Chapter 7: Libra
Minako and Akiko were searching for Samantha Sanchez, who was going to be Sailor Libra, when they heard a loud racket coming from one of the Zodiac bedrooms. When they looked in, they found Samantha laying on her bed, reading a math book, while a very muscular redhead was lifting weights. And the source of the strange cacaphony was a CD that was playing.
"Hey, turn off that noise so I can tell you something important," Minako called, trying to be heard over the sounds of drills and hammers that were playing. Samantha glared at her, stuck her tongue out, and went back to reading. Akiko was quicker than Minako, and she turned the CD player off with her paw.
"That's enough, Libra. How can you study with that noise? I would think you'd prefer harmony," she said, sounding innocently confused.
"Well, I don't," Samantha snapped at the dog, "And what is it, V?"
"V? Well, that's kind of rude, but I'll let it slide. You're going to be a Sailor Senshi, just like your sisters Bunny and Jasmine. You're Sailor Libra, as Akiko here said," Minako explained, and she handed a black star pendant to Samantha. The red-haired girl watched, an interested look in her glasses-framed eyes.
"Am I going to be a Senshi too? I know I came here as an exchange student, but I heard I was a Senshi," she said, speaking with a thick Welsh accent.
"Yes, Pisces, but it's Fuyumi's job to train you, not me," shrugged Akiko.
"Pisces? I'm Rebecca Evans. Why did you call me Pisces?" the Welsh girl asked, staring at the purple Keeshond puppy.
"Because the more you are reminded of your star-given destiny, the more you will learn to follow it," answered Akiko importantly.
"Hey, what if I don't want to be a Senshi? From what Mom says, the Senshi are known for being cutesy team players who go around proclaiming about love and justice and they hate people like me," Samantha butted in.
"We don't hate you. I don't think there's many people I hate at all," Minako said, "But, yes, you probably should learn to be a team player if you're going to be a Senshi. It's just a lot easier to fight enemies if there's someone else there who can help you. I'm not going to force you, though. It was hard for me sometimes to deal with being a Senshi, especially since I was the first and had to fight alone."
"I'm not saying it's too hard, I'm saying I just don't want to be a Senshi. It's too cute and happy for me, and it would waste my time," Samantha snapped, and she hurried out the door. Akiko yapped worriedly.
"We need to follow her! She left her pendant behind!" she exclaimed.
"I'll get it to her. She'd trust me, I'm not a love Senshi like you, I'm not even a Senshi yet," Rebecca said.
"Maybe I could tell her she could make chaos with her powers. I bet she'd like that what with the loud noises she liked hearing on that CD," Minako snickered. Akiko rolled her eyes.
"Fine, don't just come crying to me when you find out that it ruins her Sailor Libra abilities," she sighed, but she followed Minako and Rebecca anyway. They found Samantha in the palace kitchen, banging two pots together and obviously causing a loud racket.
"Look, can you at least take the pendant? I won't bother you if you do!" Minako called over the noise. Samantha dropped her pots and glared at Minako.
"Fine, if it'll shut you up. I won't promise I'll use it, though," she retorted, though she did let Minako toss her the black star pendant.
"Why are you letting her get away with that? Won't she get attacked if she refuses to use her powers?" asked Veronica.
"Because you can't MAKE a Senshi fight. They have to do it on their own. And I think she needs to learn the hard way," Minako declared, but then she softened. "Actually, it's because I don't want to have to be around her noise if I can help it," she admitted sheepishly.
"Venus," Akiko sighed, you aren't being a very good Soldier of Love yourself. I thought you'd be more friendly than that."
"What would be the point? Doesn't that girl just want to be left alone? There's 11 other new Senshi you can make friends with," Veronica said practically. Minako grinned.
"Of course! Hey, I heard that you liked sports and stuff. You certainly look like you do," she said, taking note of Veronica's muscular build. "I used to play volleyball before I was a Senshi, but then I didn't have enough time to practice so I quit. But maybe we could make a Senshi volleyball team or have a game with all the new Senshi when they awaken. There's going to be 12 of you, so that's enough for two teams to play each other."
"Or more than 12. Who's that? Is she a Senshi?" Veronica asked, pointing to a girl who was standing nearby. The girl had her purple hair in a bun, and she was wearing a turquoise sailor-suit outfit.
"I think that's Setsuna's daughter Nadeshiko. And she might try to attack us, so you better go get Samantha. I'll try to talk to Nadeshiko first, though. She was always pretty reasonable," Minako said. Veronica nodded and ran off.
"I would not need to attack you, Mrs. Aino, if you would just respond to my demands," Nadeshiko said calmly.
"What are those? And isn't this something you should talk to your mother about?" Minako asked suspiciously.
"You'll do for now. First of all, I would like you to stop awakening the Zodiac Senshi. They are weak and unneeded Senshi. Second of all, step down from your posts. It is Chibi's turn to take the throne. She is much more suited to be Queen than her ditzy mother," Nadeshiko said coolly.
"The Zodiacs may be weaker than we were, but they're better than nothing if you guys are going to be attacking us. As for Chibi-Usa, that's for Serenity to decide when she steps down. I think she'd say so when she thinks Chibi-Usa is ready for it. Not to mention Chibi-Usa was acting pretty immature from what I heard. It sounds like she's completely regressed," Minako replied.
"I would advise you to not insult Chibi. She can be quite dangerous. And it is my duty to make sure the Zodiac Senshi do not awaken. So go back and find the ones that got their powers and take them away," Nadeshiko ordered.
"Well I found you first! I decided I want my powers because they can make chaos! And you're not taking them away from me without trouble!" shouted a voice that could only be Samantha's. It was her, standing nearby, her new pendant around her neck.
"See? I told you they were evil," sighed Nadeshiko, giving Minako a pitying look. Samantha ignored her and put one hand up, the other touching the pendant.
"Libra Zodiac Power, Make Up!" After the black lights finished swirling around her, she was dressed in a black and white Senshi outfit that had silver bows.
"I told you not to transform," Nadeshiko repeated and she flung a wave of water in Sailor Libra's direction, making her crash into the wall. Seeing this, Veronica glared at the purple-haired girl and shoved her down.
"Libra Ice Cream Sweetness!" With that call, as Sailor Libra stood back up, huge blobs of vanilla ice cream fell out of a swirling black and silver vortex and splatted all over Veronica and Nadeshiko.
"You must not waste food. I'll make you stick your head in water for that!" Nadeshiko yelled, flinging water all over the place, somewhat in an attempt to wash out the ice cream and also in an attack.
"Yes! Waste food! Cause chaos! Libra Ice Cream Sweetness!" the maniacal green-haired Senshi shouted again, and even more ice cream landed on Veronica and Nadeshiko, although it didn't hit the latter as much since she was wielding her water powers at the same time and spraying the globs of ice cream away.
"Stop that, Samantha! Stop dumping it on me! And you, too, stop spraying water all over!" Veronica roared. She grabbed Nadeshiko and flung her into Sailor Libra, the two of them slamming into the wall and landing in a heap on top of Minako. Akimi looked at them with teary eyes.
"Why? Why must you be so violent, Pisces? Libra, you're supposed to want balance, not chaos," she sobbed.
"Shut up, you dumb bossy dog," Sailor Libra muttered as Nadeshiko thankfully disappeared from on top of her, leaving in a flash of aqua sparkles.
"No, Akimi has a point, you two are going to need to learn to not attack other Senshi," Minako sighed from underneath Sailor Libra.