistake. You ARE strong. I'm sorry about what I said earlier...
Venus : (Shaking hands) Hey, that's okay Sabin!
Terra : Yeah... Although I don't really understand, because the people in our group can hardly do 10000 HP of damage in one shot...
Locke : Well forget the numbers for now! We'll have to find a way to rate her attack one day!
Edgar : (Smiling) Yeah. But for now, let's return to what's important. Let's look around here for that smoke.
The group passed by the carcass of the headless Brachiosaurus. They were still amazed by this young girl with them. Finally, they reached the spot where the smoke was coming from.
Terra : What do we have here?
Locke : (Getting something in his hand) It looks like a black medallion, with a Chocobo on it.
Venus : (Puzzled) What? Another one?
Edgar : This doesn't help us much. It only adds another piece to the puzzle. But we solved another one... The smoke is gone now.
Sabin : You're right Bro...
Venus : (Sitting on the ground) Will I ever be able to see my friends again one day?
Terra : (Sitting besides her) Mina... I mean Venus. Don't lose faith. I'm sure they are thinking about you right now. Like Locke is thinking of Celes... Look at his face!
Locke : (Blushing) What? Hey! How did you kn... Oh never mind!
Terra : (Laughing) We'll find a way, don't worry.
Venus : (Smiling) Thank you Terra. Here, I found this near the beast... I wanted to keep it as a souvenir.
Terra : What? WHAT? AN ECONOMIZER!
Edgar : What? Where?
Terra : In... In my hand! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AN ECONOMIZER!
Venus : What's an Economizer?
Locke : Venus! You're incredible! To cast magic, we made a system called Magic Points! The more powerful the spell you cast, the more Magic Points you lose, until you are too weak magically to cast anything. The Economizer is a very rare item that permits to use only 1 Magic Point each time you cast a spell! Even the most powerful ones! Only one had been discovered in the whole world!
Venus : (Puzzled) Hmm... Great! I guess...
Sabin : Amazing... I can't believe it. Maybe we could use her powers to defeat powerful monsters, and get rich!
Locke : (Eyes turning to dollar signs) Rich!
Terra : Hmm... I don't think so! She already made enough, don't you think?
Sabin : But... But... Oh all right!
Edgar : Let's head back to the castle. We'll discuss on the way there.
The group left the forest, still amazed by what they just lived. They rode their Chocobos all the way back to Figaro castle.
End Chapter 3